weight down, cholesterol up
 

I had my routine check up yesterday and was excited that my weight is down over 15 pounds since my last check up in June. Unfortunately, my LDL cholesterol is up over 20 points and my HDL is down since then. I was so disappointed in those numbers...I really thought losing the weight would improve the cholesterol numbers, not make them worse!! :(

I've been eating 3 eggs a day, 3 tablespoons of fat (like mayo or olive oil) and beef, pork, etc. since I started the low carb approach about 2 weeks ago. Any chance that is contributing to the rise in cholesterol?

It's interesting that you HDL is down.

LDL in some folks goes up, some folks stays the same and others goes down.

One theory here is that as you've begun to mobilize fat for fuel that there's a lot of "good LDL" (small particle) that's free in your system to do it's job of providing energy or whatever.

There's a more complete blood test called - can't remember the name now - but it differentiates the different "types" to a finer degree.

Lot's of discussion on this board about it. you'll get some ideas. If you can work with your physician you might want to re-check when you get out of "weight-loss mode" and into what might be called "maintenance" - see where you numbers land then.

Relax and continue your approach is my recommendation, but I'm not a doctor ;)

I have not begun my journey yet, so this may be a wrong solution, but maybe try getting your fats from the mayo/oils/etc and choose leaner cuts of meat, maybe less red meat? I know red meat in general causes higher cholesterol, so if you aren't already doing it, choose leaner red meats.

The NMR lipoprofile? It's supposed to give a deeper breakdown of the various subtypes of LDL particles, of which I understand there to be seven, and the two largest are considered healthy/benign. I say "supposed to" because unfortunately it's not available in my part of the world (New Zealand).

Dr Paul Mason - who I met last year, really cool guy - has given a few talks on the subject of interpreting some of the complexities of blood cholesterol tests: here's one in which not only does he break things down with LDL, but he also shows that for those like me for whom more advanced testing is unavailable, there are other proxy measures such as the triglyceride/HDL ratio which can give you a pretty good idea of the underlying quality of your LDL. Maybe your HDL is down slightly, but if your trigs are down even more, then it could be argued that you're possibly still better off overall?

A couple of other points around getting your blood tested: firstly, make sure you're getting it done while fasted for at least 12 hours. This is because triglycerides can fluctuate wildly in the hours immediately following a meal, and it's useful to get a measure of your resting trig levels if possible. Secondly, you might be interested in looking up Dave Feldman's protocol for manipulating LDL cholesterol levels, if your doctor is one of those who is easily concerned by high LDL in isolation.

You have lost 15 pounds...the fat has to go somewhere :lol:
Understand the timeline of weight loss. The suggestion is not to test blood markers until you are at goal and weight stable for a month.

https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2015...nfuses-doctors/

It was a routine physical with a lipid test.

Run your numbers through a ratio calculator. My total was up, HDL up, LDL up, and triglycerides down. Wasn't worried about my total as high cholesterol for older people (moi) has shown to be better.

OR, you can take my view, which is that the average doctor/average test tells us NOTHING.

Anything still based on Ancel Keys cherry-picked data is DANGEROUS to my weight and health, so why should I care what such a view thinks of cholesterol?

It's NOT about cholesterol, it's about inflammation. My autoimmune issues are a very clear indicator of how I am doing there :) My rosacea has gone away, my immune system has perked up, and my serious autoimmune becomes symptom-free when I eat this way.

I'm just not going to worry about eating this way.

So I simply go by triglycerides. DH's dropped by the hundreds when all previous efforts did not budge them.

I like this as a benchmark. Since you mention inflammation can have such an important role, I like to get an hsCRP reading as well. My TGs (46) are significantly low directly due to my VLCKD approach. My hsCRP when last tested was 0.4, and considering that 1.0 or below is beneficial, I have the numbers that validate my WOE is sound. Did that awareness come from a doctor? Hardly.

I read just recently that when you're actively losing weight, your LDL will be higher because, as Janet said, the fat has to go somewhere (it goes into the blood first). That's what she meant. Until you're at your goal weight, or maybe (possibly) staying around the same weight for a good length of time, your test results will not be accurate.

And since the Lipid Theory itself has been exposed as not nearly as scientifically supported as we once thought, the whole Cholesterol Con is on shaky ground, too.

Total cholesterol is a scam to kill you with statins. If your triglycerides are low, you are lowering inflammation, and that's the health bonus.

Interesting post, great information provided.

Red wine has been shown to increase HDL. This is why the French have so little heart disease.

A lot of folks see an initial rise in cholesterol numbers for about the first three to four months. I remember reading that the body's insulin triggers also affect cholesterol production in your body. WHen you are on Atkins, you initially are eating more cholesterol, but your body has not yet stopped producing cholesterol. Once you are 3-4 months into the WOE, your body's insulin response becomes more normal and your body realizes it does not need to produce cholesterol. By 6 months the numbers have come down. ALso I found my HDL soared with regular exercise. Hang in there, exercise and get retested in a couple of months. :)

While you are actively losing body-fat -- especially early in that process -- your lipid-panels are going to be all off.

Give it a couple months, and check again. In 3 months, there should be improvement (ie: Numbers starting to move in the correct direction)

For me, my LDL came down quickly, but it took a long time for my HDL to go up.

But it will happen.

The real key (as I think other folks have mentioned) was that my triglycerides came quickly into line. This (along with my steady weight-loss) is what convinced my doctor that things were going to stabalize properly, even if they hadn't *yet*.

Give your body some time.

I just watched a video on youtube that patients with low total cholesterol in China were more likely to die from the COVID-19 than people with higher cholesterol. More proof against trying to get a low cholesterol.

I was just reading the transcript on

https://thefatemperor.com/ep68-dr-p...s-crucial-info/

which mentions that cholesterol drops when one's immune system is fighting off viruses etc., which I'd never heard before. No wonder cholesterol levels vary! Since the brain and immune system need cholesterol to work properly, lowering it can be deadly.

Yes, and just think if you already have very low cholesterol when you get a devastating disease... you haven't got a chance. The whole low cholesterol, low fat movement was a lie, and profits for big pharma.

I have decided (with the input of my doctor) that I have and always have had familial hypercholesterolemia. No matter what I eat or do, my cholesterol looks high from traditional, and I think totally wrong assumptions. I have always had really high HDL (good!!) until my last test last year. My HDL was 56 then, but for years it has been 80, 85, 90 or so. My triglycerides are reasonable and generally low, but the LDL is always horrendous. Just the LDL along last summer was 290 or some such. HOWEVER....I am able to get the VAP cholesterol test and that analyzes your LDL particle type. Mine are type A fluffy, which are ideal since this type doesn't clog arteries. I've just gone back on Atkins to lose 30 lbs, so I expect my odd test from last June to go back to what it usually is.

There is an interesting article somewhere about President Eisenhower, who had many heart attacks. His doctors believed in the old cholesterol theory that high cholesterol meant heart attacks and strokes, and they fed him an unbelievably restrictive diet that brough his cholesterol numbers down to an extremely low level. It didn't protect him, rather, he had a heart attack that killed him. So much for the old cholesterol theory. I don't buy into it and I don't worry about my situation because of the particle type I have. My doctor had originally tried to goad me into taking statins, but I refused. After the VAP test, my doctor reversed her position and said that since there wasn't heart disease in my family, not to worry, keep eating well to keep the particle size fluffy. For me, I do best eating Atkins....and no sugar, really really low carbs. I'm fairly certain my test last June was caused by how I had been eating....high carbs and lots of sugar. Duh....

Good post, and I relate directly to the comments about lipid tests. I have had higher LDL since going very low carb, but my LDL particle type was large/fluffy and small particles so few they were not measurable, my TGs very low (40s), HDL high, and my TG:HDL ratios under 1.00. I no longer sweat the blood cholesterol conundrum, as the "experts" have adopted a flawed belief system that I don't need to follow.

Thanks CMCM - great post. My numbers echo what you all have said. My LDL spiked with my last visit but I had been off plan for quite some time and had only been back on a couple months when I was tested. I had also been sidelined with knee issues and hadnt been doing much cardio and my HDL was down. I have noticed when I am regularly breaking a sweat my HDL rises pretty quickly. My Tirglycerides were around 60 and LDL high normal as was the total chol. I thought I would have to fight to stay off the statins but the doc said lets see what happens over the next six months. If it comes to that I will fight for the VAP testing. As I have gotten older, I have to watch calories as well as carbs, but I have found my magic combo... unprocessed low carb (under 40 gr with 90%+ from veggies) very limited dairy and under an average of 1600 calories and daily exercise. Totally agree with you, Rob on the flawed system, but I do think docs are slowly coming around. I used to have to battle every one of them and now I am finding them less certain of one way to do things and more apt to support you if what you are doing is working. :)

If no other way, you can pay for your own VAP test....I believe it's around $100 or so. It's worth doing at least once to get a reading on your particle type.

I heard that too. Also...I've heard lately that for older women (men too??), higher cholesterol is desirable because it's protective. I've read so much about how your own body produces cholesterol because your body and brain NEED cholesterol. If you eat a low cholesterol diet your body compensates by producing more as needed by the body. If you eat higher in cholesterol (as we tend to do on Atkins type diets), your body doesn't have to produce as much. The point seems to be that your body requires a certain amount of cholesterol to function property, and it gets it one way or the other. I just haven't seen any conclusive proof that eating foods with high cholesterol leads to high cholesterol. The basic cholesterol test is OLD as the hills, old science I think, and the assumptions about it are very out of date.