2022: The Year in YOUR Words

I know I might sound repetitive sometimes, but Step One Foods really does exist FOR YOU. We are here to help you improve your health and to walk with you as you work to make positive lifestyle changes. And nothing gives us greater satisfaction than to know that we helped.

With that in mind, I think a fitting way to recap the year, just as we’ve done in the past, is to share with you our favorite customer comments and reviews from every month of the year - with a little commentary from me at the end. As you may know, we read every message you send our way, and it truly makes our day when we hear about a personal victory, a health improvement, or just a happier person on the other end.

So here we go...our favorite customer comments from every month in 2022: 

January - Jesse 

After my annual physical in late August, my doctor wanted to put me on a statin. My total cholesterol was 227 and my LDL was 150. I decided to try a nutritional diet change to reduce the numbers. I found good reviews of the Step One program and ordered various products in September. My doctor gave me 3 months to improve. I got my test results back last week and my total cholesterol was 179, down 48 points. My LDL was 117, down 33 points. My doctor was impressed with the results and told me no statins are necessary now. I will recheck in 6 months. I am so happy I found this program and enjoy the taste of all the varieties.

February - Ann 

I am 55 years old and have always had normal cholesterol until my doctor urged me to eat Keto to lose some weight. My LDL skyrocketed from eating keto. After getting the results I started to eat Step One Foods once a day and changed my diet to low fat/high carb and within 30 days my LDL cholesterol had dropped 60 POINTS and my total cholesterol dropped 68 POINTS. Now my cholesterol is back in the normal range. Thank you so much for your products. They really work and work quickly!

March - Joyce

After 6 weeks of eating Step One Foods, my cholesterol is down! Prior to eating Step One Foods, my cholesterol lab values were slowly creeping up over several years. A day of reckoning came. November 19, 2021, when my total cholesterol was 253 and flagged "high". My LDL was 172 and also flagged "high". I started Step One Foods in early February 2022. In March, I went to the local laboratory and purchased my own cholesterol and lipid blood test just to see if I was on the right track and to see if the food was helpful. On March 10, 2022, my total Cholesterol was 219! Yay. LDL 131 Yay. I am on the right track and plan to continue with Step One Foods. Thank you for making this plan easy and keeping me off statins.

April - Eric

I've been eating Step One foods for two months now as directed and just had a huge drop in my cholesterol levels. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves… Cholesterol 247 down to 206, HDL 41 to 39, LDL 174 to 138, Non-HDL 206 to 167, Tri 159 to 143.....THANKS!

May - Patti

I started Step One Foods in late January 2022. It has now been 4 months and I had my lipids rechecked today May 5.  ALL of my lipids improved greatly - Cholesterol was down 48 points, and LDL was down 46 points! Not only that but my blood pressure which has been 140-160/90-100 range for 30 years is now completely normal at 115-125/70's. I truly don't even know how to say thank you! I am very sensitive to medications and am only able to take pediatric doses of most medications - so to be able to get my lipids and blood pressure under control with 2 Step One Foods per day has been nothing less than amazing. Thank you so much for this program. I feel so blessed that I found this program. No statins for me!

June - Linda

So excited to share that in less than 1 year my cholesterol has gone from 221 to 168 using Step One Foods! I couldn’t believe it & asked the nurse if they were sure! I typically eat either the oatmeal with fresh blueberries & strawberries OR Sprinkles over yogurt also with fruit for breakfast every day. I enjoy one of the snack bars in the afternoon for a snack. And that’s it! The food is delicious so it’s really quite easy! Highly recommend!

July - Tracy

I am so very impressed with these products. I've been having issues with very high cholesterol for a few years and thought I could control it on my own with diet and supplements. I sadly realized that I couldn't. I heard about Step One on WCCO News and I ordered the starter pack. I was only halfway into the program when I needed labs drawn. Was amazed at the results, as was my doctor. My LDL, HDL and cholesterol ratio were all in the normal range, after being so bad that I was recommended multiple times to start taking a statin. I'm so happy I took a chance on Step One foods. It's now part of my everyday routine. I recommend it to everyone I encounter that tells me they have high cholesterol. Step One really works!

August - Evie

I went for my annual wellness appointment and my cholesterol was at 210 and the LDL was at 138. My doctor said it's high enough I should be put on cholesterol medication. I asked for 6 months to try to get it down with diet and exercise. I ordered Step One and started taking 2 a day. 4 months later I had it checked. My cholesterol was down to 172 and my LDL was down to 97. I no longer need to go on cholesterol medication! Thank you Step One!

September - Nicole

After eating Step One Foods for just 30 days, my total cholesterol dropped 53 points, LDL lowered 37 points and triglycerides dropped 51 points! I was so excited this worked...did not want to take an Rx, which was what my next step was going to be! My favorites are the Strawberry Banana Smoothie Mix (just eat it mixed with yogurt rather than as a smoothie), Anytime Sprinkles & Cranberry Pecan Bars. So good!

October - Kathleen

January 2022 my doctor suggested I start a statin. I was a bit surprised. Along with diet and exercise, I began taking Cholesoff and redid labs 3 months later. My results: Total Cholesterol- 225 increased to 234; Triglycerides- 99 increased to 155; HDL- 68 increased to 75; LDL decreased from 137 to 128. I was disappointed with the increased numbers but the lower LDL allowed me not to start the statin. My doctor ordered labs to be redone in 6 months. This was in May 2022 and the same month I had seen an ad for Step One Foods. I ordered the starter kit and began my journey on June 30, 2022. 6 months later I redid my labs. My new results: Total Cholesterol decreased from 234 to 206, LDL decreased from 128 to 112, HDL decreased from 75 to 70, and triglycerides decreased from 155 to 125. I was very happy to see these results. For the starter kit, I did two products per day. I was finding this too filling. On my second order, I did one product for breakfast or snack and the Cholesteroff after dinner. During the last 6 months, I've made gradual adjustments to my diet which now focuses on Mediterranean, whole unprocessed foods. I am inspired to continue my journey toward better health. Thank you Step One Foods for being a part of my journey!

November - Michele

I started this program in September and just received my cholesterol results. 9 weeks on the program minus 1 week for being on a cruise and my total cholesterol went down by 39 points, from 229 to 190! LDL went from 142 to 104, HDL (good cholesterol) went up from 68 to 71, and triglycerides from 107 to 82. My doctor was totally impressed and plans to recommend Step One to other patients based on my results. I have been unsuccessful at getting my numbers down on my own and did not want to be put on a statin. Started looking for a weight loss program and found Step One Foods. It has been a game-changer for me. It has helped give me the ambition to try and lose weight now. I am so excited by the results! Thank you so much for this program.

December - Cindy

It's been about 60 days and truthfully I wasn't as consistent as I had hoped, (I religiously had one of the products every day but not both). Even still, my LDL went down from 198 to 156, and my total cholesterol went down from 261 to 232. My LDL has not been this low in over 2 years! I hope to be more consistent in the next 2 months and hope to get my LDL under 200.

I want to personally thank each and every person who has written to us during the past year. We picked out 12 customer stories but this blog could have been long enough to create a small novel if we’d included every positive note! And I have to tell you that, as a physician, nothing could be more rewarding than hearing about the health impacts we are making.  

94 million Americans have high cholesterol and most of these individuals will be offered a pharmaceutical as the first/only step for improving their numbers.  Even though there is so much that food can do!  Medications absolutely have a role, but Step One Foods has proven that using doses of food can often be an option to solve a problem typically relegated to using only doses of drugs.

I love hearing people tell us that they started with Step One, saw results and continued to make dietary tweaks that led to even bigger and better results. Or that they used Step One in conjunction with statins and saw eye-popping cholesterol reductions with small/smaller doses of drugs.  Food is our secret weapon.  Even if physicians don’t emphasize it enough.  We typically eat 3 or 4 or more times a day, every single day.  Why not turn what we HAVE TO do anyways into an activity that is health promoting?  

So here’s to using our secret weapon more next year – one step at a time!   

With best wishes for a happy and healthy 2023,

Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC