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Hi there!
A few years ago, my husband had an abnormal cardiac calcium score and a less than ideal cholesterol reading. His doctor gave him the option of statins or a gluten free, vegan diet. He reluctantly chose the diet.
It worked. He lost weight and got his cholesterol down dramatically.
Over time we put fish and chicken into his diet. (Tilapia, salmon, and boneless, skinless chicken.) He also eats an occasional sweet but is very moderate about it. He uses Erythritol and oat milk in his coffee.
He had bloodwork done this week. We were thrilled that fish and chicken added to his gf plant-based diet have only improved his numbers. His good cholesterol went up a bit and the bad is in a very good range. His total cholesterol is 131.
Six months ago, we invested in a Blackstone Grill. That thing is life changing. Really. My go to meal is fish or chicken bowls. I cook the chicken or fish and an onion, sometimes a jalapeno, potato or carrots on the Blackstone, season it well with salt, pepper, and garlic, and serve it over brown or white rice. I use some olive oil on the grill. We never get tired of this meal. It also makes clean up easier and I don't make much mess in the kitchen.
My husband eats a lot of hummus on sesame crackers or raw carrots with guacamole for a snack. If he eats breakfast, its oatmeal. I make a Thai curry every weekend and we have burritos and fish tacos often; its a go-to meal when my kids and grandkids come over.
Interestingly, his hemoglobin and hematocrit numbers are at the high end of normal. Apparently, you can get plenty of iron without eating red meat or eggs. His iron level has always been high normal on a red meat diet, on a vegan diet, on his current diet. He doesn't eat much in the way of leafy greens either.
Since I have Alpha Gal and some food allergies, a mostly gf, plant-based diet with fish and chicken has been my diet for many years. Cooking got easier with his dietary changes. I fix burgers or sausage and eggs for my kids sometimes, but they do love the Blackstone bowls, too.
Anyway, this is all anecdotal, but I am sharing it in case it would help or encourage someone else!
~Mama to Many~
Dietary Changes
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I had extremely high Cholesterol all my life. My parents and grandparents had high cholesterol all their lifes. I even had extremely high cholesterol during the 3 years I lived completely vegan, no animal products at all. I blamed it on genetics and stress. For 2 years now my cholesterol is completely normal, since I changed my diet after I read about the South beach diet. For me even whole grain bread makes my Cholesterol go up again, which is for me the evidence that starch is the culprit for high cholesterol.
I eat now lots of mixed salads with lots of lettuce, and veggies, I eat 3 times a day protein in form of eggs, goat milk, goat/sheep cheese and meat (chicken, beef, lamb, fish, but no pork). I eat pretty much all veggies raw or steamed with fresh herbs and flax seed oil or coconut oil or as a soup. I eat not more than max 2 cups of fruit per day, because I think the sugar in fruit caused my high cholesterol during my vegan time and caused problems with blood sugar and pancreas.
I completely avoid everything with starches, esp. Bread, noodles, rice, deserts and everything with sugar. I do eat once in a while steamed potatoes or fresh corn on the cobb or a bean dish.
I use Stevia to sweeten my milk shakes which I make with a few strawberries, blueberries and goat milk since I get sinusitis and gain weight from cow milk.
I do make my salad dressings with ACV and flax seed oil (refrigerated) and Herbamare, a salt herb mix. I do not restrict my fat intake, but I don't use butter, or whipped cream, but quite a bit flax seed oil and coconut oil. I also take baking soda 2x a day in water.
Now my blood pressure, my cholesterol and my weight are perfect.
