Diario di Mello B, 30 giu 24

Congratulations on your improved numbers! To lower LDL, eliminate red meat, processed meat, full fat foods, fried foods, added sugar, baked goods, and alcohol; and eat steel cut oats, chicken with no skin. wild salmon, beans, fruit, LOTS of veggies, and a small handful of raw unsalted nuts. 

Unfortunately, sometimes cholesterol is hereditary. It stinks, no matter what I stopped eating my levels were high. Same as you, I fought the statins. Last year my doc told me I needed to get it under control asap. I gave in and went on 5mg of Crestor. Tiny little pill that does wonders! NO side effects and numbers are way down. My nurse practioner couldn't believe how much I dropped in 3 mos. Worth a consideration. 

Excellent news about the BP and weight loss at the doc’s office! As far as the LDL goes, sausage and cheese have to meet your trash can 🚮. Those are also sky high in sodium, so better for your BP to let go of them (you posted a pic of this meal). I’ve had success in just a few weeks from simply ditching dairy products. 

Not everyone can get their LDL under control without medication. That said -- soy and fiber are both supposed to lower it. Mine isn't out of range, but I like to get it as low as I can, and I find the closer I get to a WFPB diet, the better it gets. The thing to really cut out is saturated fat, replacing with unsaturated and fish. There are a lot of scare stories about seed oils, but the preponderance of studies show a benefit to LDL. You may, honestly, want to reconsider meat altogether, although I'm really not trying to tell you what to do on that front. Just a suggestion. If you do move to more plant-based diet, avoid palm and coconut oils. Despite what a lot of people claim, coconut oil is not a health food -- chock full of saturated fat. I believe there's a good video on lowering LDL on the Nutrition Made Simple YouTube channel. I've found him to be balanced, reliable, and evidence-based. 

I had the same thing with LDL not dropping no matter what I did. I also resisted going on statins. Finally went on 5mg Crestor, every other day. Now numbers are very good, no side effects.  

I had high cholesterol before and lowered it by going on a low-fat vegetarian diet. It's not easy, but you have to think about what has low total fat and not just low-saturated fat. Also, you have to keep the total fat down to 10-20% and the problem with that is trying to figure out how much total fat you can have since 1 gram of fat is worth 6 calories. At that time I took in 1400 calories and 27 grams of total fat. That meant that I ate nothing that was double digit in total fat, since that would be almost a day's worth of fat. It takes a lot of reading labels and not trusting those labels in the store that claim to be low-fat and are not. It did work really well for me. I really should go back on that diet, but it's a lot of work. 

Just to update. I cut alcohol completely 1/1/24, don’t eat cheeses or fatty meats. Pretty much follow the Mediterranean diet. Need to add more beans and fiber back in, kinda got away since it’s summer. I’m going to implement Metamucil 2x a day, really use my q10, turmeric and krill oil daily. Limit red meat to 1 x every 10days. Anf losing maybe 10-13 more lbs and re test 😔 

How much fat does the krill oil have? 

So my doc and i have been going round and round on crestor (statin) since January. We are currently in a holding pattern and trying the following: immunohist, berberine and red yeast rice in addition to doing an additional activity that produces sweat and makes speech difficult for min 20 minutes. I chose hot yoga cycling for 15 min at hotworx. I already walk 4 mi a day and strength train 2x a week. New labs in august. I have also been incorporating more oatmeal and min 1 T flax seed. Doc doesnt think oatmeal does one thing but my labs did get better on it in march. Let me know if you find something that works for you outside of a scrip. 

I would like to give an idea. Dr Alo, a DO cardiologist and personal athletic trainer has boldly stated it is the Apolipoprotein B that is the most predictive lab for coronary and carotid disease both. With my calorie DEFiCIT diet based on required INTAKE for age, sex, weight, ht-for me any calorie under 2500 per day is healthy producing health heart parameters in all labs. But yours is different as a lady. Its NOT the ldl-its the Apo B that is most likely causal. Just think about it and do your own research. Larry W Banyash MD 

BTW, I have reviewed all major diets, as did Dr Alo, DO. Every single one will work-the question is are they sustainable? And the method by which they ALL work is CALORIC DEFICIT-period. Food for thought. Here is the hooker in the latest research re diet and obesity: unless you are an olympic level athlete, no exercise prescription on this earth has been found to produce sustainable weight loss by itself. Larry Banyash MD Former volunteer physician to the United States Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs, Co. 

I take garlic and it has helped lower my cholesterol and Berberine is lowering blood pressure and cholesterol and A1C 

As I look at your labs, current and recent science in lipids tells me your total chol and ldl are NON WORRISOME. Might be worried bout treating numbers and not your humaness. I have researched medical nutrition , obesity and heart disease now going on ten years-45 yrs in total practice……guess my main question is what is your real personal goal with your lifestyle and diet? Just curious and happy to offer scientific advice, if so desired.take care. You seem on a good road. Larry W Banyash MD