Getting my oats

[Colonel Mustard]

I have just had the result of a bludd test which shows my cholestorol level is higher than a cat's back. 'Er indoors is threatening to put me on a diet of lettuce and carrot juice. I have heard that oats mop up cholestorol. If I eat porridge before my (soon to be outlawed) bacon and egg, would the porridge neutralise the b & e? Positive answers please, that I can use against the threatened carrot juice diet.

[woolybanana]

Suck down statins for a  couple of months, soon see the difference

[raindog]

I was told this some years ago. My quack gave me a list of stuff not to eat and heading that list was foie gras, eggs, beef, scampi and charcuterie with alot of fat all of which i've either cut down or stopped altogether. I gave up sugar in tea and coffee overnight and he told me to ease off on drinking. There was no way I was going to do that, so to compensate I eat loads of fresh fruit and veg and do about 3000 kilometers a year on the bike, that way I reckon I can have a good binge every week-end. I mean, if you can't enjoy yourself you may as well be dead anyway. Well it was years ago I had that blood test and i'm still going strong (touch wood)

Not heard about the porridge thing but I eat loads of that anyway.[:D]

[Gardian]

WB is right about the statins. My chlorestorol level was in the high 7's a few yrs ago - within 6 mths of the doc putting me on a statin, it was down to the mid 4's and has stayed that way ever since. I eat a lot more fruit & veg than I ever used to, but probably drink more wine too!  I still have eggs & bacon from time to time, but it's treat rather than a regular thing.

I would imagine that your doc will want you on a statin pdq.

[Russethouse]

Porridge will do it, it mops up chlorestral like a sponge! Try it for 2 weeks then do another test. If you have a slow cooker its really easy to put it on overnight - ask Chris Head !

[Hoddy]

Eat more walnuts - and not just because I grow them.

Hoddy

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Oats are definately the way forward and are an important part of my program to live until I am 94 to annoy my children.I approach this in the same way that you seem to be seeking: using "good" foodstuffs to offset the enjoyable things in life. I therefore seek to make the whole oats business as palatable as possible.

I have found that:

• Porridge is great with molassas and this is also meant to be good for you. So that's two plus points;
• A seemingly unlikely mixture of uncooked rolled oats, linseed, raisins, sliced banana and Greek yoghurt. I know that sounds a bit Swiss, but trust me;
• Flapjacks - made with butter though: I have no truck with that hydrogenated vegetable oil malarky.

I'm obviously completely unqualified to offer any dietary advice, but I have to say that this seems to work for me!

[Nickel]

At the end of the day it is - eat a healthy balanced diet, keep the weight off and exercise!!!

Porridge oats do seem to have a modest effect in reducing the 'bad' cholesterol but I shouldn't rely on that as a cure, however tasty they may be.( especially flapjacks with butter -yum)

Find out your total cholesterol and the levels of 'good' HDL and 'bad' LDL then you have something to work with and know whether statins might also play a part.

Now where did I put that foie gras.

 

 

 

 

 

[Helen]

My dieticians mission is to convert the French  to porridge. When I was in hospital she went through my normal diet with me, 'porridge' she said much better than a French breakfast. Husband was despatched toute de suite to fetch packet for my breakfast (which caused consternation with the ward staff.) Over a year later I went to the hospital for a stage . This time she brought the oats herself. No-one else on the course was convinced to try it, preferring their morning  biscottes(ugh). I am a chocoholic and put cankeo (low carb cocoa powder) on mine .

Oats great but don't use the finely ground instant ones use the rolled ones. Its the soluble fibre in them which helps lower LDL theres also lots in fruit and veg, beans and lentils wholegrain bread etc. Exercise is also also good for raising HDL and lowering LDL. Sadly bacon and eggs not so good but eating a balanced diet doesn't normally mean you have to  give up high fat things just not so often . Sorry lecture over[:)]

 

[Russethouse]

Not so much of the 'modest' ! [:)]

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/dietandfitness/nutrition/healthyeat/articles/0,,252_703774,00.html

http://www.heartuk.org.uk/artman/publish/article_549.shtml

 

 

 

[Nickel]

I agree the effects of porridge would appear to be positive but I have to say from reading the medical journals that it is attributed with a "modest" reduction in LDL cholesterol - though that term is obviously not scientific the literature will give you the statistics. 

 I just wanted to point out that  porridge is not a "panacea" and should form part of a balanced healthy diet along with exercise and weight control. There is NO quick fix.

http://www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=1474

 

 

[mint]

Exercise definitely brilliant for lowering cholesterol.  Can't remember how it works, that is, forgotten the explanation.

I used to keep my cholesterol and asthma under control just on exercise: gym, dogwalking, running, cycling, swimming. The doctor and clinic nurses were always amazed that someone with my cholesterol levels and asthmatic conditions could do without any form of medication.

In the end, they told me that I was obviously doing the right thing and more or less said I could just carry on with my own solution to my medical problems.

[Chris Head]

Yep, Gay is to blame for the sheer amount of the stuff I eat nowadays. It's also a good slow release carbohydrate...but like Nickel says it's not a cure all. I've used food to flush out & clean my system after the alcohol crap and need alot of the stuff with the exercise I do so have to be careful that everything is reasonably balanced. We all too easily neglect & abuse our bodies then one day it's too late.

[Patmobile]

Everyday, on the advice of my wife and other medically unqualified pundits, I eat lots of oats, bran and apples.

I think I'm turning into a horse.  No, I'm not growing a tail and neighing.  It's the quantity and - (excuse me) - the size of the waste product that is becoming horse-like.

Patrick

 

[Jinty]

Patrick Wrote:

I think I'm turning into a horse.  No, I'm not growing a tail and neighing.  It's the quantity and - (excuse me) - the size of the waste product that is becoming horse-like.

Was enjoying my breakfast, Patrick, too much information.  [+o(]  [+o(]   [:P]

 

[Northender]

Think I may have a suggestion for you Patrick

 

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Traders-want-to-see-horses.3488620.jp

[opas]

[quote user="Jinty"]

Patrick Wrote:

I think I'm turning into a horse.  No, I'm not growing a tail and neighing.  It's the quantity and - (excuse me) - the size of the waste product that is becoming horse-like.

Was enjoying my breakfast, Patrick, too much information.  [+o(]  [+o(]   [:P]

Perhaps a few tinned prunes....in natural juices of course.

 

My dad was also recomended porridge when he was diagnosed as diabetic.....use skimmed milk though and he uses powdered canderel to sweeten it......His colestrol level dropped too!

 

[/quote]

[plod]

Porridge with Nutella and a banana.

[Clair]

[quote user="Russethouse"]Porridge will do it, it mops up chlorestral like a sponge! Try it for 2 weeks then do another test. If you have a slow cooker its really easy to put it on overnight - ask Chris Head ![/quote]

Advice on doing porridge in a slow cooker please!

I made some the other night and I did put it on the lowest setting, but even on the lowest setting, it overcooked and was like wallpaper paste... barely edible and I did not want to waste Nutella on it! [:P]

PS: no cholesterol here, despite enjoying a mainly Normandie-like style of cooking (cream, butter, cheese...) [:)]

[Sprogster]

The most important thing is to keep your chloresterol closely monitored through your doctor and not ignore it, as it is the main cause of heart disease and strokes.

Although excercise and a good diet are important annd do help, this is unlikely to be sufficient in itself if you are over 50, or high chloresterol runs in the family as there is a genentic link. 

The good news is that statins are very effective, cheap to prescribe and well tolerated by most people, to the extent that under new BMA guidelines doctors in the UK are being advised to presribe statins more readily to men over the age of fifty as a preventative measure, even if they just have moderately high chloresterol. The new gold standard is ideally to get under 4.

In America statins are being credited with reducing heart attack deaths by 40% over the last ten years and the similar benefits are being reported in Europe. 

[Valleyboy]

Does anybody know the relationship between the French and UK methods of measuring cholesterol? My wife's C-level is high according to our medecin traitante, but the blood tests show a level of about 2.6, with a safe level of about 2. (figures from memory)

[Helen]

'The new gold standard is ideally to get under 4.'

You do need do know what units your doctor is using. In the UK they normally use mmol/l for LDL and HDL readings, in France the doctors use use g./l   (US and in much of  the rest of the world mg/dl !).  The lab test results in France usually, but not always, show both.

To convert mmol/l of cholesterol to g/l you need to multiply by 0.39 so a total cholesterol of 4 mmol./l  would be 1.56g./l

According to the BBC website UK 'gold standard' figures are :

total cholesterol: less than 4.0mmol/l 

LDL cholesterol: less than 2.0mmol/l  (0.78g/l)

HDL cholesterol: more than 1.15mmol/l (.44g/l)

My French doctor uses similar targets (LDL<0.8 g/l; HDL>0.45g/l).

Statins work and I am prescribed them. Personally I find that whether I hit my doctors targets every 3 months seems far more to do with the amount of exercise that I've done than the number of tablets I remember to take.(my overall diet is probably  worse in times of lesss exercise as well)

Edit to answer post above  Your doctor could be looking at the total cholesterol in g/l ... 2.6g/l would be 6.6mmol/l . Check it on the lab results or ask yur doctor.

[Nickel]

I know of doctors who do now routinely recommend/prescribe daily dose of simvastatin to male patients over 50 regardless of cholesterol levels.

At present the  NICE guidelines are :-  dependant on an algorithm taking into account - age, Blood Pressure, smoking hx, having diabetes or not etc comes to a 10 yr risk assessment. If Coronary Heart Disease risk >15% or CardioVascularDisease  risk >20% then to take aspirin (unless contraindicated) and statins. Statin of choice: Simvastatin 40 mg at night. Total cholesterol should be 5 or below but ideally below 4

 1 study, however, showed what ever the cholesterol reduction, just taking simva 40 mg in this situation reduces CHD mortality rate by 25%.

The "wonder drug" had been tarnished recently with its  unwanted side effects, I am sure more time will need to pass and more trials undertaken before a blanket apporach is accepted.   

 

[Valleyboy]

Thanks, Helen

[Gluestick]

Having suffered from high cholesterol for some few years and also having suffered from the side-effects of badly prescribed statins, please take the "Facts" about this wonder drug with a wee pinch of caution!

http://www.spacedoc.net/

The body produces cholesterol (the liver) even on a totally fat free diet. Excessive alchohol consumption and cigarette smoking also aid the liver to produce the stuff.

Hydrogenated oils and fats: avoid like the plague!

This process (bubbling hydrogen gas through a "Tower" of oils and fats) is done firstly to reduce unpleasant taint and taste and second to make soft oils and fats hard and suitable for producing junk food, likes cakes, pastries and biscuits!

When I first changed my diet 16 years ago, due to health problems, I forswore butter and switched firstly to Flora and then to Olivio (olive oil is good for you!): and then discovered that all of these "Healthy" butter substitutes were mainly cheap hydrogenated oils and fats!

Thus always read the food labels!

Personally, I fear that far too many medical "Experts" are clutching at straws and endeavouring to treat the symptoms of disease rather than its causes; which is, of course, the primary difference between Western and Eastern and Oriental medical philosophy.

Major pharmaceutical companies earn billions (of profit) each year from statins and often induce doctors to prescribe them like smarties. Worrying!

Holistic lifestyle, i.e. good balanced diet of whole fresh foods and high cardio-vascular exercise rates and above all else, freedom from Western stress (which is the real killer!), are the keys.

Interesting that when my wife went to Guy's Research School of Oral Medicine recently, the top professor told her that she was very worried as were many other senior researchers and doctors, that since the BSE and other scares, red meat consumption had fallen in the UK, drastically. More and More people were suffering from lack of Vitamin B12, which causes all sorts of cellular breakdowns and lack of immunity. Apparently the body can, unsually, store this vitamin for up to seven years: but once depleted, look out!

So, the weekly steak is now back on the menu!