Hi All,

Its been a while since I last posted, as I've been following the LC way of life. I'm 34 years old and pretty much in excellent shape (except for bloodwork).

Lots of meats, cheese, fish, salads/veggies, nuts, fiber, and low/no carbs, except when I exercise hard.

Anyway, my latest cholesterol profile came back really high, and my doctor is now freaking out.

On May 30, 2006 my numbers were:
total - 260
triglycerides - 57
HDL - 43
LDL - 206

Recently, February 2nd, 2007 my numbers were:
total - 263
triglycerides - 119
HDL - 39
LDL - 200

This is after going even more LC. Now I am left with the question: "what the heck happened!!?" I was expecting LDL to be in the 160 range and HDL to be in the 70s atleast.

My doc left me with the impression that by the time I am in my later 30's I'll likely have a heart attack or stroke.

Anyway, I refuse to take statins at this point. So I am now going to go have a heart scan done (at my expense) to see if there is any calcification in there. What I do from there on out depends on the degree of calcification.

Thanks for listening. Any inputs or opinions would be appreciated.

Jeff

Your cholesterol numbers have remained the same, well within measurement error. Oddly, your triglycerides went up quite a bit which is usually the one that goes down, but your previous number 57 was low and 119 isn't especially high. I don't see any reason to freak about the report, seems pretty typical. The biggest thing IMO is maybe to boost that HDL number a bit. Usually the biggest gain in HDL is seen from exercise, what kind of exercise are you doing now? Also, if the doctor has gotten you sufficiently alarmed, there are herbals and supplements that many have had great success with. I wouldn't do anything without a few more tests in any event to see what's up; this could be an oddball measurement or even a bad test. Are you confindent that you fasted the required time before the test? I think triglycerides in particular are sensitive to the fasting time.

From my reading, I would never take statins. If you are already committed to spending some of you own money for tests, it might be very worthwhile to have you numbers reviewed by a doctor that isn't a statin pusher. Perhaps Drs Eades could review your numbers or suggest a doctor?

Kind regards

I thought this diet was supposed to make that suff go down. I should get mine checked to see. Did you have high cholesterol anyway before atkins?

Hi Mutant,

Thanks for your reply.

As for exercise, I am very active, and exercise a minimum of 3 times per week, if not more. I also took the no flush niacin and that didn't seem to help at all as my HDL dropped a few points. I had also been taking fish oil, but quit a few weeks prior to the test due to having a reaction to it (which is still up in the air).

The triglyceride reading is quite strange, as it should have stayed the same - but the night before the test, I did have one beer, and I normally don't drink. The test was about 12 hours later. I am thinking my body just didn't know what to do with it.

The numbers barely changed, but the doctor keeps stressing that I am building plaque and should be concerned about my life in the next few years. In fact, I am now afraid to even leave the country on expedition trips for fear of having a cardiovascular event away from medical help. My wife is actually angry at the doctor for getting me all fired up.

Anyway, I have a heartscan scheduled today at 3 PM. Its going to cost a lot, but after having heart disease concerns for a few years now, I'd rather just KNOW whats really in there to relieve that "not knowing" feeling which seems to drive the anxiety.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Though I am not following a perfectly low carb diet, its close enough, and has been for the past few years, not to mention the constant exercise. This should have protected me, atleast from what I have read.

I really don't think the results are dire at all. Nothing to write home about, but IMO (and others) the total cholesterol number is NOT extremely high. Remember, 260 used to be (in more sensible times...) the '200' of today; if 260 was a sign of iminent danger, it would have been noticed long ago. HDL of around 40 is not ideal, but not dangerously low. It would be great to give that number a boost, but I wouldn't be worrying that every ache and pain was my heart seizing. It's odd the triglycerides went up, but in the 50s it was fantastic, and at 119 it doesn't seem to be of much concern; somewhere around 150-200 I would start to worry, and even then I wouldn't think I was ready to drop dead. Personally, I think these numbers say you are in 'good' shape, but you might be able to do better. You could be one of the oddballs that just have higher cholesterol numbers that aren't reflective in any way on your cardiovascular health; the range of 'normal' is pretty broad and some 'normals' fall farther from the mean. Somewhere over 300 is where I start thinking something is probably up.

I really like some materials from a Al Sears, MD. Some of his ad copy rubs me in the wrong way, but he has some good stuff to say. His book 'Doctor's Heart Cure' is a good read with different strategies for combatting high cholesterol. In the book he discusses some of the effects of exercise on cholesterol. He recommends short interval exercise for both positive changes to cholesterol and general cardiovascular health and cites studies on why traditional 'long and slow' cardio is bad for both of these. It may be your type of exercise is hurting you more than helping?

Anyway, good luck with your heartscan. Sounds like everything will be fine. I'm not a big fan of doctors, but they can usually tell you if what you have will kill you in the near future even if they can't help

Kind regards

Please do let us know the results of your heart scan. BTW, I'd love to have those numbers.

Back before statins, the "ideal" total cholesterol was anything under 350.

Since they have been agressively lowering cholesterol numbers, there has been little good results, except in a small number of men with known cardiac disease.

My total pre-statins was over 400. After enduring several months of horrible side effects, I started reading up on statins and cholesterol.

Today, untreated, my total is still over 300....has been for at least 3 years, and so far no signs of any cardiac disease. Or any vessel disease at all.

Docs today are great at trying to scare us. My advice would be to research on your own and make your own decisions.

I'm sure what your doc is really freaking about is the LDL, being over 200. Remember tho, that all the "ideals" that are published are for HIGH RISK people.

Stop worrying and enjoy your trip!!!!

Hi Jeff,
I'm sorry to ask but is your current weight 204 or at your goal weigh :185? Consider you are 5'9" your highest weight should be around at 175. If your profile is outdated, then it is not a problem, but if it is correct, you are are still carry almost 30 extra pounds, and this alone can impact your CHO. I also don't know what is your body composition, but if you carry your weight around the middle, then you may have metabolic syndrome and/ or some degress of IR. If you are lean and muscular, and a heavy lifter, then it is something else. Your triglycerides are nothing to worry about, and they warry from one test to another, under 150 is totally fine, but HDL is on a low side, while LDL - is on a high side.


I would drop fatty meat and dairy, and eat more lean meat and oily fish, avocado, almonds, EVOO, etc. Try to replace sat. fat with monounsaturated, since you are not following very strict (induction type) lc diet, but rather carb controlled. It always works for me and DH, replacing cheese with avocado and butter with EVOO, helps to boost HDL and lower LDL. I imagine you had your blood sugar tested, and don't have any problems in this department. Also, get your thyroid checked, to make sure you don't have hypothyrodism, it may spike your cholesterol high.
There is also CholestOff, plant sterols and stanols based supplement, sold in Costco. It lowered LDL without lowering HDL, DH takes it when his LDL goes up (he can't live without full fat dairy) and it can drop 30-40 points easily. Unsweetened soy milk (1-2 cups daily) helps to lower LDL.


Your dr is freaking out because HDL/CHO ratio is 6.7, and >5 is consider high risk for heart desease, so he is a responsible dr after all.

Not everyone on this forum and in real life gets famous favorable CHO profile following atkins and other very low carb/high fat diet: high HDL and low LDL. My ldl goes up too (still <130) if I eat little carbs and lots of sat. fat from dairy but my HDL goes up proportionally. Some ppl have different metabolic make-up, and simply proned to high LDL and low HDL without having heart desease.

Good luck with your test, hope nothing to worry about, so you can put your mind to ease.
Regards,
D.

I like this heart doctor's blog, some of his advice is very sensible. His views on dietary fat/meat are not though but he has info about fish oil and Vit. D that might help.

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com

I recently read that taking fish oil supplements can raise LDL levels in some people BUT I also know from reading that there are diff kinds of LDL...some that aren't harmful and some that are. Maybe the fish oil raises the harmless LDL??? Has something to do w/being "fluffy" or "small particle LDL" or something??? Sorry for being so vague but my mind didn't hang onto the details...maybe someone else here can educate both of us.

BTW this is a portion I posted on the paleo thread re how I brought my cholesterol down...I was very extreme mind you...mostly eating ocean fish, salads, lc veggies, some chicken and ground flax seed, olive oil and lemon juice and raw nuts (a handful a day of walnuts, almonds, etc). Check there or my journal for more specifics. Still need to raise the good chol and lower the bad. read on: in spite of my doctor's insistence that I have an unhealthy cholesterol level and so "need" to be on meds since she's NEVER seen anyone come down more than 20 points with nutritional changes and exercise, in about 2 or 3 months my triglicerides came down 114 points (!!!!!!!) putting them in the normal range. my total chol came down from 307 to 240s (still high but getting where it needs to be); my LDL is way high and HDL too low so the ratio is also not good yet but I know it will improve in the next 6 to 12 months....besides neander I am also eating ground flax seed daily and I've been having ocean fish daily prepared w/olive oil. Anyother suggestions for boosting good cholesterol HDL????
Terry

Hi all,

Thanks for the incredible replies and information all. I'll need to go back and read through them again to make sure I didn't miss anything.

It appears the LC way of life has protected me! The heart scan came back nearly perfect! I say 'nearly' b/c he did see a tiny glitch that he wasn't sure if it was a deposit or just a scan artifact, which he says is common. He decided to err on the safe side, which gave me an very very low score. This is good news, and was a great way to get a base-line for later.

I think this test was worth every penny, and my advice for those who are still concerned like I was, is to go do the test just to SEE. It only took them 10 minutes to do the scan, and soon after my results were on the screen and I was chatting with the cardiologist.

Being a cardiologist, the doctor was concerned about the cholesterol numbers, but not in a gung ho fashion like my family doc. He said going on statins was an option if I wanted to, but there were also some homeopathic ways, that he's seen great results in with his patients. He also recommended I drop my saturated fat intake as well. I think I'll do that to a degree by dropping food volume, as I've been feeling better when I drop the amount of food I've been eating.

Dina1957- I weigh 204, but since I am an ex bodybuilder, I tend to still have alot of 'leftover' density in my muscles, and tend to weigh-in heavier than I look. I look to be about 175 lbs, until I step on the scale. My bodyfat is between 16-20% at this point, which I know I could drop a bit. I have a small amount of pudge on the waist, but not anything major. Thanks for your input!

And again to all, thanks for your information and support!

Good to hear Moodflow!

On a strict Atkins diet my cholesterol went to 260, even though I was losing a lot of weight. Before Atkins I was on the Zone Diet. That put my cholesterol at 160. Now I'm back on a diet more resembling the Zone. I haven't tested cholesterol in a while but will soon.

The Zone stresses balancing protein and carb with every meal. But I think its real value is that it is a low calorie diet. If you are 'pigging out' on meats, whatever, you are likely taking in way more calories than your body can deal with. That's what I was doing when using Atkins. Having more self-control over how much food I swallow makes more sense to me, rather than eating tons of fatty meats just because I know it will cause weight loss.

Well said kaypeeoh. I've noticed knocking down my total food intake (as well as doing LC) has made me feel even better. For instance, I've now been trying to keep each meal below 350 calories, and eat multiple smaller meals throughout the day. But I am not super strict about it. Its more a rule of thumb.

Congratulations! I bet you were relieved. I've thought about talking to my Dr about doing the heart scan thing, but I wasn't sure. I may have to ask now that I see you got a healthy report.