This National Heart Month we interview Cristian Brandt, a 26 year old with high cholesterol. Cristian tells us about how with a drastic change in his diet and lifestyle he dropped his cholesterol from 11.2 to 5.4 mmol/L in just three months.
High cholesterol is often referred as a silent disease as you have no way of seeing that you have it. How did you find out you have high cholesterol?
At the end of April I went on a family holiday. As we all do on family holidays I relaxed my diet and enjoyed eating crisps, prawns and drinking alcohol. When I came back from our holiday I was feeling sick so I went to visit my doctor. While there I did annual blood tests for my medical aid. A few days later the results came back: I had a cholesterol level of 11.2!
I was so shocked! I thought to myself I am only 26 years old and nowhere near overweight at a healthy 72kg, yet have this incredibly high cholesterol? The doctor put me on medication for the first month.
Do you have a family history of heart disease?
My dad passed away a year ago from a heart attack. My dad used to smoke which we all know is one of the worst things you can do for your heart. My older brother has a cholesterol level of 7mmol/L, and has been on medication for 6 months to lower it. Clearly high cholesterol runs in the family.
Tell us about the changes you made in your life to help lower your cholesterol.
Since the day I got the first results I promised myself to bring down my cholesterol and change my lifestyle and diet. It was not easy! I would go out to friend’s houses on weekends and they would be ordering take-aways or having drinks and smoking.
What was the most difficult change you made, and how did you overcome these difficulties?
The hardest for me was cutting out the take-aways and fried foods. But now when the cravings come and I want take-aways, I now chose grilled chicken breasts with plain rice, or a chicken sandwich. Or I look for alternatives to make the take-away I want at home, only much healthier. For example, I grill chicken and make my own burger with a whole-wheat roll and oven-baked chips.
What is your advice to others with high cholesterol?
I believe that no one can tell you what to do and expect you to do it- you must want to change for yourself. If you change for yourself, it becomes way easier. It becomes a routine and you start to feel better when you wake up and feel better throughout the day.
Will you continue with your new lifestyle?
After one month the cholesterol mediation was finished and I did not want to go on chronic medication. I decided to try one more month without any medication, just healthy eating and exercise. On August 4th I redid blood tests and the results were huge- 11.2 to 5.4 total cholesterol! My bad cholesterol was at 4.4 and good cholesterol was at 0.9.
But I understand that even though my cholesterol levels have dropped a lot, it is still high and I must carry on with this lifestyle. My next goal is to bring down my bad cholesterol and bring up my good cholesterol in the next few months.
The Good Life Dietitians congratulate Cristian on his amazing lifestyle change. You are proof that a good lifestyle and healthy diet can do wonders for treating disease, and maybe even prevent it in the long run.
In upcoming Good Life posts, we help Cristian and others like him in quest of all you need to know about nutrition in heart disease.
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