Tue, Sep-23-03, 17:48
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Forum Founder
Posts: 37,415
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Plan: LC, GF
Stats: 241/190/140
BF:
Progress: 50%
Location: Eastern ON, Canada
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nicki
I started Atkins on April 29, 2003 and at present I am down to 163 pounds. I am happy about that  but I went to the doc for a cholesterol check before I started and then again just about 2 weeks ago. When I started my total cholesterol was 138 and the bad cholesterol (or LDL was 69) - now my total cholesterol is 209 and the bad (LDL) is 138! 
I am so bummed because it's always been good, and I do NOT want to quit this diet. I think for one thing I have been eating too much red meat and using too much heavy cream. Any other suggestions would be sooooo appreciated.
Thanks,
Nicki |
hi Nicki,
There's quite a difference between your total cholesterol and the LDL. That difference would be your HDL (the good cholesterol) which must be at least 60 or 70  That is so awesome .. a HDL over 40 is desirable, but over 60 is protective for heart disease even in the presence of an elevated LDL.
LDL and total cholesterol really are meaningless predictors of heart disease risk, especially in women. Triglyceride levels are more relevant, and HDL. FWIW, they've discovered that there are different types of LDL .. some which are large light molecules which seem to be beneficial, and some which are small dense molecules, and it's these which can cause problems in our arteries and blood vessels. Here's what the Dr. Eades of Protein Power have to say:
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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.)
http://eatprotein.com/answers11.htm#11e
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In addition, there's considerable evidence that men who have cholesterol levels over 350 mg/dl are at slightly greater risk for heart disease. For women, there is no greater risk for heart disease, even at levels as high as 1000 mg/dl. In fact, mortality is higher for women with low cholesterol than for women with high cholesterol . The full article, by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig PhD is here ... What causes heart disease?
Doreen
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cholesterol woes...
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