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LCHF - CHOLESTEROL LEVELS

Randburg

Well-Known Member
Messages
751
Location
South Africa
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
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Grey Cats
Hi, I've been on a Low Carb diet, with a reasonable amount of fat for most of this year, and it has worked well, Lost lots of weight ( 105 to 84 Kg), and my Blood levels are better Hba1C down from 6 to 5.4, in the period.

My Cholesterol levels have gone skew Tested on Monday.
I list two sets of readings, one from Last year, and my current levels

Date 30/7/2013 Date 22/9/2014

Total Cholesterol 4.1 5.5
LDL Cholesterol 2.3 3.6
HDL Cholesterol 0.9 0.9
Non HDL Cholesterol 3.2 4.6
S- Chol/HDL Ratio 4.6 6.1
Triglycerides 1.93 2.25

SO, Total Cholesterol now above acceptable, 5.0 seems to be the limit.

I've heard that LCHF is supposed to lower Cholesterol, but does not appear to be so in my case.
I don't know a lot about the meaning of the various components, but would anyone like to comment or suggest anything.

I am currently booking a Dr appointment to discuss

I am increasing Carbs slightly (From about 30-50) per day, as I want to stop loosing weight . I've got to my goal of 85Kg that I wanted.
Regards
 
It's down to you really.
The doctor is going to advise statins with those figures, so it depends on whether or not you want to take them, and if you are of the view cholesterol is a good or bad thing.
What fat have you been eating?
Saturated or unsaturated fat?
 
Do you eat enough oily fish? This will reduce those triglycerides, which are the main baddies in heart and stroke disease. I eat 420g of salmon a week (slightly under the max recommended amount) on a low carb/increased fats diet and my trigs are 0.7.

I agree with Douglas that your doctor will want you on statins with those results.
 
the main problem I see is high tri and low hdl, that's not good at all, the hdl should be higher than tri
you need to know if it's big or little ldl to see if bad or not, but my guess is they are bad because your tri is up.

I wouldn't be happy with those numbers and it seems an abnormal response to LCHF
 
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Hope your appointment went well Randburg. These are the target cholesterol levels that they want people with diabetes to aim for:

  • Your total cholesterol level should be below 4.0mmol/l.
  • LDL levels should be less than 2.0mmol/l.
  • HDL levels should be 1.0mmol/l or above in men and 1.2mmol/l or above in women.
  • Triglyceride levels should be 1.7mmol/l or less.
 
Was it a fasting test? I got a bizarre trigs reading on a non-fasting test, asked for a fasting test, and they were perfectly normal. if GP does suggest going on statins, it would make perfect sense to ask for a fasting test first or, if this one was fasting, to ask for another test to confirm these readings. If you do ultimately accept statins, make sure that you are put on a low dose initially and that liver function etc is properly monitored.
 
Thanks,
Yes it was a fasting test, Appointment with Doctor Tomorrow morning, so we see what happens
 
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Total cholesterol is a useless measurement. Ignore it and don't let your doc treat you based in it.

Trigs will rise on LCHF and again don't worry.

Look to your lipid ratios, these are what matter.
 
Hmm your lipid ratios are not great actually. All the rise in Total chol is LDL, with HDL constant.

Ask for a fasting test but this is not great. What has your target carb/protein/fat energy ratio been, and what are your sources and types of fats? You may need to focus on more "good fats".
 
Thanks Spiker,
Long chat with the Doctor, wont put me on Statins, but as you thought I am eating to much Saturated Fat, and he wants me to try and concentrate on good Fats.
He is not Anti, LCHF diets, and said that he finds about 30% of people on the diet have bad rises in Cholesterol, and it improves in about 70%.
Wants me to re test in December, and if total goes over 6, and LDL increases further, either to stop the High Fat or go on Stattins to normalise.

For info, here in south Africa, we have a Professor Tim Noakes, a well known Sports, Dr that had written a Diet on LCHF eating that has become very popular, and I think about 70 % of South Africans are on it, or have tried it.
So popular that the price of Cauliflower has increased by about 500%, if you can find It!!

So im going to Change my Coconut oil to Olive oil, cut down on the Vienna's etc. Eat more fish and Avocado, and see what happens

Here is a thread in interested, you will find lots, as he is now being accused of Killing people, due to High Fat, Cholesterol, and Heart Damage

http://www.hellodoctor.co.za/tim-noakes-diet/
 
@Randburg
I though I'd replied about this. As you have already discovered it seems that a proportion of people who eat high fat diets will have raised LDL It may be the type of saturated fat rather than all, it may be the amount that some people are using. It may be an individual response. it may be a lack (in some peoples diets) of those things known to lower cholesterol which tend to be plant based ( eg fermentable fibres)
Krause and his dairy and dairy + red meat found that dairy alone didn't cause a problem but dairy plus red meat did .
http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2012/04/17/ron-krauss-saturated-fat-red-meat-it-depends/
Dr T Dayspring suggests it happens to about 25% of people (anecdotal) on very low carb diets
(bit difficult to follow in places but you can see his suggestions )
https://www.lecturepad.org/dayspring/lipidaholics/pdf/LipidaholicsCase291.pdf
A low carb dieitian writes about her own experiences here and how she, like you decided to change the composition of the fats in her diet.
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/recent-cholesterol-results-and-what-i-eat
edited to change tag

The article you quoted didn't actually link to criticism of Noake's diet. This article seems to fit the bill and includes the 1 in 3 figure you mentioned.
http://www.health-e.org.za/2014/08/11/noakes-diet-particularly-dangerous-afrikaans-population/
 
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Hmm, I see Noakes doesn't put his money where his mouth is, from your link

'She also criticizes Noakes for publishing a disclaimer at the back of his book, The Real Meal Revolution,exempting him and his co-authors from any responsibility for its readers’ actions.

“We, as medical professionals have to accept responsibility. If I put my name onto a script for a patient, I have to take full responsibility for the advice that I give that patient. If you make certain health claims in your book it is not good enough to put a single sentence at the end distancing yourself from the consequences,” says Van der Merwe.'
 
To be fair Douglas, I suspect that is the same on any diet book whoever writes it.
 
@phoenix ??? did you mean to tag me, or someone else? I'll read it all anyway, when I have time! Thanks
 
phoenix said:
To be fair Douglas, I suspect that is the same on any diet book whoever writes it.
Click to expand...

It's an interesting point, as it's one I never really thought about before.
All these diets of any type, that claim all the medical evidence is wrong, or right, depending on how you view it, particularly the diets and books sold by medical doctors, claimed to 'treat' medical issues.
Should they be regarded with equal footing as an issued prescription, and should the HCP advising the diet be held as accountable?
They are very keen to have their medical credentials highlighted to back the diet.
Would they be as keen on the number of book sales then?
 
phoenix said:
sorry

@zand, wasn' you , I have edited it (whoops )
Click to expand...
Thanks. I was a bit worried I'd have even more to talk to my counsellor about today! I'm sure it will be a good read when I get around to it anyway.
 
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