Test results query

[clare56]

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 6 weeks ago I embarked on a very low cal diet. (Real food not shakes) and have been delighted to lose a stone. I was also delighted to find my Hba1c had dropped from 56 on being diagnosed to 43. Less happy that my cholesterol level of 6.6 had stayed the same and that I therefore need medication to bring it down.
I must admit that my focus has been on the blood glucose levels with the diet - hoping the V.L.C.D. would blow away the diabetes and I had not considered the cholesterol levels as so urgent. Now I see reports that medication to lower cholesterol could be counter-productive.
I'm interested to hear people's views. Would a low carb high fat diet impact on cholesterol levels positively or negatively ( my diet is v low cal and quite low in fat) and does it matter?
Thanks!

 

[shave_]

Hi about low carbs diet are the fats . I found away around the fat by using soya and protein powders in shake helps low cholesterol or sugars levels my hba1c is 42 and cholesterol 4,1 hope it helps

 

[pleinster]

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 6 weeks ago I embarked on a very low cal diet. (Real food not shakes) and have been delighted to lose a stone. I was also delighted to find my Hba1c had dropped from 56 on being diagnosed to 43. Less happy that my cholesterol level of 6.6 had stayed the same and that I therefore need medication to bring it down.
I must admit that my focus has been on the blood glucose levels with the diet - hoping the V.L.C.D. would blow away the diabetes and I had not considered the cholesterol levels as so urgent. Now I see reports that medication to lower cholesterol could be counter-productive.
I'm interested to hear people's views. Would a low carb high fat diet impact on cholesterol levels positively or negatively ( my diet is v low cal and quite low in fat) and does it matter?
Thanks!

Hi Clare. Similar to yourself low carbing brought my HbA1c down from 54 to 43 over about an 8 week period. I continue to make progress. My cholesterol level was 5.6 and still is. What is important to bear in mind is that there's good and bad cholesterol, and the overall figure doesn't tell you so much about how that breaks down. There is HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density..), and the HDL is the "good stuff", lowering risk of heart attack etc. Basically, low carbing may increase the good stuff not the bad stuff. If you want to be more clear on it, ask for a printout/breakdown of results from your doctor, but to be honest...having met a lot of people who are neither diabetic nor overweight with levels above mine...and having researched the subject a bit and talked to my own doctors (I see a renal team regularly since my transplant - which was before diabetes by the way), I am totally unconcerned now. On the subject of treatment - its generally time for doctors to suggest statins cos that's what they do....but again advice from my own docs and from many others is that basically the benefits to those who do not already have heart issues is negligible at best and there is a risk (a small one) of muscle pain and the like, has led me to avoid them. Type in statins to this and any other search engine...and see. In short, personally, i'd want to know how high my LDL is before I'd even consider a statin, and even then..it would need to be very high! Hopefully others will comment too...give you some views to weigh up. Good luck.

 

[pleinster]

Hi about low carbs diet are the fats . I found away around the fat by using soya and protein powders in shake helps low cholesterol or sugars levels my hba1c is 42 and cholesterol 4,1 hope it helps

Good info. I am always looking at ways to ensure the right balance of fats (mainly due to digestive issues and maintaining enough weight). My only concern here is with the protein drinks as I have a transplanted kidney (due to an inherited condition), as too high a level of protein can give renal problems. As I am already eating more meat than I was (and therefore more protein), I am a little (though only a little) concerned about keeping that level reasonable. Anyone who has diabetic complications with their kidneys should also be careful how much protein they take in. It's working well for you though, and that's great. I shall certainly look more at soya.

 

[Tony2016]

Hi Clare, Thanks for the posting. I too have the same issue with my Lipid profile, it went from 6.3 to 6.6 recently after three months, even though I cut back on my bulletproof coffee, butter and coconut oil. But my HbA1c has improved from 5.7 to 5.5. HDL is 2.1 and Triglyceride is 0.8. My LDL is not good 3.9 to 4.1 but my Chol/HDL ratio is 3.1 , remained the same. So my doctor wants to put me on statin which I have refused. I am hoping to improve my lipid profile in the next three months, maybe eating a bit more Carbs and cutting my cheese. Any comments are welcome.


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