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Tests = Unhappy Doctor

OK Got back my test results after 12 weeks on Atkins

Here are my numbers ... btw .. they are all, both good and bad, up from last test about 6 months ago.

TOTAL Cholesterol 260
Trig - 49
LDL - 187
HDL - 63

Previous numbers

TOTAL - 230
Trig - 36
LDL - 172
HDL - 58

My doctor is telling me to lower my fat and retest in a few weeks or go on cholesterol lowering medication. I have a family history of high cholesterol, my mother had 2 bypass surgeries (before she was even my age) and has been on medication for years. Is it possible to get the numbers down by lowering just my sat. fats? Eventhough my fitday doesn't show my sat. fats are the majority of my fat it shows my monos as the majority of my fat intake.

Oh bummer on the results..... does your doctor recommend the South Beach Diet instead of Atkins, I'm not sure but I think SB is low carb & low fat ????

The main way to lower LDL cholesterol is through exercise.

Considering that you're in Premaintenance, even Dr. A would advise you to cut back on Saturated Fats. Source: http://atkins.com/helpatkins/faqs/f....printable.html

You may also find that increasing the amount of dietary fiber in your diet reduces your overall cholesterol profile. Flaxseed is particularly good at this.

(Aside from your LDL, though, I don't see anything too amiss. Atkins devotees usually see an HDL boost.)

Bottom line, though -- exercise, exercise, exercise.

Primer: National Institutes of Health
(NIH may be wrong about a lot, but this is a good document.)

Welp ... if exercise were enough ... I already workout more than 2 hours a day :(

I cardio/weight train/pilates and have been for quite some time.... though the last 3 months I have increased that.

Hi Toots. To be honest the results aren't that bad. Your HDL is up - and this is a much more important indicator of CVD (higher HDL is protective).

That being said, a rise in LDL can be explained from a LC stand point. From the Protein Power website FAQ:

Quote:

I’ve been on the plan for awhile and feel better than I ever have. I’ve lost weight, my blood pressure is down and my sugar levels are now normal. My most recent lab tests show that my cholesterol and LDL went up. What am I doing wrong?

First of all, be aware that you are not doing anything wrong. The most consistent finding after people go on our program is that triglycerides drop and HDL, the "good" cholesterol increases. This indicates that your insulin levels have dropped and you have stopped converting excess amounts of sugar into fats as trigylcerides. Cholesterol is a number that is composed of both good and bad fractions, therefore we don’t tend to track it nearly as close as more specific levels of HDL, triglycerides and LDL. LDL cholesterol is made up of different particles that vary from person to person. Depending on the type of particles that predominate, one is said to have either pattern A or pattern B. With pattern A, the LDL is light, fluffy, and relatively large. This pattern is actually thought to be beneficial. With pattern B, the molecule is heavy, dense, and relatively small. This pattern is thought to be detrimental. Pattern B is a partial consequence of excessively elevated triglycerides. When triglycerides go down after the Protein Power Plan has been adopted, a phenomenon called the "beta shift" occurs where LDL is transformed into pattern A. So, paradoxically, even though the level of LDL appears to increase, the type of LDL that is being formed is usually much healthier. The difficult part is that the lab testing to determine your levels of LDL "A" and LDL "B" can only be done in a research laboratory with electrophoresis methods. While we cannot be 100% certain that this is what happened in your case, the research strongly supports this view.

The most important thing is to look at the overall picture. With the Protein Power approach we look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio as one of the best measurements of risk for heart disease. An upper limit of 5 is considered desirable, with anything over that indicating an increased risk. Some measures to help bring down your cholesterol and LDL levels are: stay on the plan (some people panic and feel that the plan is causing the opposite effect), take a "no-flush" niacin 500 mg 2-3 capsules per day, increase your fiber intake with perhaps psyllium seed powder-1-2 TBS mixed in water per day, and avoid excessive saturated fats and trans fats (fried foods and margarine

Cheers,
Nat

Nat ... Thanks for your encouragement. I've always had high cholesterol ... seems to run in the family but usually my doctors have felt that my ratio was good enough that they didn't need to worry about it. This doctor however wants to put me right on meds.

I feel great. Have almost always exercised ... now exercise at least 2 hours/day ... have low BP, low Pulse, excellent stress test and lung function tests and recently quit smoking. (so there!)

I was so happy to be able to eat my red meats again since I had cut red meats down to about once a month until Atkins. Perhaps I should cut them back again?? I was raised a midwestern cattle person ... we eat beef! Ha!

I suppose that I will cut back on the sat fats and maybe lower my fat % down. To really help things along I just got put on steroids this week (nasal steroids last week and oral this week) and am starting to gain weight back. ugh. To counteract that I was lower my carbs back down and raising my fat. Now I'm in a bit of a quandry. Suggestions are appreciated here :)

P.S. I am already taking the niacin but will try the fiber solution.

One more thing to consider

I totally forgot about this for cholesterol (doh!) also from the FAQ:

Quote:

Are there people who should avoid red meat and eggs?

Yes. Some people just seem to have a sensitivity to them. It may be the arachidonic acid found in red meat and egg yolks. These people lose weight just fine eating them, but their elevated blood pressure or cholesterol won’t come down until they stop the red meat and eggs. Sometimes people do better avoiding them if you are suffering from hypertension, elevated cholesterol, fluid retention, or inflammation such as arthritis, bursitis, asthma, allergies and rashes.

It's not the fat, it's the arachidonic acid. If you do a search on it in this forum you'll find a few posts on the subject. It's suggested you avoid the red meat and egg yolks for a few weeks and see how you feel, then try a meal with them and see what that produces. It may be the answer.

Nat

Just my .02

I went to the doctor myself, today, and we were talking about cholesterol. His opinion (whatever its worth - he's a pretty good guy) is that a LOT of times cholesterol numbers are genetic. You may be able to affect some change in your numbers - particularly triglycerides - but basically family plays a big part.

About the South Beach Diet - one thing that surprised me when I read the book is that the cardiologist mentioned that every cardiologist he knew over 40 (whether their cholesterol was high or not) took statin drugs. He's a big believer in them .....

BTW, I considered and rejected South Beach - just didn't feel that I could do it.

Deanne

First off, your LDL:HDL Ratio is almost exactly the same as it was before...Both are 2.96, which is good. Above 3.20 is considered high. Your ratio is acutally better than mine [and my Cholesterol is 175.] Mine was just below the cutoff for high. But, that's due to my low HDL which is a result of eating a diet of Fructose and Grain, with most of my Fat [5-25%] from Shortening and Margarine [in the Grains] for 3 years. All of these foods [especially the Grains and Trans-Fats] are known to lower HDL.

I'll defnitely second the genetics arguement - This has also been evidenced in my family. Regardless of how I eat, what I weigh and how much I work out my LDL, HDL and total cholesterol have stayed constant over 10 years, only the triglycerides have changed (for the better!)

Nat

Thank you all for your input. I do know that part of it is genetics because of my maternal history. I was adopted and don't know my paternal medical history so I only know half my genetic story.

I didn't think that my ratios were any worse than before either. Maybe just to placate the doc I'll try lowering my sat fats and see if using some psyllium will help. I honestly don't want to take any medications if I don't have to. After all it won't hurt to lower the sat fats.

This is what I would do. Cut out butter ( if you use it and other "bad" fats ). But I would consume olive oil, omega 3s and vitamin e and see how that turns out. These and other similar fats have been credited for lowering bad and raising good cholesterol. Before going the med route, experiement and see what is truly causing your problem.

Black57

Hi ImHere:

Several months into Atkins last winter, I was astounded to find that my cholesterol levels had skyrocketed (very high HDL and LDL). We hear so much about cholesterol levels and heart disease that it's automatically assumed that it's the only cause and effect. But it's not. My tests also showed that my tryglyceride levels were very low. After re-reading my chapter on Cholesterol in Protein Power Lifeplan, I felt more at ease, but I was still concerned b/c of the brainwashing I'd received for years about cholesterol, plus it runs in my family.

It turned out for me, that my high cholesterol levels were caused b/c I stopped ovulating. My holistic doctor ordered saliva hormone tests and it turned out that my estrogen levels were abnormally high with low testosterone. After having several tests done and charting my morning temperatures, I've seen the relationship between my cycle and high cholesterol levels. Months when I've ovulated, my cholesterol goes down.

My point is that the cause of high LDLs isn't necessarily heart disease. Hormones are also very much related.

I just found this article that you may find interesting. I wish it had been written last winter.
Treating High Cholesterol by Replacing Hormones

HTH,
Wanda