I had my physical last week and the doctor called tonight to let me know that all looks well except that my cholestrol was high-267.
I told him that I had read the Atkins book and Atkins suggested that I have my blood work done before starting the diet. I asked my doctor what he thought about it and he said it was fine though in his opionion he had seen many patients who had been on Atkins only to regain the weight. I told him I realize I wanted to do something for my health and would like to begin the diet. He gave me the go ahead and asked me to come back in a month to check my cholestrol again.

My question is this: How many of you have had high cholestrol and has the Atkins diet really brought it down considerably?

I officially began the diet today and have done well the entire day. I did come home rather hungry and ate half a bag of pork rinds. It was a better choice than reaching for the regular chips.

Also, I had a cup of decaf coffee this morning.By the time I came home at 4:30 PM I had a terrible headache. I made me a cup of regular coffee and the headache went away. I guess I am really addicted to the caffeine. Hope to get pass through this because regular coffee makes me feel really hot anyway.

Hi Lil,

While my cholesterol was not as high as yours to start with, it has come down a lot so far. Below are all of my numbers just to give you something to compare to...


8/20/02
Blood Pressure 142/90
Glucose 114
LDL (bad) Cholesterol 156
HDL (good) Cholesterol 53
Total Cholesterol 236
Triglycerides 133

12/10/02
Blood Pressure 132/92
Glucose 87
LDL (bad) Cholesterol 142
HDL (good) Cholesterol 47
Total Cholesterol 204
Triglycerides 76

Needless to say, I couldn't be happier! RE: coffee...I had the same problem as you. HOWEVER, about a week after I gave up regular for decafe, I never had another problem.

Good luck!

My total cholesterol only came down about 30 pts., but my triglycerides came down over a hundred. It'll work. Keep the faith!

we had a friend with heart problems and very high cholesterol. He tried everything, diet/exercise/medication and finally became a strict vegetarian, still the numbers wouldn't budge. He went on protein power and his numbers dropped way down and that is how he controlled his cholesterol/triglycerides! Amazing huh!

I too had a bit of a problem switching to decaf...here's a suggestion: Try mixing the regular with equal parts decaf for a few days and then decrease the regular until you have all decaf!!!! It worked for me!

I didn't do my "before" cholesterol, so I won't be able to let you know about that...

But looking through the "success" threads on this board, I see LOTS of lowerings and explanations.

The interesting thing I noted when looking through the threads is that the lowering is more a long-term thing. YOu don't necessarily see it within a month. It may take 3 or 6 or more months to put it under control.

the books claim QUICK results in lowering (I should say IMPROVING cholesterol), so I think generally you should see results right away. But I think some out there take time.

Keep in mind, too, that the total is not nearly as important as the individual numbers and their ratios. If your total cholesterol stayed the same, but your LDL and triglycerides went down and your HDL went up, you would actually be much improved even if the total were no lower. Total cholesterol is a very poor predictor of future heart disease; triglycerides are what you want to watch.
You only gave the total number, but make sure you get the individual numbers from your doctor if you don't already have them. Those are what you want to compare at your next check. Also, Dr. Atkins doesn't recommend checking again any sooner than 6 weeks after you start the program, so you may want to ask your doctor if you can wait a few more weeks beyond a month for a recheck.

Yep, it's true... if you consider this a "diet" and not a "way of life" you will regain the weight and then some when you go back to your old way of eating. Which is true for just about every diet, isn't it?

So THAT'S why I always gain it back!! LOL. Yes it is sad but true.......

Well...I had a bunch of bloodwork done on the ninth and needless to say my cholesterol is up to 6.02mmol/L (it was perfect in October), and normal is 3.2 to 5.2. When I told my doctor that I had barely started Induction at that point he laughed. Told him how I'd been feeling great and had tons of energy and he said that was the most important thing. I was so scared he was going to give me heck and order me to go off.

My triglycerides are 2.41mmol/L and normal is 0-2.26, HDL is 1.21mmol/L and normal is .91 to 1.04, my LDL is 3.71mmol/L and normal is 0-3.36.

My doctor told me not to worry and suggested we test again in 6 months time.

On a bright note....my creatinine is low at 59 umol/L with normal being 62-106...so my kidneys are working great! I told him there were probably trace ketones in my urinalysis and he laughed again saying Yup! I told him not to worry as this was normal for what I was doing with my eating.

I got a copy of my results and will compare them to the ones in 6 months time. Nice to have a doctor who doesn't push medication and lets me plan my own lifestyle.

Nicole