- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 0
- 1
-
Sparkle (0)
When my doctor said I should take fish oil pills to lower my suddenly-high triglycerides (and general high cholesterol), I was all fine with that.
The problem was she also suggested I cut down (she might have said cut out) alcohol. At this, I was horrified. I have one measly glass of wine a night. One.
I would have just taken the fish oil pills and ignored this entirely, except my friend Christine asked me WHY you should reduce alcohol when you have high cholesterol and/or triglycerides.
Normally, I don’t care why – the technical details just plain bore me. But if I’m (or she’s) supposed to do something as drastic as abandon that best-part-of-the-day-glass-of-red-wine, then knowing why I should ditch the wine is important – or it’ll never happen.
Oh, who am I kidding. I know it’s not going to happen. But hell, I might as well know why I should cut out reduce my alcohol intake!
So I did some research: here’s what the Cleveland Clinic has to say about triglycerides (you can see the full page and more useful links on my Resources/Info Links page):
“Excess calories are stored as triglycerides in the body. If you eat more calories than you need, it could elevate your triglyceride level.
You may be able to reduce high triglycerides without medication by following a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet and reducing sugar, fat, and alcohol intake. If you currently smoke, stopping may decrease your triglyceride level and your risk for heart disease.”
Woot! Alcohol is just ONE factor! Not the be all and end all! I mean, really, from what I read, it looks like a key cause of high triglycerides is extra calories & sugar, not alcohol per se. (I’m inferring that alcohol = bad because it has empty calories & sugar: I could not find a lot more about specifically WHY one should cut out reduce alcohol. If anyone has any solid info, please comment!)
As my jeans are not fitting me well right now (oh, the muffin-top horror) and I’m still a sugar addict, I decided that WINE IS NOT MY PROBLEM. Well, it might be a problem, but it’s not what is causing my sky-high triglycerides. Probably that is due to too much fat and sugar (see muffin-top horror above). So it seems totally clear to me that best way for me to lower my triglycerides is to reduce my sugar and fat intake. Not necessarily wine.
As for the low-fat part: yes, OK, my Phish Food ice cream addiction hasn't abated. Worse, it was on sale last week, so I bought 4 pints. So shoot me. But I did discover something great just past that freezer case…and it is cutting fat in my daily diet: Silk Soy Milk Creamer.
Instead of half-and-half in my coffee, I've switched to this - and it is not bad…in fact, it’s downright good if you add a splash of half-and-half as well. And soy is on the it-lowers-cholesterol list, so hey, double bonus. And triple bonus: I even managed to cut the sugar in my coffee in half last week.
These sound like small accomplishments, but in fact they are HUGE victories for me, as my feeling about coffee is that it exists solely as a vehicle for cream and sugar. My (former) order at Dunkin’ Donuts: a medium decaf, light and 2 sugars. Oh, I miss those days.
So take that, triglycerides. You can mess with my coffee. But you are NOT taking my wine!
Going Lo-Co is a blog about one (regular) woman's journey to lower cholesterol without medication via food and lifestyle changes and the crazy things that happen along the way. Read more at www.golowcholesterol.com.
