<p>A family member has lab results from a physical with okay cholesterol readings (culd be better, but okay enough) but low HDL. Any one had any good non-Rx ways to increase HDL and/or decrease LDL/Trig?</p>
<p>Yes, I made a big difference in mine over 7 weeks by having oatmeal every morning and beans or lentils for lunch almost every day.</p>
<p>Fish oil and niacin pills.</p>
<p>Regular aerobic exercise.
Cook with olive oil.
Eat lots of plants, very little animal.</p>
<p>Aerobic exercise and lose weight.</p>
<p>Yes, you increase your HDL (the good cholesterol) by exercising.</p>
<p>Eat nuts: [Eating</a> nuts for heart health - MayoClinic.com](<a href=“http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nuts/HB00085]Eating”>Nuts and your heart: Eating nuts for heart health - Mayo Clinic)</p>
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<p>What MOWC said - lose weight and exercise. </p>
<p>If you’re not overweight and you exercise at a reasonable level regularly then I guess you’d need to go after the dietary aspect but if that fails then you’d probably need to do the meds. There are people who no matter what they do, they’ll have a high cholesterol problem unless they take the meds. If you’re overweight and don’t exercise regularly at a reasonable level then that’s the way to go to start with and it has the advantage of bringing many other healthful benefits as well.</p>
<p>If you are really serious about changing your profile, then a low-fat vegetarian diet will make a difference. DH had very high cholesterol despite following the AHA diet. He exercised daily, was extremely fit, and was on a low dose of lipitor. </p>
<p>Fourteen years ago, he had a heart attack and bypass surgery. What was most discouraging was that he was already doing all the things a cardiologist would recommend. What could he do to help himself?</p>
<p>We were walking in the mall shortly after he came home from the hospital. It was his first time out for some “exercise” and we were walking VERY slowly. We passed a bookstore and spotted a timely title, Reversing Heart Disease, by Dr. Dean Ornish. DH said, “I think I might need that book.”</p>
<p>DH bought the book, he followed the program to the letter and his cholesterol is now consistently at 150, with LDL at 103, HDL at 40. Recently, he had an incident with his heart because of the damage he sustained fourteen years ago, but the cardiologists were amazed at how good his arteries are. </p>
<p>The program has three prongs, diet, exercise, and stress reduction. We feel so lucky that we saw the book that day.</p>
<p>Almonds, cook with olive oil or canola oil. More chicken and fish in the diet and less red meat. Whole grains and legumes and of course more vegetables. But don’t punish yourself with a diet that you won’t stick with. Be creative with your diet.</p>
<p>For example, if you’re not crazy about oatmeal, toss some pumpkin or sunflower seeds and dried cranberries into your cereal.</p>
<p>Good luck friend</p>
<p>Here is how I lowered my LDL 30 points in 6 months. YMMV.
I cook oatmeal (Old-fashioned) oatmeal every morning for breakfast. I add nuts (walnuts or pecans) high in phytosterols. I also add some dried fruit - blueberries or cranberries.</p>
<p>Fish Oil - 2 - 1200 mg every day, before breakfast and dinner. You can get enteric coated if you are concerned about burping - just more expensive.</p>
<p>Excercise - aerobic - fast walking is good, you don’t have to run. For a number of months I could not excercise regularly (knee problem) so I think a good part of my change is due to diet.</p>
<p>Fiber!! High fiber diet - cut out or cut in half red meat. Add legumes or beans to the diet. I make black bean soup that is fantastic. Lots of fresh veggies.
Metamucil (orange, no sugar)- 1 tsp twice a day. once is okay if twice is too much fiber. Cut out processed carbs. Fiber One bars are actually pretty good.</p>
<p>Cut out dairy fats and red meat. I went to skim milk and non-fat yogurt and limit my cheese intake. Eat Fish.</p>
<p>Phytosterols - this is the new buzz word. You can take a supplement with added phytosterold but also increase consumption of foods high in phytosterols to your diet.
walnuts, other tree nuts, peanut butter, legumes, fruits and vegetables.</p>
<p>Watch the HDL/LDL ratio. You want the HDL/LDL to be above .4 ideally.<br>
In my case my ratio was .42 but my LDL was 137 which is too high. By excercising and changing my diet my LDL came down 30 points. I also brought down my fasting blood sugar - make sure to pay attention to that as well.</p>
<p>Now, some people eat healthy, excercise, are thin and still have high cholesterol - there is a genetic component. But folks should not assume their high cholesterol is genetically based - that is denial.</p>
<p>For me, almonds (maybe 15 whole raw almonds a day, I like to eat them with a square of dark chocolate) and exercise (just walking the dog 30 minutes a day will do it) have been key to bringing up my “good” levels. Everyone else in my (parents, siblings) family is on statin drugs except me.</p>
<p>I recently added eating steel cut oats 2-3 times a week for breakfast (cooked overnight in the crockpot) and adding walnuts to the oatmeal at the table.</p>
<p>I seem to have genetically high cholesterol, blood pressure is low/normal- but even when I am a vegetarian the over all cholesterol is high.
( but I have also increased my dairy to deal with the osteoporosis)</p>
<p>However- I downloaded Dr Ornishes latest book- because since I have been at my target weight- I know I could be eating better.</p>
<p>What was odd was that my mother- who was less active than I- was definitely an apple- ( I don’t know what I am- probably an apple, but my waist is 27"), and ate fast food- whereas I don’t ( ok I * rarely* do) , her cholesterol was lower.
So mine might have a genetic component- but not from my mothers side.
Stress- can make it higher- perhaps I am under more stress?</p>
<p>I eat this every week- it’s great- I don’t even have to measure before I have had my tea
[flax plus oatmeal](<a href=“http://www.naturespath.com/products/whole-grain/flax-plus-oatmeal”>http://www.naturespath.com/products/whole-grain/flax-plus-oatmeal</a>)</p>
<p>I also cook either old-fashioned rolled oats or steel-cut oats. I prefer the steel-cut, but S2 will only eat rolled oats. Like other posters, I add almonds or walnuts and dried fruit (cherries, raisins, or prunes) and lately I’ve started mixing in a lot of cinnamon. I should add ground flaxseeds- will pick some up soon.</p>
<p>JustaMom, thanks for all the good suggestions. Would you please post your black bean soup recipe?</p>
<p>A quick tip for anyone who wants to try steel cut oats, but doesn’t want to deal with the longer cooking time:</p>
<p>Put about an inch of water in your crockpot.
In a bowl that is microwave safe, put in 1/4 cup of oats and 1 cup of water
Place the bowl in the crockpot (just sitting in the water bath) with the cover on
Set on low heat overnight (6-8 hours). I like 'em cooked a little less than 8 hours, so I turn it off as soon as I get up, or add a little more water if I won’t be up.</p>
<p>You have cooked cereal in the morning and no mess to clean up. You can use a bigger container (I use a ceramic bread pan) if you need to make more than one serving.</p>
<p>Also, steel cut oats are about 1/3 the cost (and organic) at our local co-op compared to the packaged versions available in our grocery store.</p>
<p>Reduce carb and sugars by reducing processed foods and eating more at home cooked-from-scratch meals. Get exercise. </p>
<p>While all arguments about dietary links are still uncertain, there’s a growing body of belief that fat is less the culprit than too much of the sugar & carb (which are almost the same thing) processed diet.</p>
<p>Has anyone tried chia seeds as a replacement to flax seed. Yes- it is the Chia Pet. I have heard and read many positive comments about them. I plan to try the drink prior to my afternoon workout.</p>
<p>My 83 year old father just reduced his cholesteral significantly in 6 weeks–despite having carpel tunnel surgery in the middle of it all. He ate oatmeal with cinnamin every morning. He stopped eating bacon (he never ate much of it–more of a weekend breakfast thing) and stopped eating ice cream (he LOVES ice cream). Dropped 54 points in 6 weeks. The surgery did complicate things, he is very active in his garden, etc and was very down about the surgery. So I feed him ice cream…and the Italian lunch meats he loves. Frankly, I didn’t much care about the cholesteral that week, I just wanted him to eat. I did find a great sorbet at Ralphs–very chocolate which he loves and eats instead of ice cream.</p>
<p>When I am 83 do I still have to worry about my cholesterol?</p>
<p>Well, frankly I wish he wouldn’t worry about it. He’s very fit, does all his own yard work, tends to his animals (too many), etc. More exercise in a day than most people in a week.
I don’t think his cholesterol was all that high to begin with–more “on the high side” than actually high. He is proud of how he was able to reduce those numbers…to his credit he really doesn’t like oatmeal, but he is still eating it.</p>