Managed to out of the pre-diabetes zone but now my cholesterol is very high.

[Becr]

Hi all, I came to this forum back in 2018 when I was told I was in the pre-diabetes range and also anaemic. I worked hard with my diet and managed to get out of the pre-diabetes zone. I was retested recently, having maintained sugar free and moderate carb diet and although I was still out of the pre-diabetes zone, my cholesterol since 2018 had gone from very good to a total reading of Serum cholesterol level 6.0 mmol/L and Serum triglyceride levels at 2.98 mmol/L. I run 3 times a week and have a BMI of 24.

I am a bit flat about this. I can see that my diet was high in fat as I was eating more fat to compensate for a lower carb diet. I was definitely eating a lot of butter and cheese. I am worried though that this won't account for such high readings (I have since given up both butter and cheese prior to my next test in a months time). I am obsessing over saturated fat now, as well as carbohydrate and it's hard work. I have been reading that carbohydrate could be an issue for me, as some people suggest Carbs can be a culprit in cholesterol, but I am confused because my hba1c was down to 38, does that not mean that I am no longer having issues with the level of carbs I am eating? I hope all this makes sense? Just interested in peoples views and experiences. Thank you.

 

[ajbod]

Eating Cholesterol has the opposite effect to what you think, it actually lowers it. Our bodies produce about 80% of what it needs, so eat more and it produces less. Problems usually arise due to balance of carbs and fats, if the ratio is wrong, as in too many carbs, then the cholesterol level rises.
High triglycerides could simply mean you are fat burning, and they are passing through your bloodstream to exit the body. Don't forget it's the companies selling the Statins, that fund the research telling doctors that the levels keep having to drop.
My total is 6, ironically the same as it was 40 odd years ago when i was very fit and healthy.
The Cholesterol cycle in our bodies, appears to be about 3 days, so 3 days after the test they will be completely different anyway.

 

[Becr]

Thanks for your reply @ajbod I do wonder if I am still quite carb sensitive as I will fall asleep after a meal and I feel hungry all the time. I tend to have pasta or basmati rice with my evening meal because I feel so ravenous. I was eating around 150g of Carbs a day to fuel my running but I am going to drop it to 100g and see if that helps. I guess I was surprised that the HbA1c was so good because I have noticed I am tired a lot (I'm also post menopause age so that doesn't help). The doctor was telling me to steer clear of nuts! I was eating a lot of nuts, butter, cheese. I couldn't understand why nuts would be a problem. They want to put me on statins and I just can't bare the thought of that.

 

[ajbod]

My way of looking at low carb is, as type 2s our real problem is Hyperinsulimia, due to Insulin resistance. High sugars are bad in themselves, but they are a symptom of our real problem. My aim is to have as little Insulin in my system as possible. This way fat burning if needed, is allowed, and resistance improves with lower levels of Insulin. The only way to track this is by monitoring sugar levels, or blood Ketones if you're in a position to do that.
Having a carb coma at 150g carbs a day, tells you everything you need to know. Obviously 150g a day is too much for your system, and the meal causing it is way over the top in carbs.
If you go low enough on the carbs to enter Ketosis, fats will provide all the energy you need for your exercises.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Thanks for your reply @ajbod I do wonder if I am still quite carb sensitive as I will fall asleep after a meal and I feel hungry all the time. I tend to have pasta or basmati rice with my evening meal because I feel so ravenous. I was eating around 150g of Carbs a day to fuel my running but I am going to drop it to 100g and see if that helps. I guess I was surprised that the HbA1c was so good because I have noticed I am tired a lot (I'm also post menopause age so that doesn't help). The doctor was telling me to steer clear of nuts! I was eating a lot of nuts, butter, cheese. I couldn't understand why nuts would be a problem. They want to put me on statins and I just can't bare the thought of that.

Have you looked at this? You might find it useful:

Cholesterol and Statins

There are always a lot of threads about Statins and Cholesterol and we all post our various favourite bits of current presentations about them but I thought it might be handy to have them all in one thread. I meant to put this together soon after the get together in Birmingham (sorry @Debandez)...

www.diabetes.co.uk