Two years ago, a friend found out she had high cholesterol, about 230. If the cholesterol level is above 200, it is considered bad. Instead of taking medicine to lower it, she wanted to see if she could lower it by changing her diet. I’ve always been interested in nutrition and health. At that time, I was reading The China Study which showed that you can change your health by changing your diet. So together we changed our diet, and the result was remarkable. After six months, my friend’s cholesterol level dropped to 170. The book has changed my life and hers. Here is what we did.
1. Eliminate All Meat (Except Fish)
- No beef, pork, chicken, turkey.
- Fish is a good source of Omega-3. So we did not remove it from our diet, but we did not eat a lot.
2. Eliminate All Dairy Products.
- No milk, cheese, yogurt, egg.
- Egg is hard to eliminate completely. The only time we had egg was if it were used in baking whole grain bread.
3. Eliminate All “White” Products.
- No pasta, white bread, white sugar, etc.
4. Eliminate All Junk Food.
- No chips, candy bars, cake, brownies, donuts, etc.
5. Eat A Lot Of Vegetables and Fruits.
- broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, beans, mushrooms, etc.
- orange, kiwi, apple, tomato, blueberries, mangoes, avocados, etc.
6. Eat Nuts.
- walnuts, almonds, cashew, pistachio, etc.
- Trader Joe’s is a good place to buy nuts. The store has many different kinds of nuts.
7. Eat Whole Grains.
- brown rice, barley, oats, whole grain bread, etc.
- The Bulk Food section in your local grocery store is a good place to buy these things. I find Whole Foods has the best selection.
8. Exercise.
- walking, play sports, etc.
- If you don’t have time, at a minimum, you should walk for at least 30 minutes a day.
We continued with almost the same diet. Sometimes, we did have some snacks or turkey sandwiches. It has been more than two years and my friend’s cholesterol level remains the same, around 170.
