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Greetings and Salutations:
To the many who also struggle in the quest to lower your cholesterol...
Enclosed is a summary from fellow Celiacs on my original question of
lowering cholesterol (original posting attached below). Hope all of this
info is helpful to others who are battling high cholesterol.
-Jim
ORIGINAL POSTING...
"I am trying to find ways of lowering my Celiac daughter's cholesterol level
down to reasonable levels (she is around the 230/250 mark). Are there any
foods that are particularly useful for a Celiac in getting cholesterol
levels down? I was thinking maybe buckwheat since it is similar to oats, but
wasn't sure of the characteristics of buckwheat enough to know if that would
help. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance...
-Jim"
SUMMARY OF REPLIES...
"Psylliam and niacin (both natural products) work to lower cholesterol as
well as diet changes... Shelly Case has a book out - all about celiac and
the diet. Can't remember the name, but she goes into buckwheat and other
grains. Supposed to be a great book. She will probably have an ad the
first of the month."
"I'm a firm believer in garlic tablets to help reduce cholesterol. I take
GNC odorless garlic."
"I eat Poconos Cream of Buckwheat almost every day. I am amused by all the
hoopla about oatmeal when buckwheat despite it's name is great. I had high
cholesterol from having had T-1 diabetes for 31 years.
I eat a lot of brown rice also and I have learned to cook it in a microwave.
I cook 1/4 cup of buckwheat in 1 cup of milk and add raisins or other
fruit. I microwave it about 4 minutes in a large cereal bowl so it
don't boil over and let it cool till I get ready to eat. It is
sugar/free as well as gluten and wheat free. I bought it by the case at
www.thebirkettmills.com <http://www.thebirkettmills.com> until I talked
our health food store into carrying it. It is also economical 2.09 a box
whereas Rice cereals are much more." "I would think that high fiber
would be the best thing. Rice bran, brown rice, dried fruits, dried
beans, etc. Use 2 eggs whites for 1 whole egg in recipe, or something
like EggBeaters."
"I just recently lowered my cholesterol (total and LDL or 'bad' chol) by
>15%! I was amazed - I expected it to improve but not that much from a few
small changes.
Dietary changes I made: (not sure which- or if all together- helped)
*switched from milk to soymilk (learned I am casein-allergic) - 8th
Continent tastes really good (or relatively good, depending on how you
feel about it) - I drink about 3 or more cups per day to get my calcium.
*changed from regular margarines to "trans-fat-free" ones - namely to Take
Control or (occasionally) Benecol (both contain sterol or stanol 'esters'
which lower chol and triglycerides (mine are high) by about 10% for 2 tbsps.
daily instead of other spreads which contain 'hydrogenated' fats.)
*decreased meat consumption to less than 3 oz. per day and started eating
fish (esp. fatty fish like salmon which contain omega-3 fatty acids which
lower lipids)
*also eat more raw nuts (unsalted because of htn - gettin' older!) and
canola oil (olive oil's great also but I hate olive oil) - all these are
UNsaturated fats to replace the saturated fat in meat and cheese and
hydrogenated or 'trans' fats.
--------
Did this for about a year and finally had chol/TGs checked a couple of weeks
ago and discovered the improvement -- the chol and TGs had been getting
higher and higher for the past 10 years or so - started before I was 40.
And the latest lab results were lower than they were when I was a teenager!
- many years ago ---
Again, I don't know which worked -- soy products contain phyto chemicals
which lower lipids (chol and TGs). UNsaturated fats (oils and
baked/broiled/grilled fish and seafood and nuts/peanut butter) all
decrease chol and TGs. Saturated fat increases same -- and I decreased
my meat intake a lot (though I must admit that when I DO have meat, it's
usually bacon or pork - but very small amounts like 1-2 oz. in a stir
fry or on a salad for flavor.) I love eggs (though just found that I am
allergic to them too! what did I do to deserve THIS?)
I don't exercise more (consistent exercise lowers lipids too) or eat more
vegetables (don't really like them - but eat a lot of whole fruits and
high-fiber intake reduces chol.) So don't know what worked but never
expected to see the amount of the decrease - without medicine (which I don't
want to take!)
Within these comments are a number of lipid-lowering dietary possibilities
for non-drug control of hyperlipids. So maybe your daughter might find some
things she'd like to change among them I only did the things I like to do -
was effortless -- so Good luck!"
"Olive oil raises the good cholesterol and I believe lowers the bad. As do
walnuts, sardines, mackeral and salmon."
"The on top of ground vegetables, has she quit all dairy and limited her
Animal protein to 3 oz a day and she should stop all flour at least until
Her cholesterol goes down. I have great a great lipid profile and i eat
NOTHING AND DRINK 0"
"Garlic (raw is best but some capsules/tablets are OK) will help lower
cholesterol, but you have to use it daily." "Does she like hot tea? If
so, perhaps green tea would be helpful." "Rice Bran is helpful." "You
might try flax seed. It has to be ground before it is used and should be
ground fresh every day. A health food store will probably have
directions on how to get started with it. Generally one starts with a
teaspoon and gradually works up to 1/4 cup per day. For an oil, olive
oil is quite good. If you get the extra light (I use Bertolli), the
flavor is quite mild, and the extra lite can be heated higher than the
regular. I use it almost exclusively, and try to cut down all I can on
the saturated fats. Get lean cuts of meat & use low fat milk if you use
milk at all. It probably isn't all that simple, but those things have
helped me."
"The labels on processed and prepared foods must be watched for fats -
especially saturated fats. So, lots of veggies and fish. Very small servings
of meat, especially beef."
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