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I fixed my high cholesterol problem with oats... Months ago I replaced my daily dinner with a mix of oats + banana + protein powder + 1 tbsp olive oil + peanut
by EZ-E 8mo ago
I fixed my high cholesterol problem with oats...
Months ago I replaced my daily dinner with a mix of oats + banana + protein powder + 1 tbsp olive oil + peanut butter + flaxseeds + oat milk - all mixed in a blender.
My bad cholesterol (LDL levels) tanked from 160 mg/dL to 91 mg/dL. My daily dinners before that were not even that unhealthy. Dropping sat fat intake had nowhere near that much effect for me.
For me and I assume for many others, lack soluble fibers are the root cause of high LDL levels.
- mandeepj 8mo ago> Months ago I replaced my daily dinner with a mix Any particular reason for changing your dinner and not BF or lunch?
- EZ-E 8mo agoBreakfast I don’t eat. Lunch I typically eat outside, dinner after work I’m lazy to cook so replacing by a shake was perfect! 15 min all in for preparation, consumption, cleaning.
- sci_prog 8mo agoI've been doing something similar for breakfast, one cup of oatmeal + one cup of water and about two tablespoons of chia seeds, microwave for 2 minutes. Add a banana and some honey, top it with whole roasted almonds and some raspberries. It has been doing wonders for my digestion. I'll have to try to add olive oil as well. My LDL was 150 last time I checked. I wonder what it is now since I've been doing this meal several times a week.
- tiew9Vii 8mo agoOne of my most used appliances is a Tiger rice cooker with Porridge and timer function. It's been used pretty much every day for 7+ years since I purchased it. Every night I put 130g steel cut oats in, 400-420g of water, set it to cook for 45 mins and be ready for when I wake up in the morning. I'll then add 25g protein powder, sometimes a few berries or sprinkle with seeds/nuts. A nutritional power house. I find steel cut oats more filling, a lot more substantial with ground oats more goopey. Steel cut oats are normally a hassle to cook but it's set and forget with the rice cooker. From what i've read I also believe the fact they sit soaking over night in water also is breaks down the starches which helps nutrient absorption. Does wonders for digestion and satiety. Everything runs like clockwork with them. If I don't have them for a few days, things get irregular and a noticeable difference in satiety for the rest of the day where i end up snacking as feel hungry after meals.
- linsomniac 8mo agoI came up with a microwave steel cut oat method that worked well. Going from memory, I put the oats and hot water in a bowl in the microwave and set it for 45 seconds 100%, then 9 minutes at power level 2. One of those microwaves with "Cook 1" and "Cook 2" on it. The hot water I put in initially was basically boiling hot, you might need to do more time on cook 1 if you put in less hot water (at work we had one of those instant boiling water things).
- slumberlust 8mo agoDamn, I just blast my oats until they threaten to overflow the bowl and call it a day. Does this technique unlock some creaminess or something unique?
- linsomniac 8mo agoI found that steel cut oats needed more cooking than just blasting them for a couple minutes.
- beAbU 8mo agoYou can skip the whole cooking part if you leave your oats and water mixed overnight! Put your oats, portion of milk, some berries, cinnamon and honey in a container and leave it in the fridge overnight. Do it now. Come thank me tomorrow morning once you've tried it.
- rpozarickij 8mo agoI've been doing this for a very long time but I use rolled oats and plain water (I drain the water completely before eating). I eat soaked oats every day and always have a fresh bowl or two soaking in the fridge. They are still fine to eat even if they've been soaking for more than 24h. I like the fact that they are more concentrated in terms of calories/nutrients per 100g than cooked oats and also provide steadier energy. I often pair them with a protein drink (pea protein + rice protein), a drizzle of avocado/olive oil, and berries. Takes just a few minutes to prepare.
- mhb 8mo ago> one cup of oatmeal + one cup of water Do you need a knife and fork?
- uxp100 8mo agoNot the poster, but I grew up eating oatmeal that you would slice. Toss a pot on the wood stove, done when you remembered to grab it. Milk and honey on soft slices of oatmeal. Honestly don’t eat oatmeal much today, but was confused the first time I had oatmeal away from him and it wasn’t at least like lumpy. I’m sure that pot had to be soaked for a half an hour every morning.
- sci_prog 8mo agoI don't like when my food is too mushy. This is a perfect ratio for me
- dorfsmay 8mo agoAdd some walnuts. See my other comment for reasoning.
- davoneus 8mo agoOat fiber. I've been taking 30g of oat fiber everyday for the past 3 years. Slugging it down in 8oz of warm water and 10g of nooch. Not only are my cholesterol levels fantastic after starting that regime, but very regular as well.
- red-iron-pine 8mo agofiber is important but the unique cholesterol benefits from oats is around glucans esp. β-glucan also found in mushrooms, rye, some fruits, pectin, etc. oat fiber is fine but you'd probably see similar benefits from psyllium husks or other fiber sources.
- dehrmann 8mo ago> I'll have to try to add olive oil as well You've got almonds and chia, so your fats should already be covered.
- snthpy 8mo agoInteresting. I have almost the same smoothie every morning minus the banana and oats. Instead I use psyllium husks for fibre. My cholesterol has been in range for years despite eating almost exclusively saturated fat since I'm in the keto camp. Just watched an interesting episode by Peter Attia and Layne Norton on seed oils which might shift my view on PUFAs a bit. Thoughts?
- hippo22 8mo agoNot related to your question, but the lead levels in psyllium husks are too high for me to consume them daily.
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- canpan 8mo agoPeople are just different. I always wonder how we should think about eating and health on a personal level. I can eat McDonalds and still get perfect blood results. (I dont do that anymore). I have a friend who does not like any vegetables and fruits, he is fine. But also friends who just look at a bag of sweets and grow fat. Allergies and stomach health can be very specific. Of course you do control a lot. But at the same time, it seems very individual. Maybe a chance for personal AI nutrition practice?
- dorfsmay 8mo ago30 % of the population have genetic makeup such that they can smoke all their life and not increase their risk of lung cancer by much, yet it's deadly for the other 70% of the population. Many many studies over many decades, reviewed and controlled for other factors have showed that consumption of saturated fat increases heart health issues leading to death in the majority of the population. Finland and Norway have reduced the number of CVD at the population level by educating and pushing for a reduction in sat fat. You are probably one of the few exception. This, and the infamous seed oils are subject on which Attia has controversial opinions - he is not an expert on nutrition, nor an epidemiologist, but neither am I, so my advice would be to broaden your sources of information. Having said this, is the thing about PUFA the results of the studies from Walter Willet? I've just watch Chris MacAskill (Viva Longevity on YouTube) talking about it, it seems that PUFA (fatty fish, walnuts, sunflower seed oil) has the most positive effect on triglycerides across the whole population, and beyond reducing saturated fat and increasing fiber intake.
- petercartagena 8mo agoI did the same, my cholesterol was lower than ever. What I think it happens was that I increase my proteins intake as well as the muscle.
- nchmy 8mo agoThere's literally nothing wrong with saturated fat. Most polyunsaturated fats arelre problematic
- amanaplanacanal 8mo agoThe science around what fats are good or bad is so confusing I don't think we can say much about them with certainly, except that trans fats are probably bad. I lean towards "eat whole foods", but those can include anything from beef and coconut which are full of saturated fats, to fish and nuts which are full of polyunsaturated fats.
- rpozarickij 8mo agoLimiting animal fats (which are mostly saturated fats) has a very noticeable and measurable effect on how I'm feeling and doing overall. Primarily using olive/avocado oil and nuts/seeds as my fat sources significantly improved my energy levels, mental clarity, sleep, and stress/HRV (as measured by my Garmin watch). I've noticed this so many times that I don't think this is a placebo. I haven't checked any specific blood markers that might be affected by dietary fats though. Saturated fats _are_ essential for humans but you should be getting enough of them from non-animal sources. YMMV
- amanaplanacanal 8mo agoAkshually... Both chicken and pork, and even beef, have more mono- and poly-unsaturated fats combined than saturated fat.
- DennisP 8mo agoI think that depends on the individual, or maybe on the dose. Years ago I read a bunch of books arguing for saturated fat, started eating a lot of it, and my cholesterol and triglycerides got horrifically bad. Even those books, which claimed high cholesterol is no big deal, were like "but if it goes over X then you need to fix that," and I was over X. I had high particle numbers too, which the books agreed was pretty bad. I went back to my normal diet and that took me back to my normal bloodwork.
- rpozarickij 8mo ago> peanut butter While peanut butter does contain some useful nutrients, there are much better choices out there in case someone would like to further improve/optimize their nutrition. Many topics in nutrition can be quite debatable but IMHO most other nuts outperform peanuts (which aren't even nuts) in many ways. Furthermore I'd say peanuts aren't that useful as a protein source in this situation given that protein powder is already being added. I recently discovered the world of nut butters, and usually choose them over whole nuts due to easier digestibility and nutrient availability. Unless I'm eating macadamia nuts which already feel quite easy on the gut.
- freehorse 8mo agoPeanut butter is much cheaper as nut butters are usually very expensive (at least here), but I agree, substituting peanut butter with tahini drastically improved my stomach/digestive issues.
- EZ-E 8mo agoI added it for weight maintenance/gain (I'm close to underweight)
- port11 8mo agoPeanut butter is cheap and delicious. A lot of people hyper-optimising nutrition (I was one of them) tend to forget much more obvious stuff like fiber, amino-acid profiles, absorption of specific vitamins like D, etc.
- kleiba 8mo agoBut also high in fat and thus calories. Lower-grade brands also add in garbage like palm fat or sugar. But like with all things, it depends a lot on the quantities you consume and also what else you eat and drink.
- port11 8mo agoOf course, but personally I find it hard to eat too much of a ‘nut’ butter. I did keto for some months and was, in fact, almost always nauseatingly full from all the fat.
- Buttons840 8mo agoSoybeans have more fiber than oats. More soluble fiber too.
- port11 8mo agoThey’re also somewhat less flexible in terms of a yummy breakfast, more likely to be GMOs, and a heavily sprayed crop.
- decimalenough 8mo agoChina would like to have a word with you. Soy milk in particular is hugely popular for breakfast, and there's about a zillion other ways to eat it too.
- slumberlust 8mo agoDoes soy milk still have the fiber or is it like drinking fruit juice?
- gnz11 8mo agoOats are a heavily sprayed crop as well (at least in the US). Glyphosate is also further sprayed on oats as a drying agent. Fortunately Costco sells a brand of glyphosate free oats in bulk.
- haritha-j 8mo agoLikewise i switched my breakfast to oats around 3 years ago when my cholesterol was above the recommended high threshold and its been constantly in the higher end of the accetable range ever since. I would like it to be lower, but its much better than it used to be.
- delaminator 8mo agoBlending reduces some of the effects of including soluble fibres - your stomach empties faster, blood sugar can spike more quickly (especially with fruit smoothies), and you lose some of the "scrubbing" action in the intestines.
- rayiner 8mo agoDo you cook the oats beforehand?
- EZ-E 8mo agoI don’t, they’re rolled oats and blended they are easy to drink as long as there is enough liquid
- Qem 8mo agoSo it appears oat fibers are just quite effective natural bile acid sequestrants[1]. That makes me wonder why don't we use this class of locally-acting compounds as first line cholesterol lowering treatment, instead going straight for the "bazooka" of systemic acting statins that have lots of side-effects, even affecting personality[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_acid_sequestrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_acid_sequestrant [2] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-the-medications-that-change-who-we-are https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-the-medications-...
- lithocarpus 8mo agoMy guess is something like, because there aren't patents on food. There's no financial incentive for the healthcare industry to promote a healthy lifestyle.
- sn9 8mo agoDoctors and public health organizations literally have dietary and physical activity guidelines.
- lithocarpus 8mo agoTrue, it is more complicated. For one, there could be some financial incentives mixed in in that health insurance companies would want their people to be healthier so they don't pay out as much, but it's not that simple for them either - the health industry as a whole profits more if there is more treatment ergo more health problems. If health care was cheap or less needed the insurers themselves would make less. More importantly, there can be other than financial incentives mixed in for doctors and public health organizations to encourage health. Doctors for example take an oath and I think often genuinely want their people to be healthy. Public health organizations may be more murky but there's definitely a financial and otherwise incentive for the government itself minus those corrupted by the health industry, to want people to have less health problems.
- 7mo ago
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- jv22222 8mo agoCan you be more specific with how you make it. Thanks!
- EZ-E 8mo ago• half of 1 cup rolled oats • 1 banana • 1 scoop soy or pea protein powder • 2 tablespoon flax seeds (make sure to buy whole and grind them, in my case I don't need to grind them separately the blender chops them while doing the shake) • 2 tablespoon peanut butter (100% peanut no added oil) • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil • unsweetened oat or soy milk • I add some water if it's too thick I blend the oats and the flax seeds first, then add the rest, blend again for 10 secs, boom - easy. You may want to adjust peanut butter quantity depending on whether you’re trying to lose, maintain or gain weight. 2 tbsp is me trying to maintain weight as I easily lose weight.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 8mo agoNot op but for breakfast I do 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, pinch of salt. Add a spoon of flax meal at the end. I sometimes add walnuts. I wish I didn't need the maple syrup. Adjust to taste I guess. Doc says my cholesterol levels are immaculate.
- jmisavage 8mo agoSoluble fiber in general helps lower LDL, beans and lentils work well too. One caution for diabetics, this meal could be pretty high in carbs for a single sitting depending on portions.
- sandorscribbles 8mo agoyou say "fixed" but have you asked "why" you think your cholesterol is broken and needs "fixed"?? why is your cholesterol broken? why is higher cholesterol numbers strictly associated with longer life? why is lower cholesterol numbers strictly associated with premature death? why do we think higher cholesterol numbers are bad when the worldwide data clearly shows higher numbers are healthier?
- turtlesdown11 8mo agothere are always layfolks who think they're smarter than the medical professionals https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000625 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIR.000000000000...
- sandorscribbles 8mo agothe medical professions you cite are the very people that are profiting off the propaganda you are spoon feeding yourself. and your very link does precisely zero to address the question being asked, why is high cholesterol bad? maybe journey away from the profit center and widen your view to answer the question instead of parroting propaganda from bigpharma... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21160131/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21160131/