8 weeks into low carbing & high cholesterol!

[craig.turner1981]

Hi all,

I've been a type 1 diabetic for 19 years. I have recently, in the last 8 weeks, went on a low carb diet (less than 50g a day), and have found the transition good. I feel better, my energy levels are more constant, and, importantly, I no longer have the roller coaster swing of blood sugars that I previously had. Last week I went in for a full blood test to see the impact of my new diet, which is drastically different from my low fat high carb norm. The good news is that my HBA1c has dropped from 7.4% to 6.9%, which is fantastic. However, my blood cholesterol has soared to 7.4 (HDL: 2.4; LDL: 4.8; Triglcerides: 0.5) from 4.2, 8 months ago. Should I be concerned? As I have little experience in low carbing, is a very elevated cholesterol level something that other low carbers have experienced before?

Cheers,

Craig

 

[SamJB]

Hi Craig,
Same thing happened to me. I've chosen to take statins to stop my doctor and girlfriend from nagging me. Your cholesterol is high and it would probably do you good to bring it down, but at the same time having a high HbA1c will do you more harm than having a TC of 8.

Some doctors will point out that it is your LDL/HDL ratio that is more important than HDL, LDL or TC levels. Looking at the information on this page http://www.exrx.net/Testing/LDL%26HDL.html you have a low risk of cardiovascular disease from your LDL/HDL ratio and your TC/HDL ratio. The figures onthis website are taken from long term reputable studies.

With an HbA1c in the 6s, your risk of most complications from diabetes drops to near unity with non-diabetics. See this plot:

So, keep it up if you ask me as you will likely avoid most complications with an HbA1c in the 6s, although expect to be nagged as superficially your cholesterol is high.

 

[craig.turner1981]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for the reply and the information. It helps a lot and it's reassuring to hear that I'm not alone!

How are you finding life on a statin? That was pretty much the first question I was asked when I got my results back. I think I'm going to take your advice and hold off for six months and see where this new lifestyle change takes me before I make any decisions. As you point out, the best indicator of overall health lies with reducing our HBA1c, and this eating regime seems to help a lot with that.

Cheers,

Craig

 

[SamJB]

To be honest I'm surprised that anyone's cholesterol doesn't go up when they go low carb. If you didn't know LDL can be thought of fat's insulin as without it fats can't get into your cells to metabolise. It like a bubble with fats and cholesterol inside and carries fat around the blood stream as fats are insoluble in your blood, but LDL is soluble. Once it's deposited the fats in your cells it turns into HDL. (There's a lot of "fats" in that paragraph!)

So when you eat more fat, I'd expect your LDL and HDL to go up. I don't have any side effects from the statins, but I'd prefer not to take them. I also know that going low carb is the only way I can consistently get an hba1c in the 6s.

Incidentally, LDL carries monounsaturated fats and so-called essential fatty acids too, but you'll never have anyone telling you not to eat these!

 

[mpe]

To be honest I'm surprised that anyone's cholesterol doesn't go up when they go low carb. If you didn't know LDL can be thought of fat's insulin as without it fats can't get into your cells to metabolise. It like a bubble with fats and cholesterol inside and carries fat around the blood stream as fats are insoluble in your blood, but LDL is soluble. Once it's deposited the fats in your cells it turns into HDL. (There's a lot of "fats" in that paragraph!)

This would make more sense subsituting VLDL for LDL and LDL for HDL.

 

[SamJB]

I thought that LDL carried fats in the blood and into cells and HDL carried fats back to the liver. Is this not correct?