Lisa G.   Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Great Jean! I highly belive in using Fish Oil tablets.

A hand full of almonds, 10-15 peices, is also helpful in lowering cholestrol.

I have had high cholestrol all my life, so I have to really watch my diet. I walk often, drink lots of water (about 8 cups or 8- 8oz a day) and get proper rest. Yes..I do and have fallen off the band wagon many times, but try to climb back up, dust myself off, and do my best again.

I am also hypo glycemic, low blood sugar. This probably came with the terrirtory, of yo-yo dieting for so many years. My doctor told me to 6-8 very small portions a day. As a rule of thumb, ladies can have about a 200 calorie (heatlhy snack such as an apple) every 2-3 hours, men can have 300 calorie snacks.

If you have no allergies, hawthrone berry is very good for lowering cholestrol and lowering high blood pressure too. If someone has low blood pressure, this will not be an apporpriate choice of herb, however.

So, Jean, lets you and I get those numbers down. Next year, I want to aim for having a normal cholestrol reading.

Dec 12th 2007 16:56   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Hi Lisa,

Didn't know about the hawthorn berry being a cholesterol lowering
herb.
Hawthorn berry and lemongrass tea is one of my favourite herbal teas
in summer, so I think I'll be drinking more now!
Thanks for the tip

Like you, I'm aiming to get my level down naturally before my recheck
in a few months.
It's possible, as once I was 8.2 and the doctor told me I'd never get it
down by diet, but I got to 6.5 that time.

Now it's only 6.8 and I have 6 months to get it down. Different doctor
though, and he agrees with natural being best!
Dec 12th 2007 17:09   

Jenny Stewart   
Hi Jean

First of all my sincerest condolences on the horrendous cholesterol news - hope it doesn't wreck your Christmas and all those goodies like Christmas Cake and Christmas Pud- This is a pretty serious event for a founder member of the Fruit Cake Protection Society!!

You are spot on with the Omega 3. The "mediterranean diet" which is famous for it's healthiness is full of oily fish and salad, precede4d by soups made from pulses and vegetables (with a little of the dreaded fatty stuff to give some flavour - though fish is widely used to

I dont know what kind of fish you get in Melbourne - but any oily fish - tuna,, swordfish, salmon, sardines, mackeral, anchovies, and all the blue or oil fish are delicious and GOOD for you!

Avoid hard cheese and full fat milk and fatty meat. There is so much you can eat on a low cholesterol diet (the cheese is hardest for me) that you dont need to starve at all! And you can still eat some of the stuff you shouldn't, as long as you have lots of the stuff you should.

good luck
Jenny
Dec 12th 2007 17:20   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Hi Jenny,

Yes, it was horrible, thinking I'd have to miss out on fruitcake with marzipan icing,
Chrissy pud with sauce, and all those goodies. I think I'll still have a small
helping of them though! Or perhaps even a big one........

Don't eat much cheese, although I do like it - really like a cream cheese with
sweet chilli sauce. Yummmmm. :-)

We do get quite a variety of fish here - I've just bought some barramundi
(my favourite) for dinner. Cauliflower and parsley & lemon sauce with it,
and whatever veggies I have.

You can see why I probably have a cholesterol problem, with the food I like,
but it's genetic in my family anyway.
And yes, I'll stick to the low fat milk - I like one with added calcium.
Thanks for you thoughts

Jean


Dec 12th 2007 17:28   

Jenny Stewart   
What on earth is barramundi when it is at home? Can't find it in my fish book!!! white fish is ok - but it is the oily fish that give you the natural Omega 3. and try to use olive oil on your salads.

I'm not a great fruit eater either - even i like it - it just seems to get overlooked. But what I do a lot is add fruit to salads, including salads dressed with olive oil. It is a good way of eating the fruit you need without having to make a special effort.


Dec 12th 2007 17:33   

Sonya Smith   
Barramundi is excellent!! I wait tables 3 nights a week for my outside the house job, and the restaurant I work at serves it often. My speil when asked what it is from my customers is "It's a wonderful white flaky fish from Austaralia farm raised here in the states. It's served skin on, and has nice light flavor, similar to redfish" O

One of the ways we serve it is rubbed with garlic butter and italian herbs, then wrapped in organic banana leaves, grilled for a moment, then finished in the oven. It sells like CRAZY.



Back to your diet dilemma, The only thing that has ever worked for me to get my cholesteral (and my blood pressure too) down, was a low carb diet. Not for everyone, and there is always a HUGE debate about it every time I bring up how I did it, but it worked for me. They really need to rename the damn diet to good carb diet instead of low carb!!

Lots and lots and lots of fresh veggies, green leafy veggies, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, green beans squashes of all types, lots of protein, and zero to very little sweets, pastas, rice and potatos. really carby foods, especially starchy ones turn to sugar in your system, which turns to fat when you can't burn it as fuel, it also clogs up your arteries and raises your cholesterol. And for me, unfortuantely, when my weight creeps up from eating all the good stuff like potatos and cookies, my blood pressure creeps up with it.

Look up Low Glycemic diets or low glycemic foods on the internet.
Dec 18th 2007 23:29   

Jennifer Underwood   Promoter
I don't know,
with my family history, I really really need to go to the dr. I am worse than a man when it comes to that. But it seems when I eat right...I have no energy and gain weight. When I eat wrong (carbohydrates..type).....I have energy and lose weight.
I am not a big sweet fan...*already too sweet....* hehehehe.
My only sweet weakness is sweet tea. But that is cause I am a Georgia peach....
Right Lisa.
And oh..I meant to say ...I like tea with my sugar!!! :0)
Dec 18th 2007 23:39   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
I see Sonja has explained what barramundi is. Jenny, if you ever get the chance,
do try it - it's a beautiful fish. The best I ever had was when I lived in the Northern
Territory years ago. It's native to the area and it's really fresh.

Jen (Hackers) I'm trying to cut out the sweets, cakes, etc., and cut down on
all the naughty stuff, but it's pretty hard when you're a chocaholic, with a very
sweet tooth! A couple of years ago my cholesterol was 8.2 and I got it
down with diet, now it's only 6.8, so I'm hoping to do the same.

Sonja, thanks for the diet tips - I do eat a lot of veggies, as there aren't too many
I don't like, and I try to have a fruit only lunch twice a week, although I'm not a
fruit eater.

I like my fruit dried, mixed with salted nuts, which is unfortunately not the
way to go.

Everything I like is illegal, immoral, or fattening :-)
Dec 19th 2007 00:28