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Well, don't be totally anti medication.My husband has terrible genetics but is a superfit person, eats pretty well, too. By the time I forced him to get a physical his cholesterol was sky high and he had high BP, too. A year later he had 2 80% blocked arteries. He had started on the medication a year before that. After he had the arteries taken care of, his doctor switched him to 2 different cholesterol lowering meds.
I am all for alternative health methods, and have had some weird drug reactions, but ladies, do fool around with this, especially if you are nearing menopause. Flax seed would not have helped my husband.
I have eaten well for years and I still have a fairly high total cholesterol level (218). But my HDL and triglycerides are really good, so they say I don't need any meds. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get the total lower.
And by the way, it's generally accepted now that eggs don't make your levels go up that much, it's fatty foods (saturated) that do.
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And don't forget that trans fats are the worst of all as far as having bad effects on cholesterol levels and clogging arteries! I would advise staying completely away from them whenever possible.
BTW, Crankin--I wouldn't get too hung up on the "high" total number if your HDL and triglycerides are good. As far as I understand, it's more the ratio than the total that is important. At my last physical, for example, my total was 207, HDL 82, LDL 107 and triglycerides 89. The doctor wrote on the lab results that this was "very good" even though the total was technically a little high. Seems I take after my mother in the cholesterol department--her total is always a little high but the HDL is really good so it's fine.
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Thanks, Jolt. I know that my ratios are really good and I have been told the numbers are a direct result of 25+ years of exercise. My HDL recently got a little lower, went from 81 to 75, but since I had a dr. once tell me that he had never seen an HDL that high in his entire career, I will settle for the 75.
Robyn
