High Triglycerides

[bluebonnet]

Back when I was a faithful LCer, I went to the doc after about a year and had high triglycerides (in the 200's, I think?). She said I needed to drastically cut down on fats, but so much of what I was eating had naturally medium-to-high fat content (cheeses, meats, etc.).

I've slipped badly in my LC WOL, and part of it is because I just keep thinking, "But there are so many fats!!" I've tried to go back to LC and cut down the fats, too, but I've just gotten bogged down in the struggle of trying to maintain it all. What am I doing wrong?

bluebonnet

[destro]

Hi Bluebonnet,

I have very high triglycerides. They were about 600+ and then I was put on Tricor ( same family as the more famous Lipitor) and they went down to 400+ after a few months.

I have decided to try this diet anyhow because so much of the research I have read has stated that this way of eating CAN and DOES help to improve Cholesterol and high triglycerides.

On July 26 I am getting my blood fats panal done again and I will have been on this WOE long enough to let you know if my numbers are improved, about the same, or worse. I am sincerely hoping for improvement, of course.

As a Type II (adult onset) diabetic, I have read a lot about the high triglycerides/diabetes connection.

Good luck to you!

Natalie

[jbee]

In early June, during my regular 3 month blood panel, my triglycerides came back extremely high (676). The previous 3 months they were in the 200s. My HBA1C for this panel was wonderful 7.0. The doc decided to put me on lopid and I will repeat my blood panel at the end of july. I started this woe in May and decided to continue but choose to eat more fish and olive oil and watch all the other fats. I'll post my results when I get them at the end of the month.

Based on all the reading I've done, they should come down with a combination of diet and meds, and hopefully soon, I'll be able to get off the meds. My fasting blood sugar for the last 14 days has been about 100, down from 130 (1000 mg glucophage daily) and the doctor says if my bs continues this way, at the end of August I will be off the gluchophage.

[razzle]

I'll quote myself from a few months ago about cholesterol:

"Despite what doctors tell us, we have no idea what the relationship between serum cholesterol, triglycerides and CV disease is. The triglyceride:HDL ratio can predict heart attacks to a certain degree, but that hardly means there's a clear causal link. (It may be that people genetically predisposed towards high triglyceride levels also just happen to be genetically predisposed toward heart attacks and the correlation is random. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, you know.)

"On Cholesterol, look up Ravnskov's site on "The Cholesterol Myth" to get some interesting truths. For instance, did you know that it is LOW, not high serum cholesterol numbers that are associated with heart attacks in women over 60? Did you know that only 20% (or less) of our blood cholesterol comes from the foods we eat? Most is manufactured by the liver, and can only be manufactured in the presence of high levels of insulin. LC is an insulin-control dietary approach.

"Most people who eat LC see a significant drop in cholesterol and even moreso in triglycerides. At one point in my life, my cholesterol was 212, my tri's (as I recall) 179. Now, eating 18 or more eggs every week, chicken skin, and beef, and I'm at 169 total chol, 72 tri, HDL is 67 of my total, putting me at a 1:1 tri:HDL ratio. Not many people get such numbers...in fact, I'd say only genetically gifted people and LCers do. (I've even known women who dropped to 120-130 cholesterol on LCing and had to start eating more carbs as fruit to get it up--that's a dangerously low level.)"

We've discussed this before in other posts too--you could do a search for more info. The numbers on LCing reducing triglycerides are the best, most repeated scientific info out there on the LC diet. See, for instance, http://www.lowcarb.org/josh_yelon/topic1.html

[doreen T]

hi jbee,

I see that you'd already been lowcarbing for a month when your triglycerides shot up. Did the LDL also shoot way up? How about HDL? if it went up too, that would be a good thing. The Hb1AC of 7 is good, and FBS 100 .. do you monitor your BS at other times in the day? (eg post meals) to see if there are big swings and dips.

I'll assume you'd been fasting (except for water) before the blood was drawn .. 12 hrs is the usual length of time. If your last meal had caffeine or alcohol, these will cause the trigs to be "falsely" elevated; also nicotine .. so if you smoke or chew Nicorette gum or use a patch, these will also cause a temporary rise in trigs.

For almost all persons, following Atkins or other similar carb. restricted diet will bring about appreciable reduction in LDL and triglyceride levels. But some people do experience otherwise, and it appears you're one of those persons. Some folks are affected by arachidonic acid, which is a fatty acid found in the fat of red meats and egg yolks. Usually though, the effect is to cause a rise in total and LDL cholesterol and possibly increased blood pressure ... and not just an isolated rise in triglycerides. Without knowing other blood lipid parameters, it's hard to say if that would be a problem for you. I've posted more information about arachidonic acid here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=215210#post215210).

Don't try to go "low fat" ;). But making a few changes in the fats you do eat sounds like a good idea. Choose fatty red meats, egg yolks and high-fat dairy products less often, and have more fish (especially FATTY fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines), poultry, egg substitute, and very lean cuts of red meat. Use olive oil and other monounsaturates such as raw nuts and seeds, and unrefined oils made from these .. walnut is good. Ground fresh flax seeds and/or fresh-pressed flax oil may be helpful. Fish oil capsules might be good, but if you're consuming fatty fish 3 times or more per week that should be sufficient. Avocados (esp. California ;)) and ripe olives are good lowcarb sources of monounsaturates.

Regular aerobic exercise which raises your heart rate and keeps it up for 20 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, has been proven to improve triglyceride levels. Brisk walking is an excellent aerobic activity :)

Increasing dietary fiber will also be helpful. Eat as many high-fiber vegetables as you can .. spinach, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, dark green leafy veg., eggplant are all good. Pale iceberg lettuce is NOT a good source of fiber or anything for that matter .. make your salads from the darker, more colourful lettuces and greens. Ground flax seeds and psyllium husks may also be helpful. Wheat bran may be high in fiber, but it's not as beneficial at reducing fat levels as we've been told. Vegetable fiber is best.

Hopefully your next test will show improvement, and you can get off the Lipitor ASAP. Good luck to you, and keep us posted :)

Doreen