Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
My comments stem from the fact that there are some people, as Itself alluded to, where genetics trump everything when dealing with these issues and others, like Goldfinch, and myself somewhat, where dietary changes have made no difference. I'm not on any medication, but at age 35 my total cholesterol was 160. At 40 it was 180. At 45, it was 245! I was exercising vigorously and eating well, although not as well as I do now. I started cycling and just from that (and giving up on my old forms of exercise) it went down to 220. It hasn't gone down much from that, about 217. However, it did raise my HDL to such a high level (70-100), that my ratio is excellent and no doctor will think of putting me on meds, despite the overall total that is about 20 points too high. I've tried every type of eating and nothing changes.
On the other hand, no amount of changes in diet/exercise would have prevented my DH from having 2 80% blockages, after 5 years of cycling 3-4K a year, and making huge dietary changes, and being on bp and cholesterol lowering drugs for a year. Maybe, if he had started when he was 18; the genetics were so bad, we are just waiting for all 3 of his siblings to have some "event," as they are all overweight, 2 are extremely sedentary, and they don't eat well, either.
My cholesterol is also 225, but my NP said that my HDL and LDL are so ridiculously good that I need not worry. There is some thought around the total number having less importance.