I thought I was doing well but my latest results show level of 8.3!
HDL 2.41
LDL. 5.6
Tryglicerides 0.6
Up from 6.4 from last November. Which were:
HDL 2.15
LDL. 3.8
Tryglicerides 0.9
I'm doing the lchf diet but maybe eating too much cheese or cream in coffee. But I really don't want to go on statins and just know that is was the doc will push for.
Anybody out there that can give me some advice. Much appreciated. Quite anxious about how much it has gone up. X
Hi Speedbird,
I know how you feel, the same thing happened to my cholesterol on a low carb and higher fat diet. Initially mine were even higher than yours, then very similar to your numbers and latest test left me at 7.3 TC, LDL 4.8, HDL 1.8 and TG 0.76. I too was very concerned about this, so I paid for additional tests such as :
1. Small dense LDL cholesterol - my reading was 0.84 nmol/l which is in the normal range - from what I have read myself this appears to be the real dangerous type.
2. Homocystein - my reading was 6.8, normal is below 10 according to lab, so fine here. Some say this is a better indicator of heart disease risk than LDL-C. If you are familiar with Dr. Bernstein, it is one he talks about.
3. CRP (C-Reactive Protein) - my reading was 0.3 mg/dl, below 5 is considered normal. It is a marker for inflammation and again a lot of docs talk about it being a marker for heart disease.
4. Oxidised LDL - my reading was 16 U/L, normal below 55 U/L. This again from what I have read is a very important marker for atherosclerosis.
So all the above additional tests gave me a more complete picture of my cholesterol, you will see a lot of the doctors online who support the LCHF way of eating talking about LDL-C as a marker for heart disease on its own as pointless. However, it doesn't really help then when your own doctor is telling you that you need statins, I mean it leaves us with a very tough decision.
My endo wanted me to take statins, but I won't. I went to another doctor for a second opinion, he suggested the above tests which I also asked for from my research online, got the above tests completed and as you can see they were all fine and the new doctor was very happy and said absolutely no way should I take statins. His advice was to keep doing what I am doing!
So there you go, doctors differ as always but hopefully my new doctor is right! I have read enough about statins anyway to put me off, plus it doesn't seem clear cut in terms of any benefit from lowering your cholesterol. I will say that the above additional tests have helped to put my mind at ease on the issue for now, I also feel well and I am in control of my blood sugar levels which is the most important thing as a diabetic. Perhaps you can also get some of the above tests performed and do your own research on the topic and see if there are other tests you might like to get carried out.
I have cut down on cheese and cream, still eat both occassionally cheese more so than cream. I upped my intake of the MUFAS, avocados, olive oil, macadamia nuts, walnuts. My numbers have been coming down, so perhaps that helped, but who really knows!
Finally, check out the work of:
Dr. Aseem Malhotra
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
Dr. Zoe Harcombe
Dr. Richard Bernstein
There are many more, you probably know or have heard of all the above already, but if not google them. They all have blogs/websites and lots of detail on this area.
