Have you had high cholesterol – How successful have you been in lowering your numbers .

[BigStar]

23 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Good point, giving up cheese another win win

Another loss loss. Had Mainland Vintage on Thai Wagyu (lol) beef last night and it was excellent. And win nutrition-wise:

 

[BigStar]

On 12/18/2022 at 5:26 PM, jts-khorat said:

I cut out everything. Frankly, cutting out the rice was the most difficult, as my wife was and is having rice for every single meal (she is Thai, no surprises there).

After a few years, I got my Thai gf to stop eating rice, except rarely in small portions. Cut back on sugary anything.

 

That's been my proudest (and most difficult, lol) achievement. Worked quite well for her, lost a lot of excess weight.

 

Previously, I'd also got her going to a gym and seriously exercising. She had some athletic ability, so that came rather naturally. She came to enjoy being fit. Eventually she also wanted to look as fit as possible, and had added in a yoga class, so she started intermittent fasting w/ an 8-hour eating window. So she's in fantastic shape, esp. for her age, and her numbers have been great for years. Loves to wear yoga tights when out, since she can do so gracefully.

 

It's been mind-boggling to her friends. In the early days they all thought she was sick.

 

[KhunLA]

37 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Another loss loss. Had Mainland Vintage on Thai Wagyu (lol) beef last night and it was excellent. And win nutrition-wise:

 

Yea, I'm not giving up cheese, though will stick to Mozzarella & Parmesan mostly, as 2 healthier choices.  Definitely not giving up pizza, though probably won't have pepperoni on it.  Dough, tomatoes ????, and nutrient rich cheese ... top with some veggies, and what's not to like.

 

Can't say I ate a lot of cheese anyway, but they are nutrient rich, along with fat.  Exercised a good bit of moderation with my cheese intake.   Can't say that about other dairy products.

 

CheeseCake was more of an issue, and got that down to maybe 1 a week, or 2 a month.  Swensen's a couple times a month for 2 scoops.  Those 2, alone with 1 glass of whole milk a day, instead of 1 liter are probably my most drastic diet changes, and actually easy to do.  Accounted for majority of my high fat (and nutrient) intake.  Nutrients I can find elsewhere, fat I can do without.

 

Did a 'check up' yesterday, all blood work, and waiting for results, the cholesterol results mainly.   Sometime today, and will compare to last check up.

 

Adjusted diet w/meds from 31st Oct, so that should be interesting.  Prescribed 14 different 'meds', cut 5 immediately as unnecessary.  Cut 1 when I ran out, as now unnecessary, as BP no longer in the 140+/90+ range.  Now 120/70 ish range.

 

Will keep the the Rosuvastatin, Aspirin & Prasugrel, and half dose 4 others till I run out, in 10 or 14 days. If BP doesn't change much, then I'm done with those 4.

[BigStar]

On 12/18/2022 at 5:03 PM, ozimoron said:

That's a private company therefore not credible in my opinion as well as it goes against countervailing advice.

That's a professional association as docs often have. They hold meetings and share the latest research and experiences and produce info. Being in such makes them no less credible. All are reputable and include primary researchers. After what the prevailing COVID advice did to AU and NZ, to mention your neighborhood, I'd FINALLY be very skeptical.

 

Insights include the role of authorities in launching the diet-hypothesis, including a potential conflict of interest for the American Heart Association; a number of crucial details regarding studies considered influential to the hypothesis; irregularities in the scientific reviews on saturated fats, for both the 2015 and 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans; and possible conflicts of interest on the relevant subcommittee reviewing saturated fats for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

 

. . .

 

The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease, called the diet-heart hypothesis, was introduced in the 1950s, based on weak, associational evidence. Subsequent clinical trials attempting to substantiate this hypothesis could never establish a causal link. However, these clinical-trial data were largely ignored for decades, until journalists brought them to light about a decade ago. Subsequent reexaminations of this evidence by nutrition experts have now been published in >20 review papers, which have largely concluded that saturated fats have no effect on cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality or total mortality.

     --A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus,

 

 

[BigStar]

26 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

ill keep the the Rosuvastatin, Aspirin & Prasugrel, and half dose 4 others till I run out, in 10 or 14 days. If BP doesn't change much, then I'm done with those 4.

Suggest the TG/HDL ratio is key. 

 

 There is an inverse relationship between LDL-C levels and the risk of all-cause mortality, and this association is statistically significant.

 

     --Low density lipoprotein cholesterol and all-cause mortality rate: findings from a study on Japanese community-dwelling persons

 

[proton]

On 12/16/2022 at 1:02 PM, BigStar said:

Thinks cholesterol in food causes the problem.???? What year is it?

 

Oh, my fave healthy vegan:

 

You can get Vegan cakes!

[BigStar]

On 12/21/2022 at 11:21 AM, scubascuba3 said:

The good thing about NHS is they won't refer you for unnecessary medical procedures, here they will for money, so 2nd and 3rd opinions may be necessary 

Or to a 2nd opinion, if the doc is convinced of his own opinion. You'd have to pay a private doc for that. Yet they make mistakes as well, as a quick google will tell you.

 

No matter where you are, it's best to collect at least one 2nd opinion when contemplating anything major. Decades ago I had to have surgery for an issue caused by primitive medical treatment I underwent as a child. I collected 4 opinions and took the 3 out of 4 majority. Used Bumrungrad, great success. 

 

[BigStar]

5 minutes ago, proton said:

You can get Vegan cakes!

You do vegan keto if you want to, pal. Low carb pizza is possible. But who'd want to? ????

 

 

Sun, steak and steel, as P. D. Mangan says. Reminds me, looking forward to my walk on the beach tomorrow now that the Russian hotties are back. 

 

In conclusion, protein supplementation can improve muscle mass and reduce the risk of sarcopenia in sarcopenia and pre-frail older adults, while future studies should continue to investigate the effects of protein supplementation on indicators of sarcopenia in healthy older adults.

     --https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36505918/

[scubascuba3]

4 minutes ago, proton said:

You can get Vegan cakes!

She's on a vegan doughnut diet, still she has diet cokes so it's ok

[BigStar]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

She's on a vegan doughnut diet, still she has diet cokes so it's ok

The usual pathetic hot air. You're actually younger than average here, aren't you? Trust fund?

 

Reminds me, I have to laugh in the supermarkets in the USA. Can't get to the full-fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese because of all the fatties crowding in to grab the low-fat next to it!

[scubascuba3]

5 minutes ago, BigStar said:

The usual pathetic hot air. You're actually younger than average here, aren't you? Trust fund?

 

Reminds me, I have to laugh in the supermarkets in the USA. Can't get to the full-fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese because of all the fatties crowding in to grab the low-fat next to it!

Usual obnoxious post from you 555 change the record

[BigStar]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Usual obnoxious post from you 555 change the record

Go find the lady you referred to rather than remaining clueless and posting nonsense. She's well-known and even rather famous.

[ozimoron]

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/3784488-embargo-12-22-11am-mediterranean-diet-linked-to-lower-risk-of-preeclampsia-in-pregnancies/

[KhunLA]

On 12/22/2022 at 12:56 PM, KhunLA said:

Did a 'check up' yesterday, all blood work, and waiting for results, the cholesterol results mainly....Adjusted diet w/meds from 31st Oct, so that should be interesting.  Prescribed 14 different 'meds', cut 5 immediately as unnecessary.  Cut 1 when I ran out, as now unnecessary, as BP no longer in the 140+/90+ range.  Now 120/70 ish range.

 

Will keep the the Rosuvastatin, Aspirin & Prasugrel, and half dose 4 others till I run out, in 10 or 14 days. If BP doesn't change much, then I'm done with those 4.

Results, and most cholesterol #s good, trigs higher, kind of strange, since taking meds to keep low, vs 2020, and more normal, no meds.  Notice a difference in what is normal <200 vs <150 now.

 

Blood sugar a bit high, 110 vs <100 as normal, and blaming me stopping butter on most toast/breads while switching to jellies, along with a lot more fruit eating.  Would easily explain that.  Berries may be good for cholesterol, but a bit more moderation needed I think.  Have been eating a bunch & jelly.  More homemade bread also, as I don't add sugar to mine.  Only sugar I add to anything, is 1 or 2 tsp with my coffee, 250ml cup.

 

Aug 2020:

 

 

Dec 2022:

 

 

[BigStar]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Results, and most cholesterol #s good, trigs higher, kind of strange, since taking meds to keep low, vs 2020, and more normal, no meds.  Notice a difference in what is normal <200 vs <150 now.

 

Blood sugar a bit high, 110 vs <100 as normal, and blaming me stopping butter on most toast/breads while switching to jellies, along with a lot more fruit eating.  Would easily explain that.  Berries may be good for cholesterol, but a bit more moderation needed I think.  Have been eating a bunch & jelly.  More homemade bread also, as I don't add sugar to mine.  Only sugar I add to anything, is 1 or 2 tsp with my coffee, 250ml cup.

 

Aug 2020:

 

 

Dec 2022:

 

 

OK, since you've put this out here, I'll weigh in.

 

Not too good. BP and RHR down, but you've been taking BP meds, and the RHR was taken at the hsp or lab. Best to take that immediately upon awakening.

 

 

TG/HDL ratio now puts you into the medium risk category. It's also a predictor of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes, so confirming the FBS level. It all sounds like typical metabolic syndrome. Have you had a CAC scan yet? Would be a good idea, I think.

 

Predictably, you're overweight. Waist-to-height ratio is a good indicator. That should be very close to .5. Follows from the mention of the jellies, bread, sugar, cornflakes, pastries, ice cream, excessive? fruit--but maybe that's the tip of the iceberg.

 

Opinions will vary here as to what you should do. More intelligent members follow the What, Me Worry? Principle or The French Salute and would either do nothing or simply up the medications and hope to die early, with a smile on your face during a bonk. Avoid the bedsit. Medications will postpone that smile for a time, but they aren't as effective as improving the markers naturally via diet and exercise. I recall a study indicating that raising HDL via medication didn't have the positive effect that raising it by diet and exercise does.

 

So that's one of our Approved Choices. You'll get cheers and toasts if the news report says you're found nude on a bed beside a bottle of Viagra. In fact, the Viagra may well be the real focus of the headline, as it has been in the past.

 

Others might advise moderation and whole foods. Sounds like you've been kinda doing that anyway. Many can't moderate because the insulin resistance makes them too hungry for a glucose fix. And the carbs/sugar have a much larger effect if you're already insulin resistant. Yeah, that don't seem fair. You got to moderate more or, best, go cold turkey. Whole foods are of course better than processed, and low carb diets were whole food before whole food diets became a fad. But the whole foods still need to be low glycemic.

 

 

As one of the cowboys here, I'd assume I already have pre-diabetes and diet accordingly and make getting healthy a major priority. Get lean. Get fit. That will help a lot with the TG/HDL. When you've got that down to 1:1 or less naturally, you'll find your other issues have gone away indefinitely.

 

 

@Lacessithas had success at overcoming similar problems and may be along soon to weigh in.

[KhunLA]

@BigStar I wouldn't call me overweight by much, as big bone (true density) and more than average muscle mass.  Even in prime condition, out of boot camp, and I was still at the max weigh, or just over for my height.   That's just silly, so I don't take much stock in those charts.

 

I do take my BP in the morning, at rest and just after exercise, once heart rate is up 50%.

 

Bringing the sugar count down should be easy, realizing what's jacked it up.  With those #s, I'm satisfied, still have excellent endurance, as wife, 22 yrs younger, kid 25 yrs younger, can't seem to keep up.  Whether walking, hiking or cycling.  I've cycled my whole life, and my legs probably weigh as much as my wife ????  That's not much of an exaggeration.  Along with a 18 neck & 48 jacket, so I'm far from small frame, though only 175cm.

 

Slacked off a lot though, as I am 68, today as matter of fact.  Get daily walks in with the dog, and cycle enough to get the heartrate up.  After that ... I'm a LPOS, and just chillin' out the retirement yrs.

 

Squeeze out 5 or 10 more yrs, and I'll be the oldest ever in the family.  Parents 69 & 74, and all their siblings passed earlier.

[BigStar]

18 hours ago, ozimoron said:

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/3784488-embargo-12-22-11am-mediterranean-diet-linked-to-lower-risk-of-preeclampsia-in-pregnancies/

Oh, look, The Hill is merely a leftwing propaganda outlet, so by your measure of "bias," that would mean the article shouldn't be read, no?

 

But I went ahead and read the study it refers to. OMG. The "researchers" didn't prescribe a real Mediterranean diet and follow the results. They just "surveyed" a bunch of ladies as to what they ate and checked off if their reported foods happened to be associated with Mediterranean diets.???? Even alcohol, awarding a point for it. Subjective surveys are notoriously inaccurate.

 

Participants with a "history of chronic hypertension or diabetes," were excluded. Chronic. But 20% were obese. You can bet a large number were insulin resistant and overweight.

 

And who skewed the results so positively?  

 

. . . women with a higher aMed score were more likely to be older (mean [SD], 30.1 [4.4] years; P < .001), non-Hispanic White (1855 of 2388 [77.7%]; P < .001), married (2075 of 2388 [86.9%]; P < .001), never smokers (1424 of 2388 [59.6%]; P < .001), and have a higher educational level (1671 of 2388 [70.0%]; P < .001) and less likely to have a BMI in the obesity category (300 of 2388 [12.6%]; P < .001).

 

So we discover, basically, that women who have taken better care of themselves in general have fewer complications in pregnancy. Brilliant.

 

The study would have been useful if a controlled study, didn't just check off Mediterranean diet foods (which other diets may share), and compared different diets.  

 

Any diet these ladies followed would be better than the SAD, with its processed foods and sugars.

[BigStar]

ANF glitch when saving post. Delete, delete.

[save the frogs]

whoa ... too much info ... no time to read all of it.

someone mention dairy?

has protein, good fats. some cheeses have vitamin K2 which is good for arteries. 

yogurt/kefir good for gut microbiome. 

but some people don't tolerate dairy well. 

ps: i think alcohol really messes up the gut microbiome. 

[BigStar]

49 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I wouldn't call me overweight by much, as big bone (true density) and more than average muscle mass.  Even in prime condition, out of boot camp, and I was still at the max weigh, or just over for my height.   That's just silly, so I don't take much stock in those charts.

 

I do take my BP in the morning, at rest and just after exercise, once heart rate is up 50%.

 

Bringing the sugar count down should be easy, realizing what's jacked it up.  With those #s, I'm satisfied, still have excellent endurance, as wife, 22 yrs younger, kid 25 yrs younger, can't seem to keep up.  Whether walking, hiking or cycling.  I've cycled my whole life, and my legs probably weigh as much as my wife ????  That's not much of an exaggeration.  Along with a 18 neck & 48 jacket, so I'm far from small frame, though only 175cm.

 

It all sounds good, but then we have the numbers, which aren't too good. No, in fact it's not so easy to get them all back to normal, as I think you'll discover. After you succeed in getting them there, if you do, then it'll be easier to keep them there indefinitely. So I'd urge you to do that.

 

Walking, hiking, cycling are of course all to the good. I often walk on off days. The problem is that they don't get you fit. Your wife and daughter aren't true measures. You need intensity for that. It would help if you did intervals during your "cardio" if you worked up to them and made yourself. Nobody thinks they're easy. If they are, you aren't doing them correctly. Resistance training would help a lot. I work out intensely and finish up with intervals on a recumbent bike.

 

There's also intermittent fasting. Not to be counted out.

 

49 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Slacked off a lot though, as I am 68, today as matter of fact.  Get daily walks in with the dog, and cycle enough to get the heartrate up.  After that ... I'm a LPOS, and just chillin' out the retirement yrs.

P. D. Mangan was a skinny nerd microbiologist, a vegan soi boi and a "jogger." Now he's 67.

 

 

 

That, exercising intensely (resistance training) an hour a week (2x30 min) and following low carb and intermittent fasting. He also goes for walks on off days. Follow his Twitter feed here.

 

It takes a long time to discover what a short time is needed to get fit and stay fit. Technique makes all the difference.

 

So being 68 is no excuse. You never hear any fit person say, "I sure hate it that I gave up all the <deleted> and made the effort to work out and get fit. I'd love to be fat and out-of-shape again!" You heard that? Nah.

 

49 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Squeeze out 5 or 10 more yrs, and I'll be the oldest ever in the family.  Parents 69 & 74, and all their siblings passed earlier.

Sounds like a point, but it's actually meaningless. As George Sheehan said, the competition is with yourself. The fight is against the inner voice telling you to stop and stay weak.

 

At your age (our ages) you can't take anything for granted. One thing can bring it all down at just any time, as the Anna Karenina principle holds. Cover all the bases.

 

[Lacessit]

52 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

 

 

@Lacessithas had success at overcoming similar problems and may be along soon to weigh in.

I don't actually have any problems with all the cholesterol and HDL/LDL indicators, even before I went on the diet I developed for myself after researching on YouTube. I guess my genetic inheritance is lucky in that respect.

Having said that, I eat as much as I want, but what I consider to be the right foods for me. My regime won't suit everyone, I eat lashings of cheese and yoghurt, a small amount of fat. I avoid sugar and restrict carbohydrates. Alcohol once or twice a week, not more than two standard drinks at a time. Absolutely no beer.

The benefits of going from 93 kg to 77 kg, with an accompanying reduction in waistline, are I no longer need medications for gastric reflux, hypertension, osteo arthritis and sleep disorder.

In fact, I can now afford to break out occasionally with bad stuff like ice-cream and cake, without putting weight back on.

[scubascuba3]

7 minutes ago, BigStar said:

PD. Mangan was a skinny nerd microbiologist, a vegan soi boi and a "jogger." Now he's 67

So many of these people are on steroids and pretending it's just hard work at the gym and protein shakes and supplements

[BigStar]

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

So many of these people are on steroids and pretending it's just hard work at the gym and protein shakes and supplements

Definitely not on steroids, though one would invariably expect you to think so. It's easy to tell, if you know what to look for. He's big on protein, of course. Sells nothing but training advice and has lots of testimonials in his favor. Well respected. He follows the Arthur Jones, Mike Mentzer, Ken Hutchins, Doug McGuff techniques, claims no discoveries.

 

On the other hand, the paleo guru Mark Sisson, 69, takes TRT, big difference; and he freely says he does, to his credit.

[scubascuba3]

4 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Definitely not on steroids, though one would invariably expect you to think so. It's easy to tell, if you know what to look for. He's big on protein, of course. On the other hand, the paleo guru Mark Sisson, 69, takes TRT, big difference; and he freely says he does, to his credit.

Durianrider is good at calling these people out on Facebook, you know, they won't admit it of course. A vegan who admits to being on steroids for research....but likes the results

[BigStar]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Durianrider is good at calling these people out on Facebook, you know, they won't admit it of course. A vegan who admits to being on steroids for research....but likes the results

These idiots are a dime a dozen on the 'net. What they'll do for money. Not worth a glance.

[scubascuba3]

5 minutes ago, BigStar said:

These idiots are a dime a dozen on the 'net. What they'll do for money. Not worth a glance.

Just don't be one of those fan boys who fall for that gym work, protein rubbish.

 

Durianrider is high carb low fat, look how fat he is, blood test results aways terrible 555

[scubascuba3]

29 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I don't actually have any problems with all the cholesterol and HDL/LDL indicators, even before I went on the diet I developed for myself after researching on YouTube. I guess my genetic inheritance is lucky in that respect.

Having said that, I eat as much as I want, but what I consider to be the right foods for me. My regime won't suit everyone, I eat lashings of cheese and yoghurt, a small amount of fat. I avoid sugar and restrict carbohydrates. Alcohol once or twice a week, not more than two standard drinks at a time. Absolutely no beer.

The benefits of going from 93 kg to 77 kg, with an accompanying reduction in waistline, are I no longer need medications for gastric reflux, hypertension, osteo arthritis and sleep disorder.

In fact, I can now afford to break out occasionally with bad stuff like ice-cream and cake, without putting weight back on.

he eats lashings of cheese and yoghurt and a small amount of fat 555, doesn't seem to realise the amount of fat in cheese

[save the frogs]

> > Walking, hiking, cycling are of course all to the good. I often walk on off days. The problem is that they don't get you fit.

 

cyclists seem rather fit to me. 

i'm not sure if the hunter-gatherer tribes did resistance training. and they didn't have chronic illnesses like modern society.

i think they walked A LOT .. walked all day to hunt for prey ... and occasionally sprinted when they were being chased by lions. not saying resistance training is bad, but you might be underestimating the power of simple walking. maybe everyone should take up golf. how many steps do you take in a round of golf? 

 

there's an obsession in the fitness community to have a perfect body. these guys post pictures of themselves on social media to inflate their egos.

it's way too much work to try to have a perfect body and it's not really necessary to be healthy. 

 

[jerrymahoney]

10 hours ago, save the frogs said:

it's way too much work to try to have a perfect body and it's not really necessary to be healthy.

Sure but having a perfect body allows you to talk/post a lot about having a perfect body.

[Lacessit]

11 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

he eats lashings of cheese and yoghurt and a small amount of fat 555, doesn't seem to realise the amount of fat in cheese

35 - 40%, smart guy. Fat intake has nothing to do with weight loss, I am living proof. It's why I put you on ignore some time ago as an annoying troll, pick nits somewhere else.