lowering cholesterol

[lynda66]

no lectures to give up smoking, we all know we should ...... but basically don't eat anything pre made, make everything fresh, if you've made it you know what's in it, and can reduce fat accordingly, eat plenty of chicken and oily fish, and plenty of fruits and veg, takeaways occasionally, and you don't have to give chips up, just save them as a treat, leave skins on veg where possible, and go for strong cheese, occasionally, or low fat cheese spreads, the garlic and herb ones are yum. ....... it's not a diet, it's just a new way of eating ....... and of course you can have the odd donut or bar of choccie (you'll only crave them if you don't have them) but don't go mad, and look at them as an occasional treat.

turkey mince is better than most, but if you want to eat mince, make sure it's lean, rather than the cheap stuff, my butchers will mince meat in front of you, so you buy the meat that's got very little fat...... then make your own burgers, can use carrots onions etc to pad it out, so you can use less mince, and they are yum too.

just eat sensibly, and all will be well

[MaureenHall]

I've got my cholesterol down from 7.8 to 5.6 by changing my eating habits and with medication. I do love my food though so one thing that really cheered me up was reading somewhere that your own chooks eggs are 3 times higher in Omega 3 and half the cholesterol as battery eggs, so frittatas are often on my menu

[di]

Cheese too would be my downfall!!As I'm the only one in the family that eats it I know how dangerous it is to buy in supposedly economical large amounts,so when I fancy a treat try to buy the smallest amount possible!(If you're like me doesn't matter how big the chunk is~if it's in the fridge it really ALL needs to be eaten in one day!!)So I'd say (sorry assuming your willpower is as nonexistent as mine!!),kep the treats but buy in really small quantities,so you can't keep going back for just one more tiny little bit!!
Butter is another!!Too often I buy far more than I need to make a cake..& if it's there then it cries out to be eaten not spread but sliced()on crispy bread!!If it's not there I really don't miss it!
So without sounding all Jamie O!!It's yer shopping habits that need changing,& hopefully your eating ones will follow!!Honest I'm not being judgemental!!I'm exactly the same!!
Good Luck!!

[andrewo]

I've been living with this for awhile, the sad thing is they ask you to aim for 4g of fat per 100g. Walk around the supermarket and I dare you to find anything that does this, alot of products exceed this and sometimes the most surprising supposedly healthy ones. At least if you walk fast you will get out of breath with indignation. The best bet for exercise is to walk, do a mile everyday but get your heart pumping or cycling is also a good aerobic exercise, you could even take an exercise bike to the allotment.

Oh and more fish, mackeral, any of the oily ones (not salmon) and pad out meat with veg. I do a mean lasagne with mince and courgettes (this is far better than qourn). Eggs are a strange thing, there has been recent studies suggesting that we should have at least one a day because of the good fats it contains, alot of the cholesterol problems we have is with saturated and processed fats e.g. processed foods - I avoid these like the plague and now make my own burgers. My cholesterol used to be 9.2 but is now around 4.6. I still eat butter, eggs and milk but I buy milk now that is unhomegenised (the silent killer in all supermarket milk is that the milk is bonded to fat molecules to make it last longer - not many people know this and by cutting this crap out, you reduce your fat intake considerably if you eat any processed dairy). I now drink proper milk from a proper farmer, same with cheeses. Alot of cholesterol is down to this reckless disregard of the health of the consumer. Really, next time you walk around the supermarket, find milk that is unhomogenised, cheese that isn't made with homogenised milk, products with 4g of fat per 100g. Food is made to rot, fat masks this rot and slows down the process, the upshot is, you think you're eating healthy but in fact your eating processed.

Just to give you the proof, I am a milk drinker, big time, I used to drink alot of supermarket milk until I found this out. I went to a local milkman and changed, I get a pint a day and now I may have 4-5 glasses a week. Sure, the milk I drink now is full fat but I lost over 2 stone - it literally dropped off. I asked a friend of mine whose a scientist at a school and he wasn't suprised I drank alot of supermarket milk, he says its akin to eating fast food burgers, our bodies become addicted to the fat - in supermarket milk there is alot of fat that saturates (he noted that my moods had changed and that I wasn't acting like an addict when it came to milk). He then went on to say most people are addicted to some kind of food and that 9 times out of 10 they contain high levels of saturated fat that really shouldn't be there.

There are real horrors on supermarket shelves, buy local, buy sourced and avoid processed foods.

[Marthaclematis]

Actually, the book you linked is the second one and its too long!! The original title is shorter and more to the point, I read it on long flight and when I got to my destination I put my cigs in the bin. The main thing he taught me through the book and which helped the most is that it is NOT difficult to give up - actual nicotine addiction lasts three weeks tops and the symptoms are so mild (like a vague hunger) that unless you really think about it you wouldn't notice. We as smokers are BRAINWASHED by the tobacco industry into thinking that its gonna be very very hard, they want us to think that so that even when we do try we're constantly thinking we're deprived. Of course, what he is saying may well be brainwashing too, but who cares! If I've been brainwashed into thinking I have now beaten my nicotine addiction and will never smoke again, then so be it and hurrah !!

[lynda66]

i've given up loads of times, it's not hard really, it's the staying stopped i have a problem with, mind you, my other problem is, i don't really want to give up ...... i gave up when i was pregnant, and for 6 years after, then got started again wish i could convince myself i actually want to give up.

[HeyWayne]

i've given up loads of times, it's not hard really, it's the staying stopped i have a problem with, mind you, my other problem is, i don't really want to give up ...... i gave up when i was pregnant, and for 6 years after, then got started again wish i could convince myself i actually want to give up.

I think that's the crux of it. Been an ex-smoker for a number of years now having given up several times in the past only to start again whilst on holiday. For us giving up was a choice we made when we starting thinking about having children, even before we started trying. We wanted our bodies as clear of the rubbibsh smoking leaves as we could before we started trying, so here we are as ex's.

My Dad had been smoking for as long as I can remember - in old photos he's smoking ciggies, but I remember him with a pipe. In latter years he started on rollies as the pipe stuff was getting too expensive. Anyhoo - I think I posted on here about him last year having what we thought at the time was a heart attack (turned out to be a severe case of angina), and he hasn't touched a smoke since - in any form. He's had three operations now to insert stents to open up the arteries.

I think it hit him when I said I wanted him to be around to see his grandchild/ren grow up.

He started off really well, doing more exercise, and eating a better diet, but both he and Mum have the attention span of a goldfish full of e-numbers, so I regret that he's started to put on some serious weight (he has always been stick thin), and does pretty much nothing all day.

Good luck dude, you know it's worth it.

[Marthaclematis]

I quite enjoyed smoking too, I liked the physical act and I liked the taste and I liked the vague dizzy feeling when I hadn't had one for a while, and I REALLY liked the fact that one ciggarette would stave my hunger for about 30 mins. I stopped for health reasons - I'm not getting any younger and my mother died of arteriosclerosis aged 64. I don't want to leave my husband a young widower - hopefully we will have an active and happy old age travelling the world. Also, I do quite care about what people think about me, and as I was eventually the ONLY person I knew who smoked (the last three bastions of the weed gave up last year) I felt very foolish. Like an idiot who had to go out into the cold to feed the habit. It was actually made harder, not because people would comment but because people DIDN'T, it was like they were pitying me in silence.... 'poor thing, look at her'. I felt ashamed.

[Dobby]

Ok just been watching youtube and bought
Amazon.co.uk: Easy Way to Stop Smoking (Book & Cds): Allen Carr: Books
I got a secondhand one but siad new less than a 5iver with p&P so we shall see

[maytreefrannie]

Mrs D -
Porridge (as has already been mentioned here) is widely reputed to help in lowering cholesterol and I read very recently that blueberries are also good.

A small handful of walnuts a day (so I've read) is good for the heart (they contain good fat).

I know the biggest decision is about the smoking, but think about it - the health benefits are the most important, but you can also count each day that you're saving whatever would have been spent on them.

best of luck in bringing down your cholesterol.

[Marthaclematis]

Ooooh Dobby, I am so pleased for you. If you believe what he tells you - and there is absolutely no reason not to because its all common sense - then you'll be fine. And what Maytreefannie says is true too - I am 'giving' myself three pounds cash a day, and six pounds on Saturdays to go towards something really indulgent for myself, er... once I've paid off my credit card from the holiday that is! Just think what you can do - you will be able to afford the most expensive, luxurious, organic museli on the planet. And the best cold pressed olive oil, even that cholesterol lowering spread, you'll be saving your life twice. I am very pleased for you.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I gave up some years ago - everytime I reached into the drawer to pick up a cigarette, I went and made a cup of tea instead. Sure, I was on 20 cups of tea a day for a while but it broke the habit for me.

And the extra exercise running up and down to the loo half the day after all that tea was good for me too!

[Dobby]

Thanks everyone only 20 cups a day hazel I'm on that already
I decided if I have a choice between a cig or chocolate or cake or cookesys then my sweet tooth wins im going to give the cookes a try on the GI website
I know I was bad yesterday I eate 2 bountys .....
I know its cos I'm not suposed to its the rebel in me, And I know I have to do something now or soon

[maytreefrannie]

Dobby -
Just apologising for my post yesterday, I thought the thread was started by Mrs Dobby! the rest of it stands, just stuff I've heard or read.

From one tea drinker to another, Best of luck with bringing down the cholesterol.

[ailsasyl]

My mum has had to lower her cholesterol and keep her borderline diabetes under control, she's only just started tablets, for many years now both aunt and uncle were early fourties when they became insulin dependant, mums now late fifties so has gained about 12-15 years on them so doing good, although is by now means strict. One thing she hadn't changed till she spoke to dietician was changing butter/marg spread to an olive spread, on subject of mince buy the extra lean mince and home made is best as someone who is struggling bigtime to loose weight and knowing that the diabetes runs in the family I am trying hard to make homemade and make the switch, although as a single mum who works shifts it can be hard to find the time especially as days off are taken up with housework or decorating!!