Cholesterol

[farmersdaughter]

Hi!

Just wondering if eating too many fats (i.e. "good fats" like nuts, etc.) can affect your cholesterol negatively? I know that consuming them can help with good cholesterol, but can you over do it?

Thanks in advance.

[SmilingRawDancer]

As far as I know, only animal products contain cholesterol and thus are the only foods that can negatively effect it.

[RawVegan4Health]

You can overdo anything, but I have been eating coconuts, nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oil for 5 months now. My LDL and triglycerides went way down in just 2 months. From what I understand (and I'm not the professor) it is saturated fats from animal products and any kind of fat that has been heated that can cause problems.

[freelive]

I don't know for sure about cholesterol specifically, but too much fat of any kind is not good for your heart and blood vessels. If oil can clog the sink, why not our organs?
One more thing- healthy norms were created for SAD eaters. My doctor said that my 162 cholesterol was perfect, but one third of heart attacks occur in people with cholesterol between 150 and 200- so called healthy range! China study also found that the higher the nuber from 90 to 170 was in chinese people-the more cancer and heart disease they had.
I am also very interested if anyone who is raw for long time checked they cholesterol levels?

[eatyourbroccoli]

coconut oil is good for cholesterol! raw, cold-pressed organic coconut oil..NOT hydrogenated. as are blueberries.

last december my LDL was 191, my triglycerides were 353...thats "very high" and "high" as classified by the lab i had my bloodwork done at.

this was during 100% raw, but i had a lot of other serious stress-induced health issues going on so dont let that deter you, please

BUT after finding this out, i started with coconut oil, and i do blueberries everyday, and just recently ive started cayenne pepper in my smoothies (small amount and am building up a tolerance for it) as ive read thats great for the heart and blood too... and i had my levels rechecked last week and everything is back within normal range

ive also been using olive oil as a dressing this whole time for salads. though i cant comment on nuts or seeds as i dont eat them for personal digestive reasons.

[eatyourbroccoli]

I don't know for sure about cholesterol specifically, but too much fat of any kind is not good for your heart and blood vessels. If oil can clog the sink, why not our organs?
One more thing- healthy norms were created for SAD eaters. My doctor said that my 162 cholesterol was perfect, but one third of heart attacks occur in people with cholesterol between 150 and 200- so called healthy range! China study also found that the higher the nuber from 90 to 170 was in chinese people-the more cancer and heart disease they had.
I am also very interested if anyone who is raw for long time checked they cholesterol levels?

woah weird..do they have different "healthy" ranges in different countries? or am i interpreting my results incorrectly? on the sheet i had LDL of 191 was in the "very high" category..i had all of this done in canada

[Rawmney]

Thanks, EYB, for sharing your experience with coconut oil and blueberries. Cholesterol is a concern for me as well.

I believe on the #s you are talking about LDL and freelive was talking about total, hence the discrepancy on interpreting the 190 level which isn't too bad for total, but not so good for LDL.

Be healthy!

Best,
Rawmney

[farmersdaughter]

Thanks for the information guys.

So my next question...on average how many nuts...avocados...fats...do you eat a day?

Before RAW, I use to eat 12 almonds (a handful) a day because that was what I read is helpful for heart health; however, now RAW I notice that a lot of recipes call for nuts (and definately more than a handful)...but it concerns me that it may be too much. :eek:

Thanks so much for all of your help!

[belleadonna]

As far as I know, only animal products contain cholesterol and thus are the only foods that can negatively effect it.


Correct. Only animal products contain cholestrol. Plants contain zero cholestrol.

[RawVegan4Health]

I think the confusion here was the process where the liver converts saturated fats into cholesterol. From my understanding, for raw plant-based saturated fats they are converted into good cholesterol, but animal-based saturated fats and cooked plant-based fats are converted into triglycerides. Again, I'm not the professor, but that is what I have "learned" from my readings. Not that every source in the world can be truested, but that's how I understand it.

I eat probably 2 handfuls (can close fingers around them) of nuts/seeds per day. I put a little (2 tsp or so) flax seed in almost every smoothie I make. I have avocados once or twice a week, sometimes more. I don't think I've ever had more than one avocado in a day. Coconuts are a bit more rare and are somewhat of a treat. I use organic cold-pressed olive oil for some preparations, but probably only have it a couple times per week. My primary fats come from Flax Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Cashews, Brazil Nuts, Walnuts, and Macadamia Nuts. Hope that helps somehow. I never sweat about eating guacamole or a nut/seed based dip for dinner ever. I don't count fats, but don't go out of my way to incorporate them. I am diligent about adding a little fat in the form of flax/nuts to smoothies just to keep the right kinds of trans-fats in my diet, but that is the only reason I do this.

[farmersdaughter]

Thanks for the insight RawVegan4Health.

I appreciate it! :)