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Type 2 T2 Pulling hair out - not sure what to do

J

jonnoras

Well-Known Member
Messages
96
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi. I have been following a low carb diet since January and have now lost 7 stones (down from 20 st to 13 st). My blood glucose has been steadily reducing HbA1c 7.8 (March) 5.4 June and 5.2 Dec. My post prandial readings are good - always below 6mmol after 2 hrs. So really pleased. However between my June and Dec tests my lipids profile has changed. I have been following the Diet Doctor LCHF diet and using cream, butter and cheese (as well as nuts, olive, avocado, oily fish etc). This has been keeping my weight stable (I presume) and giving me the fuel to do my exercise. I have also included intermittent fasting (16:8) into the equation - as I've read this reduces insulin production and improves insulin sensitivity.
The LDL part of my lipid breakdown has gone from 3.13 (June) to 4.1 (Dec) - prompting the nurse to ring me and suggest statins. Which I'm worried about taking as I don't take any medications for my T2.
I can't seem to see the bigger picture here and I am struggling with what to do next.
If I cut down on the fats in my food my weight will drop and I will have little energy to exercise - then my fasting bloods glucose will go up.
If I continue to eat the fats then this is clearly going to put my heart at more risk.
If I increase the carbs (for energy and weight stabilization) - my blood glucose will go up.
Please could someone offer some advice or clarification on what I should do next?
Any help greatly appreciated.
 
Hi. This is a common problem. I suggest trying to move more towards unsaturated fats such as the fishy ones etc and not having too much fat overall. As you may know it's lipids ratios that need to be considered not just one reading but that LDL does sound a bit high. You might want to try a minimal dose of statins to get a bit lower without reducing your total cholesterol or HDL too much
 
This is exactly the same problem I have had with LCHF diet.
I have been In the non diabetic blood glucose for quite a while with last blood test 37 and take no medication just diet controlled. My cholesterol has gradually increased over this time my last total cholesterol was 7.1
I refuse to take statins as have tried 3 different ones and all give me bad side effects so I have said to doctor let me try and adapt my diet to try and lower my cholesterol. I have cut down on the butter and cream I used to enjoy and have upped the oily fish etc. I have a blood test at the end of January and hope to see a drop in numbers .
 
I had a slight problem like this which I rectified by cutting back on cheese.and cream - I didn't cut them out completely, just reduced the portion sizes I ate or cooked with.
 
Thanks for the replies. Knowing that this is a common issue helps Diabell. I'm not keen on taking statins yet. Connie104 please will you let me know if this approach makes a difference? Chook thanks fr the reply, how much of an impact did this reduction of portion sizes make to your serum lipid profile?
 
Statins certainly kept my cholesterol down in the range that kept my doctor happy but I suffered with the most terrible muscle ache felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders with legs made of lead !!
Some people have no side effects whatsoever . Try an adjust the type of fat cutting down on dairy fats a bit and see if it helps . I will post at end of January to let you know if this has worked for me .
 
Thanks for that. Good luck. J
 
What are your other lipid figures? Trigs and HDL?

I'm afraid I don't place ANY confidence in the idea that the figures you quote are 'putting your heart at risk'. Quite the opposite, in fact.
That isn't bourne out by new evidence and re-examination of the old evidence.

In fact we had an excellent link put into another thread which explains clearly and rationally why the Cholesterol panic button is a load of illogical codswollop

Here it is:
http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2010/11/...is-a-relationship-but-its-not-what-you-think/
 
jonnoras said:
If I continue to eat the fats then this is clearly going to put my heart at more risk.
Click to expand...

Dr Malcolm Kendrick has asked if people could send him a link to the research they are quoting when they say this. So far I don't think anyone has replied.
 
Hi Brunneria and Squire Fulwood. I'm sorry I'm not quoting any evidence when I make the above assumptions I think I am just espousing the newspaper articles I have read, what the nurse says and what a few others on this forum seem to say. I have no idea really. The chap on the Diet Doctor LCHF website makes reference to cholesterol increasing for some and advises reducing the intake of sat fats (which sort of goes against what is being said about intake not affecting cholesterol levels doesn't it?)
My lipid levels in June were Chol Total = 5.04 / Trigs = 1.08 / HDL = 1.42 / LDL = 3.13 / Ratio = 3.6 / Non HDL chol = 3.62
In Dec they were Chol total = 6.46 / Trigs = 1.13 / HDL = 1.76 / LDL = 4.1 / Ratio = 3.7 / Non HDL chol = 4.7.
Apart from starting the 16:8 fasting the only other change since June is a big increase in the use of butter, cheese and lots of cream. So still not sure what to do. Help!
 


Nice Trig scores, on both, and a nice improvement on HDL.

Have you seen this calculator?
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php
You enter your individual numbers and it tells you whether your ratios are good, bad, optimum, etc.
MUCH more informative than the total cholesterol final figure, or the LDL figure taken out of context.

You may also find it useful to watch a few of Ken Sikaris' you tube videos. He is a cholesterol expert, who regularly speaks at conferences and to other scientists about cholesterol. I will put a few links below so you can see how chilled he is about HDL, and total cholesterol numbers.




You may also find this interesting - I did!


Hope that helps!
 
Thanks again for the info. I used the calculator and came up with the following
Your Total Cholesterol of 6.46 is HIGH RISK
Your LDL of 4.18 is HIGH RISK
Your HDL of 1.76 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 1.13 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 3.67 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) GOOD
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.421 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 1.470 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

What does it mean when all my ratios are OK but it says I have a high risk for Total Chol and LDL.

How come you know so much??
 
Watching this with interest. We've just had my 6 year old daughters first annual t1 bloods done and the consultant is concerned with her lipid results. Statins were mentioned...over my dead body!
 
Thanks for posting
 
There is a book by Professor Feinman which we will all look back on one day and agree that he is one clever person. He says things like there is a sort of thermostat in the body, or lots of them really. For example, your body wants an amount of cholesterol so it makes it. If you ingest some then the body makes less and if you don't ingest some the body makes more.

If you want to take pills to alter this then be it on your own head in my opinion. There will obviously be cases where things have gone awry but for the vast majority of us I think we should worry less.
 
You may already do this, or maybe can't, but HiiT exercise has been shown to have an impact on LDL. It's worth a shot if you can do this, I had my HbA1C about 3 weeks ago a little higher than yours, during my change to LCHF a few months ago my LDL improved despite over eating nuts and increasing dairy - all exercise I do is HiiT based, btw my total cholesterol moved from 5.6 to 3.9.
 
Interestingly, my HIT exercise has reduced in this last 6 weeks or so. Maybe that hasn't helped. Still a bit confused with these figures though. If my ratios are good do I need to worry about the levels? J
 
jonnoras said:
Still a bit confused with these figures though. If my ratios are good do I need to worry about the levels? J
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think you do have to worry about your current cholesterol levels.
But NHS standard advice says that you should.

I am afraid you will have to make up your own mind.
 
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