My bf is 26, about 5’7, 195 and has just found out that his cholesterol is a bit high. He’s not exactly sedentary, but he does eat greasy food and could definitely use more exercise.
I’m basically looking for simple changes he can make. He’s afraid they’re going to tell him he has to run laps every day or something. He’s willing to do moderate exercise, but I know he won’t stick with a strict program.
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give. It would be especially helpful to hear from people who have actually lowered their cholesterol.
Anyway, not knowing how high his cholesterol is, nor his ratio of good/bad cholesterol, I will only speak on general principles.
Eat less fat. And make sure that of the fat you eat, its mainly mono-unsaturated fat like olive oil and similar.
Eat less food. Lose about 15 pounds and the cholesterol will drop.
Exercise daily. Nothing strenuous is necessary. A daily brisk walk of 30 minutes duration, perhaps just enough to build up a light sweat, would be helpful.
There are several cholesterol lowering spreads available which could be used in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise. I’ve also read Omega 3 is beneficial in lowering cholesterol, triglyceride levels, blood pressure and has many other health advantages. A good source is cold water fish, walnuts, leafy green vegetables, flaxseed and fish oil.
Proven techniques include: losing weight, eating oats, eating good fat like fish oil and olive oil, reducing bad fat. Also probably helpful includes pomegranate juice, tomato juice, exercise.
For prevention of heart disease, stroke and cancer-but not sure about cholesterol-the best single thing to do is take a quarter aspirin a day.
Never too young to start. A friend’s daughter just died of cancer at 26. Another friend’s sister died of cancer in her thirties recently.
Get him to walk 3 times a week.
Start cooking ONLY with olive oil.
Cut the carbs, especially refined sugary processed garbage (ex: snacky cakes)
Fish, lots of it. A can of tuna 3 times a week would be a start.
If you think he can handle it, just have him exercise and stick him on Atkins.
I lowered my cholesterol 50 points by giving up french fries. I was eating out a lot, at family american food restaurants. I would always get the veggies instead of the fries.
Ok, he informed me that he actually weighs 180. He wanted me to make sure to correct myself.
I’ve told him to try eating something like Raisin Bran or Grape Nuts every morning for breakfast, not to go to the vending machine, bring a healthy lunch to work (even if it does have a bag of chips or something), and to make sure to have a nice green veggie every day with dinner.
He’s also going to start doing a minimum of 30 min. 2X a week on his bike, and hopefully adding a day of swimming.
We’re also going to buy the diet ice cream sandwiches from now on since we’re both addicted to the regular ones. hee hee.
I think he’ll be fine if he just makes some minor changes. A few healthy alternatives can make all the difference in the world.
Here is what I take. I lowered mine from 206 to 160 in less than 3 months.
A good multi. (I use HiHealth Ultimate Plus) in the Morning
In addidition:
1000 milligrams of Flaxseed oil (in evening)
1000 milligrams Calcium (in evening)
1000 milligrams of Red Rice Yeast (500 in the AM, 500 PM)
1000 milligrams of Garlic (500 AM and 500 PM)
2000 milligrams vit. C (in the AM)
The Red Rice Yeast is effective alone to lower cholesterol, but the above combination was to lower my cholesterol and my high blood pressure. My blood pressure is also down to 136/70. I have a friend who is a nutritionist and she advised me to take the above. My doctor agrees with it and was going to suggest the RRY himself.
Qadcop gives the advice that most doctors and nutritionists seem to give. There’s not really a magic bullet, but there are common-sense things you can do.
One extra bit of advice: if your boyfriend doesn’t know how to cook, he should learn. Get a cookbook that balances health and flavor, and have fun with it. I’d recommend as one cookbook to have in your repertoire Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It’s not low-fat throughout, but there are plenty of healthful recipes in it, and every single thing I’ve made from it has turned out to be delicious.
And when you cook food for yourself, you can control the amount and kinds of fat that go into it; you can also control how much veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and so forth that you eat.
I have cholesterol that goes up and down and it seems to be that I am just one of those people prone to it, my mother has it too. I found that when I was a semi-vegetarian (I still ate seafood but no other meat) my cholesterol was easier to manage. After my last high cholesterol result I did some research and found that a lot of the foods I ate a lot of when semi-vegetarian were helpful in lowering cholesterol. So aside from the common sense stuff, excercising and eliminating most fats, there are some foods that could help.
A google search could probably help you find a list of good foods, I don’t have my list handy. One of the things I remember is that garlic is very good for lowering cholesterol, but since no one would want to eat that much garlic a good supplement would be a better idea.
I’ve found that changes like these are the easiest to follow, at least to start. Just substituting one serving of healthfully-prepared vegetables in place of a higher-fat item per day can save your boyfriend up to 300 calories, which in and of itself can lead up to significant weight loss and possibly cholesterol reduction over a year. Once he’s kept that up for a few weeks, he could make another change, like substituting a piece of fruit or a lower-fat/lower-calorie version of a dessert for a higher-fat/higher-calorie one. Or eating brown rice instead of white. Also, measuring portions can be a real eye-opener, so you might try that, too.
If he adds additional small changes to that, i.e., taking the stairs instead of the elevator for a trip of three floors or less, or parking further away from his building at work and walking an additional 5-10 minutes each way, he would get some exercise, probably without even really realizing it, and will probably find he is more energetic, and may be motivated to do even more regular exercise and make further dietary changes.
Adding a multi-vitamin is always a good idea, too, especially if he’s prone to eating a bunch of greasy foods. He might not be getting all the nutrients he needs. Not that pills are a good substitute for healthier food, but they’re good insurance anyway.
Remember, too, that just because something is vegetarian doesn’t mean it’ll automatically fit the bill. I made calabacitas last night, and while it is a vegetarian meal, it has onions, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, green chile, corn, cheese, heavy cream, butter, and olive oil. While it’s a great meal for a guy like me doing Atkins (just remove the corn) it has a ton of fat. Especially since this was the first time I made it and I way overdid it with the butter and oil, not knowing how much would really be needed.
When I was 24, my cholesterol was 330. When last tested, I had it down to 220. Since then, I became a fish-e-tarian (I don’t eat land animals, just sea creatures.), quit smoking, lowered my carb intake and exercised more regularly. I’m going to have my blood drawn in a couple months to see exactly what the effect of quitting smoking turned out to be.
Besides everything else recommended here (which are all things I did to get my levels down 100 points)… I highly recommend including garlic and/or cayenne pepper in – bare minimum – one meal each day. There are other herbal recommendations I could make, but I believe diet and exercise are key with cholesterol, not pills and vitamins. YMMV.
Since I posted this thread, my bf’s cholesterol went from 246 to 160. Isn’t that amazing? He’s been doing all the right things, and has also lost some weight. He looks really great and he’s very happy his cholesterol is down.
A couple months ago I saw an article saying that as little as a teaspoon of cinnamon a day will greatly reduce cholesterol. I don’t have the cite, but you could probably find it by searching Yahoo! Health for “cinnamon.”
