Food for high Cholesterol?

  • I'm pretty sure that this has been brought up a million times @_@.
    But anyways I'll get to the question.

    My father has slightly elevated cholesterol (202). He wants to lower it, so what foods should he avoid to lower his Cholesterol? We are both in the dark about this. Any help?
  • Anything high in fat, mostly.

    Saturated fats elevate blood cholesterol levels even moreso than foods high in cholesterol themselves.

    I used to have high cholesterol, but when I changed my lifestyle and eating habits, i.e. eating a diet very low in saturated fats (yet getting enough of the good fats) my cholesterol is now normal
  • To add, 202 isn't really all that bad. It wouldn't hurt for him to lower it a little, but he's not quite in the danger zone yet.

    Again, the biggest thing to stay away from is saturated fat. Cut out (or severely cut back on) fried foods, red meat, egg yolk, high-fat dairy (including cheese), and processed foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils (trans fat).

    Saturated fats elevate the 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol while lowering the 'good' (HDL) cholesterol. Does he know his LDL and HDL numbers? The overal total number (202) doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

    I had high cholesterol before I changed my eating habits. Now my numbers are as follows:

    Total Cholesterol: 192
    LDL (bad cholesterol): 107
    HDL (good cholesterol): 61
    Triglycerides (blood fats): 120

    My total used to be around 250. My LDL was too high (it should be around 100 or less, so I still have a little work to do on that), my HDL was too low (used to be in the 40's) and my triglycerides were over 800.

    I changed my eating habits (I eat very little fat) and lost 80 pounds and now my numbers are normal again.

    Here's a chart giving optimal target ranges for cholesterol levels.

    LDL CHOLESTEROL
    Less than 100 Optimal Goal
    100 to 129 Close to Optimal
    130 to 159 Borderline High
    160 to 189 High
    190 or higher Very high (definite risk)
    HDL CHOLESTEROL
    Less than 40 Low (High Risk)
    60 or higher High (Optimal)
    TRIGLYCERIDES
    Less than 150 Optimal Goal
    TOTAL CHOLESTEROL
    Less than 200 Optimal Goal
    200 to 239 Borderline High
    240 or higher High
  • Here is a link to the American Heart Association's site on cholesterol:
    http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=1516

    It is a very informative site, hope this helps!
  • Oh thank you, the link is great.
    LLV.. my dad eats about 2 eggs every day @_@ lol I knew that was bad for him. not that bad, but that's 14 eggs a week. His LDL only a few points over what it should be. SoI think that cutting out his eggs and getting back on the work out band wagon would help him greatly.
  • Quote: Oh thank you, the link is great.
    LLV.. my dad eats about 2 eggs every day @_@ lol I knew that was bad for him. not that bad, but that's 14 eggs a week. His LDL only a few points over what it should be. SoI think that cutting out his eggs and getting back on the work out band wagon would help him greatly.
    Does he eat them whole or does he scramble them? If he scrambles them, he could at first try only using one of the two yolks.

    For the most part, I eat only the whites. But every now and then I have one yolk. I'll use three eggs... three whites and only one yolk. I toss out the other two.

    If he eats them whole, try switching to the brands that say their hens are vegetarian-fed. Eggland's Best is one of those brands. They're a little more expensive, but the yolks in veggie-fed hen eggs aren't as high in cholesterol and saturated fat as the yolk in regular eggs.
  • He eats them scrambled, so the one yoke idea is pretty good. And I knew about egg-lands, just didn't even think of it @_@ lol I'll have to talk to him about these ideas ^_^
  • Just to add, adding Fish Oil pills would help tremendously with diet and exercise. My in-laws and I take it and all of us have had our cholestrol go down!
  • Quote: Just to add, adding Fish Oil pills would help tremendously with diet and exercise. My in-laws and I take it and all of us have had our cholestrol go down!
    Yep, I take fish oil every day. They're great for lowering triglycerides.
  • Quote: He eats them scrambled, so the one yoke idea is pretty good. And I knew about egg-lands, just didn't even think of it @_@ lol I'll have to talk to him about these ideas ^_^
    Yep, just take one of the yolks out. He'll never miss it.