High Cholesterol And Triglycerine Levels

[Preacher]

It seems my cholesterol and triglycerine levels are high (276 and 326 mg/dl respectively).

Can anyone give me soem advise on what is good to eat and what not with regards to th Thai/Asian kitchen. A lot of info on the internet is based on the Western kitchen.

[Kalbo]

Avoid overly fatty foods,especially Thai'street food' (fried chicken etc), and excessive amounts (more than 1 serving per day) of white rice. Cut down on alcohol consumption and supplement with fish oil , (available almost anywhere in Thailand) and eat a small handful of almonds a day.

[glbv]

As for avoiding any forms of foods, it has been shown in scientific study that dietary choices have a minimal to no effect on your bloods level of cholesterol. Your body produces this naturally although there are ways to lower it.

Smoking has been shown to raise total cholesterol and reduce HDL (good kind) of cholesterol.

Being fat will drastically increase your chances of having elevated cholesterol and decreasing your weight be even just 5kg will show a drastic change.

Supplements can help but they are not a magic pill. Fish Oil is great for anyone for its Omega 3s and its fairly inexpensive when ordered online. I would personally never purchase the fishoil available in Thailand as its generally low quality.

I have used (url link removed - PM poster if interested) in the past and one Bottle will last a normal person 3 months. This has a very strong Orange flavor to it and no hint of fishyness.

(url link removed) is what i currently take, the switch was done because I travel quite abit and its difficult to transport liquid everywhere I go. But this is one of the if not the best fish oils ive found as its fats are most up of almost all omega 3/6 and not just fatty acid as many brands are. $21.82 shipped and thats for 2 months, coupon 6305684 will take off 5$ bringing you down to $16.82 for 2 months of great fish oil.

Good luck with your heath goals.

[samtam]

If you drink alcohol it is a huge contributor to high triglycerides. Stop drinking for a month and you will notice improvement.

As mentioned, some of us are prone to high triglycerides and medication is one way to help improve it. I use Supralip and it is effective.

Edited April 20, 2012 by samtam

[Preacher]

Thanks for the comments so far. The good news is that I don't drink or smoke, the bad side is that it means I can't reduce it but not taking any.

I like almonds, but I'm suprised that rice is so bad. I always like brown rice more, but the Thai family not. Seems I now have an extra good reason to press for brown rice.

Seems more excersise won't hurt either. I already try swimming once a week.

[chiang mai]

I was in a similar position four weeks ago so I completely changed my diet, got rid of all the snacks (cookies/cakes), no fried food and no soft drinks - replaced it all with raw fruit and veg, yoghurt, krispbread, weetabix, some grilled chicken and no alcohol. I've managed to get the numbers right once again plus I've shed a much needed 7 kilo's and am feeling great, why not try it for three weeks. Unfortunately there's not a lot in the Thai kitchen that's super healthy, everything's either deep fried or negative on the cholesterol/triglyceride front, coconut milk and prawn based dishes especially, the latter being about as bad as is possible.

[Preacher]

I just love the Thai curry in coconut milk, yummie! But also try to eat my vegetables (cooked) and lots of fresh fruit.

I can take a little bit care of what I eat, but seems a diet is not going to help that much, besides cutting down on the meat a bit and eating more brown rice instead of white. Seems excersize and weightloss is the way to go.

[chiang mai]

I just love the Thai curry in coconut milk, yummie! But also try to eat my vegetables (cooked) and lots of fresh fruit.

I can take a little bit care of what I eat, but seems a diet is not going to help that much, besides cutting down on the meat a bit and eating more brown rice instead of white. Seems excersize and weightloss is the way to go.

You should look into Metabolic Syndrome (MSy) which is a collection of of things including the two high blood numbers you mention, I had all four and a completely changed diet and exersise was the right answer - if you have high LDL and Triglycerides you should check and see what your blood sugar level is becasue that is more indicative of the MSy I mentioned. I never in my life dreamed that I would ever have to go on a diet or loose weight but I've now done both.

[Preacher]

Thanks for the adivise.

I went back to see the doctor and now my cholestrol is normal (about 225, but is saw they changed the normal levels from maximum of 200 to a maximum of 250) and the triglycerides are back to 227. Still high, but already much lower with minimum efford. Just some dieet control and a little bit more excercise do wonders.

I was amazed that simple drinks as fruit juices contain so much sugar. I guess they could do with at least half of the sugar they put into it.