Hello again, just wondering if anyone has had success with their heart health with this way of eating.
Looking for some inspiration, as I need to lower my cholesterol, raise my HDL and lower my LDL.
Exercise a must and weight loss will help alot.
Thanks

Greg,
I am 31 and I was put on BP meds 5ys ago. Since I have been exercising regulary and watching what I eat I had to be taken off of meds because with them my BP got to low. I have been in normal rage for 2 months now and I am happy to be off of them. I always thought that I was to young to be on those types of meds and I am bound and determined to stay off of them. You will see results in time it took awhile for me.

Usually they say it only takes a 10% weight loss to get heart health benefits. Good luck!

Greg,

I am still struggling w/the food part of my lifestyle. About 1 1/2 years ago... I can't quite remember I was put on blood pressure meds because my BP was borderline. Since working to change my lifestyle, my blood pressure is well within the normal range. I have been off those meds for a least 6 months...but I think is more like 9 months. My cholesterol has been in that borderline range, but it has dropped also. I have lost weight and my diabetes is in good control, despite the bingeing. I was even allowed to last fall to drop one of the diabetes medicine. I have been working w/a nutritionist and counselor to get the last component under control and acquire those tools to lose the rest of the weight, keep it off and hopefully go off all meds.

Good for you Goingskiing- your way of thinking is the right way!
I was just mentioning that the books are seductive and marketed well - playing on our desires and weaknesses, much like food marketing.
I used to watch the Biggest Loser, but that seems to fall under this same catagory now for me. Better to walk the dog or make my lunch for the next day.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg:
I think I was a little addicted to diet books... anyone else have that issue? There always is another one coming out, the next miracle!

I'm not looking for a miracle. I think common sense works better than miracles. I don't buy the books for the next break thru plan/fad. Didn't buy Atkins, South Beach, Sonoma Diet, the Zone, Eat Right for Your Type, Sugar Addict, etc.

I'll buy something if it helps my stay motivated and makes sense.

And I take books out of the library... but not South Beach, etc. because I think they are full of BS... and it doesn't interest me at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg:
I think I was a little addicted to diet books... anyone else have that issue? There always is another one coming out, the next miracle!

P.S. I think my reply speaks to my own addiction.

Yoga Journal just had a big promotional feature on Dr. Ornish, so I had to go out and buy his book. It has a lot of information on the mind/body connections between stress and isolation and heart disease. His diet plan might be hard to follow for most people, but the mind/body stuff is worth reading and he has great information on the role of exercise.

Thanks for all the great replies.
I plan on eating well, losing weight, hitting the gym and basically concentrating on healthy lifestyle. I'll hopefully get off these statins that are costing me an extra $25.oo per month and I swear my memory is worse since starting them.
I need to get KD's books again, perhaps lunch-hour tomorrow I can go back to half price books and buy the books I turned in... uugghhh!
I think I was a little addicted to diet books... anyone else have that issue? There always is another one coming out, the next miracle!

I absolutely saw improvements in both my HDL and LDL levels. I don't have the actual numbers here in front of me but 30+ lbs lost was the primary thing I think that made a difference. I'm sure the modest improvement to my HDL was due to the walking but I'm pretty sure the weight loss went a lot further to improve stuff. Always had good BP readings thankfully.

Have you had your tests done recently? It makes a really nice non-scale benchmark to look at down the road if you have one from early in your journey. My community health district/department offers $10 or $15 screenings all the time in various community clinics. I like to use those to keep a finger on what's going on with those numbers.

Another 'fun' marker can be some of the risk evaluations for heart disease or diabetes. They generally take a variety of markers (age, gender, weight, exercise, diet, bp, cholesterol, etc) and combine them to give you a score related to your likelihood to develop the disease. It is very cool to work on those issues you can control (like weight or exercise) and see how it decreases your score. I'm sure you could find some of those on the web and do them every 3-6 mos and see how that goes.

Peg

Since I started eating healthy and exercising regularly in 2003, I have lowered my cholesterol and triglycerides dramatically (my first blood test "after" showed a 69-point drop in total cholesterol and improvements in both HDL and LDL). My doctor didn't think it was possible (she thought the genetic component in my case was too great), but I was happy to prove her wrong! I went from having to go in quarterly for blood pressure and cholesterol tests (and being harassed every quarter about going on cholesterol-lowering drugs) to going in every six months or a year for testing and not having heard a word about cholesterol drugs since BEFORE I began eating healthy in 2003!

I am still on Dyazide, which was originally prescribed for borderline hypertension years ago. Unfortunately, the older I get, the less my body is able to cope with the sodium (salt) I eat, so I still need the Dyazide despite the weight loss and despite the substantial health improvements in other areas.

Bumped up a thread on the DASH diet

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf

My cholesterol was about 360 at one point.

Last I had it checked Feb (2004), it was 193 total and the LDL could be lower. But I've lost 15 lbs since then and made more changes.

Yes and no. I have been able to keep my ratio of good vs. bad cholesterol much better by eating healthy and exercising. However, my overall cholesterol number has been high since I was quite young and fit. Sometimes, it is genetic.

Generally though, if your ratio is good, doctors don't get overly concerned.

Dawn

My dh was able to come off his blood pressure meds after changing his diet and exercise. He had been on it his entire adult life so he was quite pleased.

His cholesterol numbers came down to normal too.

When I lost weight, my blood pressure went from borderline-high to well within the normal range.

I haven't had it retested, but I'm sure that my cholesterol is now well within the normal range too.

From the Mayo Clinic:

"Soluble fiber. This type of fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. You can find generous quantities of soluble fiber in oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, carrots, barley and psyllium."

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033

My main source of soluble fiber is plain Cheerios.

http://www.cheerios.com/forAdults/HeartHealthyEating/He...lthyEating_home.aspx

I don't use it, but psyllium is the stuff in Metamucil.

http://metamucil.com/about_fiber/psyllium.shtml

Hi Greg,
I actually lost my weight on Weight Watchers, and in doing so I learned to incorporate way more veggies, more natural grains (oatmeal, barley), and healthier protein choices overall.

My blood pressure, which was starting to inch to the high side, returned to normal. My blood work was all right on-target (don't know what my cholesterol was before; sorry).

I also have a heart condition called mitral valve prolapse (different, of course, from heart disease associated with plaque), and after I lost weight and incorporated daily walks for exercise, the palpitations have disappeared 99%.

It was, and is, way worth it for me!

Grace