FI has high cholesterol

LittleKatie13

I've always had low cholesterol and blood pressure, so I've never paid attention to what has cholesterol in it and what's bad to eat if you have high cholesterol.  Please inform me since I do all the cooking and grocery shopping. TIA!

texgal79

First, does he know if it's genetic?  Sometimes high cholesterol is and that can be a lot harder to change. Even if it is, obviously, he should still try and eat healthy, and ramp up the exercise (if he doesn't do it regularly.)  Also, your brain and cells need cholesterol to function, so he shouldn't cut it out entirely. Saturated fats, especially those from animal products, are the primary source of cholesterol and sadly, all the good stuff tends to have cholesterol: eggs (the yolk), cheese, fried foods, and especially red meat. You can do some searches for foods to help lower cholesterol; from what I recall, the Mayo Clinic advises some interesting ones, such as blueberries, shitake mushrooms, apples, salmon, and beans.  

LittleKatie13

It is genetic.  Today was the first time in 15 years that he went to the doctor (and only because I made him!)  I think red meat is going to be the biggest problem.  I always use really lean red meat, but we both love it and I need the iron so I cook it a couple times a week.  We also eat a decent amount of shrimp which I know is high in cholesterol-but I've heard to not worry about the shrimp in cholesterol.  He does need to stop having fries with lunch every day.  I make dinner and it's always really healthy.  So it's just eating out that he needs to figure out.  Unfortunately he goes out for lunch every day.

Alo822

One of the best ways to lower your cholesterol is to eat whole grains with fiber, especially foods like oatmeal. That, and cutting back on saturated fats as PP mentioned. Even though you can't physically "feel" having high cholesterol, it really can be a serious thing, particularly combined with high blood pressure. 

heidi1068

LittleKatie, I've been there.  My fiance found out a year ago that he had high cholesterol and I went a little nuts for a while buying all of these new cookbooks for cooking for someone with high cholesterol but then was very disappointed because they relied heavily on fake, processed foods, which I won't use.  We eat a whole foods diet at home, with a lot of fish and chicken.  We might have beef or pork once a week.  He has also stopped eating in his work cafeteria which has made a huge difference in how he feels, although we do not know if it has lowered his cholesterol because he has not been tested. 

Given that it is genetic (like my FI's) I would not worry about it if he is a reasonable weight and it is only slightly elevated.  This is based on advice I received from a good friend who is a registered dietician.  In my FI's case, his entire family has extremely high cholesterol, but they are also all very overweight.  He is very thin, and his cholesterol is only borderline high, so as long as we feel that we are eating healthy most of the time, we aren't going to worry about it for now.  If, however, your FI is overweight, you should work together to try to lose some weight, which will probably bring it down to just slightly elevated levels.

S_A_Friedel

I just found out I have high triglycerides from my diabetes being uncontrolled for so long and my endocrinologist told me to take 3 fish oil pills a day and try taht for 3 months before putting me on any medication - - maybe your FI can try taking some fish oil - never hurts!