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Annual test: mixed numbers...

hankjam

hankjam

Expert
Messages
5,054
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
First the good news was: 36, lowest yet, so happy.

The less than good:
TC: 9.2, highest yet
HDL: 1.7
TriG: 1.2
LDL: 7.0

LCHF does not seem to be shifting my TC any.....

Could be some interesting discussions coming up.... :)

Ho and Hum
 
Try eating more nuts olives and fatty fish and Mayo instead of pigs fat and cream and butter Then maybe your triglycerides would lower
 
Good hba1c:)

I would be worried, some might say wrongly, with that ldl and trigs.
When my ldl and trigs increased when I low carbed I changed to 'healthy fats' and my levels normalised.
 
Great job on your HbA1c well done. I shall refrain from mentioning the tc as they are similar to mine and I refuse to be worried about them or to change what I'm doing, but that's just me.
 
hankjam said:
First the good news was: 36, lowest yet, so happy.

The less than good:
TC: 9.2, highest yet
HDL: 1.7
TriG: 1.2
LDL: 7.0

LCHF does not seem to be shifting my TC any.....

Could be some interesting discussions coming up.... :)

Ho and Hum
Click to expand...

Gosh Hankjam, looking at your signature your HbA1cs have been sooooo consistent, but well done on your lowest to date.

Regarding your TC, I'm not going to try to influence you to do anything, except maybe watch or re-watch some of the Sikaris videos on YouTube, where he explains some of our tests.


My TC is always an inconveniently high number, but my breakdowns are very good, and when loaded into the hughcalc calculator (and others of it's ilk) my ratios in the very good or ideal ranges. http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

My LDL is higher than the accepted ideal, but my GP has, over time, come around to calling my results every good.

Lipids are always a testy subject on here, as I'm sure you know, but having seen how you have approached your diabetes management, I feel you'll make informed decisions.
 
hankjam said:
First the good news was: 36, lowest yet, so happy.

The less than good:
TC: 9.2, highest yet
HDL: 1.7
TriG: 1.2
LDL: 7.0

LCHF does not seem to be shifting my TC any.....

Could be some interesting discussions coming up.... :)

Ho and Hum
Click to expand...
All my numbers were great up to Xmas 2016, so much so that I came off all metformin and statins. Unfortunately, my TC then shot up to 10.6! Prof Sikaris says that some T2s don't tolerate LCHF well and end up with high TC, which he thinks is a bad thing. I'm not so sure it's a bad thing, but after some tests I went back onto a low dose of statins (10mg Atorvastatin) and my TC is now down to 6.2, which I am very happy with. I'm also not convinced by the dread of saturated fats that keeps coming up, it doesn't seem to be borne out by any modern research. All fats contain saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated to some degree, so by the time you have eaten a variety of foods, you will have a good spread (no pun) of all three.
 
@hankjam , we are HbA1c twins! Well done! I hope I can keep mine in the 30s for years to come like you have. I had the cholesterol/Statins convo with my GP only yesterday. He recommended them but said he wouldn't force me ever to take them. I have stalled him for now, but will be discussing it again in December!
 
Congrats, @hankjam, on your wonderful Hba1c results. Don't know what to advice on your cholesterol results -- it's definitely a tricky one.

Have you had a look at Dave Feldman's youtube videos? Or at his website cholesterolcode.com.

As he has seen his seen a significant increase in his own cholesterol on a low-carb diet, he has investigated this phenomenon in depth -- and has come up with some very interesting findings.

Here is a quote from his website: The term, “hyper-responder” has been used within the ketogenic / low carb, high fat (keto/LCHF) community to describe those who have a very dramatic increase in their cholesterol after adopting a low carb diet. This increase can be anywhere from 50% to 100% or more of their original, pre-diet cholesterol numbers.There is quite a bit of debate as to how much or how little this affects risk for atherosclerosis and general heart disease given keto/LCHF is very anti-inflammatory. Because the keto/LCHF community is relatively small, the total number of hyper-responders as a percentage of the whole is unknown. But estimates vary between 5% to 33%.

There's lots more on his website, might be worth having a look.
 
Last edited:
ziggy_w said:
Congrats, @hankjam, on your wonderful Hba1c results. Don't know what to advice on your cholesterol results -- it's definitely a tricky one.

Have you had a look at Dave Feldman's youtube videos? Or at his website cholesterolcode.com.

As he has seen his seen a significant increase in his own cholesterol on a low-carb diet, he has investigated this phenomenon in depth -- and has come up with some very interesting findings.

Here is a quote from his website: The term, “hyper-responder” has been used within the ketogenic / low carb, high fat (keto/LCHF) community to describe those who have a very dramatic increase in their cholesterol after adopting a low carb diet. This increase can be anywhere from 50% to 100% or more of their original, pre-diet cholesterol numbers.There is quite a bit of debate as to how much or how little this affects risk for atherosclerosis and general heart disease given keto/LCHF is very anti-inflammatory. Because the keto/LCHF community is relatively small, the total number of hyper-responders as a percentage of the whole is unknown. But estimates vary between 5% to 33%.

There's lots more on his website, might be worth having a look.
Click to expand...

Hi @ziggy_w thanks for the info, will have a look as I really seem to be one of them.... watched the Sikaris clip and made me think about getting a bit more than just the numbers, a full profile would be good.
Cheers
 
Freema said:
Try eating more nuts olives and fatty fish and Mayo instead of pigs fat and cream and butter Then maybe your triglycerides would lower
Click to expand...

I do eat a lot of fish, three to four times a week, with avocado salads. Possibly too much cream, butter and cheese, so will be looking for alternatives for snacks.
 
Jo123 said:
Good hba1c:)

I would be worried, some might say wrongly, with that ldl and trigs.
When my ldl and trigs increased when I low carbed I changed to 'healthy fats' and my levels normalised.
Click to expand...

Could you review, for me, what fats you used to have and what you do now?
Thank you @Jo123
 
DCUKMod said:
Gosh Hankjam, looking at your signature your HbA1cs have been sooooo consistent, but well done on your lowest to date.

Regarding your TC, I'm not going to try to influence you to do anything, except maybe watch or re-watch some of the Sikaris videos on YouTube, where he explains some of our tests.


My TC is always an inconveniently high number, but my breakdowns are very good, and when loaded into the hughcalc calculator (and others of it's ilk) my ratios in the very good or ideal ranges. http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

My LDL is higher than the accepted ideal, but my GP has, over time, come around to calling my results every good.

Lipids are always a testy subject on here, as I'm sure you know, but having seen how you have approached your diabetes management, I feel you'll make informed decisions.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link, been meaning to watch some of the on line vids.

I finally managed to sit down and watch this. Bit of sting in the tail of unknowns, in 2015. My TG/HDL ratio looks okay and though my TG could be lower they do seem on the edge... will be investigating those and doing a bit more active research..

There is a letter from my local surgery, which is probably suggesting a visit to discuss.... and update sure to follow.
 
BrianTheElder said:
All my numbers were great up to Xmas 2016, so much so that I came off all metformin and statins. Unfortunately, my TC then shot up to 10.6! Prof Sikaris says that some T2s don't tolerate LCHF well and end up with high TC, which he thinks is a bad thing. I'm not so sure it's a bad thing, but after some tests I went back onto a low dose of statins (10mg Atorvastatin) and my TC is now down to 6.2, which I am very happy with. I'm also not convinced by the dread of saturated fats that keeps coming up, it doesn't seem to be borne out by any modern research. All fats contain saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated to some degree, so by the time you have eaten a variety of foods, you will have a good spread (no pun) of all three.
Click to expand...

Hi @BrianTheElder thanks for taking time to write. Like you I'm not so keen on the statins. I've tried three and been pulled off each one as they appear to affect my liver function tests.... not completely sure they didn't trip me into DT2... but will never know. My surgery is keen to try a fourth statin... I'm not so....
Now looking at my diet from a slightly different perspective..... chia seeds/coffee/peanut butter to replace yogurt for breakfast??
 
Rachox said:
@hankjam , we are HbA1c twins! Well done! I hope I can keep mine in the 30s for years to come like you have. I had the cholesterol/Statins convo with my GP only yesterday. He recommended them but said he wouldn't force me ever to take them. I have stalled him for now, but will be discussing it again in December!
Click to expand...
@Rachox wish you well with your GP. Thing is to get one and build up a working relationship... it's near impossible with my practice, for ever changing their hours...
Good to be a twin at 36 :)
 
hankjam said:
@Rachox wish you well with your GP. Thing is to get one and build up a working relationship... it's near impossible with my practice, for ever changing their hours...
Good to be a twin at 36 :)
Click to expand...
I get on well with my GP and even putting him off prescribing me Statins was not a problem for him, he acknowledged it was ultimately my decision.
 
When I first started low carbing I didn't eat excessive amounts of saturated fat, however I had to up my fats as I lost lots of weight very quickly I was never overweight with a normal bmi at diagnosis of pre diabetes. It was a treat after a lifetime of being on a permanent diet and having low fat everything to not watch my fat intake, I didn't eat fatty meat, just a lot more cheese, butter, cream in sauces and a daily egg. My next blood test wasn't very good, can't remember everything, I could look it up, but my triglycerides which had always been very low went up which was a big worry.

I cut out all the cream, eggs, cheese and butter. Most of my fat now is in the form of extra Virgin olive oil, lots of nuts, oily fish, full fat unsweetened soya yoghurt,unsweetened soya milk, avocados and two pieces of 90% chocolate everyday.
My next blood test was much better my triglycerides had gone right down again, the ldl went down, my hdl stayed up.

I read links on here with researchers saying high cholesterol is nothing to worry about, but then I read conflicting studies showing a link with heart disease and high intake of saturated fat. What particularly worried me was that all the links where researchers supported high saturated fat diets, they all seemed to be saying that if you kept your carbs low then you would have low triglycerides, but mine went up considerably when I went from a high (so called healthy) carb, low fat diet, this makes me doubt the science,
 
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