Most people in the country have to worry about high cholesterol. (My hubby’s is over 300.) But mine is very low. Having researched side effects of low cholesterol quickly for Mary, I learned that some of my fogginess, lack of concentration, and lower brain function might be because of my low cholesterol.
So, how do I raise my cholesterol?
Eat saturated fats. (There are conflicting reports. Some say this might help protect against coronary problems; some say it might cause them. But my cholesterol is low enough, I can probably add this without a problem.)
Exercise. Exercise on a daily basis, what happened to taking days off?, can raise your HDLs. Those are, as my mom puts it “your Happy cholesterol.” Those are the ones you want to go up. So my exercising will help raise that.
Lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. My guess is maintaining a healthy weight won’t raise your cholesterol. But maybe losing weight will. I don’t see how, but I’m not an MD.
Making sure enough magnesium is in the diet. I’m not sure how you do that. Take a vitamin. Eat veggies and fruit. (That’s what the research report said. But are all veggies and fruit high in magnesium or are they just trying to get you to eat those?)
High magnesium foods: artichokes, whole wheat flour, almonds, cashews, black beans, navy beans, white beans, pumpkin seeds, spinach, tomatoes.
Checking out my numbers. According to most of the websites I’m in the optimal range. I’ve got under 200 total, under 100 LDL, and over 50 HDL. But, according to the few websites that deal with low cholesterol problems, I might, indeed, have a problem.
Oh well. I’m eating more beans and nuts. Hopefully that will help.
My total ch. is 58 with HDL of 21. My total have been around 130 with HDL of 25 prior to taking lipitor. I had a stent put in on 1/08 but my heart was fine. I also take plavix. I’ve always excercised and am a healthy 60, not overweight. Another doc wants me to stop lipitor and take niaspan. Any suggestions? Thanks
I am not a doctor, so please speak with yours about this. But the answers above should help raise your HDLs. I’ve heard that exercising is best. Walk around the block, if that is all you can do. And walk around it two or three times a day. Then walk around it again tomorrow.
I am concern about my low chol. I am a 56 year old women. My total chol. is 119 and my doctor thinks it great, I don’t. How can I raise it? What health issues I should look out for?