Cheese and the dreaded cholestrol

[Sharron1]

Hi,

Can anyone give me advise. My cholesterol is too high 5 6 so the nurse and i have decided to give my diet a bit of a kick. I had forgotten about cholestrol and was way too busy concentrating on low carb. I have ditched my love affair with brie( i ate loads) reduced my consumption of butter nuts. Can anyone suggest some cheese ( i know about cottage cheese)i can have or shall i simply forget it?

 

[Windy]

I also love cheese and have high cholesterol (at least I did in October, last time it was tested, am hoping it's improved by the next review).
I buy Stilton and the strongest, most mature cheddar I can find, both of them go a long way as they are more flavoured, so if you're using them in food, you still can taste the cheese, but there's not much there to do bad things with your cholesterol. I try to stick to about 20g a day of cheese, and if you grate it, it seems to go further.

So I'd say, don't ditch it, but exercise portion control, as it's about 20-40% fat, and quite salty. Also, if you buy a block, you can cut it into little 20g portions, and put them in the freezer in a sandwich box, so that you don't have as easy access to it.

Cottage cheese has higher amounts of carbs, so it's a trade off if you want more or less carbs, or more or less fat.

I don't have any qualifications in nutrition or anything, but I know I still want to eat some cheese, and eating only a little bit is my way of doing this.

 

[Leadinglights]

Cheese does contain cholesterol but it is not the cholesterol in the cheese that increases serum cholesterol but the saturated fat so if you use a reduced fat cheese and as said try to find stronger flavoured cheeses like strong cheddar, mature Gouda or blue cheeses then you need less to get the same effect.
Quark is a good alternative to cottage cheese as you can add both savoury ingredients or fruit to it .

 

[Eddy Edson]

... reduced my consumption of butter nuts.

Really "butter nuts" or a typo?

You could always go low fat cheese? But it can be poxy & I ended up ditching cheese entirely rather than eat it.

But if "butter nuts" is a typo & you've actually reduced butter by a fair amount, that by itself might have quite a big impact - butter for some arcane reason being more cholesterol-evil than other dairy products.

Ch.9 of this https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/a-basic-guide-to-cholesterol-part-3-myths-misconceptions/ has a discussion.

 

[Leadinglights]

I don't think nut butters will cause a problem as long as they have no added hydrogenated fats
Are nut butters bad for cholesterol?
Fortunately for everyone who loves peanut butter, almond butter, and other nut butters, these creamy treats are fairly healthy. And as long as they don't contain hydrogenated fat, nut butters — including peanut butter — won't cause problems for your cholesterol levels.

Almond butter is supposed to be best but of course is more expensive.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Really "butter nuts" or a typo?

You could always go low fat cheese? But it can be poxy & I ended up ditching cheese entirely rather than eat it.

But if "butter nuts" is a typo & you've actually reduced butter by a fair amount, that by itself might have quite a big impact - butter for some arcane reason being more cholesterol-evil than other dairy products.

Ch.9 of this https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/a-basic-guide-to-cholesterol-part-3-myths-misconceptions/ has a discussion.

Part 2 of that article is spot on with the suggestions for foods to improve cholesterol as well.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Part 2 of that article is spot on with the suggestions for foods to improve cholesterol as well.

Cholesterol - Causes, Prevention & Treatment

Cholesterol is a substance that plays many essential roles in the body. It is involved in things like the structure of our cells.

www.barbellmedicine.com

Eating high-fiber foods is an excellent way to lower blood cholesterol levels. We recommend all people eat at least 30 grams per day of fiber from their food. This includes sources like fruits, vegetables, legumes (like lentils, beans, and chickpeas), and whole-grain sources like oats and barley. The more fiber someone consumes, the more blood cholesterol levels tend to decrease – so if someone is willing to eat much more than 30 grams per day from their food, they are encouraged to do so. Replacing highly processed, packaged, often sugary foods with these options can have enormous health benefits beyond cholesterol too. These include lowering blood pressure, triglycerides, lowering colon cancer risk, and promoting weight loss by increasing feelings of fullness.

He left out seeds 🙂 Anyway, I eat 70g - 80g fibre per day & I think this plays the largest part after statin in getting my LDL down to 1.0.

Oops - sorry, thread hiijack!

 

[Sharron1]

Really "butter nuts" or a typo?

You could always go low fat cheese? But it can be poxy & I ended up ditching cheese entirely rather than eat it.

But if "butter nuts" is a typo & you've actually reduced butter by a fair amount, that by itself might have quite a big impact - butter for some arcane reason being more cholesterol-evil than other dairy products.

Ch.9 of this https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/a-basic-guide-to-cholesterol-part-3-myths-misconceptions/ has a discussion.

Butter nuts almond, cashew and peanut butter All super yum. But i was over indulging

 

[Drummer]

After eating low fat for various lengths of time to lower my cholesterol, I can only report that it did not work, my cholesterol increased up to the point where I abandoned GP supplied diet sheets and ate low carb high fat - at which point my cholesterol numbers reduced. After almost two years of low fat foods I was diagnosed as type 2, burnt the diet sheets and got rid of the diabetes.
The nurse said it was a delayed reaction to the low fat - but somehow I suspect otherwise due to the subsequent years test results.
Others have seen the same thing with their tests. We are all different, of course.

 

[Sharron1]

Really "butter nuts" or a typo?

You could always go low fat cheese? But it can be poxy & I ended up ditching cheese entirely rather than eat it.

But if "butter nuts" is a typo & you've actually reduced butter by a fair amount, that by itself might have quite a big impact - butter for some arcane reason being more cholesterol-evil than other dairy products.

Ch.9 of this https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/a-basic-guide-to-cholesterol-part-3-myths-misconceptions/ has a discussion.

I suspect I will ditch the cheese entirely, it seems easier. As for Almond butter (my fav and a weakness) will reduce consumption and I do like seeds and grains so will increase them in my food. I thought the nurse was really open to trying to reduce the dreaded cholesterol. The trigs , ratio and HDL are in normal range just that damn LDL; which may well be natural production. Time will tell. That article re Cholestrol myths was very informative. Thank you.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Butter nuts almond, cashew and peanut butter All super yum. But i was over indulging

Oh right. Cashews & peanuts are probably more cholesterol-evil than almonds - higher proportion of satfats. Anyway, peanuts made a very noticeable impact on my LDL.

 

[PattiEvans]

After doing a lot of research on Cholesterol, I have come to the conclusion that total cholesterol is useless as a measurement. You really need the lipid breakdown, which shows HDL, LDL and triglycerides to assess risk. The ratio of trigs to HDL is of importance. My own total chol is 5.4 and has been for a long time, but I have high HDL and very low triglycerides. My doctors are happy with this. In fact it has been shown that women over the menopause have less all-cause mortality with a higher level of chol.

The foods we eat have little affect on our cholesterol, as what you don't get from food your body will manufacture to compensate. Cholesterol isn't poison, it's a basic building block for every cell in our body. The problem is when we get inflammation of the arteries, when cholesterol does it's job by plastering over it. People with diabetes and high BGs will have more glucose crystals attached to their red blood cells, which can scratch or inflame arteries.

This is worth a read https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dietary-cholesterol-does-not-matter#effects

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

I also love cheese and have high cholesterol (at least I did in October, last time it was tested, am hoping it's improved by the next review).
I buy Stilton and the strongest, most mature cheddar I can find, both of them go a long way as they are more flavoured, so if you're using them in food, you still can taste the cheese, but there's not much there to do bad things with your cholesterol. I try to stick to about 20g a day of cheese, and if you grate it, it seems to go further.

So I'd say, don't ditch it, but exercise portion control, as it's about 20-40% fat, and quite salty. Also, if you buy a block, you can cut it into little 20g portions, and put them in the freezer in a sandwich box, so that you don't have as easy access to it.

Cottage cheese has higher amounts of carbs, so it's a trade off if you want more or less carbs, or more or less fat.

I don't have any qualifications in nutrition or anything, but I know I still want to eat some cheese, and eating only a little bit is my way of doing this.

I am allowed 25g of cheese a day - agree to buy strong cheese to get a proper cheese hit.

 

[nonethewiser]

Most supermarkets do reduced fat cheese, Asda do few of them.

Love cheese, odd as doesnt seem to effect my cholesterol & always had good results, been cutting back on cheese consumption last 2 weeks but that's to lose some weight.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

After doing a lot of research on Cholesterol, I have come to the conclusion that total cholesterol is useless as a measurement. You really need the lipid breakdown, which shows HDL, LDL and triglycerides to assess risk. The ratio of trigs to HDL is of importance. My own total chol is 5.4 and has been for a long time, but I have high HDL and very low triglycerides. My doctors are happy with this. In fact it has been shown that women over the menopause have less all-cause mortality with a higher level of chol.

The foods we eat have little affect on our cholesterol, as what you don't get from food your body will manufacture to compensate. Cholesterol isn't poison, it's a basic building block for every cell in our body. The problem is when we get inflammation of the arteries, when cholesterol does it's job by plastering over it. People with diabetes and high BGs will have more glucose crystals attached to their red blood cells, which can scratch or inflame arteries.

This is worth a read https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dietary-cholesterol-does-not-matter#effects

Yes, the article above debunked a lot of those theories.
(Well all of them to be honest)
As to ratios, get the numbers right, the ratios follow.

 

[PattiEvans]

Frankly I eat tons of cheese, really a LOT (and butter and olive oil) and despite not being on Statins my chol has not increased for years and years... I mean right back to 2006 when I ditched statins which weren't apparently doing much at all for my chol, but creating a lot of brain fog. My ratios have always been good too. The link I posted does explain very well exactly why. Though if you want something more "learned" I can produce those sort of links too. However, it's evry individual's choice as to how they handle it.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Frankly I eat tons of cheese, really a LOT (and butter and olive oil) and despite not being on Statins my chol has not increased for years and years... I mean right back to 2006 when I ditched statins which weren't apparently doing much at all for my chol, but creating a lot of brain fog. My ratios have always been good too. The link I posted does explain very well exactly why. Though if you want something more "learned" I can produce those sort of links too. However, it's evry individual's choice as to how they handle it.

A cholesterol of ten and HDL of two will give a "good" ratio of 5.

 

[PattiEvans]

Yes, but that is taking it to a ridiculous extreme that no one would sensibly do. Plus a good ratio is under 3.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Yes, but that is taking it to a ridiculous extreme that no one would sensibly do. Plus a good ratio is under 3.

My point of exactly.
All the alternative advice out on the internet now saying, numbers don't matter, it's just the ratios, the body needs cholesterol, all cause mortality shows more people due from low cholesterol, then not even agreeing about what a good ratio is......

Whereas get the numbers right, the ratios drop in to line.
Which they don't seem to say.

 

[PattiEvans]

I was going by the ratios which appear on the print outs from the NHS that I get from my nurse, which say "under 3"