Venting... new cholesterol issue

[chatnoire]

Glad to hear about the good news with the re-test! We've been worrying about the boyfriend's good cholesterol here, since he had a screening through a heath day at work. His "bad" was at 168, but his "good" was only at 21.

He recently lost 19 pounds, and we've been eating more healthy foods, but he's still considered "overweight" with a BMI of 28. We are trying to drink more red wine, eat more nuts and fish, and we have a CSA farm share this summer to increase our veggie consumption, but we're also a little teeny bit worried.

[shootingstar]

Would cut back on red wine. Think about it: there are whole cultures that do not have wine often/or none at all, as part of their diet. And some of those people on such diets are healthy for at least 70-80 yrs. of their life. ANd no cholestrol nor triglyceride problems.

WIne and beer have calories. Yes, I know about so called benefits of red wine. But really? It is alcohol in the end and it has calories. It's sort of thing only couple glasses per month or less.

A nuts..is handful of unsalted nuts at times. But daily??? No. Nuts are healthy in small amounts, but can be heavy in calories.

Add more variety and range of veggies plus diversify in preparation methods. Reduce in salt in food (something I better do more.).

[OakLeaf]

Food has calories! OMG, OMG!

[Catrin]

Food has calories! OMG, OMG!

All things in moderation, and each of our bodies has its own way of doing things. I would have never dreamed that the best way for me to start losing body fat was to increase my calorie intake by almost 40% No weight gain, and indeed I've lost almost two pounds. So sometimes the whole equation can be more complex than we realize.

[Catrin]

Crankin... but I'm glad you're okay.

What she said, I am sure the news brought a huge sigh of relief!

[Crankin]

Shooting Star, I am not sure why you think small amounts red wine, olive oil, avocado, and nuts daily are the cause of my false cholesterol reading. These foods are empirically proven to lower LDL and raise HDL. Diversify my food prep methods and add veggies? Jeez, you must not have read some of my other posts. The only way I prepare food is by sauteing, roasting, or grilling. I never eat fried food or junk food, and I haven't for most of my adult life. I don't eat pastries or dessert except for special occasions and I have never used a lot of salt. And now, I hardly eat meat. I eat a handful of mixed nuts and cranberries that come in prepackaged bags at Trader Joe's. Since I started doing that and not eating a carb based snack in the afternoon, I've lost 5 pounds.
Of course beer and wine have calories. And I don't need to lose weight and I don't have high blood pressure. I weigh the least I have since I was 35... between 103 and 105. Just like Catrin, the equation is different for everyone. I eat less of a lot of the things most people eat and more protein and low glycemic carbs. Calories from good food do not cause triglycerides to go up or your total cholesterol to go up. Eating food with fat causes that, along with inactivity, or genetic predisposition. Obviously, that doesn't apply to me.
I enjoy food and wine. Eating out and cooking are probably the most important part of my life, next to cycling. We belong to a wine club and I enjoy researching and reading up on what I like. I don't see any ill effects from one glass of wine most nights a week; if I did, I'd stop.
The way you eat works for you, just as the way I eat works for me. It's obvious my test in April was either just a false reading, or was affected by the increase in red meat and cheese I had been eating. When I stopped that, my numbers returned to almost what they were in 2011, in just 8 weeks.
Yes, Oakleaf, food has calories! Can you believe it???
As my family says, "food is good, man must eat."

[Owlie]

Crankin, I think Shooting Star's post may have been directed at the post directly prior to hers.

[Crankin]

I am not sure, Owlie. I clearly said the same thing. I have a glass of red wine daily, eat nuts, as well as added olive oil and dark chocolate. What Chatnoire's bf is trying to do is the same thing both myself and DH do. And, it's working.

[chatnoire]

And my boyfriend is making these changes from what used to be a pizza and burgers and beer, takeout wings, etc diet. So these are all good, healthy, good cholesterol building calories. Especially since we ride all the time. He needs calories to do that.

And we have a CSA share....TONS of veggies. Crankin, I'm glad your numbers returned to a healthy range. I'm hoping that we can get a re-test with a more complete set of numbers for the boyfriend mid-summer.

[zoom-zoom]

I am not sure, Owlie. I clearly said the same thing. I have a glass of red wine daily, eat nuts, as well as added olive oil and dark chocolate. What Chatnoire's bf is trying to do is the same thing both myself and DH do. And, it's working.

My DH has high BP and wonky cholesterol/triglycerides. These things are predominately genetic issues, as everyone on his mom's side have the same issues, including his skinny, active mom and marathon-running aunt. Our PCP also recommended a daily glass of wine. He's also on BP meds, but doesn't need to do anything more. He's recently lost noticeable weight, too, which will likely help. And he bikes a TON.

[shootingstar]

Crankin, I think Shooting Star's post may have been directed at the post directly prior to hers.

Yup, you're right. It was more about why would Chatnoire's bf who is trying to lose some weight, would drink more red wine, etc.

THis is not lowering bad cholestrol levels but more on lowering triglycerides for my partner: he drastically reduced wine intake, sugar desserts, red meat and did lots of cycling. Lost 50 lbs. (20 yrs. ago). Regained 30 lbs. in past 6 yrs.

Now lost 15-18 lbs by cutting back on high carb bread/bagels, he drinks about 2-3 glasses of red wine per month or less (He used to drink more beer in his 20's-30's. But now doesn't like the taste of beer anymore.)

We love wine, Crankin but both he and I don't drink much without getting drunk easily. He gets lightheaded after 2 glasses of red wine. For me it's half a glass of red wine or less for white wine. It's just my body naturally cannot take much wine without getting drunk fast. It's ok....it prevents me from drinking much.

For him, because he's naturally drinking less wine, his body has lost some resistance to wine.

[malkin]

Would cut back on red wine...

I wouldn't.

[lph]

I know it's obvious, but it bears repeating: being healthy is a lot more important than being thin. (And Crankin, I know that you are both).

Well done on the good readings!

[Crankin]

You know, lph, I think you are wise to bring this up. My original vent was clearly about health. It just happened to coincide with the time period I had lost 5 lbs. And while it wasn't critical for me to lose that 5 pounds in terms of my health, it really has helped me figure out how to maintain my weight in terms of what foods affect my ability to ride/run/x country ski, keep my finicky stomach happy, and just feel good.
I know lots of people who have "numbers" on various tests that make mine look like I am on death's door. Yet, these people are at least 20 pounds overweight and some would be considered obese. It's kind of like those guys who drop me when I'm riding; the ones wearing jeans, riding a beater mountain bike, with a 20 pound backpack on their back, and about 20 years older than me .
And Malkin is right. I will never give up red wine.
Spoken as I am off to the Colonial Inn to meet another bike leader who helped us on a ride we led in May. I will be sitting on the patio drinking red wine.