I just downloaded this last night and I'm already 1/3 of the way through it. What an eye opening validation! (says the woman with total cholesterol of 323)

For anyone who is leery of a HF/LC WOE, for anyone who has high cholesterol despite doing everything "right", for anyone whose doctor is pushing statin medications (trust your instincts, stand your ground), this book is a must read!

http://www.amazon.com/Cholesterol-Cl.../dp/1936608383

Update when you finish, please. I am trying to avoid cholesterol medicine in the future.

I think you might want to read the Amazon reviews of the book. This isn't about how to lower your cholesterol numbers, this is about how the entire medical establishment completely misunderstands/has the wrong attitude about cholesterol. That cholesterol, something required by every single function in our bodies, isn't the villain and is not a culprit in heart disease, that it's the inflammation caused primarily by consumption of carbs as well as dietary oils too high in omega 6, is the main demon (as well as other lifestyle choices).

BTW, if you're asking me no woman who wants to avoid diabetes should ever go on statins, period. If you're anywhere near menopause statins increase your risk of diabetes. And diabetes increases your risk of coronary events so ... round robin.

Honestly, depending on what your numbers are, total cholesterol - and even LDL - is not really something to be concerned about and honestly, if you have low triglycerides, high HDL and a very low C-reactive protein level you can tell the doctor that you're not concerned about your cholesterol. If any of those numbers are not where they should be, then you might want to read the book and make some lifestyle changes.

Not near menopause and I do know that cholesterol contributes to heart disease. Have a family history of heart disease, specifically three vessels disease. I will just keep talking with my doctor.

Thanks.

I might have to take a look at that. I have really good cholesterol levels despite that I've gained over 100 lbs in the last 10 years.

They crept up slightly when I was on a medication that's known to raise triglycerides, but dropped back down again after. I've been curious for quite a while now about why my levels are good, when lots of people who eat "better" than I do have problems.

Edit: As an aside, I actually do have heart problems, but they're congenital (I've had them since I was born). My heart problems haven't gotten worse as a result of my weight either, which apparently (according to my reading) could be because of an odd protective effect that being overweight can have on patients who already have heart problems. Our bodies are fascinating and complex...

From my experience diet has little to do with it. Start running, job done.

I came off meds once I started running. Specifically, my good cholesterol was very low and my triglycerides were high. I eat a lot of fish so the good fats wasn't it. When I started running my good cholesterol went through the roof and the triglycerides came down. Of course all of this coincided with my weightloss so losing weight could have been the driver too.

Huh.

Can't say that's why my levels are good; I've never been a runner. I did hike a lot, and swim and sail as a teen, but I haven't done much of any of those things for years.

That's really fantastic, though, that your levels have changed so drastically. I wonder if that would work for everyone or most people.

Not everybody can run, Ian. You're blessed that your body let's you pursue the activities you enjoy. May that always be the case. I've never been able to run any distance due to hip pain from spine issues I was born with. I started developing osteoarthritis in my knees that made acute bends excruciating (and noisy) in my 30s. Both of my rotator cuffs blew out in my 40s and now my beautiful (and comprehensive, ten years to put together, in fact!) basement olympic free weight gym gathers dust. I had just gotten things perfect a year or so before, never even got a chance to use the bent over row yoke :-(

And honestly, take it as I'm saying it, if I had the money to spare, Ian, I'd love to spring for a heavy metal tox screen on you.

As far as diet/exercise/dietary fat vis a vis blood cholesterol levels. While I haven't read this verbatum, IMO (and the experts seem to imply) there is no "one size fits all" WOE. Maybe there is a perfect diet for certain DNA/chromosomal/ethnicities or something they will discover someday *shrug* I am just grateful to have discovered ketogenic eating, it has alleviated several health issues I have been dealing with that have impaired my quality of life. In particular, my brain functions better on ketones and I no longer live with chronic low grade depression. This alone is all the motivation I need to stay on a high fat/moderate protein/low carb diet. Appetite suppression without loss of stamina is icing on the cake.

Not needing, or desiring, to eat very much or as often frees up a whole lot of time from your day, too ... and once you've stocked up on some staple ingredients your grocery bill goes down a bit.