Rise in cholesterol

[meganana]

I am dismayed with the results of my cholesterol level after being on the induction phase of Atkins for five months. In January, my total cholesterol was 185 and this week, I had it checked and it had risen to 225. Since I have CAD, this is a major concern to me. According to the information in Atkins, (as I understand), my cholesterol should have dropped? Any comments would be appreciated.

[doreen T]

hi there meganana,

A rise in total cholesterol doesn't tell the whole picture. and it's still below 240, which is the "cut off point". Without knowing the triglycerides, ldl, hdl and hdl risk ratios .. it's not a real picture of what's going on. But I understand your concern, especially with CAD (coronary artery disease).

The Drs. Eades of Protein Power offer an explanation why some persons may experience a rise in total cholesterol levels: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.html#11ePerhaps this applies to you?

Doreen

[meganana]

Doreen, Thanks for the info. I'm printing it off so I can study it. For some reason, the lab didn't read my ldl level, but the hdl was 62, which the report stated was a 3.58 ratio. My triglycerides were 55 and the glucose was 89. I'm looking for information that will help me interpret these numbers. Thanks so much for your input.

[doreen T]

Those are TERRIFIC! Congrats :cool: A hdl above 40 is good, above 60 is protective against heart disease. Triglycerides below 200 are very desirable. Not sure whether the ratio is ldl/hdl or trigs/hdl, but 3.58 is in the healthy range for either.

Your blood sugar is also excellent!

I've posted some information about interpreting cholesterol blood test results, click here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=193436#post193436) to check it out.

Keep up the good work :thup:

Doreen

[Lisa N]

Hi Meganana!

The same thing happened to me. After 5 months, my LDL and total cholesterol had gone up, but my triglycerides had gone down over 200 points and my HDL had also gone up. I had it checked again 6 months later and everything had fallen nicely into place. Maybe some people take a bit longer to adjust to this WOE than others. As Doreen said, your blood sugar, HDL and triglycerides look great! Perhaps the rise is because your HDL went up? Try not to panic and just keep with it. I'd be willing to bet that the next time you have it checked, things will look better than they do now.