I was wondering and wanting to take a bit of a poll, who all on this board had there cholesterol lowered on a low carb diet?



(I ask because my doc has me on a low fat/ low cholesterol diet and it is kind of icky)

Read Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's "Great Cholesterol Con". You can do a web search for that book title and Eades and it will pull up his blog with a review of the book...which was enough to get me to order it.

I've had weight loss surgery, but even before that, I went on a low-carb, unrestricted fat diet when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Not only did it greatly improve my glucose numbers, but it also cut my high triglycerides by more than half, bringing them well into the "normal" range, and it decreased my LDL and total cholesterol (neither were technically high to begin with but dropped significantly anyway).

Please research (even just via Google) - you'll quickly discover that consuming dietary cholesterol is NOT what causes high blood cholesterol levels, so eating a low-cholesterol diet is unlikely to help. Further, eating fat does not increase cholesterol unless...wait for it...you're also consuming a lot of CARBS. But they like to just blame it on the fat :P

And finally, high cholesterol isn't actually always bad. For example, you can have high LDL without it being harmful because there are actually 2 types of LDL, commonly referred to as the small particles and the large "fluffy" particles. If you have primarily "fluffy" LDL, it's not dangerous. However, most docs don't even know to order the test to determine the type of LDL you have (and I believe that test is quite expensive). Also, if your total cholesterol is high but your RATIOS are good, that's a better indicator of health than the actual individual values.

Let it clear. I am on a low carb life style. About 30-50 per day. The ONLY numbers I care about are HDL, Trig and LDL pattern. Cholesterol and FAT are good for you. I have tested this on myself. Results are...

2010 VAP test-30 pounds lost
Total cholesterol=417
HDL=60
trig=87
LDL=333
LDL pattern A

2011 VAP test (another 6-8 pounds lost)
Total cholesterol=347
HDL=72
trig=52
LDL=259
LDL pattern A

Intersting that my LDL did go down in my second year of VLC (very low carb/hi fat).

I don't think my doc likes my numbers, but I don't care.

Echoing what BradC says.

My latest #'s, as of last week: (off the top of my head, can't find paper right now)

TC = 250's
LDL = 152 up a bit from 131 last time
Trig = 88 up from 64 last time (cause I KNEW I had been eating too many carbs/sugar!!!)
HDL = 81 unchanged

Doc THINKS I'm on a lowfat diet. He noted the LDL getting up there, but can't say much else because of the ratios and HDL.

Anyway my point is, eat LCHF, it's the ratios that matter, if in doubt ask for the VAP/NMR. I think there are labs you can get it direct for a not to unreasonable fee. It's my ace in the hole if things get ugly with the doc.

When I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and TG I was also diagnosed with IR. I ate 2-3 eggs with soy cheese, 2 beef patties w/soy cheese, and a piece of protein and green veggies each night. I took omegas and ate olive oil on all salad greens. My overall dropped, my HDL rose, my TG dropped. I should have stepped it up then. I plan to do this again and increase my omegas so I can eliminated the drugs! LC worked well, I just did not stay with it then.

Take your chances: http://thehealthyskeptic.org/when-i...e-is-not-better

I agree with Chris Masterjohn, Kurt Harris, Ray Peat, Chris Kresser, etc. about keeping PUFAs as low as possible.

I was sceptical of fish oil after reading Ray Peat's article:

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fishoil.shtml

I thought it was probably better to just eat fish.

But I ended up taking 1g per day after reading Chris Kresser's guide to fish oil:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/the-de...il-buyers-guide

... and his comment on Ray Peat:

"I’ve read a lot of Ray Peat’s stuff, as well as other research suggesting n-3s aren’t essential. Overall, I believe the epidemiological and clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that DHA reduces CVD mortality and improves other outcomes."

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/why-fi...urce-of-omega-3

It seems Kresser has changed his tune, which he admits in the article cited above by Jay1988 (and which is admirable).

Ray Peat is often regarded as a bit off the wall. Perhaps we might take him a bit more seriously!

Ned Kock has an interesting alternative to fish oil:

http://healthcorrelator.blogspot.co...l-softgels.html

Lipid researchers and three of the four people I cited all agree that 4% of caloric intake being from PUFAs is ideal, whereas Cordain and such seem to be PUFA-heavy.

After a year on low carb my picture:
HDL way up
TG way down
LDL up a bit
fasting glucose normal
That adds up to going from moderate CV risk to low CV risk. This is a typical pattern for those of us on LC.
My doc didn't really want to hear about my diet, but did say "keep doing what you're doing". That's good enough for me.
I would say, try low carb for 3 months and ask to have your bloodwork checked again.

I use Omega 3,6,9 from fish, borage, and flax. My cholesterol is genetic. My daughter was just tested and at 19 she is showing high total cholesterol (249). She eats oatmeal every morning during the winter and eats a lot of salad, fish and chicken. She loves fruits and veggies. My sister eats almost no red meat, little poultry and mostly fish (no shellfish) and lots of fruits and veggies is now on a statin. Doc even told her it is genetic. Lovely! When I was a vegetarian (I really don't like meat/fish) I had high everything. Sucks!

Is 249 high?. See Table 5 in this article. Seems like 200 to 260 is the sweet spot.

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=3836

Not for a 19 year old girl with PCOS and is 3rd generation (as far as they know). Because of our family pre-disposition to MS/IR, diabetes, and heart disease it is considered high. My docs want mine down below 145. All things relative you know. She exercises, eats well, but is at college and does not do as well as she should. We are trying to keep her as healthy as possible while she is young so she does not have the same issues my sister, nieces, and I have had to deal with. None of us were diagnosed as early as she was. I also have 2 nieces with PCOS and we are doing the same with them.

Shawn