Low carb has shot up my cholesterol

[derry60]

Weight gain is a symptom of high bg not the cause.

We are told that putting on to much weight can give us a risk of becoming diabetic or having high sugars?? Some people who are thin get high sugar levels and diabetes. It is all very complicated..lowering our sugar helps us to lose weight

 

[Alison Campbell]

I think @Guzzler that weight gain is a symptom of insulin resistance. I had that symptom but not high BG.

We don't all experience all the symptoms @derry60 as some people can get a HBA1C of 100 plus and not get any symptoms. So maybe some with type 2 don't have insulin resistance and or do but don't get the symptom of weight gain.

 

[jd58]

I totally agree with Guzzer and well said. Do not worry about cholesterol. Your body generates Cholesterol to met its needs so waste if time trying to control, it via diet. There is also no link by cholesterol and saturated fats with CHD its been scientifically disproved.

 

[Bluetit1802]

We are told that putting on to much weight can give us a risk of becoming diabetic or having high sugars?? Some people who are thin get high sugar levels and diabetes. It is all very complicated..lowering our sugar helps us to lose weight

Hi @derry60 You are right, it is very complicated, but weight gain is the result of too much insulin (not too much glucose). Insulin is a fat carrying hormone. The excess circulating insulin comes before T2 diabetes. It causes insulin resistance, fatty livers/pancreases, and weight gain. Then at some point later, higher blood sugars and then diabetes. Clearly there are other reasons for weight gain.

Naturally thin people have different sized fat cells in their bodies and somehow because of this they manage to escape subcutaneous fat developing, but do not escape insulin resistance and fatty livers/pancreases. Whether fat or thin or anywhere in between, high circulating insulin is the problem and is likely to lead to diabetes eventually - maybe years down the line. (This is only one of the causes of T2 of course!) It also is thought to be a cause of CVD, altzeimers, inflammatory diseases and so forth.

High insulin levels are caused by excess carbohydrate.

 

[ringi]

People with fat cells that are able to store a lot of fat, often avoid T2, as they just keep getting fatter without developing as much insulin resistance. With with fat cells that do not work as well, don't get obese, as the every increasing insulin resistance kills them first. In both cases, it is driven by excess carb intake.

 

[Brunneria]

I think it is VERY IMPORTANT when people talk about 'excess carb intake' that we recognise that this does not have to mean huge amounts of pie, cake and doughnuts.

Different people have different tolerances for carbs. So some people's 'excess' is 20g carbs a day, while others don't hit 'excess' at 400g carbs.

I kind of flinch when I hear people talk about 'excess carbs' because, for me, 'excess' is more than around 30g carbs a day, or 15-20 g of carbs in one sitting. That is one slice of toast. Or one handful of porridge oats. Those are not excess amounts. They are small amounts that happen to be more than my body can tolerate.

 

[Freema]

How about changing from saturated fats to only fish fats olive and olive fats and the very Healthy coconut fats( even while being saturated ) and up your excercising much more , I have also had a much raised LDL and total cholesterol from eating much more fats , so I am also myself going to change into non animal/cow-milk fat at try getting my number lower now . By the way macadamia nuts are totally healthy fat combinations and taste wonderfully if you are looking for a healthier kind of fat source , use mayo instead of butter and low fat yoghurt with lots of nuts in

 

[Freema]

Every cell wall is by the way mostly made by cholesterol

 

[Bluetit1802]

I think it is VERY IMPORTANT when people talk about 'excess carb intake' that we recognise that this does not have to mean huge amounts of pie, cake and doughnuts.

Different people have different tolerances for carbs. So some people's 'excess' is 20g carbs a day, while others don't hit 'excess' at 400g carbs.

I kind of flinch when I hear people talk about 'excess carbs' because, for me, 'excess' is more than around 30g carbs a day, or 15-20 g of carbs in one sitting. That is one slice of toast. Or one handful of porridge oats. Those are not excess amounts. They are small amounts that happen to be more than my body can tolerate.

I think we are talking about different things. (I assume you were referring to my last post when I said high insulin is caused by excess carbs) I am talking about high insulin, not high glucose. Eating any carbs will elicit an insulin response, and the more carbohydrate, the greater the insulin response and the greater the circulating insulin will be. Too many carbs = too much insulin.

Sadly, we don't get to have insulin level tests. We should, as part of any routine tests. It could prevent progression to T2.

 

[Brunneria]

@Bluetit1802

I think we are in agreement, and talking about the same thing.

'excess carbs' trigger high insulin. I am just saying that the amount of carbs needed to trigger the high insulin can be a small amount - depending on the individual. As I said, I dislike the term 'excess carbs' not because it isn't accurate, but because it implies that 'excess' is overindulgence, greed or large intake.

 

[derry60]

Hi @derry60 You are right, it is very complicated, but weight gain is the result of too much insulin (not too much glucose). Insulin is a fat carrying hormone. The excess circulating insulin comes before T2 diabetes. It causes insulin resistance, fatty livers/pancreases, and weight gain. Then at some point later, higher blood sugars and then diabetes. Clearly there are other reasons for weight gain.

Naturally thin people have different sized fat cells in their bodies and somehow because of this they manage to escape subcutaneous fat developing, but do not escape insulin resistance and fatty livers/pancreases. Whether fat or thin or anywhere in between, high circulating insulin is the problem and is likely to lead to diabetes eventually - maybe years down the line. (This is only one of the causes of T2 of course!) It also is thought to be a cause of CVD, altzeimers, inflammatory diseases and so forth.

High insulin levels are caused by excess carbohydrate.

Hi Blutit. I never had a sugar problem as this was checked yearly for 14 years because this is checked along with my blood for my yearly heart checks. I put on weight when I injured both knees and could not do the walking that I used to do, then developed arthritis which has now spread to other areas. I missed two years out of 14 for my yearly checks (I know that was naughty) So the third year I had my bloods done and this is when they spotted high sugar levels.It does connect.during those two years I had put on weight. My knees are a lot better and can walk further than before,but low carb and reading what people have put on here has helped my a heck of a lot. I must have been walking around with high sugar for over a year or so due to weight gain

 

[derry60]

@Bluetit1802

I think we are in agreement, and talking about the same thing.

'excess carbs' trigger high insulin. I am just saying that the amount of carbs needed to trigger the high insulin can be a small amount - depending on the individual. As I said, I dislike the term 'excess carbs' not because it isn't accurate, but because it implies that 'excess' is overindulgence, greed or large intake.

How about changing from saturated fats to only fish fats olive and olive fats and the very Healthy coconut fats( even while being saturated ) and up your excercising much more , I have also had a much raised LDL and total cholesterol from eating much more fats , so I am also myself going to change into non animal/cow-milk fat at try getting my number lower now . By the way macadamia nuts are totally healthy fat combinations and taste wonderfully if you are looking for a healthier kind of fat source , use mayo instead of butter and low fat yoghurt with lots of nuts in

This is what I basically do. The only thing that I have changed is the carb content. I never ate many pies maybe once in a month or two, cakes now and then but rare because I don't really have a sweet tooth. I never went overboard with carbs, but always ate healthy carbs (or so I thought) I may have had 60 grams of carbs a day, could have been more but obviously, that is to much for me. I have now gone to 20grams or under and now can lose weight. I don't eat the fat off meat, but rather from Salmon, nuts seeds, Olive oil. I will have butter now but limited amounts, cream also but limited amounts. I really do not want my Cholesterol to go up. I know quite a few people here are saying Cholesterol does not matter, but when I had my heart attack although I smoked my total Cholesterol was 6.8. I am afraid I have now had since the heart attack the mind set to keep my Cholesterol down. I have lived for 14 years with no problems regarding my heart with my Cholesterol at 4.1 or just under now and then. I would like to keep it that way.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi Blutit. I never had a sugar problem as this was checked yearly for 14 years because this is checked along with my blood for my yearly heart checks. I put on weight when I injured both knees and could not do the walking that I used to do, then developed arthritis which has now spread to other areas. I missed two years out of 14 for my yearly checks (I know that was naughty) So the third year I had my bloods done and this is when they spotted high sugar levels.It does connect.during those two years I had put on weight. My knees are a lot better and can walk further than before,but low carb and reading what people have put on here has helped my a heck of a lot. I must have been walking around with high sugar for over a year or so due to weight gain

Hi @derry60

You may not have had a sugar problem during those years, but you may have had an insulin problem (high circulating insulin) and you will never know this as it isn't tested on the NHS as a matter of routine. I was the same, or similar to you. I had routine health checks annually for several years and all was fine until my diagnosis - not even pre-diabetes before that. So my "sugar" problem developed during that previous 12 months, but my insulin levels were probably sky high well before that because of eating more carbs than I can tolerate, and insulin resistance was building up without my knowing it.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I really do not want my Cholesterol to go up. I know quite a few people here are saying Cholesterol does not matter, but when I had my heart attack although I smoked my total Cholesterol was 6.8. I am afraid I have now had since the heart attack the mind set to keep my Cholesterol down. I have lived for 14 years with no problems regarding my heart with my Cholesterol at 4.1 or just under now and then. I would like to keep it that way.

In your shoes I would feel exactly the same. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keep doing what works for you.

 

[derry60]

Hi @derry60

You may not have had a sugar problem during those years, but you may have had an insulin problem (high circulating insulin) and you will never know this as it isn't tested on the NHS as a matter of routine. I was the same, or similar to you. I had routine health checks annually for several years and all was fine until my diagnosis - not even pre-diabetes before that. So my "sugar" problem developed during that previous 12 months, but my insulin levels were probably sky high well before that because of eating more carbs than I can tolerate, and insulin resistance was building up without my knowing it.

That is scary. Well |I am hoping that everything has been caught in time and I found this site in time. My levels are way down now so am pleased about that. Your post makes perfect sense. Thank you

 

[Bluetit1802]

@Bluetit1802

I think we are in agreement, and talking about the same thing.

'excess carbs' trigger high insulin. I am just saying that the amount of carbs needed to trigger the high insulin can be a small amount - depending on the individual. As I said, I dislike the term 'excess carbs' not because it isn't accurate, but because it implies that 'excess' is overindulgence, greed or large intake.

Phew! Glad we are on the same track. Instead of excess carbs, let's say "more carbs than we can personally tolerate". I wasn't meaning it to say overindulgence or greed, so many apologies if that is how it sounded.

By the way - your tolerance level is the same as mine! (30g a day, certainly no more than 20g at one sitting and that sitting has to be tea time!)

 

[Charis1213]

Or maybe not.. Are any of those statements supported by evidence?
Just because Heart UK says so doesn't necessarily make it correct..
We ae seeing more and more evidence that
1. Cholesterol is not a "problem" (especially useful as we would die without it)
2. What we know about how cholesterol works is at the moment very limited (and I would go so far as to say that 95% of GP's don't understand it)
3. Cholesterol levels can go up and down during the day like blood sugars so all we ever see on a test is a snapshot of what our levels were at that particular time
4. LDL has been incorrectly labelled as "bad" without much (if any) evidence and it could well be that LDL particle size is important rather than total LDL (which is usually a calculated number anyway)
5. For older women higher cholesterol numbers seem to be protective so artificially lowering it though medication could well be dangerous
6. All the evidence so far for statins being beneficial is either held by the drugs companies that make them and has not been available for review or does not seem to support their "life enhancing" properties much if at all
7. If you are worried about your heart health then try and get a scan that looks at the heart and arteries so you can see if there is anything nasty going on rather than looking at a rather bad proxy (cholesterol)

I don't think that any of that is mentioned on the heartuk.org website although I think it is pretty much the current state of thinking of a lot of cardiologists - Prof Rory Collins aside

but then again I'm no doctor just someone that spends a lot of time (too much maybe) reading about this stuff rather than relying on what I have been told by the powers that be..

I totally agree with you .

 

[Davecummins]

Can I suggest having a look at the info from Ivor Cummins aka The Fat Emperor (no relation) more recently he’s been focusing on Covid but his primary work has been on cardiovascular.

 

[Omar51]

I totally agree with you .

Obviously you not a doctor, so I don’t agree with you and not talking your advice, no offense!

 

[AloeSvea]

Oh dear - I didn't take notice of the '2017' when I popped on!

I'll add my book reference in any case, seeing I'm in here.

Nina Teicholz - 'The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet'