high cholesterol

Which "cholesterol" are you referring to? Total? HDL? LDL? Tri? I'll wager LDL by those values and because it's the dreaded "bad cholesterol" but Tri's can be around 150, too. The #1 remedy is.... diet and excerise. Stay away from fatty, greasy foods and eat more fruits and veggies. Do you have a family history of high cholesterol?

Do your research. First off, 130s is a VERY low number for total cholsterol. If the HDL/LDL/Tris ratio is good, then I suppose one can make the arguement for it, but anything under 200 is fine, as long as the ratios are good.

Focus on diet and especially exercise. If it's genetic, you'll have a tough time keeping it off (like me). There is a school of thought out there that minimizing carb intake can reduce cholesterol as much as staying away from "fatty foods".

Lesson - do lots of research and if a doctor tells you "you know what to avoid - eggs, fats, etc.", go to someone else and get another opinion b/c that's 20 year old stale knowledge.

JMO.

edit: my recommended foods: fish (salmon, or anything with high omega fatty acid content), nuts, chicken/pork/lean beef, berries (stay away from heavy starched fruit), veggies (stay away from heavy starched veggies), eggs, oats/bran, just to name a few.

lastly, get a print out of all of the relevant numbers (HDL, LDL, tris, etc.) so you can actively monitor your levels over the years.

^^^ She sounds like a quality professional to me. It's not that you should eat sprouts and grain like a barn animal for the rest of your life, but if pizza and carl's are what's on your mind at this moment that's probably a good indication that you might want to rethink your overall diet. Everything in moderation. Edit: Yes, the ratio between levels is important but 130 isn't "VERY LOW" by any means. It's near normal for LDL's (if not slightly above optimal) and normal for Tri's.

Baja Fresh, Sharky's (not the bar), etc. These "fresh" Mexican fastfood places are usually really good about keeping things lean, adding veggies, etc. If you don't cook at all, I'd suggest swinging by a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and start buying pre-made meals. While there's one hell of a frozen selection at both, there is an equally good selection of fresh food as well. Either will be reasonable to cheap compared to what you're getting by going out and incredibly more convenient.

In addition to avoiding all the stuff you know about (trans fats, saturated fats), start taking a well balanced (good ratio of DHA/DEH) vitamin E supplement, and of course, start exercising to increase your HDL levels.

cholesterol is a tricky thing. basically, i've found out most of the things i like to eat are high in bad cholesterol: cheese, mayo, egg salad, livers, chicken skin, dark chicken meat, cream sauce, most fried food, etc. so even food like baja fresh, if you load it up with sauce and choose the fried fish, they aren't that good for you, so you have to watch what you order. red meat, if they're lean, aren't actually that bad for you. so if you eat a burger without cheese, it's actually supposed to be alright. lobster is much worse, surprisingly. what kind of works for me as a guideline, is that the japanese people have been some of the longest living people in the world for a while now. if you go with some of the more traditional japanese cooking, i figure they can't be too bad for you. lots of unfried seafood and unfried veggies. less mayo, more soy sauce. if you do fry things occasionally, don't use canola or corn oil, but try to use virgin olive oil or sesame oil instead. other than things to avoid, there are things to go for. for example, nuts like walnuts actually are supposed to help reduce your cholesterol level, if you eat about a handful every day. also, a glass of red wine a day is supposed to help. organic and free range meats and fish are generally better for you too, since the animals you're eating come with lower fat contents. (on top of all the other benefits.) oh, and oatmeal's supposed to be good, too. but i would definitely make sure what your HDL and LDL are because 190 could mean different things. and you could look up more about cholesterol everywhere on the internet. and like others said, exercise. good luck.

^^^^ The Japanese also have the highest rate of gastric cancer in the world so...diets can be very give and take.

eat almonds. no really. my dad who is fat and eats extremely unhealthily, has been chowing down on chocolate covered almonds for years, and has extremely low cholesterol. Doctor mentioned it was most likely due to those almonds.

true that. if one thing is not going to get you, something else will.

i guess pick your poison.

I think this is kind of a misunderstanding, lobster does have cholesterol, but it doesn't necessarily give you higher cholesterol. Certainly, it's better for you than eating a hamburger patty. Lobster is mostly considered unhealthy because of the butter eaten with it. Lean red meats are okay, but generally the only red meats that are okay are ones with the word "loin" in it. Ground beef/hamburgers/sausages/hot dogs EVEN "low fat" ground meat has much more saturated fat in it than a chicken breast or sirloin.

Look into it, but cholesterol levels don't necessarily mean all that much. Cholesterol is actually a powerful antioxidant. The most important thing according to the latest non mainstream research, iirc, is to keep the cholesterol from oxidizing into plaque in your arteries by taking in Vit C, E, B6, K.

That doctor is a retard.

Endogenous cholesterol production way overshadows dietary factors -- especially when it comes to lowering cholesterol through fiber.