Cholesterol

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Anyone here ever heard of Homebrew being very rich in carbs and therefore contributing to high cholesterol?

My reading was 218 and the last time it was checked was a couple years ago and it was down at 180 then.

After some questioning, Doc told me that homebrew could be the source of the added carbs and therefore the high reading?

Make sense to anyone or is he full of shit?

[FrozenInTime]

I had dangerously high cholesterol a few years back. Beer did not play into it as I was not drinking at the time. What lowered mine was meds (which I still take) and losing 60 pounds (that also contributed to my diabetes dropping to within normal now). My Dr does not like that I started drinking again, but o-well. My life. He said if that's the case, start counting the calories/carbs in with my daily intake of food. Homebrews I don't think are any higher, I believe they are lower than commercial swill.

Maybe docpd will give us some input on this?

[Beer-lord]

I come from a family with medium risks of heart attacks though only my dad died at the young age of 66 (he was very healthy in every other way). I've fought with cholesterol all my life and that's why I exercise 4-5 days a week. But, nothing I tried worked. I am only 10 pounds over ideal weight and my doc said it's simply hereditary and there's not much I can do when I've done everything else.....I eat right, not much red meat, plenty of fish, fruits and veggies. But, for the last 10 years, I've taken Lipitor since the lowest I could get it down without medicine was 224. That, plus the family history and, I have no choice. Lipitor keeps me from 180-200. Doc likes it and I have had no side effects. Plus, I can cheat when I want to.
Bottom line, too much of anything isn't good for you. Well, I can think of one thing that too much is just enough. <wink-wink>

[duff]

Well from everything I have read that actually has studies backing it, it seems dietary cholesterol has little to no effect on your blood cholesterol levels. The biggest thing that affects your blood cholesterol levels other than genetics is exercise. And it seems like longer continuous exercises work better so walking 30 minutes straight better than sneaking in 10 minutes of walking 3 times a day.

Most beers and especially craft/homebrew beers are fairly calorie dense but I wasn't aware of any association between them and elevated cholesterol levels. Alcohol in general is a pretty good fuel source so high in calories which is causing the huge market for thinks like the 50 and 64 calorie lite beers. Of course they achieve this by removing the alcohol. You can basically assume the higher the abv the higher the calories.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

My dad is on Crestor or Lipitor or one of the CH meds......so it is in the family. I better go see the Doc.

This was a blood screening at work for our health and wellness program. I don't doubt the results.....just figure I'd better go see if meds are right for me.

[Beer-lord]

One thing to note is the ratio of good to bad cholesterol. Your doc can explain the ratio and what it means to you. Your age and family history make a difference too. And, there are other things like triglycerides.

[Banjo-guy]

The number that beer increases for me is triglycerides. That number increases with sugar, alcohol and carbohydrate consumption. They all are converted to sugar in the body. I hate to be a downer but beer consumption is not a positive thing to have in our diets. Home brewers drink a lot of beer. In moderation it's fine, but drinking 5 gallon batches week after week is not moderation.
It's a trade off we make.

[Rebel_B]

Pressing topic, glad you brought this up. I am going to get a blood draw on Monday to get my cholesterol levels checked, cause on my last physical, the bad #'s were trending upwards. Family genetics are beginning to catch up to me. Looking at the numbers though, wondering if my 'massive consumption' of homebrews is accelerating that genetic inclination! My younger sister has been on cholesterol meds for the past ten years, and she doesn't even drink, so maybe the beers have given me some extra time? My Dr didn't make any link between homebrews and cholesterol though.

[mtsoxfan]

Everyone will have different results. For me, I was just over the line, 230ish. I ate red meat, 8 oz. of cheese a week plus what came on sandwiches etc, and exercised, mountain biking mostly. I cut back on that 8 ozs. of cheese a week, ate more lean meat, and was able to reduce to 205ish. Fishoil pills have reduced me to 195ish. (not all fishoil pills are equal)

Now that I am at 195ish, my levels flucutuate with levels of exercise. This is me, everyone will be different...

[Chuck N]

I take statins for my high cholesterol. It's the main reason why I cut myself down to brewing only three gallons of beer every month and limit myself to no more than ten beers/drinks a week. (Sometimes I come in below this limit sometimes I come in above it. But it is at least a goal.)

My assumption about my doctor is that she just doesn't like drinking of alcohol of any kind and tries to discourage it. I just smile and nod my head, pay my bill and continue on as normal.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

My cholesterol reading was 216 which is "moderately high."

The Trigycerides are over 400 which are way off the scale. Makes sense that the alcohol, carbs, etc are converted to sugars and can elevate the readings.

I don't drink a shit-ton of brew though......maybe 6-8 pints in a week's time.

[Beer-lord]

Yep, those triglycerides are way too high and you're good to bad ration (LDL and HDL) are likely not good either but as I said, they should show you all of this. My doc goes over ALL my numbers every year.

I just had a mini physical at home for an insurance test with a very attractive, ex-navy nurse. First, she said I have a heart, then she said my BP was textbook as was my heart rate. She did say I could lose 5-10 pounds. My real physical is March 14.

Wings, my doc told me to stick to lite beer but he knows I like my beer and that I exercise all week to enjoy my weekend. Have an honest talk with him because without him (her) knowing the truth, they can't help you. I don't know how old you are but I've read that about 30 million more Americans should be on statins. I can say they've not affected me at all except to likely help me live a longer, healthier life.

[FedoraDave]

I have no medical background, so what I'm going to say is anecdotal, and should be taken as such. Plus being my opinion, which probably doesn't amount to a lot anyway.

Weight, exercise, and genetics are the keys when it comes to cholesterol, IMO. Diet may play a factor, but it's a distant fourth.

My father can't eat fish due to allergies, and doesn't like poultry. Your basic red meat and potatoes man, in fact. Not big into exercise, besides bowling and an occasional walk on a nice day. When he was middle-aged, he got his annual physical at work (he worked for a large pharmaceutical company, so they had a company doc). When the doctor went over his results, he said, "Howard, you've got the second-lowest cholesterol of anyone here in this plant, and the guy with the lowest is 30 years old and a vegetarian."

I've only been cited for high cholesterol once, just slightly higher than normal, and I brought it down within a month just from eating more Cheerios and oatmeal than eggs for breakfast. I wasn't homebrewing at the time.

I'd get a second opinion, if I were you.

[yankfan9]

This is an interesting topic, as I am currently in the Exercise Science Program here at University of Louisville. I am no expert but here is my two cents. Genetics are a huge factor in most aspects of our health (sucks doesn't it? I have to keep an eye on my Blood Pressure at age 20...) Exercise is also very important, along with weight/body fat%. Our goal should always be to keep our total cholesterol below 200, and to keep LDL low, and try to get our HDL above 60. I won't spend time going into what you should eat and how much as Google is a wonderful resource, however we should keep an eye on carb consumption. I know this is hard considering we are all beer drinkers. Our body can only store ~3500 calories in the form of glucose in our body, if that glucose tank is topped off, all other carbs you intake will end up being converted to triglycerides as mentioned by others. A good way to make sure your "glucose tank" isn't topped off is to exercise. Not only regular moderate exercise, but bouts of intense exercise also (consult your doctor before intense exercise!) Intense exercise burns more total calories, mostly from glucose, but also from fat. Afterwards, simply put, you are in a state of continued fat burning called EPOC. So this is killing two birds with one stone. Burning calories in the from of glucose and fat during exercise, then afterwards you trigger the EPOC, so you are burning more fat through the next 24+ hours. I will stop this long post though. In the end, Exercise, Eat Healthy, try no to carry to much excess body fat, and your cholesterol should stay in check for the most part. For some as mentioned above statins are necessary. Also try to RDWHAHB

[Gymrat]

I lowered my overall number from 299 to 225 by cutting way down on saturated fats and taking red yeast rice 1200 mg a day. I made no changes in my carb consumption at the time. And I wasn't doing any cardio because it hurt due to my bad hip. My triglycerides werestill too high so I cut back on sweets then they went down. Since then I learned my ccholesterol was easier to manage when I increased the fiber in my diet.