Why do diabetics have high cholesterol?

[the_anticarb]

Well, statistically speaking higher than the general population? Is it because sugar in the blood gets turned into fat in the blood? I am just interested as it must be linked to high sugar somehow, yet traditionally we have been told it is fat in the diet that creates high cholesterol, not sugar. Is that all rubbish?

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Cholesterol in the food we eat does not cause high LDL and low HDL. A high carb diet causes that.

 

[andcol]

We generally have higher trig levels and lower HDL levels because we metabolise glucose into fructose at a much larger quantity than normal (3% for norms and 20% for diabetics I think I read recently). That is why low carb works so well to help improve cholesterol levels

 

[tim2000s]

As a type 1, even before statins, my overall cholesterol level wasn't especially high, and with Low Carbing, it now has a better constitution. I'm not sure that it's true that Diabetics generally have higher cholesterol levels as a generic statement?

 

[LucySW]

We generally have higher trig levels and lower HDL levels because we metabolise glucose into fructose at a much larger quantity than normal (3% for norms and 20% for diabetics I think I read recently). That is why low carb works so well to help improve cholesterol levels

If that's true, brilliant explanation Andrew. Thank you. Everyone should know this. LSW

 

[LucySW]

Cholesterol in the food we eat does not cause high LDL and low HDL. A high carb diet causes that.

It's sugar. (Which carb turns into.) Just sugar. It's the root of all, etc. except for Type1s, whose bodies have turned on them. (Hey ho!)

 

[graj0]

Well, statistically speaking higher than the general population? Is it because sugar in the blood gets turned into fat in the blood? I am just interested as it must be linked to high sugar somehow, yet traditionally we have been told it is fat in the diet that creates high cholesterol, not sugar. Is that all rubbish?

I can only give you my experience, anecdotal as it might be, but others have discovered the same thing. My total cholesterol dropped from 5.5 to 3.5 after I dropped my carb intake to around 80 gms a day. I was so surprised because my GP had always gone on about how much fat I ate (I've followed low fat since 1989), that I started Googling for a reason. The information is out there, I found several references to lower carb, lower cholesterol, even an explanation as to how it works.
By the way, on another forum somebody was saying that she had followed doctor's orders to lower fat and her total cholesterol actually went up. I think I can confidently say that lower carbs means lower cholesterol, as has already been mentioned.

 

[LucySW]

on another forum somebody was saying that she had followed doctor's orders to lower fat and her total cholesterol actually went up. I think I can confidently say that lower carbs means lower cholesterol, as has already been mentioned.

See Kenneth Sikaris Youtube videos on cholesterol. That's not quite right. He says LCHF will typically raise total and LDL cholesterol, but it will cut triglycerides and increase HDL. He also says that the ratio of trigs to LDL (I think that's the one) predicts the proportion of your LDL that is small dense LDL. Trigs below 1.0 mean that small dense particles are only a tiny fraction of LDL (which in themselves are no problem). See the videos.

 

[graj0]

He says LCHF will typically raise total and LDL cholesterol, but it will cut triglycerides and increase HDL. He also says that the ratio of trigs to LDL (I think that's the one) predicts the proportion of your LDL that is small dense LDL. Trigs below 1.0 mean that small dense particles are only a tiny fraction of LDL (which in themselves are no problem). See the videos.

I didn't say anything about LCHF, I said lowering my carbs, there is a very distinct difference between what I did (LC?F) and LCHF.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Do diabetics have higher cholesterol than the general population?

I know that recommendations are that diabetics should keep their levels low and I can see the benefits of that but I have never to my knowledge had high cholesterol either before or since being diagnosed diabetic so I think that may be rather a sweeping statement anticarb.

Not that I know for sure, anyone have any official stats on this?

 

[Sarah69]

I don't have cholesterol problems.

 

[Totto]

I don't have cholesterol problems.

Now I'm curious again! Why on earth are you on a comparably high dose of statins if you don't have problems with high cholesterol?

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I suspect the diabetics who have high cholesterol may be the heavily overweight T2s of which there appear to be many. Many posters on this forum have found that having a low carb diet and having enough fats to keep them happy results in low cholesterol; yes its the excess carbs that are the problem.

 

[noblehead]

I've had diabetes so long to know what my cholesterol was before diagnosis, but I've never had problems with high cholesterol and my trigs were 0.5 at my last test.

 

[graj0]

Something written by the American Heart Foundation might explain why diabetics MIGHT have higher cholesterol. Unfortunately they seem to recommend that we should all avoid foods with cholesterol in them, despite the evidence that suggest otherwise. Sadly the whole area of cholesterol is filled with not just some very good empirical evidence to suggest one thing or another, but also a lot of old waffle. How am I, a non scientist, going to get to the bottom of it? The British Heart Foundation do have a good graph, unfortunately only relating to men, that suggest that a total cholesterol reading of 5.4 is the optimum, in that the incidence of CVD seems to increase as you go above AND below 5.4. Unfortunately I don't see anything other than total cholesterol. On an anecdotal level I can say that my wife has been told that her total cholesterol is high, but her HDL is so high, she shouldn't be concerned. I've cut and paste what the AHF say, it includes some links, should you choose to follow them:

How does diabetes affect cholesterol?

Diabetes tends to lower "good" cholesterol levels and raise triglyceride and "bad" cholesterol levels, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. This common condition is called diabetic dyslipidemia.

"Diabetic dyslipidemia means your lipid profile is going in the wrong direction," said Richard Nesto, M.D., a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. "It's a deadly combination that puts patients at risk for premature coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis — where the arteries become clogged with accumulated fat and other substances."

Studies show a link between insulin resistance, which is a precursor to type 2 diabetes, and diabetic dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis and blood vessel disease. These conditions can develop even before diabetes is diagnosed.

Learning how to prevent and treat abnormal cholesterol levels is an important step in maintaining optimum health.

 

[LucySW]

Kenneth Sikaris is, as far as I can see, the current leading authority on cholesterol, heart disease
and blood chemistry. It appears that the truisms on this subject are up to 30 years out of date.

 

[merrym]

We generally have higher trig levels and lower HDL levels because we metabolise glucose into fructose at a much larger quantity than normal (3% for norms and 20% for diabetics I think I read recently). That is why low carb works so well to help improve cholesterol levels

Actually fructose and glucose are not the same thing, at all. One does not become the other and they are metabolized differently.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...ctose-corn-syrup-alters-human-metabolism.aspx

 

[andcol]

Actually fructose and glucose are not the same thing, at all. One does not become the other and they are metabolized differently.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...ctose-corn-syrup-alters-human-metabolism.aspx

yes they are different but the liver can convert and does through a complex process. This process goes wrong in diabetics. Sugar (as in sprinkle on you cornflakes) is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Look at the polyol pathway. Have a listen to this

video at about 17.5 mins in

 

[merrym]

yes they are different but the liver can convert and does through a complex process. This process goes wrong in diabetics. Sugar (as in sprinkle on you cornflakes) is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Look at the polyol pathway. Have a listen to this

video at about 17.5 mins in

Thanks, I will see later if I can find it in print format. I am so not a fan of videos lol Thanks though. I still disagree with "we metabolise glucose into fructose"

 

[andcol]

You can read a simplified explanation here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyol_pathway

Basis of the issue (paraphrashed)

• The cells of the retinas,kidneys and nervous tissues are insulin-independent.
• The cells will use glucose for energy as normal, and any glucose not used for energy will enter the polyol pathway.
• In a hyperglycemic state, the affinity of aldose reductase for glucose rises (at normal levels the affinity is very low)
  
• causing an accumulation of sorbitol in the cells
• This sorbitol cannot pass through the cell membrane
  
• This sorbitol is processed further to fructose and removed from the cells (the next stage of the polyol pathway)
  
• This fructose is then processed in the liver affecting trig and VLDL levels.

This is one of the processes that it is thought that nerves, kidneys and eyes are damaged by high blood glucose levels. Remember the uptake by these cells is unregulated by insulin and once it has produced fructose that fructose is also unregulated by the action of insulin and also "turns off" your leptin receptors so you have a desire to eat more. It is all a nasty viscous circle. Low carb helps to short circuit this by keeping BG levels at normal levels (or there abouts).

That is why you generate more fructose as a diabetic than as a norm. You sit in an increased blood glucose level for much longer than a norm.

Well I hope that makes sense when you read it