Cholestrol went up!!

[wflow68]

Hi ALL,
I started Atkins again on 10/15/02 and it has been a little over a month.. doing FABULOUS, however my cholesterol went from 201 to 237 :-( ..... is this normal.. I am worried about it.. I eat eggs every morning. I love them.. what I started doing this week is having 3 eggs but only 1 yolk out of all 3.. so that should cut down on the cholesterol.. ANY other suggestions????
Thanks
Wendy :wave:

[Talon]

Seems to be quite normal! Take a look at this excerpt from www.atkinscenter.com

Q: Since I have been on Atkins, my cholesterol has gone up. Why? And what can I do about it?

A: First, look at what you've been eating. Have you been following Atkins correctly? If you are just starting the Induction phase, be sure you stay below 20 grams of carbohydrates a day as recommended. You may also want to consider a couple other things that may be happening.

First, the increase might be temporary. When a person loses weight, cholesterol usually rises because the body must break down stored fat for energy. Your total cholesterol should drop within two months. Look at your HDL (known as “good” cholesterol) levels. A rise in total cholesterol levels could even be a good thing, if it’s all attributed to HDL cholesterol. If you’ve been following Atkins for some time and your cholesterol levels have not come down, something else is going on.

You may also need to look at a third component of your blood tests: triglycerides. Cholesterol rises in some people when triglycerides drop significantly. If that drop is greater than the LDL increase, your lipid profile may, again, be improved.

High cholesterol that has a genetic component usually responds to changes in diet, but may be difficult to address with diet alone. You may still need to take supplements such as pantethine, essential oils, garlic, red rice yeast and fiber. For a detailed discussion of cholesterol-lowering nutrients, see Dr. Atkins’ Vita-Nutrient Solution. Exercise is also an important component as is cutting back on meats processed with nitrates, such as most bacon, sausage and cold cuts, and limiting intake of hard cheese.

http://atkinscenter.com/helpatkins/faqs/faqhealth/index.html

[Lisa N]

Hi Wendy!

No, it's not terribly unusual for total cholesterol to go up a bit when you first start low carbing. My total went up a bit (about 30 points or so) the first 6 months even though my triglycerides dropped over 200 points, but then the next six months the total dropped 52 points while my triglycerides remained stable so at the end of a year of low carbing, my cardiac profile was hugely improved over where it started.
The more I read and research, I'm becoming more and more convinced that cholesterol readings aren't nearly as important as the docs make them out to be anyway.
If it really bothers you, though, you can add some supplements that may help. Red Yeast Rice, Timed relase no-flush Niacin and Fish or Flax oil are all things that may help. I've also read that Guggullipids are also very helpful in lowering total cholesterol as well as lowering blood pressure and stimulating metabolism. I'm trying them for a few months right now to see what happens.
HTH

[wflow68]

Great thanks so much.. I will see what happens in the next month or so... thanks so much
Wendy

[JeffE]

Just got my blood work back at the 4-month mark, and my LDL is way up! My triglyerides are slightly elevated and my HDL isn't any better. So, considering I had a big improvement in levels after the first month, I'm pretty confused right now.

I'm nearly at my weight goal, and I think I've been doing everything right (except I have cut back on the fish oil and L-carnitine recently to save money.)

In reading through various things I do see comments - even from Atkins - that cholesterol may go up, but then come back down. I would be reassured if this was just a temporary spike. But for the moment my confidence is shaken. I'm not sure what to expect now, or what to do, other than increase the fish oil again, maybe take the Atkins cholesterol pills and be patient.

JeffE