Keto/Atkins with Healthy Fats ?

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Hello, I am interested in starting the Keto diet, or at least Atkins, but I have high cholesterol and I need to eat foods low in saturated fat, so no heavy cream, red meats, etc. Is that doable while also following the diet plan(s)?

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  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited September 2017
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    Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, eating saturated fats will not commonly negatively affect your cholesterol. Plus it has been shown, unless excessively consumed, that saturated fat does not lead to CAD.

    If you do want to limit saturated fats while keto, a diet heavier in egg whites, nuts, leaner meats and seafood (as your protein and fat sources) may work well for you.

    This is an intersting video about one man's experiments on excess calories and very high at intake, and how it improved colesterol in people within a few days.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZu52duIqno
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, eating saturated fats will not commonly negatively affect your cholesterol. Plus it has been shown, unless excessively consumed, that saturated fat does not lead to CAD.

    If you do want to limit saturated fats while keto, a diet heavier in egg whites, nuts, leaner meats and seafood (as your protein and fat sources) may work well for you.

    This is an intersting video about one man's experiments on excess calories and very high at intake, and how it improved colesterol in people within a few days.

    In all fairness though, at best SFA dont harm you, but they certainly dont improve cholesterol. A person is much better off having a diet rich in USFA and fiber, which have been shown to improve health, along with weight loss and exercise.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, eating saturated fats will not commonly negatively affect your cholesterol. Plus it has been shown, unless excessively consumed, that saturated fat does not lead to CAD.

    If you do want to limit saturated fats while keto, a diet heavier in egg whites, nuts, leaner meats and seafood (as your protein and fat sources) may work well for you.

    This is an intersting video about one man's experiments on excess calories and very high at intake, and how it improved colesterol in people within a few days.

    In all fairness though, at best SFA dont harm you, but they certainly dont improve cholesterol. A person is much better off having a diet rich in USFA and fiber, which have been shown to improve health, along with weight loss and exercise.

    But he did improve cholesterol with a high SFA diet. Within days. Repeated by others.
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
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    Must disagree with you on this one @psulemon (see attached picture of my own cholesterol numbers) especially since my fiber intake is fairly low.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    ladipoet wrote: »
    Must disagree with you on this one @psulemon (see attached picture of my own cholesterol numbers) especially since my fiber intake is fairly low.

    Nice. :)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    ladipoet wrote: »
    Must disagree with you on this one @psulemon (see attached picture of my own cholesterol numbers) especially since my fiber intake is fairly low.

    You can show the same results with almost every diet out there. Larger contributors to overall health/cholesterol are weight and activity level. There is even a genetic component. Consider I know how lean you are and your exercise routine, it's quite possible they are having a greater effect that specific dietary component. The question also is, what does the rest of your diet look like?

    Most of the atkins/LCHF studies also increase MUFA/PUFA even while maintain low fiber levels. Both MUFA/PUFA and weight loss all influence improvements in metabolic markers.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    ladipoet wrote: »
    Must disagree with you on this one @psulemon (see attached picture of my own cholesterol numbers) especially since my fiber intake is fairly low.

    Just losing weight and exercising more can give those kinds of results. I doubt you would see those inprovements if you went low carb but retained your weight and fitness levels.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
    edited September 2017
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, eating saturated fats will not commonly negatively affect your cholesterol. Plus it has been shown, unless excessively consumed, that saturated fat does not lead to CAD.

    If you do want to limit saturated fats while keto, a diet heavier in egg whites, nuts, leaner meats and seafood (as your protein and fat sources) may work well for you.

    This is an intersting video about one man's experiments on excess calories and very high at intake, and how it improved colesterol in people within a few days.

    In all fairness though, at best SFA dont harm you, but they certainly dont improve cholesterol. A person is much better off having a diet rich in USFA and fiber, which have been shown to improve health, along with weight loss and exercise.

    But he did improve cholesterol with a high SFA diet. Within days. Repeated by others.

    Short term adjustments, don't always reflect what occurs over a long term. For example, if if you start exercising and the next day get blood work, you will show increases to inflammation levels; dropping carbs can effect triglycerides; doing long or intense lifting sessions can effect creatine levels. That is why it's important to evaluate long term results.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    Options
    ladipoet wrote: »
    Must disagree with you on this one @psulemon (see attached picture of my own cholesterol numbers) especially since my fiber intake is fairly low.

    just want to say for you whatever you did worked,and thats great. for me I have genetically high cholesterol and it wasnt until I went low fat/low cholesterol and high fiber did my high cholesterol of over 15 years(took meds and followed the low fat low cholesterol diet without the fiber) come down and is now in the normal ranges for the first time ever. for me losing weight did nothing and my cholesterol was high when I was at a healthy weight 140lbs(at the time).

    I am taking meds sure, but even before when I took meds it came down a little but not much. for me I thought I just had high cholesterol so I even tried keto,as many were saying it would help my cholesterolI(I had stopped meds way before this as I was having some side effects) and guess what? it made me sick,I had no energy, I was lethargic,couldnt think straight and that was for 2 months straight. my inflammation levels were higher,my liver enzymes were high. I stopped that and started the regimen Im on now(low fat,low cholesterol,high fiber and meds).

    a year and a half later and the numbers are great,inflammation numbers are normal as well as my liver enzymes. for me high fat and low carbs made my cholesterol worse and my health. it took less than 6 months to start seeing the numbers plummet . so what works for some peoples cholesterol wont work for others. for me the "bad" fats and cholesterol and even too much of the good can be too much, as my liver and body cannot process them properly and sends signals to my brain to process more.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    Options
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, eating saturated fats will not commonly negatively affect your cholesterol. Plus it has been shown, unless excessively consumed, that saturated fat does not lead to CAD.

    If you do want to limit saturated fats while keto, a diet heavier in egg whites, nuts, leaner meats and seafood (as your protein and fat sources) may work well for you.

    This is an intersting video about one man's experiments on excess calories and very high at intake, and how it improved colesterol in people within a few days.

    In all fairness though, at best SFA dont harm you, but they certainly dont improve cholesterol. A person is much better off having a diet rich in USFA and fiber, which have been shown to improve health, along with weight loss and exercise.

    But he did improve cholesterol with a high SFA diet. Within days. Repeated by others.

    Short term adjustments, don't always reflect what occurs over a long term. For example, if if you start exercising and the new day get blood work, you will show increases to inflammation levels; dropping carbs can effect triglycerides; doing long or intense lifting sessions can effect creatine levels. That is why it's important to evaluate long term results.

    yep I have had those issues in the past. even months later. thankfully it hasnt been an issue in awhile
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Maybe you should look at other diet plans that are more focused on a plant based, low saturated fats diet.
  • catherinearchibald
    catherinearchibald Posts: 7 Member
    edited September 2017
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    Why don't you have a wee look at the dukan diet? It's low fat and you could customize it to suit your needs. There's an official site that's great and worth a look but I found mydukandiet.com really helpful too. I hope you find something that works for you.
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    You can show the same results with almost every diet out there.

    Not surprised by this statement at all and actually agree with you on this point. ;)
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Consider I know how lean you are and your exercise routine, it's quite possible they are having a greater effect that specific dietary component. The question also is, what does the rest of your diet look like?

    If you really want to know @psuLemon, my diary is always open and I do literally log everything. I imagine that looking through it would get pretty boring after a while though. :) (BTW, on a side note, hope all is well with you and yours!!)
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    Options
    just want to say for you whatever you did worked,and that's great. for me I have genetically high cholesterol and it wasn't until I went low fat/low cholesterol and high fiber did my high cholesterol of over 15 years(took meds and followed the low fat low cholesterol diet without the fiber) come down and is now in the normal ranges for the first time ever. for me losing weight did nothing and my cholesterol was high when I was at a healthy weight 140lbs(at the time).

    I am taking meds sure, but even before when I took meds it came down a little but not much. for me I thought I just had high cholesterol so I even tried keto,as many were saying it would help my cholesterolI(I had stopped meds way before this as I was having some side effects) and guess what? it made me sick,I had no energy, I was lethargic,couldnt think straight and that was for 2 months straight. my inflammation levels were higher,my liver enzymes were high. I stopped that and started the regimen Im on now(low fat,low cholesterol,high fiber and meds).

    a year and a half later and the numbers are great,inflammation numbers are normal as well as my liver enzymes. for me high fat and low carbs made my cholesterol worse and my health. it took less than 6 months to start seeing the numbers plummet . so what works for some peoples cholesterol wont work for others. for me the "bad" fats and cholesterol and even too much of the good can be too much, as my liver and body cannot process them properly and sends signals to my brain to process more.

    @CharlieBeansmomTracey ...that really sucks that you have genetically high cholesterol (truly)!! The side effects you experienced sound awful. I know that there are others out there like you who are in this same boat. There are a few members in the main low carb daily forum group who deal with the same thing. I am glad that you found something that works for you which clearly helps your body with this issue!! I do likewise wholeheartedly agree with the bolded statement above.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
    Options
    ladipoet wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    You can show the same results with almost every diet out there.

    Not surprised by this statement at all and actually agree with you on this point. ;)
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Consider I know how lean you are and your exercise routine, it's quite possible they are having a greater effect that specific dietary component. The question also is, what does the rest of your diet look like?

    If you really want to know @psuLemon, my diary is always open and I do literally log everything. I imagine that looking through it would get pretty boring after a while though. :) (BTW, on a side note, hope all is well with you and yours!!)

    Yea, your diet isn't too bad.. so inline with what it used to be. I suspect that you balance your fats, because you seem to add a good amount of nuts or nut derived foods which is PUFA/MUFA.


    And I am good. I am having a baby girl in about 12 weeks.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    Options
    ladipoet wrote: »
    just want to say for you whatever you did worked,and that's great. for me I have genetically high cholesterol and it wasn't until I went low fat/low cholesterol and high fiber did my high cholesterol of over 15 years(took meds and followed the low fat low cholesterol diet without the fiber) come down and is now in the normal ranges for the first time ever. for me losing weight did nothing and my cholesterol was high when I was at a healthy weight 140lbs(at the time).

    I am taking meds sure, but even before when I took meds it came down a little but not much. for me I thought I just had high cholesterol so I even tried keto,as many were saying it would help my cholesterolI(I had stopped meds way before this as I was having some side effects) and guess what? it made me sick,I had no energy, I was lethargic,couldnt think straight and that was for 2 months straight. my inflammation levels were higher,my liver enzymes were high. I stopped that and started the regimen Im on now(low fat,low cholesterol,high fiber and meds).

    a year and a half later and the numbers are great,inflammation numbers are normal as well as my liver enzymes. for me high fat and low carbs made my cholesterol worse and my health. it took less than 6 months to start seeing the numbers plummet . so what works for some peoples cholesterol wont work for others. for me the "bad" fats and cholesterol and even too much of the good can be too much, as my liver and body cannot process them properly and sends signals to my brain to process more.

    @CharlieBeansmomTracey ...that really sucks that you have genetically high cholesterol (truly)!! The side effects you experienced sound awful. I know that there are others out there like you who are in this same boat. There are a few members in the main low carb daily forum group who deal with the same thing. I am glad that you found something that works for you which clearly helps your body with this issue!! I do likewise wholeheartedly agree with the bolded statement above.

    thanks and yeah it does suck, but I know now what works and plan on sticking to it. I kind of have to though. dont need the issues it can cause if I dont keep it under control.I wish I had known sooner that I had familial hypercholesterolemia, it would have saved a lot of issues and Im glad none of the severe side effects happened.
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    Options
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Yea, your diet isn't too bad.. so inline with what it used to be. I suspect that you balance your fats, because you seem to add a good amount of nuts or nut derived foods which is PUFA/MUFA.

    And I am good. I am having a baby girl in about 12 weeks.

    Yes, I definitely love me my nuts...the crunch factor is a bonus too! Not all, but some of the baked goodies I make often use a combination of nut flours as well (walnut meal, almond flour, hazelnut meal).

    OMG Lemon!!!! That is awesome news....so happy for you and D and your growing family!! :)<3
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Options
    psuLemon wrote: »
    ladipoet wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    You can show the same results with almost every diet out there.

    Not surprised by this statement at all and actually agree with you on this point. ;)
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Consider I know how lean you are and your exercise routine, it's quite possible they are having a greater effect that specific dietary component. The question also is, what does the rest of your diet look like?

    If you really want to know @psuLemon, my diary is always open and I do literally log everything. I imagine that looking through it would get pretty boring after a while though. :) (BTW, on a side note, hope all is well with you and yours!!)

    Yea, your diet isn't too bad.. so inline with what it used to be. I suspect that you balance your fats, because you seem to add a good amount of nuts or nut derived foods which is PUFA/MUFA.


    And I am good. I am having a baby girl in about 12 weeks.

    Congratulations! :)