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Does being on the LCHF diet increase cholesterol?

Nanny_B

Well-Known Member
Messages
56
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I'm just wondering about this as I was put on statins when I was first diagnosed as T2 in Feb as my cholesterol was slightly high. I'm concerned that the high fat will increase this? Any advice gratefully received, thank you
 
Nanny_B said:
I'm just wondering about this as I was put on statins when I was first diagnosed as T2 in Feb as my cholesterol was slightly high. I'm concerned that the high fat will increase this? Any advice gratefully received, thank you
Click to expand...
Off the top of my head, you may see an increase in "good" cholesterol, HDL. I'm sure that in it's own right is fine.

Providing that you're eating the right fats (unsaturated rather than saturated) - you should be okay.

I'll tag a few LCHF followers who will be able to offer you better advice than me, and most importantly, first hand experience.

@Brunneria, @robert72, @bulkbiker, @Kristin251

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Fat.aspx
 
Hi,

Here are two videos by Ken Sikaris where he discusses the changes that happen to Cholesterol on a low carb diet. Sikaris is an expert on the subject.

This extract is from the intro to his You Tube lectures
Published on 23 Jan 2015
A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Dr Sikaris trained at the Royal Melbourne, Queen Victoria, and Prince Henry's Heidelberg Repatriation Hospitals. He obtained fellowships from the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists in 1992 and 1997 respectively.

Dr Sikaris was Director of Chemical Pathology at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne between 1993 and 1996. A NATA-accredited laboratory assessor, Dr Sikaris specialises in Prostate Specific Antigen, cholesterol and quality assurance and is currently chair of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry Committee on Analytical Quality. His expertise is highly sought and he has presented extensively at national and international symposiums.



My own personal experience is that my cholesterol has risen a tiny amount (although I am still lower than the national average for Total Cholesterol).
However, my Triglycerides have reduced, and continue to reduce the lower carb I go. Sikaris explains why that is important
My HDL has risen - which I am delighted about.
And my LDL has stayed the same for years, regardless of what levels of carbs and different fats I eat.

So I have completely stopped bothering to worrit about my cholesterol levels.
 
Nanny_B said:
I'm just wondering about this as I was put on statins when I was first diagnosed as T2 in Feb as my cholesterol was slightly high. I'm concerned that the high fat will increase this? Any advice gratefully received, thank you
Click to expand...
My cholesterol levels actually improved on a LCHF diet.

You need to be very careful with statins. Their benefits have been way over hyped and they can have serious side effects such as memory loss. See film Statin Nation for some background facts...
 
I'm sure our bodies all react differently to changes in fat consumption, but in my case total cholesterol reduced from 4.2 to 3.6 after first six months of LCHF. Most significant change was lower triglycerides.
 
I guess the question that should be asked is does it matter in the slightest if it does?
I'm guessing from your user name and profile that you are an older female who as far as I know the evidence shows would have better life expectation with higher cholesterol..
Over the past year and a half my overall has gone up from 5.2 to 5.7.. do I care.. no.
 
It's a bit of a slog, but I'm a fan of this: http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowledge/we-have-got-cholesterol-completely-wrong/

I particularly like her conclusion: 'The body makes cholesterol. I worry about a number of things, but I don’t worry that my body is trying to kill me.'

Her follow-up post includes her conclusions about statins and is also very interesting: http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2015/03/worried-about-cholesterol-andor-statins/

It's well worth doing your own research and tailoring it to suit your own body and circumstances.
 
Unfortunately it does for me, although my trigs 0.9 and HDL 1.7 are no too bad, my LDL is 4.5 and this is with taking 20mg Rosuvastatin. But we are all different, so it may not affect you the same way.
 
I've never had my cholestrol higher than 4.6 and I have mild heart disease so the both don't guarantee anything. Lchf raised mine by 0.2 but I was very active. Mine u my inactivity hasnt changed my cholesterol much either. Fats are protective, for me.
 
My surgery tried to put me on statins when my cholesterol was at 5.8 (I wish they had instead informed me that me blood sugar was approaching pre-diabetic, but that's another story). They like the ratio of your cholesterol to be lower that 4 to 1. The best response I had to cholesterol numbers was going LCHF, especially when I started eating more Salmon and Mackerel, current total cholesterol 3.99, with a ratio of 1.97 to 1. So for me LCHF (along with exercise) has improved my figures by over 30%.

I think lowering is due to the version of LCHF selected, as this is a broad church (I don't have proof for this). I eat 35 grams of porridge oats (some type 2's can't tolerate this), nuts, seeds, berries, fish, meat (not so much) and reasonable cheese.
 
Agree cheese has been proven to add weight on people, not in moderation.
 
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