Hi I'm Laurie, I'm considering coming back to low carb life. I did it last year and was very successful with weight loss. Went to my doc and had blood work which showed my ldl levels where high. I stopped low carbing and went back to low calorie low fat with many cheats inbetween. This is what brought me back- I gained all my weight back and want desperately to start low carb again. I'm very terrified of my cholesterol reaching dangerous levels and wanted to ask- is there a way to low carb and avoid the foods that raise cholesterol? I don't know what to eat anymore...

What kind of numbers are you talking about? There is a lady I work with who has an LDL of 105 and her doctor has her on a statin. That is crazy, IMO. I was one who had my LDL & total cholesterol shoot up when I did a very low carb diet. Apparently that is very uncommon, but it does happen to some of us. I was able to resolve it through diet and stay low carb.

Click Here to go to the page in my journal where I discussed the changes I made to my diet. It is in the post with the labs chart.

Last December my numbers were much improved. I just had my labs done again last month and they were stellar. The only change I made from the previous diet tweak was to add 1 tablespoon of psyillium powder (mixed in water with a squirt of Mio or lemon juice). Here are the March results:

Total Cholesterol:.. 191
Triglycerides:......... 56
HDL: .................... 71
VLDL:.................... 11
LDL:.................... 109
HDL to Trig Ratio:. 0.8
A1C:................... 5.3

I think the biggest factor for me was to add lots of fiber to my diet. It makes the carbs higher, but doesn't affect net carbs too much. 1 tbsp. of the psyillium powder (the active ingredient in Metamucil) that I buy on Amazon has 8 carbs, 7 grams of fiber, and only 1 net carb. I have 1 tbsp. before breakfast and another before dinner. I also enjoy a flax mug muffin everyday. It took a little while to get used to so much fiber, but I've adjusted to it now and it seems to work wonders for my cholesterol numbers. I like how I'm eating now, I love how I feel, so I plan to stick with it.

Thanks for your reply- I'm new to the whole cholesterol numbers business. All I know is that my ldl is 160. I also have to read into the net carbs vs total carbs. I never went by net.

I no longer worry about cholesterol. I worry about inflammation.

Cutting edge science is saying that is the real problem.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthsc...the-real-enemy/

When I started paying attention to inflammation, my sleep improved and I felt so much better. What is my cholesterol? I don't know and I don't care

Hi Laurie,

I'm on a low-saturated-fat and low-carb diet now becuase my LDL shot up on LCHF. It can be challenging but it's doable, and it worked for me to bring my LDL down about 60 points.

I eat about 40 g carbs a day to keep my A1C down, and keep saturated fat grams at 10 to 13 g to keep the LDL down.

I've never liked to eat a lot of meat anyway so that helps. Vegetables, lean meats, eggs, fish, some low carb fruits, and nuts. I make lots of things out of nuts, for example almond-cream-based sauces and almond-meal baked goods (using olive oil instead of butter). You can even make fermented nut cheese!

I do eat some commercial products too, though I know those are controversial. For example, Quest chips (5 carbs, 0 g sat fat) and Protings (4 carbs, 0.5 g sat fat per serving). Miracle Noodles and Miracle Rice are very low in both.

There's also hummus, avocados...once you start looking there are all kinds of things you can find that are low in both carbs in saturated fats.

So it takes a bit of research, work and prep, but it's possible and can even be fun. I hope that helps!

I stopped worrying about my cholesterol over a decade ago. I don't have it tested. I don't see the point. I eat a low carb, high fat, real food diet. Every one of my many health issues has either been eliminated or vastly diminished, plus I lost a over 100 pounds. I figure I am eating the healthiest diet I possibly can, so why should I worry about a number whose meaning is at best suspect and at worst irrelevant.

Jean

Completely agree with Jean on that!

Please read through the current page of threads on cholesterol and first determine if you have reason to worry. Age? previously diagnosed heart disease? immediate family history of CVD?, etc.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=48

One of my favorite writers on Cholesterol in this thread: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=466506 This thread is a favorite for a good overview.

I don't worry about those pesky cholesterol numbers but just had them tested at my GP surgery as part of a routine checkup of over 66 year-olds
I was told my numbers were excellent - trig good, hdl high and ldl low - after almost 13 years of Atkineering.

A book I found very helpful in understanding all the uproar about cholesterol:

The Great Cholesterol Myth by Jonny Bowden, Stephen Sinatra, Deirdre Rawlings. I have it on Kindle from amazon.

For any number of reasons, many docs still pay attention to cholesterol numbers that are meaningless anymore. Other factors are so much more important to your health, including bringing your weight down, and NOT using statins.

Read on, and best wishes.

That's the spirit

BTW: great article. Going to sent to my DB he has Parkinson's and is an Dean Ornish disciple

I get almost no fiber because of its GI issues and my numbers (ratio) is great. HDL > 60 and A1c <5 FBS in the 80's CRP ~Zip

For the OP:

One thing about LDL not everyone knows: size is everything (particle size that is) bigger being better. This is found thru another blood test that isn't usually done VAP® test (by LabCorp) I believe.

Heart disease forum: http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=48

My last lipid panel, a few months ago, my LDL was low, my trigs were low and my HDL was high.

BUT. I've been doing this for quite a while.

If you are fairly new to low carb, and you are losing quickly, it's NORMAL for your LDL to go up, as the fat cells empty.

The rule of thumb for LDL/HDL (not that it's really valid, but it's what doctors use) is that it shouldn't be higher than 3/1. So, if your LDL was 160, your HDL should be higher than 53.

AND, if it wasn't, then, just maybe, it will be once your weight loss slows down as you approach your goal.

Count me among the anti-statin group that doesn't worry about cholesterol. Check out Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's The Great Cholesterol Con (http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/)

Wearbear, That's such a great video that I'm sending it to a couple of friends who need a good explanation about all of this.

Thanks -- I wasn't sure because it was CBN after all (on certain subjects they have serious biases,) but this is an excellent video.

Sometimes we just have to go to alternate news sources to learn what the mainstream media suppresses.
I have a couple of friends who are otherwise clueless but interested in learning about LC and asking questions somewhat, so this was an easy to watch video with great examples.