Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello just joined this forum. Not a vegan but having to make major dietary changes.

Returning to the gym after a lengthy break. Was diagnosed with high cholesterol and a lipid disorder. Inherited faulty gene. On statins but cholesterol / tryglicerides still too high. Needs to get lean and fit. Been advised to keep to under 200 mg cholesterol a day and cut out excess sugars and too many starchy carbs.

Am sure this site will be of great help.

So intends to cut 14 lobs of body fat first, plenty of stretching because my glutes back are far too tight and the physio I have been seeing says all my back problems stem from this. Recovered from 6 months with sciatica.

Then building some muscle and strength. Not weight trained for at least 3 years but can hike up a mountain. So anyone suffer from lipid disorders ?

Any dietary advice for high cholesterol / tryglicerides who want to build ?

Lots of reading here so hello and any help appreciated

Phil

Hello Phil,

I too, have suffered(as in past tense) from the exact same problem as you, since my cholesterol was first checked at 17 yrs of age(i am now 44). It is a genetic disorder just as you say.

It resulted in me having serious medical issues by the age of 34.

I won't bore everyone with the details here but if you visit my website in my signature link and go to the "about" section you can read all about it.

The main thing to remember, is even though it is genetically linked, it CAN BE BEAT!!!! Regardless of what any doctor tells you.(i know i heard i had no hope from them for years). And it can be done WITHOUT statins. The statin drugs are deadly, I would beg you to get off of them.

This whole issue is very close to my heart.(literally i guess, ha).

I would be glad to help you beat this "disease", if you like, email me.(email found at my site or under my profile here).

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http://www.the-phytoathlete.com/

Welcome!

I used to be a quite unhealthy vegetarian (lots of eggs, LOTS of cheese) and my cholesterol was 223 at it's highest point. One year after going vegan, my cholesterol level was 96. So, even with genetic disadvantages, dietary changes can help!

The first step I would recommend is to cut out high saturated fat and/or high cholesterol foods. There has been some good research recently showing that saturated fat isn't a big problem in a diet, and cholesterol isn't a big problem, but the combination of saturated fat and cholesterol intake is what causes trouble. Eggs, for example, are OK, since they are low in saturated fat, but when added to a meal with fatty cheese (as they often are) the combination leads to high triglyceride and cholesterol levels in the body. The reverse is true for a fatty cheese, etc. Of course, this is a vegan forum, so you won't see people advocating animal products here, whether due to health, moral, or environmental concerns. It sounds like you might not be ready to make a full vegan step right now, which is why I am recommending a dietary change that I think you would be more adaptable to.

What does your diet look like right now?

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Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.

It's annoying because my diet is pretty good. If it wasn't for the faulty gene it would be fine.rarely eats processed foods,little meat, lots of veg, pulses. I have been told that your liver produces 70% of your cholesterol anyway. However my tryglicerides are high too.

Has been thinking about my diet and thinks the culprits are full fat dairy and cheese which I love oh and the beer. My alcohol consumption, 3 beers at the weekend and a glass of wine with dinner. Also a tendency to snack on carbs. Good homemade whole meal bread but probably to much.

Has banned cheese from the diet, replaced dairy with tofu. No intention to become fully vegan (sorry) but this site does provide a lot of information. Probably have vegan meals 2/3 times a week and sensible rest of the time.

Funnily I do know 1 vegan and his diet is terrible. French fries, chips,fried soy burgers......

Get him on here!

_________________
Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.

I was about to ask the same question but searched the forums and found this

High cholesterol runs in my family. When I was omni I had a horribly high reading and my doctor wanted to put me on medication. I said no, give me a few months to reduce it through dietary/lifestyle changes. Some time later it had dropped a huge amount, but I was still omni.

I have been vegan now for just over seven months and had a pin prick test which showed my total cholesterol was way up high again. I'm going to get the full blood work done soon to check everything, including cholesterol, although to date cholesterol is the only problem. Everything else has been really good.

I thought that being vegan, my cholesterol would have dropped significantly but other vegans have told me about certain foods I should avoid because they are converted in to cholesterol and things I should eat more of, like steel cut oats. I haven't looked in to it all properly yet. I don't want to go on medication and want to lower my cholesterol naturally.

I now want to learn about eating for gaining strength and size, losing body fat but also taking in to account high cholesterol and eating to lower cholesterol.