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higher cholesterol??

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stephie1984

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Hey guys,

Just had my recent hbA1c and happily its down from 10.2 (eek!) to 8.2!! A wee improvement although still a way to go :) I've been low carbing on and off since September and when I do it properly get excellent results, but do come on and off quite a bit!! Anyway, my question is, my cholestorol has gone up from 5 to 6.1...hmm?? Should I be concerned about this?? When low carbing I dont limit fat (in mayo/butter etc)...should I be going for healthier fats?? Bernstein in his book doesn't seem to put any credence on controlling fat....and I've seen postings on here where ppl get their cholesterol down thru low carb...any suggestions welcomed peeps,

**I'm type 1 for 2 years by the way*** on Humalog and lantus

Steph x
 
stephie1984 said:
Hey guys,

Just had my recent hbA1c and happily its down from 10.2 (eek!) to 8.2!! A wee improvement although still a way to go :) I've been low carbing on and off since September and when I do it properly get excellent results, but do come on and off quite a bit!! Anyway, my question is, my cholestorol has gone up from 5 to 6.1...hmm?? Should I be concerned about this?? When low carbing I dont limit fat (in mayo/butter etc)...should I be going for healthier fats?? Bernstein in his book doesn't seem to put any credence on controlling fat....and I've seen postings on here where ppl get their cholesterol down thru low carb...any suggestions welcomed peeps,

**I'm type 1 for 2 years by the way*** on Humalog and lantus

Steph x
Click to expand...

Well done on starting to get your HbA1c down!

It's difficult to say exactly what's happening, without knowing much about your diet.

But if you stuck to a proper low-carb diet then I'd expect to see your blood lipid profile improve:
Dr Richard Feinman said:
Dietary carbohydrate restriction is the single most effective method (except for total starvation) of reducing triglycerides, and is as effective as any intervention, including most drugs, at increasing HDL and reducing the number of small-dense LDL particles. Beyond lipid markers, carbohydrate restriction improves all of the features of metabolic syndrome.
Click to expand...
https://rdfeinman.wordpress.com/2012/03 ... 15-theses/

When you say "low-carb" what does that mean in grams a day?
 
my cholestorol has gone up from 5 to 6.1
Click to expand...

I guess you mean total cholesterol. Do you have a breakdown of HDL, LDL, and triglycerides ?
AFAIK total cholesterol is fairly meaningless, and the most important figure is your triglycerides to HDL ratio.
You may need to ring back the surgery to get your results.

Well done on the HbA1c :D

Geoff
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for replying so promptly!! Had gotten myself in a wee panic!! To answer your questions:

Borofergie - I've never really measured carbs, just tried to stick to meat, fish, veg and nuts, yoghurt etc...so a typical good low carb day would be summat like:

Breakfast: full fat natural yoghurt (around 5g carb) with nuts or small handful blueberries (around 5g carb?)

Lunch: Salad with a meat or fish and full fat mayo (sometimes cheese too)

Dinner: Omelette with meat or fish, or same as lunch, or meat/fish/veggies

Snacks: cheese, nuts, seeds

Maybe a small glass of red wine or two

So im thinking that would be below 50g carb?? I do try to pack in the veggies....I wonder if its my swings on and off the diet that have caused the Cholesterol hike...

Secondly Geoff to answer your question...no the hospital just gave weight, hbA1c, Cholesterol and Blood pressure....the last time they gave a full breakdown, so I should buzz them back!!! Going on a DAFNE course at the hospital in a few weeks so I can find out then. I told the DSN about my results with low carb and she still enouraged me to do DAFNE, as she said I could incorporate my low carb approach but be even more accurate about counting carbs, and if I did decided to have a 'day off' as it were (say for a wedding or big night out etc) Id be able to maintain decent BS's....suppose its good to keep options open!! Feel free to comment on my diet and suggest improvements etc!

Love this forum, everyone is so supportive! It cheers me up! :) x
 
Have you lost weight while on this way of living? I did (and I take most of my direction from Bernstein too) and the first bloods 6 months later showed a rise in totals but the HDL, LDL and tris all improved. Read that while losing weight there is often a rise in total. Since then about 3 years ago, cholesterol levels continued to improve and now my doctor said as I don't return diabetic BGLs she is happy even if my total is greater than 4 as none of my other results give her any cause for alarm.
 
stephie1984 said:
Hey guys,

Just had my recent hbA1c and happily its down from 10.2 (eek!) to 8.2!! A wee improvement although still a way to go :) I've been low carbing on and off since September and when I do it properly get excellent results, but do come on and off quite a bit!! Anyway, my question is, my cholestorol has gone up from 5 to 6.1...hmm?? Should I be concerned about this?? When low carbing I dont limit fat (in mayo/butter etc)...should I be going for healthier fats?? Bernstein in his book doesn't seem to put any credence on controlling fat....and I've seen postings on here where ppl get their cholesterol down thru low carb...any suggestions welcomed peeps,

**I'm type 1 for 2 years by the way*** on Humalog and lantus

Steph x
Click to expand...

Hi Steph, and welcome by the way!
Can only tell you my experience. I'm a type 2, and don't LOW carb, but i reduced my carbs from "lots more than daily recommended levels" to about 50% of recommended levels. I didn't deliberately up my fat intake, but did nonetheless with more dairy products 'cos I wanted to eat something! With no change in statins, my cholesterol level went from 5.5 (been there for years) to 3.8
By prodiuct by the way- lost 2 stone in weight (That's about 13kg if you're young like my children and don't learn proper weights and measures :lol: )
 
stephie1984 said:
Going on a DAFNE course at the hospital in a few weeks so I can find out then. I told the DSN about my results with low carb and she still enouraged me to do DAFNE, as she said I could incorporate my low carb approach but be even more accurate about counting carbs, and if I did decided to have a 'day off' as it were (say for a wedding or big night out etc) Id be able to maintain decent BS's....suppose its good to keep options open!!
Click to expand...


Hi Steph and welcome! :)

I did DAFNE whilst then on a lowish carb diet (90g) and it wasn't a problem and no-one was judgmental, 3-4 days into the course there is a questions and answers session with Diabetes Consultant and DSN's where you can ask any questions you like with regards to health.

Hope you enjoy the course!
 
Stephen

You still need to go on DAFNE, as it covers a lot more than just Carbs, yes the course is structure around carbs, but we all eat carbs though... Even Bernstein's diet has carbs in it, DAFNE is all about you managing your diabetes, so that if you want to have a carb free meal, you can if you want a carb meal then you can..

You will have at least one diabetic specialist dietician with you throughout the week, and they are a wealth of information and nope they don't insist that you eat carbs with every meal, but they can advise you whether your choices you are making are fulfilling your nutrient needs, on the diet you wish to follow, as it may be that your fat-protein ratio is out, or you might be missing something that you either need to incorporate a certain foods to provide this source or may need to take a supplement etc...

As to your cholesterol going up rather than down, is of concern as even though you really need a breakdown of HDL's, LDL's and trigs to build the correct picture, at over 6 it's highly likely that unless you've got a very large amount of HDL's your LDL's and/or trigs are worrying indeed...

Again this is where DAFNE comes in, they always take full bloods before you do the course, and the cholesterol part the do full screening test and breakdown... Then they do a follow up bloods after you've completed the course and been following the principles for around 3/6 months.. This is done because DAFNE is constantly reviewed, so all participants are outcome is checked, the data is then used to see what difference it makes..
 
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