cholesteral

Originally Posted by Garandshooter

total cholesteral 232, Triglycerides 299, HLD 44. My usual diet consists mostley of red meat, some pork, pasta's and large volumes of cheese. I know I eat too many cheeseburgers with fries. I don't mind eating fish, but I'm never going to like chicken unless it's fried.
I asked my sister and she also has high numbers, My dad also. I have a reputation for the large amounts of food I eat during my work day, but I've always been thin, so I didn't worry about it. I also have a high activity work day with 13 hour days the norm.

Ok your total cholesterol is borderline high (less than 200 would be ideal). Your HDL (the good cholesterol), is kind of low as well. Anything less than a 40 increases your chance of heart disease. Ideally, you want your LDL (the bad cholesterol) to be low, and your HDL (the good kind) to be high. If you have low LDL but also a low HDL, you are STILL AT RISK.

Your triglycerides are more for concern. That is no doubt high. The triglycerides are NOT cholesterol. Triglycerides are basically your building blocks of FAT, which you mostly acquire from eating fat. Based on your diet, you are eating quite a bit of fat, mainly in the form of burgers and red meats (i know they are good, i love them too). If you wanted to reduce those numbers, some quick things you can do.

1) cut down on the carbs (like the pastas, burger buns etc)
2) increae more omega 3 fatty acid in your diet through some fish
3 try and drop a few pounds...like 5-8
4) if you drink alcohol, it would be a good idea to put a stop that to.

Also, get a test for your fasting blood sugar. and make sure that you are NOT pre-diabetic.

try some of these first to get your numbers down. There are drugs available that can target your cholesterol levels, but there is a big downside to those drugs.