Is South Beach cholesterol friendly? I recently found out that my cholesterol is borderline high and I don't want to feed the problem. Also, if someone could point me in the direction of South Beach guidelines so that I can find out if it is the diet for me, I'd appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

Hi there and welcome! I'm new, too....

From what I understand, SB is very cholesterol friendly. I have very high cholesterol (both good and bad kinds so I'm not that worried, yet...) so that's part of the reason I'm starting this way of eating. I'm sure someone here can give you the exact scientific reasoning behind it so I'll leave it to them!

I got a lot of information from this site, and also at another site which this post will not allow me to post! South Beach is broken into 3 phases. You can do a search to find out more about Phases 2 and 3, but what you really want to focus on right now is Phase 1. That info is posted here somewhere....What really helped me was getting the book. I spent less than $6 at K-Mart for a paperback BUT a few things have changed since it was written, which is why these forums have been invaluable to me.

Good luck with your journey!

Emergency Handbook Guide for Phase One <-- This will tell you most of the rules.

According to the book, the diet was designed with the goal of helping cardiac patients to lower cholesterol. So, I imagine it would help.

South Beach does help most people to lower cholesterol. If it does not help someone then their cholesterol probably cannot be lowered through diet alone. My total cholesterol was 246 before South Beach and 178 now. My "good" cholesterol has gone up, my bad has gone down and my triglycerides have gone from dangerously high to a normal level.

South Beach concentrates on good grains and on eliminating/reducing saturated and trans fats. We eat lots of vegetables and get our fats from things like olive oil and canola oil. I definitely recommend it.

I had hight cholesterol before starting this plan. The diet has helped lower it but nor quite enough. My doc put me on some meds for a six-week period to "perfect" it. I go for results of my last bloodwork on Thursday and expect it to be excellent now.

My BIL went on SB to help lower his very high cholesterol about 2 years ago and he has brought it down a huge amount. He did not have any weight to lose at all but felt that he needed to take control of his cholesterol by eating better. For my MIL it helped a lot but she still needed to continue to take mads for her levels. They are better though.

I've been a slacker and have not had mine checked in a long time. I'm thinking about tyring the test from walmart till I can afford to get in for my next physical.

Oh, and !

Yes, SB is a great diet for you. The diet revolves around lean meats and a lot of vegetables. My husband is on this to, he also has high cholesterol(250) stay away from trans fats. Good luck. I just started myself.