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A client in Austin, TX recently asked me if I knew anything about lowering cholesterol. She acknowledged, as I do emphatically, that I am not a doctor.

(910 on my SATs is not only embarrassing but more that than restrictive to Med school ;-)  Thank goodness for the career of professional motivator in the form of personal trainer.)

Anyway....She has athletic levels of body fat (16 to 17%) but her total Cholesterol is still 250.

She gave me a list of what she was doing which included adopting a Paleo type nutrition plan and doing Crossfit 2x per week. (BTW Paleo is a fancy name for nearly the same nutrition plan any doctor would prescribe a cancer patient or pre-diabetic. It is mostly all natural low sugar food that limits or eliminates refined carbs).

It is a fantastic way to maximize your vitality, lean out unnecessary body fat and ward off disease. However, if someone has a cholesterol issue and does not want to turn to drugs there is still more they can do.

Here is what I told her:

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Hello Michele! 

Eating mostly Paleo usually creates excellence in all medical numbers but sometimes you may have to modify it for your unique situation. My cholesterol is 118 and there some things I do on purpose to keep it that way. 

These are my suggestions. 

 

• 1) Deliberate exercise 5 times a week even if 3 of them are brisk walks with the family. The words are big and the science is complicated but this REALLY helps. 

• 2) Until you get your Cholesterol to under 150 I would eat mostly egg whites. Egg yolks are not proven to have an effect on good cholesterol numbers with regular exercise but in this case you should mostly cut those out until you get to 150.

• 3) Up your soluble fiber either through more sweet potatoes or occasional servings of plain oatmeal or SUPER SEED!!  (Also look for a product called Super Greens. Both will TOTALLY HELP YOUR SYSTEM REGULATE!)

• 4) Up servings of green vegees!!! 

• 5) Take fish oil caplets!! 

• 6) Bacon is okay but to give yourself the best chance make sure its the leanest kind and moderate. 

• 7) Eat mostly fish and chicken and protein powder and eat LEAN red meat only once in a while. (I don't eat it very much, maybe 2 times a week. Hamburger and or a Steak egg and avocado taco on Special Saturday.) 

• 8) Limit how much you actually cook in bacon fat. 

• 9) Keep cream in your coffee to once a day or only on weekends. Cutting Dairy is probably one of biggest good things about Paleo. I don't do it 100% but I can tell the difference when I eat dairy. It "irritates" the human biology even though the taste buds love it. ;-) Remember we are the only mammal that drinks other mammals milk. 

• 10)  Water (pee clear all the time) 

Besides the above minor adjustments KEEP IT UP!!! It should take about 5 weeks and your numbers will GO DOWN!

Hope that helps!!

If you have anything to add please comment! This is what works for me and my clients but I would love to hear what YOU have to say! 

DK