Dietary cholesterol

Thank you so much Whitewavemark similar here and as I say seems to be working. The only reason I don't have a proper diagnosis is that everything came to a head in the first lockdown so I sorted myself out. I do take B12 so perhaps I should add the other B vitamins and some iron.

A few years ago my cholesterol was 7. My GP said she would like to put me on statins but could see from my notes that I was reluctant to take them. I've never said that and statins had never been mentioned to me.
So I took them and suffered severe nosebleeds. Now I definitely AM reluctant.

luluaugust

Is there something in wheat that you can't get from any other food, would love to know as I am gluten free although never officially tested it has worked for me.

Well I have been on a gluten free diet for getting on for 20 years now. I had been suffering the symptoms for many years before that - fatigue, severe mouth ulcers, and other unmentionable digestive issues - despite seeking medical help etc.

I worked out what it was after seeing a television programme where a person described her symptoms - exactly the same as mine🙂. So I immediately stopped gluten - miraculous!

I then worked out what vitamins and minerals plus trace elements I might be losing.

I have now taken B complex vitamin, plus magnesium and iron for the past 20 years.

Works for me.

There seem to be so many conflicting views and that’s among the medical professionals! I had a yearly check in July which consisted of a phone call with a pharmacist following a blood test. She said my cholesterol was too high at 6.0 and told me to lose weight! Of course she couldn’t see me and I’m fortunate to be quite slim. I reassured her that I try hard with my diet, have never smoked and very rarely drink alcohol. She replied that I needed to do something to lower the cholesterol. I made an appointment with the GP who said that many people were unable to reduce their cholesterol and that I must start statins immediately and have a repeat blood test in December. I’m very interested as to what this will show. This is an example of 2 diverging opinions and it’s time that this is resolved.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

My husband was told similar about diet by his cardiologist -specifically he was told that diet alone could not bring his cholesterol levels low enough to reduce the risk of a further cardiac event. However we do have a young friend with inherited high cholesterol who has managed to lower his cholesterol significantly with the portfolio diet and no medication.
Shropshire lass-diet advice over the last century has certainly had its wobbles- pregnant mothers advised to drink milk stout for iron in the 50s -(presumably before FAS was discovered) and creamy ( higher fat) jersey milk a few decades later.

B9exchange

You can check out your relative risk of a heart attack or stroke, with different cholesterol levels, using the QRisk score which is build into every GP's clinical system, and is the one they use.

www.qrisk.org/three/index.php

There are so many other factors to risk, and in fact if you read Dr Ben Goldacre's book 'Bad Pharma' I don't think you would touch statins unless you have had a previous cardiac event.

I’m sure this works well ordinarily however my GP had me down as a heavy smoker (I am a non smoker) so I’ve been on 4 different statins unnecessarily.
Being down as a smoker put my stroke risk as high, my bad cholesterol was low and my good cholesterol was only just below so even without the smoking I didn’t need statins!

Is there something in wheat that you can't get from any other food, would love to know as I am gluten free although never officially tested it has worked for me.

So am I taking statins for no good reason then? This is puzzling.

Shropshirelass

Glad you have a sensible cardiologist! Food guidelines given to the population 40 years ago were so wrong and have lead to the obesity and related health problems we are now seeing putting a huge burden on our hardworking NHS and taking money that could be used elsewhere for illnesses that are not self inflicted. Cholesterol has been labelled good and bad, there is no such thing. Our bodies need cholesterol, every cell relies on it and the body is perfectly capable of controlling levels itself. The problem is sugar, processed foods and carbohydrates, get these down to sensible levels in our diet (or eliminated altogether) and we will all enjoy better health.

👍🙂

the body is perfectly capable of controlling levels itself
Exactly what a dietitian friend told me all those years ago.

Glad you have a sensible cardiologist! Food guidelines given to the population 40 years ago were so wrong and have lead to the obesity and related health problems we are now seeing putting a huge burden on our hardworking NHS and taking money that could be used elsewhere for illnesses that are not self inflicted. Cholesterol has been labelled good and bad, there is no such thing. Our bodies need cholesterol, every cell relies on it and the body is perfectly capable of controlling levels itself. The problem is sugar, processed foods and carbohydrates, get these down to sensible levels in our diet (or eliminated altogether) and we will all enjoy better health.

You can check out your relative risk of a heart attack or stroke, with different cholesterol levels, using the QRisk score which is build into every GP's clinical system, and is the one they use.

www.qrisk.org/three/index.php

There are so many other factors to risk, and in fact if you read Dr Ben Goldacre's book 'Bad Pharma' I don't think you would touch statins unless you have had a previous cardiac event.

How do you all manage to be so closely monitored by doctors?? Here in Wales there are no health checks offered on the NHS - you only make an appointment if Ill - and even then you would be very lucky to get a face to face appointment. 😡

So are you all saying neither statins nor diet are helpful against heart disease?

I was prescribed them and took them for a couple of weeks.

Now I’m someone who doesn’t have any aches and pains at all (lucky I know) but after a week on statins I could barely get out of bed in the morning and it took till lunchtime for my hands to stop hurting enough for me to do ordinary things.

I stopped and was back to my normal in a few days.

Now I think that was fortunate. If they’d suited me I’d probably be on them for the rest of my life. I have got a genetic heart problem but the specialist said statins won’t help with that.

Lathyrus
I go further than that. It’s the biggest scam ever perpetrated by drug companies.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Statins are a big money earner and doctors were (are?) paid to prescribe them.

I’d be interested in any independent research that shows whether levels of heart attacks have fallen as a result of their mass prescription.

Cynical. Moi?

grandMattie
How true. 13 years ago my cholesterol was 9.6. I was against taking statins but promised my Dr that I would stick to the recommended fats per day for 6 months.
I stuck to it. My levels came down to 9.4. Whoopee!!!

I agree AussieGran. A close friend of ours had a heart attack ( thankfully he survived) and his cholesterol was low, around 3, much lower than mine has ever been. My granddaughter has high cholesterol, around 7.5 , and she is skinny as a rake and doesn’t eat junk food. She is also very active in sporting activities. Thems the breaks I guess.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

If the effect of eating something causes more problems than not eating it, don't eat it.

I’m sure that the old adage “everything in moderation” is the way to go, but I’m no good at following that advise, especially where food is concerned.

Interested in the advise about gluten free. I am gluten intolerant and cut it out of my diet because my gut and indeed my whole digestion system including ulcers in my mouth, complains loudly and severely if I don’t. Not sure how to react to that suggestion? Did the consultant say what happens if you cut it out?