Ugh.  Just got my test results from the doc.  My colesterol is 240, which is apparently too high.  Anyone have any good advice for lowering it?  I am 15 lbs overweight and not in the shape I was 10 years ago.  Any foods with a lot of colesterol I should avoid?  Do MREs or beef jerky have a lot of colesterol?

GunLvr

start here
[url]http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/[/url]

-weight loss
-excercise
-avoid saturated fats
-decrease sugar intake-bigger factor than most people think
-oatmeal will help if you can stomach it
-decrease stress-once again if you can!
-Niacin can help but you need to build up to relatively high doses and it can become liver toxic

Excercise is the best thing you can do for yourself all the way around, FWIW, and I'm not just talking about cholesterol.

GunLvr,
you can follow the excellent advice already given and more that's sure to come or you can simply make a decision to live until you die and enjoy life along the way.

The genes.  It's the genes.  

Check the history of your family - father, mother, grandmother etc.  Those are by far your best indicators.  Not a 240 reading that MD's aren't in agreement about.

Plenty of cholesterol reducing drugs if you're family history indicates a probable need.

Should add my father has smoked since he was about 12 yrs old., walked through Hiroshima handling the rubble about three weeks after the blast and walked through Nagasaki roughly six weeks after that bomb.

That kind of crap is going to kill him one of these days.  Now he will be 84 on his next birthday !

That number means jack shit.  How much of this is caused by a high or low triglyceride level?  What is your LDL (low-density lipid) count, what is your HDL count?  Until you get the exact results, 240 could be harmless...or it could be fatal.

Cholesterol is measured in mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter).  If you have a fairly normal meal schedule (i.e. moderate, not low or high, cholesterol intake) but do a lot of physical activity, then you're just begging for a high cholesterol count.  This is probably a good thing though - aerobic activity increases your HDL levels, the kind of lipids that help protect arterior walls.  This count should be above 45 mg/dl, if I remember correctly.  Your LDL, or "bad cholesterol" count should be below 155 mg/dl.  Your TOTAL cholesterol count is 240 - which means that your HDL + LDL = 240 mg/dl.  If you're running at, say, 150mg LDL and 90mg HDL, then you're just fine!  This means that your foot intake is probably well managed, with a good exercise schedule.

Example?  My Dad's cholesterol is 230'ish, mostly heriditary.  However, he's been eating a lot of deer, chicken, and fish lately - so his LDL count is around 157mg...not bad.  His physical activity has been exceeding mine, so HDL's comprise of the rest of his levels.  I, on the other hand, have a cholesterol of 200.  My problem?  My HDL's are only around 60's, because I didn't do a lot of jogging or biking for a long period of time - so while I'm technically in "good shape", I'm really no better off than my father who is 30 points over me!

Case in point - because its so high, get a "lipid panel" test.  Your doctor will tell you your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels.  It's the only way to know how you truly stand on the health level.

There have been many research studies that have demonstrated that dietary fat has little or no effect on blood lipid levels.  

Unless you have the genetic form of ultra high cholesterol the culprit is carbohydrates and not dietary fats.  I was skeptical about this since all you hear is “reduce your fat intake.”  The grocery shelves are lined with low/no fat products.  Low/no fat is big business.  I had been on low fat food plans for many years and my cholesterol levels just kept going up.  You must cut out almost all carbs.  There is no difference between simple and complex carbs.  They are both broken down in minutes to glucose.  Glucose combined with insulin raises cholesterol and also makes you fat.

Since going on a carb restricted HIGH fat food plan for the last year I have cut over a hundred twenty points off my total cholesterol and lost a significant amount of weight.  My cholesterol HDL ratio dropped from 8.7 to 2.7

My doctor wanted to know what cholesterol lowering drugs he proscribed because he didn’t see it on my chart.  When I told him none he couldn’t believe it.  I have had my lipid levels checked several times and all of them were within a few points of each other.

1. Cut your carbs

2. Lose weight

3. Exercise more

Have you cholesterol tested every 3 months and see if your dietary/exercise plan is working. Obviously you need to discuss this with your physician.

As always YMMV.

does this mean regularly putting my foot in my mouth is bad for my health?

Thanks for all the advice guys.  I am starting working on getting healthier already.  I don't know the ratio of HDL/LDL yet.  I now have a followup appointment with the Doc to discuss this.  

GunLvr

I'm nearly an expert on this.  I've been high for about five years.  Here's my list:

#1.  Reduce your stress.  Stress directly impacts your level.  Cholesterol is created by the body as the body's natural defense to stress. Stress is not at work or home, it's in your head.  Nowhere else.  I'm too uptight.  Knowing this helps me reduce it.

#2.  Exercise, it reduces stress, period. This  is the number one cause of high blood fats/cholesterol.  I simply walk daily at work if possible.  At least 20 minutes 3 times a week. A good fast walk to get your heart rate up does it.  

#3.  Don't worry about it.  That makes it higher.

#4.  Many people live long lives with higher than normal.  You could be one of them.

#5.  Modify your diet.  It will make you feel better about yourself which will lower it more. Cholesterol intake from food has little to do with it but it will make you feel better mentally.  Consume unsaturated fats to raise your good cholesterol.

#6.  Avoid alcohol.  It creates stress and increases your sugar (trigliceride) level.  I don't practice this because I control it with exercise and mental therapy.  I like my beer too much.  

#7.  Learn to say F*CKIT.  Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff.

Avoid refined sugar. That's something I have a problem with. My cholesterol is very high, and yet I was eating right. Took me a while to figure it out.

when my cholosterol hit 202, I started eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning.  I didn't mind, cuz I like oatmeal.  one year later, my cholosterol was down to 130.  I also did as deerslayer suggested, say f@#k it.  rule #1, never sweat the small stuff.  rule #2, it's all small stuff.  good luck.

I take Lipitor and now I can eat as much pizza as I want. Seriously, try exercise and healthly eating first, and if that doesn't do it drugs like Lipitor can get it down 30% or so and increase the HDL's a little as well. You just need to have a liver test every so often to make sure it's not dissolving your leg muscles.

Hmm, that sounds like a personal issue between yourself, your rehab advisor, and your dealer.
But thanks for chiming in, nonetheless.

Eat a lot of Oatmeal.

Eat a lot of "greens".

Take Vitamin E daily.

Refined sugars and complex carbohydrates are all broken down into glucose within minutes.  It really doesn't make any difference if you eat a potato or a couple of teaspoons of sugar. It's good you cut down on the refined sugars though.  

Jewbroni: If your HDL is 60 that's excellent. The highest my HDL has been is 56 but my total cholesterol was only 131 with an LDL of 69.  

You need to cut the carbs!  

Ditto, I'm 53 and doing the above dropped mine below 200, not to mention it made the beer and love makeing taste better. DID I SAY THAT RIGHT?!?

Yup, its all about the genes. You ar correct.

I was on the high side throughout my 30's.. Between 220 to 270. Bout 10 yrs ago, I hit 312.  I have exercised my entire life, but I had gained about 30 lbs. (from 185 to 215, I'm 6'1".) My heavy drinking, was starting to worry me.
I stopped drinking, cut down on the fat, took up bicycling, AND started taking Psyllium seed (the stuff in Metamucil)
I have been under 200 for 8 years, without RX  For me, I strongly belive the Psyllium and the sobriety had the most significant effect.  
Good Luck  Ray

one word: Lipitor

High 200s to 190.  Shit's magic.

Mine went down from the low to mid-200's to about 150. And the HDL/LDL ratio improved as well. So far, so good.

my doctors favorite weapon of choice is Zocor and it along with sensible eating and exersize has brought my level down just below 300, some of us are blessed with over active internals that produce enough to eventually kill us no matter what we eat or do. yours doesnt sound all that bad and you should be able too easily control it.

[:)>]

Now that you've seen many examples of the correct spelling, how about fixing it in the subject line.    It just makes people wonder if your PhD was mail-order.[:)]

That is the funniest damn thing I've heard all day long. Thanks for the laugh.....[:)]

Thanks for the advice guys and sorry about the bad spelling.  I went to publik skool, and would have never graduated college if the spell checker hadn't been invented.

GunLvr