hypercholesterolemia gurus - need your input please

[stosstruppe]

So my dad was getting a health check-up & he was found to have "dangerously high" levels of cholesterol in his blood despite being prescribed some serious amounts of statins. He's in his mid 60s & had a heart by-pass operation about a year ago so apparently this is cause for concern with the health folk.

They've printed him out a dietary sheet categorising food types that he should be "eating more of", "less of", "minimal amounts" & "avoiding" - most of you are probably aware of the nutrition doctors / nurses advocate to people with hypercholesterolemia in order to lower it.

Now I'm not really an expert on this stuff, it's been years since I studied it in college though vaguely recall how diet supposedly has minimal impact on blood serum cholesterol levels & something about LDL, HDL, VLDL affecting cholesterol levels.

Generally, what would people suggest to improve this problem? Is high cholesterol in the blood really cause for concern i.e. it's high because the body is actually needing that amount for whatever processes being carried out?

 

[-SD-]

i was at a GP last week for a full blood panel and turns out I have high cholesterol also. The Dr said its mostly genetic and theres nothing you can really do about it naturally, so you have to get on meds for it.

 

[guest username]

Most of it is genetic, but diet does play a role (in some people more than others).

 

[Bikini Mod]

My husband had developed high cholesterol, had high bp since he was a young man who was very active (army ranger, swimmer, played golf, skiing, tennis). He was taking all sorts of meds to address both issues and having terrible reactions to all of them, everything from horrible skin rashes to severely achy joints.

So FINALLY the goober listened to his wife's professional advice (I used to be a certified PT - and not the 100$ online certification kind) and he:

1. quit drinking alcohol completely.
2. got back to the gym on a regular basis. He has many old injuries that limit what activities he can engage in. So all the work he did is in the pool (aquatics).
3. his diet still sucks but it is much better than before.
4. started HRT (the legal kind LOL)
5. supplemented his diet with emu and krill oil.

Guess what?

NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURE AND NORMAL CHOLESTEROL WITH NO MEDICATION WHATSOEVER. This has been successfully maitained for several months. I bought him a bp cuff that he uses every other day while I stand over him to make sure he is truthfull about his readings. And he goes for bloodwork every 2/3 months at our endocrinologist to make sure everything else is good.

BTW - My Old Grump is 58 years old. He's had high bp since his mid 20's.