Biometric Screening-The Ugly Truth...

[SiouzQ.]

Whole Foods provided biometric screening for its employees last week. If your numbers fall within the "good" range you are eligible to gets different levels of store discount (we automatically get 20% discount on anything we purchase). If one is extremely healthy one could get up top 30% of all purchases.

So I went ahead and signed up for it, thinking I should be in a great position to possibly get a higher discount ~ it's been almost exactly a year (can you believe it) since I quit smoking! I exercise, I am not overweight, never had any problems with blood sugar issues, I eat a pretty healthy diet - loads of veggies, fruit, grains, very little meat. I try not to eat too much cheese and fatty stuff, and probably eat less than the average American in that department. I make all my own food,and rarely, if ever, eat out, no fast food, etc, etc.

Anyway, my numbers came back yesterday and it seems I have wholeheartedly (no pun intended) inherited the family trait of high cholesterol, leading to heart disease. It has been creeping up year by year, but this past year it seems to have taken a mighty leap upward ~ it was 261! Fourteen months ago it was 217, so that is a pretty large leap in a short amount of time.

I am going to call my doctor on Monday and see what he says. I really don't want to have to take medication for that because that makes me feel like I am getting old (I'm 52) and going into decline, if that makes any sense! I'm hoping there is a dietary way beyond what I already do to get those numbers down. I just hate the idea of having to take another daily medication (I've been on thyroid meds for many years).

It's interesting to me how much I have changed in the past few years ~ it wasn't that long ago that I was hanging around bars, smoking and drinking too much, being a musician and NOT paying attention to my health and well-being. Now that that phase is pretty much over, I am quite motivated to keep myself as healthy as possible because what I do now is going to have a huge impact on my senior years.

[onlinemoniker]

SiouzQ--a vegan diet will decimate your high cholesterol because the only cholesterol in your body will be what you produce yourself. Before I went vegan my cholesterol was 239. Within a year it was 173. The next year it was 162 and it's stayed about that ever since.

As an employee at Whole Foods you know how many vegan products are available to make switching to the vegan diet easy.

It only takes about 2 months to get used to the substitutes and about 6 months before it's second nature. I would suggest you look at veganism as an alternative to taking a statin the rest of your life. I would hate to be on any drug, personally.

Good luck with your goal to lower your cholesterol.

[CathyA]

I would have your doc test your level. Who knows........maybe Whole Foods doesn't want to give too many discounts!

[Kestrel]

Maybe Whole Foods' discounts should go the other way? Give the high discounts to those who need the healthy foods most? Encourage them to shop wisely at "their own" store ...

[Tammy]

The biometric finger prick screenings are not as accurate as actual blood draws, in my experience. Last year my chol was 165 at lab. Two weeks later the biometric finger stick came back at 200.

[catherine]

Also, what is your HDL v LDL v triglycerides? What are your ratios? I think it's a good idea for your doctor to give you a good picture. I have cholesterol that's slightly over what it should be, but my HDL is very high.

[Rogar]

I have routinely had sort of borderline cholesterol around 200 and my doctor has always given me a pass, but I've speculated on what I would do if it crept up. I think I would rather try to manage it with diet and excersize first before medication. Statins have their own inherent risks, which I think are higher for women.

It seems like the science of cholesterol has been changing recently and there are some differing opinions on how bad high cholesterol really is or isn't, but I've not kept up with the details. I know my doctor always put some emphasis on the "good" cholesterol vs "bad" rather than just the total.

[ToomuchStuff]

The biometric finger prick screenings are not as accurate as actual blood draws, in my experience. Last year my chol was 165 at lab. Two weeks later the biometric finger stick came back at 200.

I was wondering about that; wondering if it was picking up something from the skin that could throw it off? But if her Doctor got different results, would they accept them?

Let us know what they want you to take. We have a family history on one side and yet 70ish is the age they live to (it isn't they used to make it out to be). They want me to take the fish oil stuff, which I can't stand the smell of (not a fish person and have shellfish issues).

[Rogar]

It was time not long ago for me to refresh my supply of fish oil and I had the time to do a little research. I have never had a problems with it, but they have some varieties that have an enteric coating that is supposed to eliminate the digestive after-taste fishy issues. Also, you can get varieties that are not derived from shellfish. It seems to be one of the supplements that frequently gets recommended to lower cholesterol.

[frugal-one]

I have very high cholesterol and my HDL is borderline, LDL is high too. In reading, it says your cholesterol goes up as you age (to help protect you), also will increase if you have hypothyrodism. Read the Framington study to get the scoop. The drugs that the docs are pushing help men...especially statins... that is, supposedly, they help 1 in about 200 (tests have not been conducted for females).... that is too small a percentage IMHO to warrant the terrible side effects (ie muscle loss in legs plus a host of others). Do you research before you decide to go on any meds. I am trying to lose weight and exercise more. If my cholesterol goes down, fine, if not, that is the way it is.