Lowering Cholesterol

[xylophone]

Recent tests have shown that I have high cholesterol, only this time higher than before although I do try to watch my diet and really don't eat much in the way of red meat/processed meat/dairy etc.

I am therefore undertaking to add some natural remedies to my diet and I am looking for somewhere to purchase the Flora Pro-activ range of margarine (amongst other things such as Barley flakes/Beta Glucan).

I have tried Big C in Patong, Makro, Tesco Lotus and the supermarket in Central, but to no avail.

Has anyone seen it around Phuket?

Many thanks.

[pagallim]

From recollection, Villa Market at HomePro Village near Chalong Circle carries a reasonable selection of health foods, though I couldn't swear they have the products that you mention. I normally use an olive oil based margarine, which they certainly have there.

[xylophone]

From recollection, Villa Market at HomePro Village near Chalong Circle carries a reasonable selection of health foods, though I couldn't swear they have the products that you mention. I normally use an olive oil based margarine, which they certainly have there.

Thanks Pagallim, actually I did try there a few days ago, but forgot to mention it. I do use olive oil for most things, but really like the idea of the added beta sitosterols in the pro-activ margarine which I don't think are in the olive oil based margarine.

[pagallim]

but really like the idea of the added beta sitosterols in the pro-activ margarine which I don't think are in the olive oil based margarine.

Far too technical for me I'm afraid

[stevehaigh]

i know shrimp are loaded with cholesterol but some kinds of oily fish reduce it. sounds like something you should be googling rather than expecting advice here

[KarenBravo]

Yes, Villa Mart does have the margarine that reduces cholesterol. That's where I buy mine.

[cdmtdm]

quit the margarine for starters ... its one molecule away from being plastic ..deadly stuff ......high fibre diet , lots of water , lots of exercise , small amount of alcohol ......

[KarenBravo]

i know shrimp are loaded with cholesterol but some kinds of oily fish reduce it. sounds like something you should be googling rather than expecting advice here

All seafood except for fish is loaded with cholesterol

[cdmtdm]

Shellfish is often avoided by many because of the thought that it raises bad cholesterol levels. According to a study at the University of Washington, this is a misconception and shellfish pose no danger to cholesterol levels. This study found that some of the most commonly eaten shellfish, including oysters, crabs, clams, shrimp and mussels, showed no evidence of raising cholesterol levels. Shrimp had no effect on cholesterol levels. Crabs and clams actually lowered the LDL levels (bad cholesterol). Mussels and oysters also lowered LDL, while raising HDLs. Fish is also good for increasing good cholesterol in your blood

Read more:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/108127-cholesterol-seafood/#ixzz1s71zi7Fl

[BOBBYTIN]

quit the margarine for starters ... its one molecule away from being plastic ..deadly stuff ......high fibre diet , lots of water , lots of exercise , small amount of alcohol ......

agreed,margarine was designed originally to fatten poultry,they stopped them doing that as it was not good for the poultry, so instead they sell it to humans. there are a few things you can eat and drink to help, none is margarine.. ochre, you can boil it and eat it with grilled chicken. lots of tomatoes,grilled or boiled or pureed, as much as you can eat really,and broccoli,and cauliflower.. As good as anything is pomegranate,fresh,not produced. the ochre,you can boil the heads,it makes a purple drink the Thais drink,this will help reduce cholesterol,but tell them not to add the sugar.in thai it is called garchiep. it tastes like ribena. stay off statins,they will make your life a misery. GOOD LUCK.

[BOBBYTIN]

quit the margarine for starters ... its one molecule away from being plastic ..deadly stuff ......high fibre diet , lots of water , lots of exercise , small amount of alcohol ......

agreed,margarine was designed originally to fatten poultry,they stopped them doing that as it was not good for the poultry, so instead they sell it to humans. there are a few things you can eat and drink to help, none is margarine.. ochre, you can boil it and eat it with grilled chicken. lots of tomatoes,grilled or boiled or pureed, as much as you can eat really,and broccoli,and cauliflower.. As good as anything is pomegranate,fresh,not produced. the ochre,you can boil the heads,it makes a purple drink the Thais drink,this will help reduce cholesterol,but tell them not to add the sugar.in thai it is called garchiep. it tastes like ribena. stay off statins,they will make your life a misery. GOOD LUCK.

i know you cannot beleive all you read, but,read this.make up your own mind

Butter & Margarine Facts Healthy Food Facts

www.munising.com/butter_margarine_facts.html

[lufc74]

You can get benecol drinks from tops at central, these are supposedly really good for getting your levels down.Have a bit of oily fish one or two times a week. Try a bit of exercise. These things may help a little. Smoking doesn't help, obviously.

I take statins, and don't seem to suffer to much, not that I notice. Everybody is different though.

Good luck.

[Rickster]

Drink plenty of Cranberry juice and eat Artichokes if you can find them here....

[geriatrickid]

I too have had a creeping high cholesterol level and triglycerides and was just read the riot act. I had initially refused an increase in my meds, but have agreed that as much as my heart might be asian, my genetics are white European. I can't stay on asian dosing. As much as I would like to make excuses, the fact is that my levels inreased because of;

1. Poor diet, with too many fried foods. I am going to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water.

2. Limited exercise. My friend has decided that if I am unable to exercise on my own that it is his job to yell at me to get off my arse. (Those that have a spouse to do the job will have asistance 24-7).

Margerine is best avoided. If one really needs to slather on some oily substance use olive oil, or grape seed oil and if oil is needed for cooking, use canola oil.

Although there are those that will argue that shellfish present no problem, sorry to say that after conducting blood assays on myself, I know that my fondness for shrimp dishes and tiger prawns, had a significant negative impact on my cholesterol levels. My metabolism and my problem, but I think others my have the same situation particularly if they have northern european genes. I think my forebears were geared more to eating varmints and root vegetables than sea food. Mind you they all probably died at an early age as they were given to killing each other and so living past 35 probably didn't matter. I am much more adept at responding to flesh wounds caused by spears and arrows I think.

[xen]

I use fish oil tablets for their many benifical results including lowering cholesterol but the most effective method I have found is having rolled oats in the morning. They fill you up by expanding in your stomach so you don't feel hungry and they somehow lower the cholesterol . And they are still relativly cheap even here in Thailand . Use low fat milk or skim milk , no sugar for max results of course.

[Valentine]

As someone else said this works http://www.benecol.com/

Developed in Finland & I believe has been approved by the Euro authorities. Cholesterol has always been high for me until my daughter suggested I try Benecol which I did & it worked well. You can find it as a small drink in Big C or Central in the yoghurt section, usually Baht 25 for one. I have also seen it at Villa as a cereal. BTW I did not make any change to my normal diet which is certainly not the best.

[petercallen]

Eat Thai food instead of western food its very healthy food

The fat Thais you see are the ones who eat KFC etc

Bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes and hash browns i eat once a fortnight

cooked at home, otherwise i mainly eat Thai food except for the occasional

roast which i enjoy

[MissChris]

Statins are rapidly falling from favour. All sorts of side effects, including myopathy. The longer you take any drug, the more likely something will go wrong, in any case.

Advice from dieticians in Australia is to aim for 5 vegetables & 2 fruits a day. Try making your own green juice. I also heard that the three most useful vegetables are carrot, tomato & onion. You need leafy green ones if you are getting older for your macula as well.

If you're using margarine (or butter) regularly, you have a problem. It's a TREAT.

I agree that Thai food is preferable. However, it still has high levels of carbohydrate and limited variety of oils.

Just to worry you - the latest drama is about vitamin D levels. Lots of people are finding out they have very low levels.

[cdmtdm]

Statins are rapidly falling from favour. All sorts of side effects, including myopathy. The longer you take any drug, the more likely something will go wrong, in any case.

Advice from dieticians in Australia is to aim for 5 vegetables & 2 fruits a day. Try making your own green juice. I also heard that the three most useful vegetables are carrot, tomato & onion. You need leafy green ones if you are getting older for your macula as well.

If you're using margarine (or butter) regularly, you have a problem. It's a TREAT.

I agree that Thai food is preferable. However, it still has high levels of carbohydrate and limited variety of oils.

Just to worry you - the latest drama is about vitamin D levels. Lots of people are finding out they have very low levels.

no margarine is not a treat, its poison ..... as for vitamin D i think here in Thailand we get adequate amounts of sunshine dont you ?

[KarenBravo]

Eat healthily, exercise, die anyway.

Might as well do what we enjoy during our short time here.

If anything we do does shorten our life, at least it comes off the right end.

Too many different ways to die to worry about just one way of expiring.

[grumpyoldman]

Just to worry you - the latest drama is about vitamin D levels. Lots of people are finding out they have very low levels.

Yes, this is some interesting new readings. They link low levels to rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

Funny thing is, your body can produce vitamin D by getting sun.

I wonder if the Thais wanting to stay out of the sun, increases the chance of D deficiencies (?)...........

[xylophone]

Thanks to all the contributors and I will look again in Villa Market for the pro-activ margarine, one tub of which will last me over a month, so not a big user. The myths surrounding margarine were "enlightening", and as of today the really bad ingredient, trans fatty acids, have all but been eliminated. I Googled it and read up on Snopes about the myths surrounding it. Quite amazing who dreams these things up!

I do take fish oil capsules and use rice bran oil for the cooking I do, but must try to get more fibre in the diet as a couple of folk have suggested. Barley shows a great deal of promise in the lowering of LDL and in particular triglycerides, which is the really high one for me.

Great to learn about Benecol and I will get some today, thanks for that.

Have taken up tennis again in order to get some exercise.

Maybe all of this will be in vain and I may have to go on a statin such as Lipitor, but see it as a last resort.................maybe I'm one of the unfortunate ones whose cholesterol is naturally high, no matter what!!

[grumpyoldman]

Had a GF in California who was/is a sales rep for big pharma.

I was pretty surprised when she said some doctors take commissions for prescribing certain drugs, as it helps to supplement their incomes when they are having to deal with the patients assigned from cheap charlie HMO's.

Therefore I am not a big fan of all these prescription drugs. I wonder if family history workups are done before they just draw a line for everyone and say, your blood pressure should be this, cholesterol that, etc. Or are there other motives ($$$)?

If my grandfather who lived to be 86 (good enough for me), ran with higher blood pressure, his father too, and my blood pressure runs consistently a little high, why do I need this blood pressure drug?

I commend the OP on looking at natural alternatives before slugging Lipitor.

[cdmtdm]

Eat healthily, exercise, die anyway.

Might as well do what we enjoy during our short time here.

If anything we do does shorten our life, at least it comes off the right end.

Too many different ways to die to worry about just one way of expiring.

[cdmtdm]

Had a GF in California who was/is a sales rep for big pharma.

I was pretty surprised when she said some doctors take commissions for prescribing certain drugs, as it helps to supplement their incomes when they are having to deal with the patients assigned from cheap charlie HMO's.

Therefore I am not a big fan of all these prescription drugs. I wonder if family history workups are done before they just draw a line for everyone and say, your blood pressure should be this, cholesterol that, etc. Or are there other motives ($$$)?

If my grandfather who lived to be 86 (good enough for me), ran with higher blood pressure, his father too, and my blood pressure runs consistently a little high, why do I need this blood pressure drug?

I commend the OP on looking at natural alternatives before slugging Lipitor.

i second that about the natural alternatives ...your body is the most amazing machine that has ever existed ...give it the right fuel , treat it well and most ailments can be reversed ......

[MissChris]

your body can produce vitamin D by getting sun.

I wonder if the Thais wanting to stay out of the sun, increases the chance of D deficiencies (?)...........

Precisely.

As well, you shouldn't wash for a few hours after getting sun on your skin, because the oils that are needed for absorption are washed off. We have overdone the sunblock, although I doubt it would be a problem in Phuket. The poster who loves Thai soapies and wants his home-made burgers delivered is probably a worry. On many fronts.

I work with a woman from Zimbabwe. Her skin is the equivalent of Factor 15, so living at higher latitudes (she has worked in the UK for many years), she had extremely low levels, much to her surprise.

[MissChris]

PS Just because you have high cholesterol levels, doesn't necessarily mean you are going to have a heart attack or stroke. Lots of people live happily with extremely high levels. It tends to run in families. I think it's just the latest fad to get people to take statins.

Like heaps of people on proton pump inhibitors, like Nexium. Great for heartburn. Not so good every day.

[xylophone]

PS Just because you have high cholesterol levels, doesn't necessarily mean you are going to have a heart attack or stroke. Lots of people live happily with extremely high levels. It tends to run in families. I think it's just the latest fad to get people to take statins.

Like heaps of people on proton pump inhibitors, like Nexium. Great for heartburn. Not so good every day.

Yes, have often wondered about that and most probably in the "old days" before testing became the norm, many folk lived a long and happy life with high cholesterol levels!!

[jocko]

PS Just because you have high cholesterol levels, doesn't necessarily mean you are going to have a heart attack or stroke. Lots of people live happily with extremely high levels. It tends to run in families. I think it's just the latest fad to get people to take statins.

Like heaps of people on proton pump inhibitors, like Nexium. Great for heartburn. Not so good every day.

That is true for some people, i had a friend who works offshore on his yearly medical the Doc told himhe just passed as his cholesterol was high so told him to change his habits and diets which he did on the next yearly medical he was shocked to find out nothing had changed , so needless to say he returned to his bad boy ways that was about 4/5 year ago he is still working offshore.

[partington]

Statins are rapidly falling from favour. All sorts of side effects, including myopathy. The longer you take any drug, the more likely something will go wrong, in any case.

Advice from dieticians in Australia is to aim for 5 vegetables & 2 fruits a day. Try making your own green juice. I also heard that the three most useful vegetables are carrot, tomato & onion. You need leafy green ones if you are getting older for your macula as well.

If you're using margarine (or butter) regularly, you have a problem. It's a TREAT.

I agree that Thai food is preferable. However, it still has high levels of carbohydrate and limited variety of oils.

Just to worry you - the latest drama is about vitamin D levels. Lots of people are finding out they have very low levels.

The statement about statins falling out of favour is complete fabrication (or maybe, to be charitable, a combination of ignorance and wishful thinking).

Simvastatin and Lipitor, both statins, are number two and number seven in the world's most prescribed drugs and represent more than 130 million prescriptions a year, making them as a class the most prescribed drugs in the world, by far.

Myopathy is a side effect but occurs so rarely ( if 10,000 patients took statins for a year, you would expect one case of myopathy - http://213.4.18.135:48080/70.pdf) that it would not be considered a great enough risk to withold prescription, in the absence of other concerns. If you were unlucky enough to get side effects, you would, erm, just stop taking them.

High LDL cholesterol shows such a huge association with increased risk of heart disease that almost no serious scientist or clinician would argue that lowering high cholesterol is not a significant benefit to the health of patients. Many studies have actually proved that taking statins has lowered heart attack mortality in patients (eg http://en.wikipedia...._Survival_Study, one of many)

People who argue that drugs are 'unnatural' should remember that cancer, mosquitoes, smallpox and botulinum toxin are 'natural' .

'Natural' is not good by definition.

Good health is, though, and if taking drugs gives you good health you should take them.