Cholesterol...should we be getting any?
#175952 - 05/02/05 06:37 PM
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I know we are supposed to get about 15-20% fat from the food we eat...but how much of that is cholesterol and is it all good cholesterol we are supposed to get? Anyone know how cholesterol works and how to know if you're getting enough/too much? I need to lower my cholesterol levels and my triglycerides.
Thanks!!!! 
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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I am not sure about this, but I think your body gains cholesterol in two ways: dietary and hereditary. As far as I know, you can only get dietary cholesterol from animal products containing it. We don't eat anything that has cholesterol in it (red meat, etc) so I don't think we're getting it. The fatty foods we do eat in moderation (olive oil, nuts) have "good fats" but I don't think they contribute to your cholesterol, good or bad.
I started following this diet several months before I got the ball rolling on real tests and everything. By the time I got a blood test, the only thing that came up outside the normal range was my bad cholesterol -- it was way below normal, which is obviously not a bad thing! My good cholesterol was still in range.
That was an unscientific and anecdotal answer to your question. I hope I helped!
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Amanda
I live in the Big Apple, but I don't eat the skin
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Yeah unfortunatley I don't know much about this either. Amanda seems to have some good points.
FYI - high amounts of soluble fiber and SFSs increases your body's ability to absorb *good* cholestorol and reduces *bad* cholestorol - bonus! 
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nuts aqnd good fats(ie:monounsaturates) boost your GOOD cholesterol and lower your bad.
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Keep on keepin' on...
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Read your ingredients for something that says Partially Hydrogenated or Hydrogenated Oil. These get AUTOMATICALLY turned into cholesterol in your body. It is a chemically altered fat that your body has NO IDEA what to do with, so it stores it as cholesterol. It is in ALOT of packaged foods as it extends the shelf life. Look at cereals (BIG CULPRIT!), crackers, cookies, etc. Even for those of you that can tolerate peanut butter, don't buy brands like Skippy, Jif, or Peter Pan. They are LOADED with hydrogenated oils. There are alot of products that DO NOT have these oils in them, but you have to look!
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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about???
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I think we can make all the cholesterol we need from fats we consume, but I wouldn't swear to this. Of the protein we can eat, I'm pretty sure shrimp (and possibly some other shellfish) are pretty high in cholesterol, but I assume you don't eat those.
Here's a brief summary of fats' effect on cholesterol, paraphrased from "Eating Well Is The Best Revenge" by Marian Burros:
Polyunsaturates lower total cholesterol; however, they lower "good" HDL as well as "bad" LDL (soy, peanut, corn, sesame, sunflower, safflower, walnut, hazelnut oils)
Monounsaturates lower "bad" LDL and either leave "good" HDL untouched or raise it slightly (olive, almond, avocado, canola oils)
Saturates raise total cholesterol (animal fats)
Trans fatty acids act like saturates (vegetable oils converted to be solid or semisolid at room temperature; the "partially hydrogenated stuff)
I agree with the other posters - my understanding is that SF is very useful for "sweeping" cholesterol out of your system.
My cholesterol and my triglycerides both improved dramatically once I started this diet. The cholesterol I understood, since I was dramatically reducing the amount of fat I ate,consuming very little saturated fat, consuming more monounsaturates, and consuming far more SF. I was surprised by the triglyceride improvement, since I ate a lot of sugar when I first started Heather's diet. The only thing I can figure out is that I was consuming even more sugar in processed foods before starting this diet and/or that pretty much eliminating alcohol helped.
I worry sometimes that I'm not getting enough saturated fat.
HTH.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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After many years on a Vegan diet, my Cholesterol actually got too low (in the 90's). Since we do make certain hormones from cholesterol, it can possibly get low enough to cause issues. This is rare of course, and it is much more likely to be too high.
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Phil
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hello angel
your body makes the cholesterol that you have...when you eat cholesterol it doesn't necessarily effect the cholesterol in your body. our cholesterol is totally dependent on the types of fats we eat, so are our triglycerides to an extent...cholesterol is also effected by how many simple carbs we are eating and by our lifestyle - mobility etc. If you need to lower cholesterol - the ideal way (I am not sure what you can tolerate) is to reduce animal fat, all saturated and trans fat in foods, concentrate on olive oil, polyunsaturated oils, fish oil/fish, flaxseed oil, lots of soy protein etc. I hope that helps. Just know that we don't eat our cholesterol - our body makes it depending on the fats and carbs (to an extent) that we consume. high fibre is a very good way to control it.
Lots of love babes XXXXXXXXX
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Feel the fear and do it anyway!
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Where do Omega-3 and Omega-6 fit into the picture? I think (I'm pretty shaky on this) that they are animal fat (fish? saturated?) but good for heart health somehow (?). Does anyone understand where they fit in?
Thanks.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Omega 3's come from Fish, and Flax Oil. The Omega 3's in Flax oil require an enzyme conversion, that not everyone can do, and are much less absorbable than from Fish Oil, so Fish Oil is a better source. It is important however to get Pharmaceutical grade Fish Oil to avoid contaminants.
Omega 6's are plentiful and found in vegetable oil. Most people consume way to many Omega 6's and not enough Omega 3's hence the need to supplement the Omega 3's.
Fish Oil has also been shown to help IBS.
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Phil
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Ruchie,
I did some research quite a while back on cholesterol and triglycerides, but put it aside when other health issues loomed larger and, as you can probably tell from my earlier posts in this thread, a lot of what I learned got kind of fuzzy.
After thinking about this thread, I went back and dug out some of the articles I pulled off the Internet and looked around for what else was out there. Here are some links I found helpful:
Bridgeport Cholesterol Info
WebMD on Cholesterol
Cholesterol ratios for women
There is also a "For Dummies" book about cholesterol. (No offense intended; I think the "For Dummies" books are brilliant.) I haven't seen it, but I love my "Thyroid For Dummies" book, so you might see if your library has the cholesterol one. (I checked online and my library does!) Here's a link to look at it in Amazon:
Controlling Cholesterol
I checked out the book index online at Amazon (I think it's just so cool to be able to do that) and it does talk about triglycerides, also.
I hope this helps. Take care.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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