Reply #3: Hopefully she won't listen to you

[jobycom]

Cholesterol problems don't usually come from cholesterol you eat, it is produced by the body as a means of treating damage you are doing to your body. Some say that cholesterol itself is not a problem, it is a symptom. I don't think that's true, but it is true that you won't normally get yourself into trouble by eating toomuch cholesterol. You get into trouble by eating things which damage your body and force your body to make too much cholesterol to repair it.

The top two causes of damage that causes cholesterol are saturated fats and trans fats. The next things are sugar and white flour, or other such processed foods. Anything the body turns to fat, in other words.

So convince her not to eat cheese and she'll be better off. Coconut and avocado probably aren't too bad, but they are high in saturated fats, and until she brings her cholesterol down, it won't hurt her to avoid it.

The fats that are helpful are mono and poly unsaturated fats. Olive oil is especially beneficial, since it reduces bad and raises good cholesterol. Veggies and nuts and oatmeal and whole grain foods reduce cholesterol simply by being eaten. Niacin supplements and Vitamin B foods and supplements help. Animal products almost completely hurt, because of the saturated fats, not the dietary cholesterol.

Vegetarians often wind up with high cholesterol, for a couple of reasons. First, they don't think they can, so they don't bother worrying about it. Second, they load up on cheeses and diary for protein, and thus consume tons of fat, and this fat causes more problems than if they ate meat. A T-bone is better at lowering cholesterol than a couple slices of cheese pizza. Third, they eat too many pastas and flour-based foods. Fourth, since they are not consuming cholesterol through meats, their body feels it has to produce more than the usual amount.

Healthy vegetarians eat whole grains, drink skim milk, and avoid sugars, and avoid the problems, usually.

I don't know about vegans, but I suspect they have few problems with cholesterol, in general, since they have low sat fat intakes.

I am vegetarian. My cholesterol was 243 at one point. I went on a whole grain vegan diet--no sugars, no animal products, no wheat flours. I increased my veggie intake (about 9-10 servings a day), ate oatmeal once a day, and cut out just about anything that was white (except grits). No junk food, only whole food stuff. My cholesterol fell to 159 in about two months. And no, I didn't maintain that diet, so it's probably back up. Just my story. Doctors swore I would have to take medication, but I didn't.

just my story. Listen to a doctor, though. Not to me.