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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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Diet and Nutrition |
High LDL07/03/2008 |
I joined Chip (Coronary Health Improvement Project) and I had great expectations of lowering my Cholesterol. 30 day program. My results: triglycerides = 120 down 103; HDL= up 51 to 54; bad news is LDL 137 increased to 139; total cholesterol 212 increase to 214. This is with a 6 lb loss 125 lb. down to 119? I have about 9 more pounds to loose. I`m only 4`10". How can I get this LDL down? What happened with this program?
The recommendations for lowering LDL-cholesterol include increasing physical activity, following a healthy diet that is restricted in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and achieving a healthy weight. I assume that these were the goals of the program that you were following.
The diet that is recommended by the National Institutes of Health for lowering LDL-cholesterol is called the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet. It is restricted in total fat (no more than 35% of total calories), saturated fat (less than 7% of total calories), cholesterol (less than 200 mg/day), and sodium (less than 2400 mg daily). If LDL-cholesterol is not lowered in 6 weeks, the next suggestions are to add soluble fiber and plant sterols/stanols to your diet. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, barley, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, such as beans and lentils. You can find plant sterols/stanols in small quantities in many plant sources, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and vegetable oils. But to increase the amount in your diet enough to lower LDL-cholesterol levels, you would include foods that have been fortified with plant sterols/stanols (for example, some margarines and salad dressings).
In addition to dietary sources, cholesterol is made by your body. Heredity affects the way cholesterol is manufactured by the liver and removed from the blood, so many times lifestyle changes alone cannot lower blood cholesterol to healthy levels. In that case, cholesterol-lowering medications may be needed.
Congratulations on your weight loss and the positive changes in your blood lipids. Often a weight loss of 10% of your initial weight (or 12.5 pounds in your case) can help to improve blood cholesterol levels, as well as blood pressure and glucose tolerance. You may want to visit the NIH website for more information about the TLC diet http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/cgi-bin/chd/step2intro.cgi or the American Heart Association website http://www.americanheart.org. You may also want to make an appointment with a registered dietitian who can develop an individualized diet plan, based on your needs and preferences. Good luck with maintaining your healthy lifestyle habits!
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Bonnie J. Brehm, PhD, RD Professor College of Nursing University of Cincinnati |
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