Following my two heart attacks, the doctors put me on Lipitor to help control my high cholesterol levels. After having the open heart surgery I have delved into the problems a bit more than I had before, maybe because I am now more worried and actually taking part more in my well being than before.
First, let's get the whole "good" and "bad" cholesterol thing hammered out. You have two different types of cholesterol in your blood. There is LDL and HDL cholesterol. HDL is the good stuff and can be remembered by thinking of Happy Cholesterol, 'H' for Happy, HDL. I know it's corny but it helps. LDL is the cholesterol you want to be in low levels in your blood. The lower the better. This is the one that clogs those arteries and causes most of the problems. HDL on the other hand is the good stuff. It actually breaks down the plaque and fat that is building up in your arteries and can help to clean out the works. You want it high.
So how do we get the LDL down and the HDL up? There are a couple of ways for each. We can rely on medication to assist us. There are a few cholesterol lowering drugs out there such as Lipitor and Crestor. The problem I ran into was that my LDL was so high that the doctors tried raising my dosage of Lipitor enough to make a difference. However, at high levels Lipitor can also get rid of HDL which is a bad thing.
Niacin can be used to raise HDL. The main problem with taking niacin is how it makes you feel. A doctor will tell you that it will make you feel flushed. Bull! It makes you feel like you have caught on fire inside and the fire is spreading all over your body. It's a bad feeling, believe me. There is something you can do about this reaction. Since your doctor probably has you on Aspirin, you can take your Aspirin about 15 minutes before you go to bed, then right before you head off to bed, take the niacin. It works, and keeps the flushing feeling at bay.
So what if we don't want to rely on pills? The only thing you can do is watch your diet and probably change a lot of things. Very little fat intake, no burgers or bacon or pork chops. Nothing with a lot of cholesterol in it like eggs or dairy products. You need to eat things high in HDL such as legumes. (What the heck is a legume, you ask?) Beans, lots of beans. Lima beans are a good choice for HDL but others work well too. I found a good recipe for a vegetarian chili that is actually really good. Put lots of beans in it, different beans like navy beans and kidney beans and garbanzo beans and any other bean you have lying around. Vegetables are good sources of HDL. Pick up a good heart healthy cookbook and find some things you like in it.
No, I'm not preaching about changing your diet, I have a hard time with it myself. I love bacon! But I have found that turkey bacon isn't too bad. It's not the best and it is definitely not real bacon, but it's alright.
Some things that you can find in the grocery really are not too bad. My sister says that there are ribs made from tofu that really taste like ribs, and vegetables that have been ground up that taste a bit like hamburger in chili and things. I'm not going to just say she's crazy, I'll try some of the stuff for myself. I urge everyone to do the same.
My sister just let me know that the way to remember LDL is "Lousy". So you have Happy cholesterol in HDL and Lousy cholesterol in LDL. It may be corny, as I mentioned before, but if it helps me remember which is which then I don't care. Thanks Teacup!
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