Sunday, October 19, 2008

Vamos 5K: 22:25 - How I got low cholesterol!

This was a race for my kid's school. I was pretty happy with the time-- there was a killer hill right at the beginning of the course that really made me wish I had been training hills. But good. 7:13 miles.

One nice thing-- they did a health fair after the run and I got my cholesterol checked. Six months ago I had it checked and it was at 225. The nurse practitioner told me she would have to put me on medication to reduce my cholesterol if I couldn't get it down. Today I tested it and it was at 150. Really very good.

Here's how I did it:

  1. Oatmeal and fruit every morning
  2. Metamucil twice a day
  3. 1000 mgs of Flax Oil a day
  4. No eggs (I now eat egg beaters or eggs with no yolks)
  5. I read the label on everything and tried to keep my cholesterol and saturated fat as low as possible.
  6. I ran and lifted a lot. My mileage is between 25-40 miles a week and I was lifting vigorously a couple times a week.
It probably had no direct effect, but I also started to avoid sugary foods and caffeine. They don't contribute directly to my cholesterol, but when my sugar levels get off I tend to eat garbage, i.e. cholesterol.

Disclaimer: this is what worked for me, your results may vary, I'm a computer programmer, not a doctor, please don't sue me.

Posted by Timothy Chen Allen at 1:26 PM

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 19, 2008 at 7:41 PM

    Not bad. I was once diagnosed with an extremely high cholesterol level (312), but I'm finally starting to get it under control.

    In my diet I only exclude egg yolks but continue to consume the whites. They'r a great source of protein with a complete amino acid profile.

    I added Promis Activ Supershots to my diet for the reason that they're fortified with natural plant sterols, which is helpful for lowering LDL.

    Anyway, good job on your cholesterol.

    I've created a site dedicated to spreading knowledge about cholesterol at ArteryBlocker.com, please visit if you'd like.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Timothy Chen AllenOctober 19, 2008 at 7:49 PM

    I fixed the post so it was clearer that I actually eat eggs, just not the yolks.

    Thanks for the encouragement. I was really relieved when I heard the number. It was really disconcerting to hear I had such a high number. I'm just used to always having a clean bill of health. But I did it to myself; I just thought that being as active as I am I didn't need to worry about my diet. My practitioner proved that idea to be wrong!

    ReplyDelete

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