Success story of preventing hyperlipidemia! How to lower levels in 3 months without medication

Hyperlipidemia, one of the most common conditions experienced by modern people.
I found out that I am in the early stage of hyperlipidemia during my workplace health check-up.
Hyperlipidemia requires lifelong medication once treatment begins, but since I am still young and not overweight, I chose to try preventing hyperlipidemia through diet and exercise without medication rather than starting medication immediately.

 

First, let's look into the cholesterol level.

 

	Normal	Borderline	Danger
Total cholesterol	200 or less	200 to 239	Above 240
LDL (Bad Cholesterol)	100~130	130~159	160 or higher
HDL (Good Cholesterol)	60 or older	40 to 59	40 or below
Triglycerides	150 or less	150 to 199	Over 200

 

Total cholesterol is important, but the ratio of LDL to HDL is even more important.

 

My pre-management health checkup results (February)

Total cholesterol 273

LDL 172

HDL 77

Triglycerides 122

 

There is no genetic factor, and my body type is quite slim, so I was shocked to see such high numbers. However, since HDL and triglycerides are normal, I have some hope. The hospital said that this is a pre-medication stage, so to prevent hyperlipidemia, changing eating habits and lifestyle is the most important.

 

 

Methods initiated for the prevention and management of hyperlipidemia

 

1. Improve eating habits

First, I changed my diet. Honestly, in the past, I didn't eat vegetables much and often consumed greasy foods and foods made with flour. I think this was the main reason for my high numbers. I usually snack a lot, eat out like most people, and also order delivery food.

However, for the sake of management, I stopped ordering takeout and snacking (ice cream, snacks, and finger foods)!

Establish a low-fat diet centered on vegetables to prevent hyperlipidemia.

In particular, I frequently eat salads, eggs, tofu, salmon, avocados, bananas, and sweet potatoes, and I try to avoid foods high in carbohydrates and sugars as much as possible.

 

Breakfast - eggs, 1-2 apples, or chicken breast salad

Lunch - Brown rice + barley + oats, tofu, cabbage, seasoned vegetables, etc.

Dinner - salad, low-sugar yogurt, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.

 

I followed a diet like this.

 

First, replace white rice with mixed grains such as oats and barley.

Replace the cooking oil used for cooking with olive oil.

When eating side dishes, I mainly ate fish and greens rather than meat.

I also changed all the dressings I spray on my salads to low sugar.

 

 

But people can't always live on grass and fish alone...

When I crave snacks, I eat nuts or low-sugar jelly.

 

 

2. Exercise

Exercise is just as important as eating habits. Since I find it difficult to go to the gym every day in reality, I combined my own workout method instead of going to the gym.

 

Outdoor walking and running exercise for 1 hour

Home - Indoor bicycle, stepper, or home workout

 

I also wondered if this could really be considered exercise.

I can feel that just walking is effective in preventing high cholesterol, so I walk almost every day, and I definitely feel my body becoming lighter. Thanks to that, I sleep well these days.

 

 

3. Nutritional supplements

The well-known supplements for hyperlipidemia are omega, Q10 enzyme, and policosanol.

I originally had a supplement I was taking, so I only added omega. Taking too many supplements can actually raise liver enzyme levels, so you need to be careful.

 

 

We managed it with triple layers of control.

Actually, when managing like this, what you do and what you eat are important, but the most important thing is consistency!!

At first, I wondered how long I would have to live like this, but since it's directly related to my health, I couldn't avoid doing it.

I occasionally took a cheat day instead haha

Cheat days are also absolutely necessary... Without cheating, I can't keep up with my diet.ㅜㅜ

When dining out for family events, I try to choose menus that do not interfere with the prevention of high cholesterol.

 

 

 

After enduring three months without being able to eat what I want and holding back... (May)

 

 

Total cholesterol 273 -> 220

LDL 172 -> 105

HDL 77 -> 99

Triglycerides 122 -> 82

 

The total cholesterol level is still borderline, but the bad cholesterol level has finally returned to normal after three months.

Wow, this works..!!

It was so, so difficult for three months, but I received the test results and I was so happy that tears almost came to my eyes!!!!

I can exercise, but the stress of not being able to eat the foods I want more than I expected is really intense^^;

What if the numbers don't go down? That stress was also overwhelming.

 

The hospital also said that I managed very well, and since I followed a strict diet, I think my numbers will recover quickly once I return to my normal lifestyle. So, instead of maintaining my current routine rigidly for a while, I plan to adjust my diet more flexibly and make preventing hyperlipidemia a daily habit. I now even have cheat days every weekend, haha.

I want to share that you can sufficiently prevent hyperlipidemia just by maintaining a proper diet without relying on medication at all!