Thread: Cholesterol

Got my blood results yesterday and everything was good except for my cholesterol. Mine was 5.8 mmol/L and the normal range is 3.5 - 5.4 mmol/L. Triglyceride is 1 mmol/L and the range is 0.1 -2 mmol/L. I'm a bit disappointed for two reasons. First, I don't understand why it's high since I work out 5 days a week and eat properly and two, I was planning on starting a cycle on Monday.

My question is, is the number 5.8mmol/L a great cause of concern? My doctor didn't seem to be to concerned telling me to come back in three months to do another blood test and giving me a piece of paper with what I should or should not eat. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm not sure how bad it is, if at all, but I can tell you eating oats in the morning and cutting out all butters/margarines/sauces etc from my diet helped. I also added in fish oil every day too. My cholesterol was bad years ago, then when I started eating like a bodybuilder it came down quick smart...

Thanks mate. I have actually been eating pretty well except for a lot of eggs and red meat, that's why I'm surprised at the number. I don't use butter, margarine or sauces. I think I should probably cut back on the egg yolks and eat more chicken and fish. I've also started including oats every day (lol this being the first day). I used to only eat oats maybe three times a week and eggs every day but will probably need to just eat whites from now on. Fortunately, I found a Woolworths that just sell egg whites.

I personally dont think the egg yolks are that bad, while I'm at work for 1 week straight I have 4-5 whole eggs cause I haven't got access to any better protein. From what you say you eat it sounds alot like my diet already, just add in the oats and some good fats and I think that number will come down pretty significantly. I think the best for the bad cholesterol is the oats though, dont they reduce bad cholesterol somehow? lol.

The egg yolks wont be having much of an effect unless you're eating like 12 eggs a day... I wouldn't be so quick to drop them out as the omega-3 &-6's in them are most likely helping to keep it down...
Diet doesn't have much of an impact at all really, but if you were to cut back on stuff, the red meat probably would be the first place I would look... Try adding fish in place of a couple of your red meat meals during the week, and I don't mean tuna tins, I mean real fish fillets... Salmon tails or ocean trout tails are awesome!

Whats your bf% like at the moment?
Are you doing much cardio?

Originally Posted by Scottie85

Try adding fish in place of a couple of your red meat meals during the week, and I don't mean tuna tins, I mean real fish fillets... Salmon tails or ocean trout tails are awesome!

I dont suppose you'd know if fish like snapper is any good for bbers? I got access to heaps of that stuff lol, and thats the only fish I can really stand the taste of...

Originally Posted by Scottie85

The egg yolks wont be having much of an effect unless you're eating like 12 eggs a day... I wouldn't be so quick to drop them out as the omega-3 &-6's in them are most likely helping to keep it down...
Diet doesn't have much of an impact at all really, but if you were to cut back on stuff, the red meat probably would be the first place I would look... Try adding fish in place of a couple of your red meat meals during the week, and I don't mean tuna tins, I mean real fish fillets... Salmon tails or ocean trout tails are awesome!

Whats your bf% like at the moment?
Are you doing much cardio?

Thanks for the advice. I only eat about 6-8 eggs a day depending on what bodypart I'm working. And I'll look at cutting back on the red meat and including more fish. As for the bodyfat, the last time I checked was at 15% (I'm actually in pretty good shape for my age) but I'm booked in for a Dexa scan next week so I'll have the accurate number then. As for cardio, No. I was trying to put on mass the last five months so very little if any cardio. Started on the treadmill this morning if that counts lol.

what were you planning for your cycle? I mean if you took something bad for your lipids like stan or anavar then i wouldnt consider but a simple test cycle then go for it.

IW2BC and scottie are on the ball with this 1

It was and still might be a sust cycle with possible deca thrown in as well.

Originally Posted by IW2BC

I dont suppose you'd know if fish like snapper is any good for bbers? I got access to heaps of that stuff lol, and thats the only fish I can really stand the taste of...

Pretty much any fish is good for bodybuilders, particularly when cutting... Fish is pretty much pure protein, no carbs and very little fat...
The advantage of things like salmon, and other oily fish is that you can have 1 fillet and that's pretty much your intake of omega-3 for the day done!

As for snapper, go for it mate!
My favorite fish has to be barramundi, but the stuff is just too damn expensive!
If anyone shops at Aldi go to the frozen section and you can buy a 1Kg bag of frozen Hoki Fillets for about $10, and they taste great with just a little salt and pepper on them and thrown in the oven...

Originally Posted by RF1964

Thanks for the advice. I only eat about 6-8 eggs a day depending on what bodypart I'm working. And I'll look at cutting back on the red meat and including more fish. As for the bodyfat, the last time I checked was at 15% (I'm actually in pretty good shape for my age) but I'm booked in for a Dexa scan next week so I'll have the accurate number then. As for cardio, No. I was trying to put on mass the last five months so very little if any cardio. Started on the treadmill this morning if that counts lol.

BF% sounds good, don't think that would be impacting too much if at all...
Maybe up the cardio a little, u don't need to be sprinting or running marathons, just light walking will do the trick, that way you won't be too afraid of muscle loss... Another alternative is 10min HIIT sessions 3 times a week, that will certainly make you fitter, help drop bf% without any real muscle loss...

One thing I didn't mention before is that you may want to keep an eye on your sodium intake too... Also if you're a smoker, or have been in the past, that will effect your levels...

Originally Posted by Scottie85

BF% sounds good, don't think that would be impacting too much if at all...
Maybe up the cardio a little, u don't need to be sprinting or running marathons, just light walking will do the trick, that way you won't be too afraid of muscle loss... Another alternative is 10min HIIT sessions 3 times a week, that will certainly make you fitter, help drop bf% without any real muscle loss...

One thing I didn't mention before is that you may want to keep an eye on your sodium intake too... Also if you're a smoker, or have been in the past, that will effect your levels...

Thanks for the advice. I'll try the HIIT and see how I go tho I wouldn't want to have a coronary with all this cholesterol lol. Also I don't add salt at all so I don't think it could be that and I gave up smoking five years ago. But I'll change to fish, do more cardio and see where this take me.

Cheers mate.

Some good ways to lower cholesterol which is proven to work on me lol.

Buy that proactiv or logicol butter from the shops.Its very good for lowering chol.

Try some soy milk or any soy products,they reduce chol.

Try no fat milk and cut out all full cream mil.

I also highly recommend a product called lipidstabil.

I do all that and my chol went from 7.2 to 4.6 in 6 weeks.My chol and trigs are better than when i was 20years old and im in my 30's now.

Now that's the kind of numbers I like to hear, down in 6 weeks and better than when I was in my twenties!

So from your advice, I'll try using soy and getting lipidstabil. I already use no fat or low fat milk and I don't use butter or margarine at all.

my last reading was 8.1
i know exactly why, steroid use, and it was only injectables too, my doc said if u dont wanna die in your 30s get it under 5.
rf i am guessing it could be the high protein diet coupled with being in your 50's and with some anabl\olics usage thrown in.

lol I'm not in my 50's yet Mick but the rest sounds about right.

Hmmm i think i need to get my cholesy checked now.... test/mast/var im guessing my cholest is as high as micks.... fk...
how do yo udo a cholesty check? is it a blood test? what else should people get checked when going for a cholesterol check?

Its a blood test. I got just about everything checked by my doctor.

PSA,
Serum Lipids,
Vitamin B12 and Folate Studies
Androgens
Serum Chemistry
Plasma Glucose
Iron Studies
Thyroid Profile
Haematology

Originally Posted by RF1964

Its a blood test. I got just about everything checked by my doctor.

PSA,
Serum Lipids,
Vitamin B12 and Folate Studies
Androgens
Serum Chemistry
Plasma Glucose
Iron Studies
Thyroid Profile
Haematology

hmmm this looks like a test for when off the androgens haha

lol Yes it is. I wanted to check everything before getting on. Just like I'm getting a Dexa scan on Wednesday to see what I'm starting out as. I'm pretty methodical like that.. lol