Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia - High Cholesterol.

Hello Scott. You are so young and have your whole life ahead of you. You want it to be a healthy one. These blood test results could be a blessing in disguise. The triglycerides indicate that your body is inflamed and you are not eating a healthy diet. No junk food first of all...or maybe occasionally on a special occasion. Forget SUGAR...the worst poison for the body. Lower the meat, lower the white carbs and start a love affair with COLOURFUL berries and other fruits and vegetables. Your dinner plate...and lunch and breakfast should NOT look BEIGE. Consider it to be the ugliest colour ever. Go for circus colours; red, green, yellow, purple! Red cabbage cut finely with mayo and lemon juice, salt and pepper...yum! Anyone can make that. Cut out the beer and have a small glass of red wine every day (more red fruit) which thins the blood. That's why the French have fewer heart attacks and strokes. Replace milk with oat milk or almond milk. Snacks, if you need one (the French don't snack) can be a fruit, sugar free applesauce, nuts, a small amount of cheese. You probably eat a lot of bread/grains. Reduce drastically and replace with the colourful choices. A fruit/veggie smoothie with protein powder makes a great start to a healthy day. You will slim down to 175 in no time, feel energetic and have a high triglyceride level. Cholesterol is not considered so important anymore. It's triglycerides...which indicate inflammation in the body. Great that you take the dog for long walks 2x per week. But can you join a gym with a trainer and go another 2x per week to work all areas of your body. You will find a trainer encouraging and supportive on your journey to better health and a trim, healthy body..and heart! Good luck, Scott!

Thank you for the fast response back! So happy to get feedback from members and knowledgeable ones as well.
Your words are kind and i will take what you say and implement them into my diet.

I currently drink no beer after work, i drink no Milk in the past 1 year. We have no bread in the house and we dont eat rice. Currently dinners have been ground turkey, simple canned vegetable side. and a starch ( usually red skin potato or a sweet potato )
Lunches are provided at work and are filled with everything and i believe this is where most of the terrible eating habits come from. I currently work in IT and sit at my desk for 8 hours a day and truly miss being on my feet.

Breakfast is usually filled with an apple, or almonds.
or
Gluten Free Oatmeal.

I will admit that i do drink pop at least once a week on the weekends. Usually no more than 8 oz.

Let me know what you think of this response.

Hi Scott!
Well, one glass of pop on the weekend can't do much harm. You didn't say if your breakfast/lunch/dinner plates are colourful. Canned vegetables are not good. Cans leach aluminum into the food. Fresh is best with frozen coming in a close second. There are so many delicious veggie recipes. I think if you made that one change; preparing and eating at least 6 fruit and veggie servings per day, your triglycerides would quickly fall into the normal range. In other words, inflammation in your body would be reduced.
A word about cholesterol: my pharmacist friend told me that a number of years ago, what was considered a 'normal' cholesterol level was much higher. Then Big Pharma lowered 'normal' and more people were on their statins. They then lowered the 'normal' level AGAIN and now most people are on statins.
According to this documentary, researchers have discovered that only a man in his forties who has had a heart attack should be on statins for high cholesterol. https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/the-cholesterol-question
My husband has had high cholesterol...really high...since his twenties. Now that cholesterol is no longer considered a good measurement of cardiac/arterial health, his doctor has agreed that not taking statins is fine. He is 68 years old, walks for hours each day and goes on walks for 4 or 5 hours on weekends. He also walks to and from his exercise classes. His cholesterol is still high but his triglycerides are normal. We do eat a lot of vegetables and I make a nutritious berry, protein smoothie every morning.
Just a couple of years ago, when my husband worked in an office and sat at his desk all day like you, he would park blocks away...like about 6 and walk to work and back to the car at the end of the day. He always took the stairs at work. And at lunch time he would go for a 30 minute walk in all weather. We live in Montreal and winters can be brutal. He went anyway.
Do you have a FitBit? It can be very motivating to clock 6000 steps per day. That is my aim. Today I did 10,000+ because I worked in my garden for 5 hours. Bu normally I do 6000.
Since lunches are provided at work (lucky you!), can you make it your main meal and load your plate with vegetables? At home if and when you cook up fresh or frozen vegetables (1 1/2 - 2 cups per meal), as long as you put some butter on them with a bit of minced garlic, it will taste amazing. Beans, peas, brussel sprouts, spinach...cook up a whole box for 2 people...ready in 3 minutes, salads with deep green lettuce, carrots (peel in 30 seconds, steam or boil for 3 minutes...done!). All vegetables are quick to prepare and cook. Make veggies the centre of your meal and prepare a colourful plate. You will never want BEIGE meals again. You can do it, Scott!

Hello @scottlnt57, and welcome to Connect.

You are correct in stating that Metoprolol Succinate may interfere slightly with laboratory cholesterol results – the drug can affect triglyceride and cholesterol levels. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/blood-pressure-medications/faq-20057975

With regard to cholesterol, @afrobin may be somewhat correct in writing that the link between cholesterol levels – low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad" cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol – and heart disease is evolving. A number of recent studies have established that cholesterol isn't entirely to blame for heart attack, stroke, and other types of cardiovascular disease; that is, the risk is not entirely dependent on cholesterol levels but other risk factors can affect heart health.
– https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323235.php
– https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512433.2018.1519391

Most of the time diet is the key culprit for causing a person's LDL level to be high; genes can also be the root cause, and some medications can increase LDL. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/symptoms-causes/syc-20350800

At the same time, just because some research has been challenging everything we know about cholesterol – or stating that we should stop taking statins –doesn’t mean we dismiss past decades of evidence. https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j2108
Here are a few points from the 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease (the gold-standard in cardiovascular health). https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000677

– Numbers matter, and lower LDL-cholesterol numbers are better.
– More aggressive treatment with statin therapy for patients who have already had a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease; clinicians should prescribe the maximum tolerated statin therapy to decrease the risk of future life-threatening events.
– The numbers of people who avoid heart attacks and strokes by taking statin therapy are very much larger than the numbers who have side-effects with it. This is particularly significant in young adults.
– Most side-effects can be reversed by stopping the statin – but heart attacks cause permanent damage.

@scottlnt57, I think it’s best to be open-minded yet skeptical when considering any new or emerging research that can affect your health. Has your doctor suggested the use of a statin?

I’d like to invite a few fellow Connect members to this conversation, and I sincerely hope they will share their experiences and insights, too:
– Re high calcium scores/high cholesterol levels @botexas @mcphee @lolagrey @luckyg @jeffkirc @mark430 @bluesdoc @thankful @muscleriot who’ve talked about
– Re Metoprolol @soliloquized @sally630 @kenny48 @glr702 @gle2n @renahbell @sally630 @jlbyrd975