TTC and changing my diet

ed16564 · February 2014

I apologize if this has been asked before I've been lurking for about a week or two and haven't seen anything. Before we started trying I went to the Dr and had blood work done and found out my vitamin D was low and my LDL was high (trigliserides and hdl were both good). I started a vitamin of 50,000 units of vitamin D once a week and started fish oil and decided to change my diet for cholesterol..... Have any of you other TTCers had to change your diet to lower cholesterol? I know so many people change it when they start ttcing I wasn't sure if anyone had any advice. I know it sounds silly but other than cutting down on the sweets and curbing bsck my cheese consumption I don't know what to do or make for meals.

Also- did anyone have any positive or negative experiences with vitamin D pills when trying to conceive? I know the fish oil is actually supposed to help.

augusta17 · February 2014

Eat more fish (not too much), veggies, whole grains, and drink lots and lots of water! Lean meats if you're a meat eater. I've never taken vitamin D but wanted to wish you good luck!

ed16564 · February 2014

@alpresson thank you! I think I'll try switching to whole grains and adding more veggies to meals. I wonder if half my problem wasn't that I simply wasn't eating a balanced diet. Like maybe what I was eating wasn't terrible but since I wasn't getting veggies and fruits it was hiking up my cholesterol.

augusta17 · February 2014

Yeah I had that problem..and when we went for our annual blood work for the insurance co my cholesterol was way high (whoops). That's what they told me and the next year it was a healthy number.

MmmPopcorn · February 2014

Some studies have shown that fat intake has nothing to do with blood cholesterol levels, but it definitely can't hurt to increase your consumption of fruits and veggies and cut back on dairy and sugar. You're definitely on the right track!

Also, this may not be related to cholesterol at all, but I've read that eating fermented foods (yogurt, pickles, BEER!, etc.) can help your body digest food properly and absorb vitamins and minerals more efficiently. That may help with the vitamin D.

Good luck!

ed16564 · February 2014

@Joy2611 I definitely try and go outside as much as I can but in the winter I'm not off work much in the day time hours. And I have to be particularly careful because I have VERY fair skin. I think that's why she was more inclined to give me a vitamin. That and it was very, very, very low. It was 13 (on whatever scale) and she said it needed to be in the 40-50 range.

@mmmpopcorn I've been trying to add in low fat yogurt with breakfast. I am not a huge fan of it by itself :P

MrsG713 · February 2014

I know I started trying to incorporate smoothies (where I could blend the veggies) as I'm not a huge veggie eater.

Yes, it's not as great as eating them whole, but you get benefits from the nutrients. I don't have a problem eating fruits but I'd mix them in too so my smoothies were tasty.
I don't know if that helps

Good luck!

ed16564 · February 2014

@Joy2611 Oh I def agree about the pills! Thats how I felt when she started talking about Cholesterol Medecine.. I was like woah. Let me TRY and fix this on my own before you start shoving medicines down my throat!

ed16564 · February 2014

@Whocanitbenow RIGHT. Wish I could live off that stuff!

MmmPopcorn · February 2014

WhoCanItBeNow said:

Whole fat. Low fat ones (especially flavored ones) are loaded in sugars.

Unless you are eating nothing but very high fat cuts of meat, it's not going to have a huge impact on your levels. Excessive sugar intake absolutely can lead to it. Sugar leads to a lot of bad things.

Yes! It can be hard to find the full-fat kind (or even 2% sometimes), but there is a brand at our grocery store that I like called Liberte (some of their varieties have lots of sugars, so just check out the labels). And if you're eating yogurt for breakfast, the full-fat kind will keep you full much longer.

Pintobean39 · February 2014

I have had high cholesterol since I was 17, and they think mine is hereditary. My dr suggested I stick to a diet before medication. I switched to whole grains, ate good fats (nuts, olive oil, etc). Ate more fruits and vegetables and rarely any processes foods. Limited my hamburger addiction to 1 a week. He also suggested 4oz of red wine every evening with dinner, how can you say no to that?

Basically I just ate healthier, and my Cholesterol came down a lot the next year when they tested it.

LostFan716 · February 2014

I would also suggest trying to increase your intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats - these are the "good fats" found in avocados, olive oil, nuts, etc., that actually help increase HDL - and higher HDL, in turn, helps lower LDL.

I also love Promisactiv Light butter, and I eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning.

GL!

ngolimento · February 2014

I have changed my diet significantly since deciding to start ttc.

The main thing I've done related to cholesterol is going on a diet, and eating more freshwater fish like salmon and trout. The reason I stick to freshwater is so that I can eat it as often as I like without worrying about mercury. You can still have things like tuna, that have high mercury, but the FDA recommends limiting it to once a week.

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