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Raised cholesterol since starting LCHF

tristan

Active Member
Messages
42
Type of diabetes
Type 2
loving this lifestyle at the minute, my HBAC1 has plummeted since starting from 93-52. And I have lost 15kg of weight

But my last cholesterol check showed it has risen from 4.2 to 5.2

I got a bit of slack from the Doctor just now on the phone when I pointed out my AC1 reduction but what should I be eating more of and more importantly less off to get my figures back down before my next test in October

I'm guessing I only need to tweet it a little but I'm not sure what to do now,
I eat a lot of pork scratchings and pepperami are these a No no ??

Total is 5.2
Triglycerides 2.6
HDL 1.1
LDL 2.9

4.7 was the last figure he given me and I was a relationship between something but I didn't catch what he said

Hope you guys can point me in the right direction

Cheers

Tristan
 
Firstly are you worried about your cholesterol levels and if so why?

My overall cholesterol has just gone up from 5.7 to 6.0 but I don't really care.
From my reading all the b*llsh*t we have been fed about cholesterol and cardio vascular disease is exactly that. Statins never...

I would really suggest reading something like Ivor Cummings
http://www.thefatemperor.com

Dave Feldman - who has done incredible work on understanding and explaining cholesterol and its mechanisms
http://cholesterolcode.com

And for a laugh Dr Macolm Kendrick
https://drmalcolmkendrick.org

Once you have read those you will likely know more than your GP about the mechanism of cholesterol.

Enjoy..

Regards
Mark
 
The best advice on cholesterol that I can give you is to do some research. You won't have to reads reams before you realise that there is a fair bit of controversy about cholesterol, statins and the relationship between them.
There are foods that will help with cholesterol levels such as olives/oil etc and a search of this forum will help.
 
Just trying to get the doctor off my back initially, il do some reading up.

The Docs are like men possessed and tell me I ideally should be below 4
 
tristan said:
Just trying to get the doctor off my back initially, il do some reading up.

The Docs are like men possessed and tell me I ideally should be below 4
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The "below 4" is because the NHS consider all diabetics should be below 4. There seems to be no evidence as to why this figure is used.

These are the normal ranges
Triglycerides under 1.7
HDL 1 to 3.5 (for men)
LDL under 3

It seems to be your triglycerides that are out of range. Did you fast for this test? If not, that may well be the reason. After eating, triglycerides come out to play and swim about in your blood stream doing their job, so any test is likely to show a higher number, and the number of triglycerides will depend on the food recently eaten, so is completely random and means nothing. Next time, make sure you fast for at least 8 to 10 hours and drink no alcohol the night before. Your surgery may say no need to fast, but honestly, there is. I always do.

If you did fast, then you need to get those trigs down a bit.
 
The last figure that your GP mentioned was probably your cholesterol ratio. The ideal ratio is said to be which below 3.5. The way it's calculated is explained here:- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...expert-answers/cholesterol-ratio/faq-20058006
There is some advice about improving cholesterol here:- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...erol/in-depth/reduce-cholesterol/art-20045935

You could try avoiding any foods containing 'partially hydrogenated vegetable oils' as these may contain trans fats, replacing some saturated fats with unsaturated fats, increasing consumption of fibrous vegetables, increasing aerobic exercise and increasing strength training.
 
kentish maid said:
my nurse is always saying my cholesterol levels are too high last one 5.2 but they do not do a lipid profile so I ignore her.
Click to expand...

Someone, somewhere, must have the lipid profile or they couldn't have calculated your total. Unless I'm missing something.
 

In order to understand if your diet is improving your cholesterol or not, you need he breakdown of the 4.7 .Ideally you are looking to see that your triglycerides are coming down and the HDL is staying stable or up marginally . Without knowing that there is no way to tell anything from the numbers you have posted so far
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Someone, somewhere, must have the lipid profile or they couldn't have calculated your total. Unless I'm missing something.
Click to expand...

A lipid profile looks at the different sizes of lipid separately, in the UK it is normal just to measure Triglycerides and total. Some area just measure total. A full lipid profile will be broken down into about 20 different sizes at least.
 
I read somewhere that LDL is a useless figure anyway unless it encompasses small particle LDL count.
When all said and done there is no causal link between high cholesterol and CVD. Until a direct link is found I'm eating the fat on my pork chops but to cover all bases I'm frying them in rape seed oil.
 
bulkbiker said:
Veg oil considered bad too much omega 6.. just fry them without oil..
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@bullbiker
The amount used is very small. Before dx I would cut off the fat from my family's chops as they don't like it but leave the fat on my own chop frying it in the little fat that came off the trimmed chops. This used to make me feel like I was putting my health at risk but it seems I was doing little harm if any. Now I just have to convince myself that guzzling double cream will not lead me to an early grave either. It used to be a guilty secret.
 


bulkbiker said:
Veg oil considered bad too much omega 6.. just fry them without oil..
Click to expand...

Rapeseed oil has more omega 3 than olive oil, and a better balance of omegas 3 and 6. It has less saturated fat. Plenty about them both on Google. Be careful to chose a UK site as the American equivalent (Canola) is processed differently in most cases)

http://www.healthyfood.co.uk/article/olive-oil-vs-rapeseed-oil-which-is-healthier/

 
@Bluetit1802
The main reason I switched to rape seed oil to cook with was when I read that the benefits of olive oil were lost when heated to a high enough temperature to fry with. Alongside the fact that olive burns extremely easily. I save the olive oil for dressings and now use rape seed oil for frying but good old fashioned lard or duck fat for roasties. The latter however is now just for the family (jammy beggars).
 

We use rapeseed oil for frying (and butter - but not at the same time!). I don't like olive oil so use Hellman's Mayo on salads as that is made with rapeseed oil.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
We use rapeseed oil for frying (and butter - but not at the same time!). I don't like olive oil so use Hellman's Mayo on salads as that is made with rapeseed oil.
Click to expand...
@Bluetit1802
I am not a great lover of olive oil either but have been using it as a dressing to try to sate my appetite (still not working). I really dislike mayo so I'm thinking of investing in a really good quality balsamic vinegar to mix with the oil. Failing that, I will experiment with an apple cider vinegar. Gotta try these things.
 
Just seen the replies so sorry for not replying, no I didn't fast, but I certainly will do on my next test.

So there is no real reason to be running my cholesterol at below 4. It wasn't long ago it was below 5

I'm just trying to avoid the doc changing my statins to get me lower.
 
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