One year on from more fat

donnellysdogs said:

Will MFP tonight to check his calories. We used to do it pre Christmas daily and he was ok... However then I got a free pedometer and he decided last week to wear it at work, so his 18,000 steps at work were never factored in.

We're going out for a meal and with friends all day (shades of grey as well!) tomorrow so will start again from Sunday with MFP and include his walking.

Aaaaaggggghhhhh!!! It's like starting out all over again!!!!

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Yes sometimes we have to take a step back to see things clearly to be able to move on.
Have a great day tomorro.♡

donnellysdogs said:

I see your point but even if I can see my total going back down to under 5.0 and my trigs back to 0.6 or under it will be returning in the right direction. Even without my full breakdown now I know what I've been for the past 5 years as I always get my printouts. Not exact science I know.

We're going to go back to semiskimmed milk, cut the cream, cut the cheese and try to get our taste buds adapted to olives and avocado's and couscous I think to replace some calories and chickpea/beans/lentils. Already have walnuts, flax and chia...and berries...hubby going to try 0% fat greek yogurt with his berries or something with oatmeal.

Well, at least thats my first thoughts, still googling and trying to find some recipes!!

Its easy to do MFP as got the food saved from previous. So will just update on Sunday for last week to see how much saturated etc we had each day. I need now to recalculate for the new foods.. So have got starter points. Hubby has full starter point but I know 5 year previous readings so its just getting them back, no matter what they are now if you see what I mean....

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Couscous is 85% carbs 1%fat &14% protien with a GL of 18. Watch portion size. More info here. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5699/2

donnellysdogs said:

I am fully reviewing on Sunday eith MFP.

Take today.. My eating is a meatball bolognesy sort of evening meal. (Tomatos, garlic, onion, tinned tomatoes). Thats it so far....with veg of cabbage; beans and broccoli.

It is a push for me to eat anymore. So practically no carbs...i've been sat on bum all day so hardly exercised.....

Will have walnuts and vitamin tablets later as always have them.

Hubby cooked dinner else I would have had eggs with salad.

I know I eat very, very little carb.
This has been my life for 35 years since leaving home.

There is definitely no carb creeping in. I found it really difficult to even eat toast or porridge for breakfast. Hubby left me out mixed fruits to put cream on but he would end up taking them to work the next day...

I am reviewing on mfp on Sunday for this past week as I have records in my bg log book of everything.. Food, exercise etc.

My starting point is that my total was 6.5 to 4.9 previous and trigs higher too. I have to work on what I have as GP will not give another test now.

Onward and upward to the Med fats..

Today was odd because I'm normally active!! But food definitely never varies unless like tomorrow when we go for a meal that I eat everything including a pud and starter. This is only once in about every two months though.

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Pay for the bloods yourself? What cost your health, when you have otherwise free health care and supplies.

re 'fluffy particles being benign ' , we read it so often, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be true. It isn't a question of conventional and 'low carb alternative' ideas. Some studies seemed to show this a few years back and the idea took hold and was repeated in blog after blo.
Dr Dayspring in the article I linked to early in the thread is succinct saying this idea is:
"Total nonsense as is pointed out below "
Basically scientific research has moved on and demonstrated that this was a false reading of the situation. Researchers had missed a confounding factor (partly because of techniques that were available. ) They didn't count the number of particles, they just measured size. It's the number, not the size of them that appears to matter.
Both large and small LDL particles have been found to be associated with sub clinical atherosclerosis (ie the early stages)
If two people have the same LDL but one has larger particles then they will have actually fewer particles. That's fine with levels within the norms. If however, you have very much higher LDL than the norm , even if that LDL includes a proportion of large particles, you may still have a greater number of them than someone with an LDL closer to the norm
http://www.athero.org/commentaries/comm564.pdf
This paper isn't that easy (none of them are because of the subject matter.) There is though a good diagram after the page of references which shows exactly what is meant.

@donnellysdogs
You might be interested in the dietary advice for the Med diet as used in the recent Predimed trial
p 9 onwards, http://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303/suppl_file/nejmoa1200303_appendix.pdf
also here are some general guidelines and a pyramid (although I have to say the typical US comment on wine intake made me laugh.
http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-pyramid/overview

phoenix said:

re 'fluffy particles being benign ' , we read it so often, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be true. It isn't a question of conventional and 'low carb alternative' ideas. Some studies seemed to show this a few years back and the idea took hold and was repeated in blog after blo.
Dr Dayspring in the article I linked to early in the thread is succinct saying this idea is:
"Total nonsense as is pointed out below "
Basically scientific research has moved on and demonstrated that this was a false reading of the situation. Researchers had missed a confounding factor (partly because of techniques that were available. ) They didn't count the number of particles, they just measured size. It's the number, not the size of them that appears to matter.
Both large and small LDL particles have been found to be associated with sub clinical atherosclerosis (ie the early stages)
If two people have the same LDL but one has larger particles then they will have actually fewer particles. That's fine with levels within the norms. If however, you have very much higher LDL than the norm , even if that LDL includes a proportion of large particles, you may still have a greater number of them than someone with an LDL closer to the norm
http://www.athero.org/commentaries/comm564.pdf
This paper isn't that easy (none of them are because of the subject matter.) There is though a good diagram after the page of references which shows exactly what is meant.

@donnellysdogs
You might be interested in the dietary advice for the Med diet as used in the recent Predimed trial
p 9 onwards, http://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303/suppl_file/nejmoa1200303_appendix.pdf
also here are some general guidelines and a pyramid (although I have to say the typical US comment on wine intake made me laugh.
http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-pyramid/overview

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I don't think UK blood tests count LDL particles or measure the size

jack412 said:

I don't think UK blood tests count LDL particles or measure the size

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Jack - in UK you can get almost any medically available test you desire, just the NHS may not underwrite it at a time you want it (or to at all), but I feel positive if I spoke to a friend of mine who is a consultant haematologist, Or a private GP, or an internet, self referral via a private hospital, I could have anything, provided my pocket could stand it.

AndBreathe said:

Jack - in UK you can get almost any medically available test you desire, just the NHS may not underwrite it at a time you want it (or to at all), but I feel positive if I spoke to a friend of mine who is a consultant haematologist, Or a private GP, or an internet, self referral via a private hospital, I could have anything, provided my pocket could stand it.

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let me rephrase that then. the public health system does not fund a particle or size count..neither does the australian health system

donnellysdogs said:

Did you wonder about this being related to higher fat?

I used to think of myself as a moderate eater.. Before realising that I am actually a small eater with ansolutely no desire for food.So trying to find another revised eating is really hard. I am struggling..

Glad your readings didn't jump quite so hugely as my two (not four )

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The increase in cholesterol is probably due to my bodyweight increasing due to my diet to include butter, cheese, nuts, full fat yogurt and cutting back on the carb. My carb intake is about 50gms per day and that is nothing starchy.

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2012/08/...-the-blood-cholesterol-test-actually-measure/
NICE is the evidence based body for the UK and this summary states: “A target for total cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is not recommended for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.


The blood cholesterol level

We need to start by saying that the blood cholesterol level is about as reliable as the England football team in penalty shootouts. The time of day, the time of year, whether or not you fasted beforehand, how much sun you’ve had recently, current stress levels, even running late for the blood test appointment – all can impact blood cholesterol levels. When people talk about their test results as if they are accurate they should be made aware of all of this.

The formula for blood cholesterol levels is: Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + triglycerides/5

Few people know that we can only measure total cholesterol and HDL with the standard blood test. Yes – 1 equation, 4 unknowns, 2 measurable = not very scientific.

After measuring (albeit inaccurately and inconsistently) total cholesterol and HDL, triglycerides and LDL together are assumed to account for the difference. The estimation is refined with the Friedewald equation, using the two assumptions that i) virtually all triglyceride is carried by VLDL and ii) that the triglyceride: cholesterol ratio of VLDL is constant at approximately 5:1 (Friedewald et al 1972) (neither assumption being strictly true) to establish the final equation:

Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + Triglyceride/5

Lipoproteins

There are five lipoproteins – in order of size (largest to smallest) they are chylomicrons, Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL), Intermediate Density Lipoprotein (IDL), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). (Ideally chylomicrons would be called Exceptionally Low Density Lipoproteins (ELDL’s) and then the density concept would be more consistent. However…). Confusingly, VLDL is also referred to as triglyceride. People will tell you their triglyceride levels after their blood test and are pleased when these are low. They don’t know that VLDL isn’t even measured, let alone triglyceride.

@donnellysdogs I agree and have commented before that UK people seem to eat a lot of dairy fats

Personally, I never look at recipes, I just keep everything that I eat simple without dressing the food up. Avacardos are nice cut in half with a squeeze of lemon in the centre. They are fattening though so be careful with hubby. You need to put some small amount of weight on and not lose it especially moreso to be ok with infusion sets. You need some flesh to insert into. There might come a time when you cant use Rapids anymore so what will you do then?

Stick with the avocados! I used to hate them, but in the last few years I've become addicted : D

Make sure you get nice quality ones, make sure they're properly ripe, and add things like lemon or lime juice, pepper, chilli sauce, etc to your taste. They're great to make a salad more filling, and I also like them as a 'dessert' sometimes. You can fill them with all sorts of things like prawns and white crab meat (if you eat those).

It's the same with olives. Get good quality ones and try some of the stuffed ones too. I like them stuffed with lemon or pimentos.

Thank you to everyone for the interesting cholesterol info on this thread : )

My latest fasting reading has improved in every way since I went LCHF but doc said to up my olive oil a bit more to get even better Cholesterol readings .... don't know if that's helpful or not.

I remember Olive stoned ....