Ducati Monster Forum

that's only natural ... medical problem? ask the Ducati forum ............ but of course   [thumbsup]



so i went to have my tests done for the first time ever as i'm of an opinion that "if it doesn't hurt i must be healthy" .... funnily enough, i was right; well, almost
my cholesterol level is high and that goes for the "good" one @ 7.5 mmol/L (3.5 - 5.4) and the "bad" one @ 4.6 mmol/L (2.1 - 4.0)

hence my question; what to do to lower it down? read plenty but would rather hear normal words of advice than words of wisdom which are rather vague

thanks, guys  [thumbsup]


....yeah, and i'm bracing myself for any smart-arse comments which are generally unavoidable regardless of the topic  ;D

Food is your main problem, but not eating isn't really an option.

During a health check at work they said my cholesterol was high and I should see the doc. He's advice was ... maintainachieve a decent level of fitness, try to reduce stress and use one of those cholesterol lowering butter/margarine thingies.

Jukie's Dad was told to cut salted peanuts out of his diet and it made a big difference. So again it seems to be all about what you eat (and drink I s'pose).

Don't know how arancini (sp.?) rates on the cholesterol front ... but generally if you like it, it's bad for you.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and any advice should be taken as ridiculous nonsense, entirely based on bullshit and supposition and should not be relied upon if you actually want to stay alive

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt....

Remember that this is just a spot measurement and christmas being the time of excess and all, your cholesterol may just be up temporarily.

Some high cholestrol is hereditary, however a   lot of it comes down to diet and exercise, the usual, fresh fruit and veg, less saturated fat, and particularly more fibre.

Wholemeal foods, (as opposed to whole grain) is known to lessen your uptake of cholesterol, so if your eating something high in cholesterol, (e.g. Avocado, eggs, butter ) balance it out with wholemeal pasta or bread.

There are cholesterol lowering supplements but I wouldn't go down that (expensive) path.

If a poor diet is showing up with high cholesterol it's a good chance that same poor diet can cause other long term problems e.g. bowel cancer and diabetes to name a few, no need to turn in to a food nazi, just plan your eating a bit better and you'll be right.

Replace scooter with bicycle... - Chris

ps, really excercise is 50% of the problem. Cut down on trans fats; EG more vegies, less fats/meats. NO arancini for you! ;D

Do not eat Trans fats - found in any food that is normally liquid at room temp.  ie vegetable oils in margarines.  They do really horrible things to them to make them solid.

So eat butter rather than margarine.  It's the quantity and balance that matter.  Keep food close to what nature intended. Don't eat manmade chemicals. 

Do yoga, meditate. Have fun.   ;D

Your good cholesterol is high - this is very good.  If your not overweight, smoke and don't have predisposition to heart problems - don't worry. If any of these apply - change your lifestyle.

Drink Hawthornberry tea - heart, blood, circulation regulator.  also good for bad circulation.

Don't ever take cholesterol lowering drugs (statins)  They stuff your liver and the doctors wont ever let you stop taking them even if your cholesterol comes down.

And in the end, some of us have genetically high cholesterol.  Did they also give you a heart attack risk ratio result?

My cholesterol   [bacon] level my found to be normal, BUT as a long term (45 years) type 1 diabetic with the associated circulatory problems et al my doc said that it is a bit high for me and has prescribed Lipitor.  ???
Hevent been back for a follow up yet but with the side effects I might have to look at some of the "other" methods of reduction.  ;)

With the risk of loss of lower extremities due to bad calcification in my legs he aint happy with me riding either!! :P

Phuggit though, if it happens it happens but I'm not going to stop enjoying myself until shit happens and I'm forced to.  [moto]  ;D  [evil]

you need....

1. More coffee
2. Forget wholemeal pasta - as an italian, that stuff is an abomination.
3. Meditate with said coffee
4. Get fit by riding harder and longer
5. Arancini get fried, so bummer.
6. Cut out the heavy fats and eat lighter cheeses - mascarpone, ricotta, etc.
7. Drink more red wine

Try that out for 6 months and if it don't work, then clearly my prescription is wrong and go back to a proper doc.

it didn't take long   [evil]





la ringrazio, medico  [thumbsup]

yeah, well, there was waaay tooo much sensible advice in all those replies....somebody had to bring it back to reality!  [drink] [bacon] [popcorn] [wine] [beer] [coffee]
sorry won't make it tonight

Hi Melvin

I tried the psyllium cure - supposed to work but I got sick of it pretty quick- like eating cardboard.  It's okay if you're a cereal for brekky person so you can hide it amongst the coco pops!

As for taking phytosterols.  I haven't tried it.  Most of these things are isolated from soy beans which may be okay in  the short term.  Long term you're just taking something else that has been modified by humans.  It's not a good idea to take a lot of soy long term.  Again it comes down to all things in moderation and keeping it close to natural.  I gave up meat/chicken but my doc told me to keep eating cheese and drinking red wine because you have to have some enjoyment in life.

And all this won't do you any good if it all becomes a chore. 

My concern would be that in lowering your bad cholesterol, would the good (HDL) be lowered too?

And Dragon

Diabetes 1 sucks.  Hawthorn berry tea for your circulation too.    [thumbsup]

Hello fellow type 1, only 27 years, but I hear what you are saying.




                                                 Mmick

Cholesterol comes from animal cells. Don't eat any. ;)

I once did a research paper on the subject of vegetarianism and cardiovascular/crebrovascular disease (turns out there's a lot more bad stuff in animal cells than cholesterol). But I realize that diet is as sensitive a subject as religion, so I won't preach at ya. :-X

Animal fat & heart disease:
http://heart.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/78/5/450 (http://heart.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/78/5/450)
http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/resources/atlas/en (http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/resources/atlas/en)
http://www.cdc.gov/HeartDisease/facts.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/HeartDisease/facts.htm)
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2152 (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2152)
http://www.pcrm.org/news/downloads/berkow_barnard_blood.pdf (http://www.pcrm.org/news/downloads/berkow_barnard_blood.pdf)
Plasma lipids:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/70/3/525S (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/70/3/525S)
Dietary fat & strokes:
http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/5/783 (http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/5/783)
Dietary fat & prostate cancer:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n15_v144/ai_14488574 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n15_v144/ai_14488574)
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/prostate/HealthProfessional/page4 (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/prostate/HealthProfessional/page4)
Dietary fat & colorectal cancer:
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v90/n1/full/6601441a.html (http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v90/n1/full/6601441a.html)

..Rob, you want some Arancini? Some drink? some ice-cream? Ohh cmon.... Bar Italia had their worst Thursday eve in a while. Rob's cash flow injection "to their till" means Bar Italia will go into receiver ship soon.... - Chris

Interesting timing Melvin. I have just had my cholesterol checked for the first time recently and it's pretty high, although I'm opposite to you, the bad is high and the good is low. I'm not surprised really, I indulged in life too much and so now I'm paying for it.

The Doc said she would normally recommend asprin, but I can't take it - they found the high Cholesterol reading in a blood test to work out what was really wrong with me - a peptic ulcer - so asprin is out. So I am now on the lowering tablets for a few months.

I now have to review my eating habits, basically I was told to go on a low fat diet..... I had a lovely salad for lunch. I still have to find something to complement the red wine, maybe ricotta on rice crackers.

I think I have the excercise in check now, especially as my license gets a 3 month rest in Jan  :(  I'll be on the pushy alot.

Thanks all who posted, the info helps.

bloody hell whats going on over there spider  with no ride , dos without a license you two will have to swap for a while  [cheeky]

naughty naughty boy Dos (HCG). you have been racing tooo fast. but i understand that you have to while your on a Duc, but i dont encourage it   [evil]

Get a Tandem pushy guys??? ;D  [cheeky]  [clap]

We could have worse mate?? At least we can still do anything we want unlike some other poor buggers.  ;)

Yeah, I'll have to draw up a rental agreement  ;D Do you think Spider with be willing to ride a fridge for a while?

Maybe it'll come back with extra carbon bits  8)

good point , dragon hope you keep your ride other wise i will have to put a side chair on  [laugh]

one of my mates, who is skinny and rides a pushy many km per day has high cholesterol.  he said that you have to remember that it's not about the % of fat you eat, it's the total amount of fat you eat.  my mum also has quite high cholesterol, and she's on a special low salt/fat/fun diet for meniares (i don't know how to spell it).

well, the low fat diet is in full swing @ melvin's household ...... whole wheat bread, the special $9 butter, lean turkey, steamed chicken etc ... as well as the omega3 tablets and milk ... time will tell if it's all worth it
it's not terrible but it's not great either; but when you get older it pays to start immediately

thanks for all the advice, guys

Phuggit it all then !!

Lets get lotsa beers and Pizza and go for a ride !! [evil]  [beer]  [moto]

We are here for a good time, not a long time. Enjoy it while ya got it !  [thumbsup] ;D

yes i agrree but bloody males, i want both  ;D

That'd be right !!!  [roll]


A truly modern female. Ballsanall  ;)

Funny you mention Ménière's disease. My mother has it too—used to spend days in bed with awful vertigo. She read that a body with an autoimmune disease can confuse animal protein with its own protein, and start to eat itself. She switched to a vegan diet (simply no animal protein) and all her symptoms disappeared.

you know what they call the one in the back....the stoker....do I really want a guy who starts of with freddy mercury as his avatar and then changes it to a giant c0ck-shaped cloud behind me on my entire ride???

the answer is yes!!!!!

Dos is always great company...      :)

Too right, people always ask me if it worries me or if I ever let it get me down sticking needles into me every day, I just look them square in the eye and tell them to go look at the childrens cancer ward, that would get me down. This, this is a piece of piss.






                                               Mmick

Err Ummm, how was the blood sugars over Christmas ???  ;)  [evil]  ;D  [beer]

I thought I'd update this thread with some good news. After being on 5mg Crestor a day plus riding the pushy to work 3 to 4 days a week and a better diet during the week (weekends are getting a bit better) the bad cholesterol has come down the good come up to where they should be. I could see the results were good 'cos the doc was also really pleased for me.

I guess I now keep up the healthier lifestyle :)  with the odd  [wine] and not too much  [bacon]

Great news mate, well done  [thumbsup]  [wine] (A small one  [cheeky] )

 [clap] Well done Dos.  I'm well overdue for a check but haven't been behaving myself (too much  [wine], cheese and chocci) so I'm not rushing.

that too has been my diet of late .......... but i compensate that with a fair dose of healthy food and getting a lot of exercise .......... in any way, shape or form   [evil]

and did I forget to mention ... I haven't done much exercise lately due to a torn tendon in my calf which is taking forever to heal because I can't/wont rest it!  [bang]  [cheeky]

you'll have to partake in the "Melvin exercise plan" which I do believe has numerous positions to take into account pre-existing ailments!

 ;D

yes, you're right, my good man

>>>various positions are available for energetic girls<<<

hmm Well I am going to Melbourne tomoorow to spend a night in a hotel room all by lonesome.  [roll] [roll]

It is impossible to keep any of these threads chaste,  isn't it?   [laugh]

So would Melvin's excercise plan be banned from the this board????

why would it be? it's my thread created to gather helpful information ......... whatever they might be  [evil]
and it is medically proven that chastity is no1 enemy as far is your health is concerned so i say your night in a hotel all lonesome can be worst than wine and cheese

3 Cheers for Dr Melvin !!  [evil]  [thumbsup]

Thanks for the wise words Dr Melvin.

Look out Melbourne!  [laugh]

does it mean: au revoir chastity?      ................ it better  [evil]

Ha ha ... doubt it.

I'm too well behaved for my own good sometimes.

see, the fact that you have doubts can mean a new beginning ......... and what a better way to venture onto a new path like throwing away chastity during a naughty w'end?


...........the day will come when you will be grateful that Dr Melvin has spoken these pearls of wisdom  ;)

I can be naughty.... I may have bacon with my brekky sunday morning ;)

mate...it's your birthday....

you need to follow Dr.Melvin's exercise plan first and then.....breakfast with the crew!  [thumbsup]