Sunday, March 1, 2015

How I dropped my cholesterol over 50 points!


I've always had high cholesterol numbers since I was a young adult with normal weight. But I've always loved food and chocolate and snacks. Growing up my mother cooked traditional Greek vegetable dishes mostly, so why was my cholesterol so high? My parents had high cholesterol most of their lives too. Doctors told me it was genetic and I need to be cautious with lifestyle. I would also have periods of activity bursts throughout my life lasting for weeks or months at a time.

I went for a blood test physical a few years ago and my cholesterol was in the high but normal range! My cholesterol was usually in the mid two hundreds and on this occasion it was 187! I was amazed, and looking back there were some major changes I had made but didn’t know they contributed to this drop.

We had joined a farm co-op that summer and prior to that we had a veggie share box from a co-op in the spring so I had been eating a LOT of vegetables for most of the year. We ordered the full box share and my kids are picky eaters so I would get more than my fair share of the veggie boxes so I would be eating a LOT of vegetables on a daily basis.

I was focusing on organic and natural products too but I suspect the amount of veggies I was eating had more impact than the organic nature of the vegetables. However I would recommend you minimize your exposure to chemicals and buy organic when you can.

I was gardening and spending a lot of time outdoors with my kids. Perhaps vitamin D also contributed. But I suspect the amount of vegetables I was eating was a bigger factor in my unusual cholesterol drop than vit D or activity levels or anything else. I was still overweight and still trying to fit activity in my lifestyle. So I suspect the amount of veggies I ate daily was the major factor in surprising me with such a major drop in a key health number.


Do you have high cholesterol? Any interesting findings from your history?

@myHFjourney

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