Lowering the cholesterol numbers

Dec 11 19:18 UTC 1996

Ok, the cholesteral test said "213", and the doctor said "should be 150". 
Anybody out there successfully lowered their cholesterol?  Most  of the things
I've been reading seem to see 10% as a big reduction.  I'm looking at 30%!

response 2 of 17:

Dec 12 10:10 UTC 1996

More exercise and more fiber, less red meat lowered mine 35 points over six
months.

response 4 of 17:

Dec 13 12:08 UTC 1996

Check out the Rec&Ed classes, like aerobics.  They are pretty cheap, the
longest commitment is 3 months, and the instructors are good.  The next
calendar comes with the Monday A2 News, sometime in early January.

response 6 of 17:

Dec 14 02:46 UTC 1996

Hokshila gave very good advice.  Fiber includes beans, whole grains, and
vegetables. Popcorn is a good fiber snack.  Not many Americans drink enough
water, either.  And I've lost severalpounds as well as dropping my cholesterol
count by walking every day.  

response 8 of 17:

Dec 15 05:17 UTC 1996

also, check the washtenaw county rec building....it's $3 for a day pass, or
$125 a year....all in all, not a bad price.  :)  and it's a pretty nice
place...anne and i were there the other day and they have a pretty good weight
room, plus a swim pool, track, classes, and a bunch of other stuff...it's a
pretty nice place!  :)

response 10 of 17:

Dec 19 06:34 UTC 1996

Well, the weather got me.  I have started using the County Rec Building and
their wonderful, non-icy, treadmills.   Thanks, whoever suggested that.  

response 12 of 17:

Dec 29 06:08 UTC 1996

Hurrah for eeyore!!

response 14 of 17:

May 11 19:15 UTC 2001

Jim has been complaining recently of stress and anxiety and depression, as
well as nosebleeds.  I suggested nutritional deficiency so he agreed to take
multivitamins.  Then I read the protein deficiency can cause these and other
problems so I am supposed to cook more beans.  Today I searched on low
cholesterol and found two interesting studies.  One claims that women are more
likely to suffer from depression and anxiety if their cholesterol count
(total) is 156 or under.  The other states that men are more prone to
hemorrhagic strokes with cholesterol counts under 180, and that about 200 is
ideal.  Over 230 makes you prone to clotting strokes.  Lowering cholesterol
in stroke-prone men did not reduce mortality because it led to increased
depression and suicide.  Cholesterol is used by the body to make various
hormones as well as membranes (nerve sheathes).  It is usually ingested in
sufficient quantities in the typical American diet but can also be made by
the liver from smaller molecules (which might require an intake of saturated
fats, which are also in short supply in our 'healthy' vegan diet).
        Jim measured his cholesterol with a little kit that they gave him when
he donated blood about 5 years ago, back before he was a vegan, and it went
off the bottom of the scale. He tried again in a heated room and it hit 125
(he banged it against the table, misinterpreting the instructions, which made
it go up a bit to reach that number).  Supposedly 125 is normal for Chinese
people.  He will try vitamins and beans for a month and if that does not help,
consider eating cheese or eggs (or maybe even butter or sour cream?).
        Scott, why did your doctor tell you to eat meat? (as opposed to cheese)

response 16 of 17:

May 12 13:32 UTC 2001

I did some more research in the nutrition book and it turns out meat is a
fairly good source of zinc, which is needed for all sorts of things.  Zinc
is also present in nuts and beans, but the fiber in them interferes with its
absorption from the intestine.  Americans on a typical diet get 40% of the
US RDA (which is about double the Canadian RDA) despite eating lots of meat.
Two groups at risk for zinc deficiency (which interferse with growth) are
those eating a lot of unleavened whole-grain bread, and those eating
high-fiber vegetarian diets.  There is 15 mg zinc in our multivitamins.  
The next-door neighbor, a pediatrician, says they give infants 25 mg zinc
along with vitamin C for failure to thrive.  High-fiber diets also interfere
with the body's recapturing the cholesterol that it has manufactured and used
in bile salts (needed to digest fats) because the fiber binds the cholesterol.
Jim is cutting back on olive oil.  We have both had tendon problems, too.
Iron and zinc compete with each other for absorption because they bind to the
same molecule.  Our vitamins have no iron.  (Our cooking pans have plenty).

Best sources of zinc:  oysters (about 75 mg/serving), other dead animals,
miso (3 mg/3 tbps - maybe due to the method of manufacture?)
garlic (1 mg/4 cloves), brewer's yeat (.63 mg/1 tbsp) - but you are unlikely
to eat enough of these to do much good.

Beans have about 2-3 mg/cup (black-eyed peas 3.22, great northern 1.72)
Whole wheat flour or bulgur about 3 mg/cup, buckwheat 2.65, millet .84.
Brown rice only 1.05, cornmeal 2.15.  Of course this varies depending on soil.

Nuts:  Sunflower seeds 7.2 (Jim eats these in his oatmeal), pecans 5.91,
cashews 7.6, almost 3.94, peanuts 4.78.

We will try to make more leavened bread with sunflower seeds in it, and add
peanuts to the stir fries. Jim also agreed to eat an occasional pancake with
eggs in it.  (Eggs are a good source of cholesterol).