Cholesterol

Hi, Tim

Are you sure that you provide us with the correct numbers? Is your HDL level higher than LDL?!

Hello, yep I have double checked the levels and they are HDL 3.13 LDL 2.86 and Triglycerides 0.47

OK, Tim read this:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/cholesterol-levels/art-20048245

This is a reliable source of information - the American Mayo Clinic. According to numbers you see, you are absolutely OK and do not need any statins.

p.s. I am NOT a doctor.

whatever you do dont take statins unless you want an early death and suffer from symptons of memory loss,muscle wastage and the possibility of statin induced bleeding on the brain stroke because thats what happened to my dad..he was taking 20mg lipitor/avorstatin...probably the most evil drug on the market that should be banned now!

This is why I am so reluctant to take statins, I have a very healthy diet, my body fat percentage is just over 6% and I have a high proportion of lean mass but I am not a body builder I actually compete in triathlons, cycle races and run Marathons

well Tim if your doctor did try to get you on them i'd change my doctor...there are a few out there who still have a brain instead of being puppets of big pharma ...

thanks for the info guys, the info on the mayo clinic is exactly where I thought I should be, my gp practice

advised me to attend a clinic to see if I need advice or guidance, I will go just to see what they say but there aint no way I am going on statins. My diet is based around the Mediterranean diet and I take care of myself, don't smoke or eat red meat and drink very little....

Tim according to NHS guidelines your cholesterol reading is excellent.

The NHS says:

LDL should be 3 or lower

HDL should be above 1

Triglycerides under 1.7

Total cholesterol is recommended to be 5

The only reason I can think as to why you've been advised to see health professional for ' advice and guidance ' is your total cholesterol which is 6.46.

I am absolutely amazed at the medical profession for simply looking at total cholesterol and not the fact that your highest reading is actually your HDL which is so called ' good cholesterol' along with a great low reading on Trigycerides.

Please do not change anything regarding your diet or exercise as what you're doing is working.

Iif any health professional tries to advise you regarding lowering your cholesterol then PLEASE point out that they're actually asking you to lower your ' good cholesterol' as that's the highest reading.

I'm not a believer in cholesterol being the great evil the medical or should I say pharmaceutical companies have had us believe.

Good luck and I'd be interested in hearing the outcome of your clinic visit

You know Tim, I am a male of 49 years old, rather fit and taking exercise 3 or 4 times per week. I am on healthy eating, I believe, but unfortunately my numbers much much worse.(((

I do not take statins since I do not believe in cholesterol monster, but I would be happy to hear about your workout and/or your diet.

Hi Roverr, happy to share with everyone my exercise routines and my diet, but just to clear up one thing for everyone, we use the word diet in the wrong context! I am not on a diet to loose weight what I eat is my diet.

Ok a little info, my day time job is as a chef and a personal trainer and sports therapist. I very much believe in the health benefits of the

Mediterranean diet, so lots of fresh salads, fish, nuts, seeds and pulses and a small amount of cheese/milk,I eat chicken, turkey but almost no

red meat but the main reason for that is my wife is allergic to beef so I don't bother for myself, we do

occasionally have roast pork and lamb but maybe every couple of months, we treat ourselves to the odd English breakie but again that is a very rare treat.

I don't eat bread, again because my wife suffers from coeliac disease and bread will just go mouldy before

it would be finished so I don't bother, I rarely eat potatoes, I do eat sweet potatoes as they are lower on the GI Index and so have a more positive effect on your blood insulin balance.

This is my breakfast:

A large salad, mixed leaves, cucumber, toms, half an avocado pear, mixed peppers a few black olives, drizzled with good extra virgin unfiltered olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I sometimes add some mixed tinned beans and chickpeas, with this I have a three egg omelette with either some chicken or fresh tuna or tinned sardines, tinned tuna is ok but remember that it does not contain any omega 3 oils as they are destroyed in the canning process.

I generally don't have lunch due to my work so during the day I graze on mixed nuts and seeds and if I am

training straight from work I will have a protein/ carb shake to boost my energy levels.

My evening meal will be either another big salad with oven roasted salmon or grilled turkey breast or we

might have a chilli or bolognaise made with turkey mince, or roast chicken with loads of vegetables.

I don't rely on carbs in the form of bread or potatoes, I do have brown rice or wholemeal pasta but

remember that if you eat lots of carbs you will put on weight, secondly I eat a lot of good quality protein to

help support my training and to keep me in what's known as a positive anabolic state this means that my metabolic rate is high helping to burn more fats and to prevent the breakdown of lean tissue which is being

in a catabolic state. After my evening meal I usually have a bowl of fresh fruit with Total 0% fat Greek

yoghurt, use Total 0% fat Greek yoghurt as all the other 0% yoghurts have added sugar to stabilise it.

I used to eat a large bowl of muesli with fresh fruit for breakfast but found that I could just not get my

body fat % down the main reason for this is it is just to calorific and the also with the high amount of carbs

present my body would just store everything else as fat also it would not sustain me and I would be hungry soon after eating, whereas proteins keep you feeling full for longer.

My training goes like this: I always start with some cardio and in the gym I use a watts bike I normally do

a 30-45 min session, 10 mins warm up easy gears fast rpm around 95-105, then depending on how I feel I will do an HIIT session (high intensity interval training) this would go something like 20 seconds hard effort 10 seconds rest using a big gear I do this five times then spin an easy gear for 2 mins, I then go again but this time the work time goes up to 30 Seconds but again a 10 second recovery I may drop off one gear do I this five times, then spin again for a couple of mins, the final set is an absolute killer 45 seconds flat out, 15 recovery five times, then I spin out at around 100 rpm to take my time up to either 30 or 45 mins.

I then do some resistance work, either back and arms, or my favourite exercise squats with a 45kg barbell, and then chest work, I always do core work with suspension straps sometimes known as TRX, I also do

cross fit training which includes explosive work such as a squat into a should press in to a press up with a

squat thrust this is done using a barbell I do five reps then recover for a minute then go again, I also do box jumps and bosu high knees (a bosu is a piece of gym kit, it is half a gym ball and the other side is a solid

platform) I do my high knees on the ball side this helps to improve stability in your ankles and balance but it also works your core and your CV. I use kettle bells and I do lunges and things like bunny hops and

plyometric lunges. I run at least three times per week on long run of around 90 mins sometimes more, I

also do a faster but shorter distance run of around 10k and an easy recovery run of about 45 mins. I swim

but not as much as I should and I ride to work when I am able that's if I am not picking my Daughter up fromschool which is most of the time. I also coach my triathlon club once a week and this is an hour long spin

session and is usually either an interval session or a pyramid session and every now and then I give then

an endurance test of riding at about 80% effort for an hour not nice I know but it has to be done. other

things I do in the gym are brick sessions which go like this warm up on a bike then do five mins hard effort

then five mins run on a treadmill then repeat no recovery and do this three to five times I some times do this but I start with the rowing machine then go to a bike and some times I do all three. I like to mix up my

training to keep it interesting and my body never gets used to what's coming so it has to adapt and with this sort of training you never plateau. I do maintain a good strength programme to maintain my lean mass, this helps to keep your metabolic rate high even when at rest so you burn more calories this means you need more fuel to keep you alive and remember you burn both carbs and fat all the time but you will burn more

fat if you have a higher % of lean mass (muscle) also doing a strength work helps to support your immune

system and will also have a positive effect on your bone density and this is why men and especially

women should do exercises that are called load bearing or impact exercises (this is where an exercise puts a load on the joint or joints) what happens when you perform a load bearing exercise is that when a group

of muscles are used to perform a movement the tendons that attach the muscle to the anchor point (known as the point of insertion) stress the bone so the bodies response is to increase the bone's density at that

point but it is not able to just strengthen one point so the whole bone benefits, whilst a gentle walk may be

good for you the intensity of the exercise needs to higher so a good brisk walk up hills, jogging, skipping

and weight training are better, swimming and cycling are great for your cv but not so effective for improving bone density. One last thing if you are training for up to 90 mins you do not need to use carb based energy drinks we have an overuse issue with carbs (sugar) but you should refuel after your training and again I use

a protein/carb drink, if your interested I use a product called As One which is made by a company called

Garnell nutrition and this works for me, and just in case your thinking this bloke can's have time to do

anything else with all that training, I have a pretty large garden which I love to take care of, I keep a few

chickens have a dog that needs to walk, my wife who works pretty long hours so I do most of the

housework, shopping etc and an 11 year old daughter who does climbing and has loads of homework! it

does take so planning but there is no excuse not to keep a good exercise regime going of course it helps if you enjoy exercise, oh and I am not a saint, I like a glass of red wine and I love chocolate!!!

I hope that this helps and is not too much, if any of the stuff I do is of interest then you should go to your local gym and ask the personal trainers for some advise and even do a few sessions just avoid the muscle

man and look for a pt that is in good shape and practices what they preach and if you run then find one whoruns too as they will be more in tune with what you want to achieve.

best regards

Tim

Wow, Tim I am so impressed! You have done a lot of work! Thank you very much! I will read it tomorrow very carefully. Thank you again!

And have a nice Sunday!

You too, your very welcome, I forgot to say that I do eat lots of the usual veg and things like butternut

squash, lentils etc.

Hi

I have just received cholesterol results and I am somewhat confused. I eat a healthy diet mainly and do a moderate amount of exercise. Blood pressure and all other tests are ok

LDL is 8.1 and HDL is 1.4

I understand that is high and the HDL is also high. My doctor says in letter he doesn't want to put me on drug therapy yet but try to improve diet. Will be making appointment to see him.

Any thoughts.

Mick

Hi Michael, yes your LDL is very high but your HDL or good cholesterol is not that high and the nhs

guidance say that your HDL should be above 1, what was your triglycerides level!

As for your diet, what are you eating, you need to be eating oily fish at least three times a week, foods high in soluble fibre so porridge is a good on, apples and oranges too, lots of vegetables and salads, if you eat

nuts watch out for brazils as they are very high in saturated fat, they are also very high in selenium, there is conflicting research out there, Warwick uni carried out a study on elevated blood serum selenium levels and high cholesterol and other reports say that Brazil nuts can help lower LDL and raise HDL levels, I f I were you I would ask my gp and read up on this. what exercise are you taking, the world health organisation

recommends that we accumulate 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, this means that you should when exercising be breathing fairly heavily, feeling warm and sweaty, personally I don't think this enough

but that's just me, you should be doing some strength training too.

if you want any advice on exercise I would be happy to help as I am a personal trainer and a chef and I advise on nutrition for fitness and health.

Tim

Hi Tim

The letter I had from my GP didn't give triglycerides level but suggested I make an appointment.

I do eat quite healthily fruit and veg. I do eat oily fish, watch fat and sugar intake and do take exercise. I was running up to 3 miles three times a week up until Christmas when I sustained an injury. I am just about ready to resume. So I am quite bemused as to why it is high.

I only had the test because I was having a test for something else. The something else was clear and ironically cholesterol high.

Thanks for response

Michael