I’m in my early/mid 40’s. My bloodwork came back with my bad cholesterol number at 230. High is anything over 200. Doc didn’t seem too concerned, he told me to lose weight and I have a plan and I’m going to stick to it.
What else can I do? Any OTC drugs? Anything I should definitely add or subtract from my diet? How big of an improvement is even possible or am I destined to start Lipitor at some time in my near future?
Love to hear about your experiences. Thanks
I was in your situation. Through minor improvements in diet, and exercise and weight loss, I’ve gone from around 230 to 208. My doctor also didn’t want to start prescriptions
There are OTC ways to lower cholesterol (red yeast rice, niacin) but I don’t know if they’ve been proven to reduce the risk of heart attack.
More soluble fiber is likely a good idea.
Metamucil helps this and other problems in people over 40.
Was it a one time result? Or are you trending high? If your doctor is leaning towards diet and excercise, it seems fine to give that a try.
I had mildly high cholesterol according to the blood test about ten years ago, and my doctor requested a second, fasting test. That one came back with high HDL (the “good” cholesterol)and low LDL so he told me I was in fine shape. Since then I’ve quite smoking and if anything my diet is better. Last October I had another blood panel/overall wellness check done and the doc said everything looked great. I’m 56.
So another vote for lifestyle changes, plus I guess it depends how many risk factors you have - blood pressure, alcohol use, diet & exercise, family history, etc. Statins do have side effects and if you can avoid them and get your cholesterol down without them that’s probably a wiser long-term choice.
IMHO and IANAD!
I have a friend who was discovered to have familial hypercholesterolemia in her early 20s, with a level over 400. :eek: Just eating oatmeal for breakfast led to her level dropping 40 points in a month. I’d try that, especially for a borderline case like yours, before using drugs. Those drugs have terrible side effects that are often not recognized for what they are; I believe that a lot of people who think they have fibromyalgia actually have muscle damage from these drugs.
Red yeast rice can have drug interactions, so I wouldn’t use that as first-line therapy either. High dose niacin should only be used under medical supervision.
JMHO, of course. But AVOID statins unless less drastic measures have failed.
If you go with niacin, make sure that you’re not taking niacinamide, which is buffered to reduce the flushing you get with niacin. Niacin can help, the other won’t. I couldn’t handle the hot flashes from niacin, so ended up on statins, but then my cholesterol used to be over 300.
FWIW thenew (somewhat controversial) guidelines are less about the cholesterol number by itself and more about the risk factors. No diabetes or extant or past cardiovascular disease? Then the guideline says to use this calculator and treat if the result says over a 7.5% 10 year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. You can plug in your own info …
Meanwhile lotso legumes are useful. Nuts to some degree too. Exercise (some of some intensity) for raising the HDL. Avoid refined carbs, added sugar (included hidden in the ingredients list) and processed meats in particular. Lots of fiber of all types ffom a variety of food sources. A drink now and then so long as its only one or two now and then can be helpful too.