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LCHF Diet

S

Sonia08

Member
Messages
19
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi All, I am new to all this as a newly diagnosed type 2. Hoping to control with diet, but not massively overweight, but could do with loosing a bit. I have been to the docs today and have come away a bit disheartened and feeling like a hypochondriac . I have been doing the LCHF diet for 2 weeks. Im finding it ok. Not really any sweet cravings although i could murder a bag of crisps! what i'm struggling with is the doctor told me today that my cholesterol was higher than she would like. Its 4.6. I thought i had low cholesterol. i'm not sure how i have fallen apart, i ate really healthily before and don't have a history of diabetes. Anyway, will my cholesterol not get worse with all the eggs and fat that i'm now eating that i didn't eat before? Also i'm confused about protein. Yesterday i did some LCHF research and it said i could eat as much meat, fish etc as i like. But today i have seen people posting on here about having too much protein. Also, how do all you LCHF avoid constipation? Confused please help :/
 
Hi Sonia. we are all different. 4.6 is not a huge cholesterol result. For a diabetic the most important thing is your blood glucose. Reducing the carbs is the way to go. You need to check out the diet threads here. I think the too much protein is if you may have kidney issues.
 
I have read on here and elsewhere that dietary cholesterol, such as in eggs, has no relevance to blood cholesterol. Our bodies make our blood cholesterol and eating cholesterol makes no difference. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that.

On a proper LCHF diet there shouldn't be a problem with constipation providing your fibre intake is sufficient and you drink plenty of water. Fats help with the disposal of waste.

4.6 is low for a non-diabetic, but doctors like to see diabetics under 4 because of the increased risk of cardio vascular disease with diabetes. However, the total cholesterol is only a minor part of the issue. What were your triglycerides, HDL and LDL levels?

I agree with @this is too difficult that protein is only an issue if you have kidney problems.
 
Re constipation- I'm still not as regular as I was pre LC but drinking plenty of water( and I mean plenty!) helps along with a dessert spoon of flaxseed/linseed on my yogurt.
Re cholesterol, I think NICE guidelines are 4 for diabetics though there's plenty of debate around what levels mean, what they should be etc.
I think that you have to work your own best version of the diet out. I personally don't eat full fat versions of dairy products apart from the odd bit of cheese and don't use butter, but I do use olive oil and eat the fat on my meat. If you look at the diet doctor site there are links to other advocates of the diet who make suggestions for moderating fat intake if you have cholesterol issues. I think it's a case of not going overboard on the fat- it's very energy dense so you don't actually need much to replace the energy from the dropped carbs.
 
mine was 5.5, statins and lchf brought it down to 2.7, which I think is too low, I'd be happy with 4.6 if the hdl was good...diabetic recommendation is under 4
google cholesterol myth, for all the anti statin stuff..I still take them

with lchf, you don't get starving hungry after a couple of weeks, so you will/should reach a natural balance.
bunged up..drink a lot more water, extra salt and more veg
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I have read on here and elsewhere that dietary cholesterol, such as in eggs, has no relevance to blood cholesterol. Our bodies make our blood cholesterol and eating cholesterol makes no difference. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that.

On a proper LCHF diet there shouldn't be a problem with constipation providing your fibre intake is sufficient and you drink plenty of water. Fats help with the disposal of waste.

4.6 is low for a non-diabetic, but doctors like to see diabetics under 4 because of the increased risk of cardio vascular disease with diabetes. However, the total cholesterol is only a minor part of the issue. What were your triglycerides, HDL and LDL levels?

I agree with @this is too difficult that protein is only an issue if you have kidney problems.
Click to expand...
4.6 is low?
Not more things to worry about. Mine is 3
 
Cholesterol is one of those topics that can be upsetting to people and there are many different views.

My cholesterol is higher than it was too since starting lchf (5.6 from 4.1) My docs are also alarmed at this and want me to do things about it - i.e. statins and I personally am not going there any more.

I'm reading a book called The Cholesterol Con by Dr Malcom Kendrick. (There is another book with the same title)

Here are a few questions to ponder perhaps.

How does taking in fat (not trans fat e.g. margerine) increase cholesterol - basic answer is it doesn't no matter what "health" professionals say. There is NO evidence.

How does cholesterol increase heart disease? The answer is it doesn't. In FACT lower cholesterol associates with more heat disease (but might not cause it.)

What is a good level of cholesterol? Well actually that is a really really interesting question. Kendrick suggests that for me, a man, the best level seems to be about 5.5 - well how about that. For a woman I think???? the evidence is that women can tolerate a higher level, but I'll have to re-check that.

Now of course this is just one (maverick?) doctor's opinion after having searched through lots of research papers. But think about this. Cholesterol (and statins) is BIG business and lots of research grants and reputations are bound up with the hypothesis that fat = high cholesterol = more heart disease.

You may want to do a little research and see for yourself what you think your own personal level might be.

But, don't panic, worry, get alarmed. You are not going to suddenly keel over just because your level is a little higher. Now having a higher blood glucose level will definitely cause you issues - no argument.

Hope you feel a little less stressed :)

There will be others here very soon with more support and advice. We care.


edit: oops they are already here!
 
Hi Sonia here are some answers bullet pointed otherwise l waffle...

Drink loads of water to avoid constipation it works a treat

As TITD says avoid overdoing protein have a gram/kg bodyweight that is enough.

You need cholestrol to digest fat up to you l ignore my dr on things like cholesterol although l have overdone the fat part and am up to 7(overall) so cutting way back on the fat part, isnt that hard...grill not fry, black coffees not have cream in, cut out some of the fat on the meat l eat. Simple things that add up in my case.

You may also like this site will explain a lot. It will take at least 6 months for your cholesterol to sort itself out on a LCHF diet. At the moment if you have been on a "normal" diet your LDL called dangerous is small and sticky, when you LCHF your LDL changes to large and fluffy stops being dangerous and cleans your arteries. And as my dr said to me yesterday... there is no normal thats the problem every one strives for the impossible.

To say you are 4.6 is as much use as saying "wood" you need a full breakdown of all your levels and if you google "Scientific paper low carb high fat diet and cholesterol" there is loads of info out there on cholesterol and what is going to happen. Personally l am still not on statins told my DN when l take another test we agreed start of march l will have a think then (means l have time without being moaned at) she isn't a fool and grinned at me shaking her head.

Also scroll down to the Low carb forum here and l use Vivs modified Atkins diet as my base am on around 30g/day carbs.

The book carbs and cals (amazon large not pocket) is very good...l am not keen on the app although others swear by it.

Also as above as GF Said
 
Oh good I hope so. I hope I am doing the LCHF diet properly. I'm just going by the information I have found on here. But I have now also ordered a book. Where are you getting your fibre intake without, cereals, grains, bread etc? I'm eating lots of vegetables and nuts. But still having problems when my diet was very wholegrain before. I am continually thirsty but drink loads of water. @Bluetit1802

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
No bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and careful on the veg some are high carb a rule of thumb..in the ground grown high above low. Fruit is high in sugar berries are generally ok. By the way are you testing without the testing all eating plans are wasted.
 
Sonia08 said:
Oh good I hope so. I hope I am doing the LCHF diet properly. I'm just going by the information I have found on here. But I have now also ordered a book. Where are you getting your fibre intake without, cereals, grains, bread etc? I'm eating lots of vegetables and nuts. But still having problems when my diet was very wholegrain before. I am continually thirsty but drink loads of water. @Bluetit1802

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Are you testing? If so, try heavily seeded bread or one of the low carb breads such as Livlife or Burgen. I can manage one slice of Hovis 7 seeds wholemeal, which has loads of fibre in it. I have tested it and I'm fine with one slice. I can't manage 2 slices. You will only get to know this if you test.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I said it's low for a non-diabetic. 3 to 5 for non-diabetics. 3 to 4 for diabetics. Personally I think 3 is too low, but that's only my opinion.
Click to expand...
It has always been low. We had a cholesterol test at my work 25 years ago. I had the lowest result out of thousands of people.
One week later an article on the news said low cholesterol makes you more likely to have cancer.
 
I thought one of the great things was not to have to measure and weigh anything? Oh I forgot to say I have not been given any results for triglycerides, Hdl or ldl. All I have is the BG result from my HP1ac.@bluetit1802

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
gfmoore said:
Cholesterol is one of those topics that can be upsetting to people and there are many different views.

My cholesterol is higher than it was too since starting lchf (5.6 from 4.1) My docs are also alarmed at this and want me to do things about it - i.e. statins and I personally am not going there any more.

I'm reading a book called The Cholesterol Con by Dr Malcom Kendrick. (There is another book with the same title)

Here are a few questions to ponder perhaps.

How does taking in fat (not trans fat e.g. margerine) increase cholesterol - basic answer is it doesn't no matter what "health" professionals say. There is NO evidence.

How does cholesterol increase heart disease? The answer is it doesn't. In FACT lower cholesterol associates with more heat disease (but might not cause it.)

What is a good level of cholesterol? Well actually that is a really really interesting question. Kendrick suggests that for me, a man, the best level seems to be about 5.5 - well how about that. For a woman I think???? the evidence is that women can tolerate a higher level, but I'll have to re-check that.

Now of course this is just one (maverick?) doctor's opinion after having searched through lots of research papers. But think about this. Cholesterol (and statins) is BIG business and lots of research grants and reputations are bound up with the hypothesis that fat = high cholesterol = more heart disease.

You may want to do a little research and see for yourself what you think your own personal level might be.

But, don't panic, worry, get alarmed. You are not going to suddenly keel over just because your level is a little higher. Now having a higher blood glucose level will definitely cause you issues - no argument.

Hope you feel a little less stressed :)

There will be others here very soon with more support and advice. We care.


edit: oops they are already here!
Click to expand...
Stress is a thing from my past.
 
You need to have an idea on weight of food at the start l used a small digital scales so l could work out how many grams, not everyone is as l am though and l don't use them now as l know rough amounts. You should keep a food diary at least for first few weeks so you can see what you are eating and how it affects you blood glucose of which there is no point doing anything unless you measure your bloods at least for the first few months. .
Tell your dr you want the results of the tests you are entitled only problem you may have is receptionists confused about how to print things.
 
upload_2014-6-25_19-47-34.png

This is the killer (er, didn't mean it like that), You are better of higher or lower than the rate they suggest. But of course the lower you are the more at risk from all death

upload_2014-6-25_19-48-56.png

I know these are hard to see - I had to photograph them from my Tablet screen.

The first one shows that the risk of death is lowest for a cholesterol level of 5-6 mmol/l, vertical col is relative risk ? (to what? I'll check)
The second one is specific to cardiovascular death and shows the greater rate at 4-5 mmol/l

Source: Conference on low blood cholesterol and mortality which gathered data from 124, 814 women report in 1992


For men

upload_2014-6-25_19-58-10.png

I haven't located the one for Cardiovascular death yet

Same conference, no of men = 523,737 men


Here is a graph I found absolutely amazing. Kendrick plotted a selection of countries in order of increasing average cholesterol level
Then he plotted the death rate for each of the countries

upload_2014-6-25_20-1-8.png

The point is that there is NO correlation between cholesterol level and death rate!!!

Sorry the images are so poor, maybe someone knows a better way of getting images from a kindle app.

I realise that these are general figures and there are a few statistical questions to ask, but I think they make a pretty convincing point. And do most health professionals take any note - Nope, not a bit.
 
@Mud Island Dweller the food diary is a good idea. I'm going to start doing this. Although since I have been sticking to the LCHF I have barely had an spikes as I have not strayed except on my daughters Birthday when I ate a cupcake and then my BG rose to 8.5. Which is high for me. So my readings have been fairly controlled. Although my fasting reading this morning was 7.3 which I thought was high. I only tested because I felt rough and had blurred vision in one eye. I don't normally check first thing.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
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