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Combating Cholesterol

When a doctor starts your appointment with the phrase, "I've got some bad news..." you know it's not going to be a great day. That's how a friend of mine (we'll call him Tim) got the news that he had "dangerously high cholesterol." The doctor proceeded to tell Tim what that meant and wrote a prescription for a type of cholesterol lowering drug called statins. After giving the prescription the doctor scheduled a follow-up appointment and sent my friend on his way. It was all wonderfully efficient. Here's your problem. This is the pill you need to take to fix it. Have a nice day.

What is Cholesterol? Cholesterol is a lipid found in the cell membranes of all tissues. It is essential to human survival because it's a critical component our bodies need to build and maintain cell membranes.

That's when Tim called me. He already takes a handful of pills everyday to combat other health issues. Tim was taking the pills the doctor prescribed, but he wanted to know if he could do anything else to lower his cholesterol. I told him there was, but he would have to take a close look at the things he did every day.

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Starting out the morning with half a dozen fried eggs, sausage and bacon had to stop. Eating foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol would only make his situation worse. I had him invest in a non-stick pan, taught him how to separate the yolks from the eggs and replaced the white bread with a high fiber multigrain. On days he wanted something different, he has a high fiber cereal with fat free milk or a low sugar oatmeal.

Changing nothing but breakfast can lower the bad cholesterol levels 4-6% in 60 days. But we were just starting.

Tim loves shellfish. In fact, he eats it at least three or four times a week. Unfortunately shellfish is high in cholesterol. I suggested Tim switch to other types of seafood (baked, not fried) and save the shellfish for an indulgence once a week.

The last step was the most difficult. I told him he had to start exercising. He needed to start resistance training at least 3 days a week. On two of the four days he wasn't in the gym, he had to do something aerobic in nature. Take a walk, ride a bike, swim, in-line skate...something for at least 30 minutes.

The exercise part was a hard sell for Tim because he's been a couch potato for the last decade. But then I told him about the numbers.

At 9 months, Tim's cholesterol had dropped even further to 156 and he had lost almost 40 pounds of fat. He loves eating breakfast now because instead of making him feel bloated, it gives him energy to face the day. Working out is something he looks forward to and he really likes all the attention he gets when he goes out. Of course saving $60 a month because he doesn't need cholesterol lowering medication is a big plus.

Now it's time you took a look at your lifestyle. Are you taking medications to counteract the effects of a poor diet and lack of exercise? If you are, schedule an appointment with your doctor and see if it's time you started exercising. If not for your health, think of all the money you'll save.

Special Update! When we originally wrote this article in 2007, we had serious concerns about how cholesterol medications were being marketed. Clinical research showed there were extremely small benefits. The negative side effects were glossed over and the huge benefits of proper diet and exercise were being ignored. Now it's worse. If you take the drug Vytorin you're told it'll help lower your cholesterol. That's true. What the drug company doesn't mention is that it has "never been shown to reduce heart attacks or deaths." You read that right. According to John Abramson, clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, "You can lower cholesterol levels with a drug, yet provide no health benefits whatsoever, and dying with a corrected cholesterol level is not a succesful outcome in my book." High cholesterol is a serious medical condition. Take care of it the right way, start putting healthier food in your body and get some exercise. A pill isn't going to solve your problem, no matter how much you want it to.

Red Yeast Rice Update Have you been told you should eat red yeast rice to lower cholesterol? That was actually TRUE. But the red yeast rice you can buy today is very different from what was on the shelf in the year 2000. Click Here for the whole story.

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What Cholesterol Numbers Mean Total Cholesterol (TC) = 200 (or less) (This is a combination of HDL and LDL cholesterol numbers.) 200 to 239 mg/dL: Borderline-High Risk 240 mg/dL and over: High Risk HDL = 45 (or higher) (This is the "Good" Cholesterol) Think of HDL as HEALTHY or HAPPY. 40 mg/dL or less for men: Higher Risk for Heart Disease 50 mg/dL or less for women: Higher Risk for Heart Disease LDL = 100 (or lower) (This is the "Bad" Cholesterol) Think of LDL as LAZY or BAD. Less than 100 mg/dL: Optimal 100 to 129 mg/dL: Near Optimal/ Above Optimal 130 to 159 mg/dL: Borderline High 160 to 189 mg/dL: High 190 mg/dL and above: Very High Triglycerides = 150 (or lower) (These are the fats your body makes from the food you eat.) 150 mg/dL or less: Normal 150 to 199 mg/dL: Borderline High 200 to 499 mg/dL: High 500 mg/dL and over: Very High Total Cholesterol to HDL Ratio = 4.4 (or lower) (Higher than 4.4 and your cholesterol isn't balanced potentially endangering your arteries.) Fasting Blood Glucose = 100 (or lower) (Used to detect both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and to help diagnose diabetes.) 100 to125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L): Impaired Fasting Glucose (Pre-Diabetes) 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) and above on more than one testing occasion: Diabetes

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2/3/2008
Updated 6/27/2010
Updated 7/24/2010
Updated 9/23/2011

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