Cholesterol after 1 year on Atkins

[hayes]

I finally got my blood work done. After 1 year on Atkins. I have never had them done before so have nothing to really compare them to.
I'm not all that pleased with my labs that I got back today.

For adults age 20 years or over, the latest guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend the following optimal levels:

Total cholesterol less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl)
HDL cholesterol levels greater than 40 mg/dl
LDL cholesterol levels less than 100 mg/dl

My results were:
Total cholesterol: 230 (slightly high)
HDL: 58
LDL: 163
Triglycerides: 47 (normal range 40-160)

I spoke with an RN on my unit and he suggested I add omega 3 and psyllium husks to my already long list of vitamins. I went and got some this afternoon.
I don't plan on changing much in the way I eat. I will not stop doing Atkins. I would rather have labs be slightly high than go back to being overweight.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Daryl]

I finally got my blood work done. After 1 year on Atkins. I have never had them done before so have nothing to really compare them to.
I'm not all that pleased with my labs that I got back today.

For adults age 20 years or over, the latest guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend the following optimal levels:

Total cholesterol less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl)
HDL cholesterol levels greater than 40 mg/dl
LDL cholesterol levels less than 100 mg/dl

My results were:
Total cholesterol: 230 (slightly high)
HDL: 58
LDL: 163
Triglycerides: 47 (normal range 40-160)

I spoke with an RN on my unit and he suggested I add omega 3 and psyllium husks to my already long list of vitamins. I went and got some this afternoon.
I don't plan on changing much in the way I eat. I will not stop doing Atkins. I would rather have labs be slightly high than go back to being overweight.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Using Dr Eades preferred ratio method (Trigs divided by HDL) yours is .8! That is superb :agree: He says under 5 is decent, under 2 is :thup:

Even using the more convention ratio (Total cho divided by HDL), yours is 3.9, and desirable is under 4. I would NOT worry :)

[hayes]

Thank you so much Daryl. I don't know much about it but what you said sure makes it sound so much better!
Thanks

[Daryl]

Thank you so much Daryl. I don't know much about it but what you said sure makes it sound so much better!
Thanks
You are more than welcome :bhug: ; read this, if you will:


The rule of thumb is that a good TC/HDL ratio is one below 4, which, according to that calculation, yours is.

I don’t look at that ratio much, preferring instead to use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio, which I like to see somewhere under 5. Most of our patients on low-carb diets stay around the 2-3 range.

Best–

MRE
That's where I got the ratio info. Here is the link to the whole blog story:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/framingham-flip-flop

And have you read the Taubes book? If not, I would strongly urge you to, and to read the THINCS site, tons of great info there, by some of the world's best doctors and scientists.

http://www.thincs.org/public.htm

[hayes]

Thanks so much. No, I have not read his book. Only Atkins books. I will check into that.
I will check out those links too.
I wish I would have looked at this section on this forum before I posted. There is lots of great information that I didn't know was here.
Thanks again.

[eddiemcm]

TG and HDL are fine.TC and LDL a little high-typical of LC WOE.Many factors:CRP and LDL particle size.
Some self proclaimed experts say cholesterol doesn't make any difference.I recently discovered
that dropping my daily 2 eggs-bacon breakfast in favor of egg whites-bacon dropped my cholesterol 30 points in a month.That really surprised me.
Happy new year to all
Eddie

[hayes]

TG and HDL are fine.TC and LDL a little high-typical of LC WOE.Many factors:CRP and LDL particle size.
Some self proclaimed experts say cholesterol doesn't make any difference.I recently discovered
that dropping my daily 2 eggs-bacon breakfast in favor of egg whites-bacon dropped my cholesterol 30 points in a month.That really surprised me.
Happy new year to all
Eddie

That's interesting. I am an egg lover. Eat them on a daily basis.
Thanks for the info.

[hayes]

My results 12/21/07 were:
Total cholesterol: 230 (slightly high)
HDL: 58
LDL: 163
Triglycerides: 47 (normal range 40-160)

Today after a few diet changes (2 months later)
Total Cholesterol: 176
HDL: 54
LDL: 115
Triglycerides: 28

The even had the ratio printed out for me:
Chol/HDL ratio : 3.3
DLDL/HDL ratio : 2
VLDL: 6 (unsure what this is)

Also said my liver function was fine.

I'm very pleased. Just for the record, the changes I made since Decembers lab were:
Added whole grain oatmeal on the average of every other day.
Added fish oil capsules
Added psylllium husks
switched from cooking my eggs in butter to canola oil

I guess that's about all the changes I made.

Whoo Hooo!!! I'm thrilled!

[DrH]

This is great Tracy! Good for you .... Jill

[hayes]

Thanks Jill, I was very pleased with the results.
I knew I would keep doing LC no matter what but this just enforces that I can do it and keep lipids at a good level.

[skeeweeaka]

Great reductions.....I always knew oatmeal was helpful but psyllium is hard to digest for me....probably not enough water...

[Nancy LC]

I think the whole point of psyllium is that you don't digest it.

[hayes]

Great reductions.....I always knew oatmeal was helpful but psyllium is hard to digest for me....probably not enough water...

Thanks!

I have always drank pleanty of water so the psyllium doesn't bother me.

I'm really not sure what did help but that is the only changes I made.

[Stahl]

I am a type 2 Diabetic and took two years to get my numbers under control and off the medicine. Are you exercising? I had to start exercising to really drive the numbers down and it made a different. Lost 74 lbs with 6 lbs left. I have found that if you are losing weight and exercising (cardio) then you can reduce most of the vitamins and supplements.

Just a thought and great job!

-S

P.S. Using South Beach

[hayes]

No, I am not currently exercising. I think I would rather take the vitamins at this point. :lol:
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Looks like your doing a great job too!

[BoulderJD]

That's where I got the ratio info. Here is the link to the whole blog story:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/framingham-flip-flop

And have you read the Taubes book? If not, I would strongly urge you to, and to read the THINCS site, tons of great info there, by some of the world's best doctors and scientists.

http://www.thincs.org/public.htm


Daryl, great story on proteinpower link. I didn't find a reference to a book by Taubes, just Eades. Did I miss something? Thanks, JD

[Flower51]

Hi Hayes. How much psyllium do you take daily and in what form? ie: plain, sweetened w/fake sweetener, brand name, etc... I'm having some bathroom issues ... prob not eating enough veggies. How many whole eggs do you eat a day?
Do you eat bacon, etc...regularly? Thanks, T

[hayes]

Hi Hayes. How much psyllium do you take daily and in what form? ie: plain, sweetened w/fake sweetener, brand name, etc... I'm having some bathroom issues ... prob not eating enough veggies. How many whole eggs do you eat a day?
Do you eat bacon, etc...regularly? Thanks, T

I take 3 of the off brand, plain psyllium husk capsules daily. I always drink lots of water.

I don't eat eggs everyday. I am alternating my breakfasts with eggs, oatmeal and plain cheerios. When I do have eggs, I usually eat 3 or 4 for breakfast.

As for bacon, yes, I have bacon occasionally. I'm maintaing so my food choices are varied according to my weight.

I have heard that magnesium/calcium will help get things moving.

[Nancy LC]

Don't worry about eggs, they've long been exonerated.

You might want to read http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com He's got lots of ideas for supplements to help with cholesterol numbers.

But I wouldn't worry. When you have low triglycerides your LDL is large and fluffy and doesn't cause problems. You can always get a VAP or NMR test to confirm that.

[Flower51]

Does anyone know from experience if ground flax seed is as effective as psyllium in lowering cholesterol? T