Getting more protein if you have high cholesteral?

AlexiaC47
AlexiaC47 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Unfortunately I have high cholesterol. Probably genetic and food based both. My doctor has gave me time to get it down with eating better before she puts me on medication. And, it is working.

I have cut out red meat and cut back very significantly on cheese and eggs (I have read mixed studies on eggs). I do not eat fried foods.

I eat a lot of healthy proteins -- I used to be a vegetarian, so I know how. I eat beans, lentils, tofu, chickpeas etc. The problem is these are high carbs!

I have added more fish and chicken into my diet. I eat fish or chicken a few times a week and vegetarian the rest. I despise the taste of plain egg whites.

The problem is my macros are about 50% + carbs and barely 30 protein. I am losing weight though since joining here, But the macros seem very off to me (I was hoping for 40p/40c and 20 fat).

any ideas? Thank you

Replies

  • AlexiaC47
    AlexiaC47 Posts: 65 Member
    edited October 2020
    Ann thanks so much for your response.

    The reason I care about carbs is that I feel they will make it harder to lose belly fat, and because I joined here recently.
    I was on WW before and did not think about macros much. But even then, I would cut carbs as a plateau buster (Maybe it was in my head...)

    I am 5'3", 121, and want to get to my normal range of 112-117, ideally around 115.

    I just scanned through my last 10 days. I am getting 45-60g of protein on my vegetarian days, and about 90 on my seafood/chicken days. I guess the 45g days are too low. Thanks again.

    PS I should add that I eat Greek nonfat (sometime low-fat) plain yogurt almost every day, legumes/beans almost every day, an egg once a week, and chicken, lean ground turkey or seafood a few times a week)
  • JessAndreia
    JessAndreia Posts: 540 Member
    Tofu isn't high carbs. Legumes are, but losing fat is about calories.
    You can always reduce your carb intake of other high carb foods that are low in protein to make up for it if you personally don't want to eat too many carbs. Less rice and potatoes, more legumes, opting for lentil or chickpea pasta (although regular pasta has decent protein).
    Seitan and mock meats aren't that high in carbs either.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    AlexiaC47 wrote: »
    Ann thanks so much for your response.

    The reason I care about carbs is that I feel they will make it harder to lose belly fat, and because I joined here recently.
    I was on WW before and did not think about macros much. But even then, I would cut carbs as a plateau buster (Maybe it was in my head...)

    I am 5'3", 121, and want to get to my normal range of 112-117, ideally around 115.

    I just scanned through my last 10 days. I am getting 45-60g of protein on my vegetarian days, and about 90 on my seafood/chicken days. I guess the 45g days are too low. Thanks again.

    PS I should add that I eat Greek nonfat (sometime low-fat) plain yogurt almost every day, legumes/beans almost every day, an egg once a week, and chicken, lean ground turkey or seafood a few times a week)

    For me, abdominal fat is among the last areas to deplete . . . irrespective of my macros. I've lost mostly abdominal fat, though, while (re-)losing a few vanity pounds ultra slowly in maintenance, over the past year. That, at 200g+ carbs (a little below 50%, but not much) pretty much every day. For reference, I'm 5'5", bouncing around 125 pounds right now, still losing slowly, but close to putting on the brakes. (Don't wanna buy new jeans! 😆)

    Cutting carbs from normal levels will reduce water retention (metabolizing a gram of carbs ties up about 3 grams of water) and cutting any one macro cuts calories, either of which will change an apparent plateau on the scale. The carb cut at constant calories is likely water weight loss, predominantly, though, IMO.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    AlexiaC47 wrote: »
    Ann thanks so much for your response.

    The reason I care about carbs is that I feel they will make it harder to lose belly fat, and because I joined here recently.
    I was on WW before and did not think about macros much. But even then, I would cut carbs as a plateau buster (Maybe it was in my head...)

    I am 5'3", 121, and want to get to my normal range of 112-117, ideally around 115.

    I just scanned through my last 10 days. I am getting 45-60g of protein on my vegetarian days, and about 90 on my seafood/chicken days. I guess the 45g days are too low. Thanks again.

    PS I should add that I eat Greek nonfat (sometime low-fat) plain yogurt almost every day, legumes/beans almost every day, an egg once a week, and chicken, lean ground turkey or seafood a few times a week)

    Cutting carbs will reduce water weight so that would move the scale but it would just come right back. As far as reducing fat you could eat 100 percent carbs (don't do that) and if you are in a calorie deficit you would lose weight. The only advantage in weight loss is that for some people a high carb percentage is less hunger control. I will sometimes see this if my protein is not high enough in a given day but that rarely happens.

    115 * .6 = 69g of protein per day. If you need a little extra help on your vegetarian day you could look at a protein powder to mix in your yogurt. Be prepared to add a little liquid to the yogurt to thin it back out some. I usually just pour some coffee from my cup into mine.
  • AlexiaC47
    AlexiaC47 Posts: 65 Member
    Thanks all.
  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 905 Member
    For reducing cholesterol, do more
    Cardio, slow acting niacin with help brewing it down a point as well
  • mariomicro
    mariomicro Posts: 74 Member
    AlexiaC47 wrote: »
    The reason I care about carbs is that I feel they will make it harder to lose belly fat,

    I totally agree with this point and I know I'm in the minority here. However, I find there's no point in restricting carbs unless you restrict them to <50 g/day. You're either in ketosis or not. Cycling between being in and out of ketosis is exhausting.

    My cholesterol jumped when I started keto (2.5 years ago) and now it's in the normal range.

  • AlexiaC47
    AlexiaC47 Posts: 65 Member
    Extremes don’t work for me. I tried Atkins years ago, which totally worked for about 2 weeks, but with an awful boomerang.
    I understand the point of all or nothing w/Ketosis. I don’t want to be there. Just change my ratio a bit.

    Luckily I do a ton of cardio. I should have mentioned my good cholesterol is very high (90-100).

    Many years ago I was a vegan for 2 years (before vegetarian for 10, and back to mixed). As a vegan I had become very lean and thin. 105 lb. I don’t remember macros back then but I’d bet my carb ratio was higher. So I guess that argues for calories being more important for weight loss.

    You guys are making me feel like my macros are within an ok range. I’ll maybe sneak in more egg whites and protein powder.
    Thank you!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Hopefully your doctor is smarter than my mother's doctor's office. Her cholesterol was flagged as being high, and she was almost given a prescription for a statin by the PA, until I reminded Mom that when we looked at her test results, it was just her GOOD (HDL) cholesterol that was higher than normal and her BAD (LDL) was well within normal range.

    She eats lots of carbs. She's not following any particular plan, but it is very similar to the Mediterranean Diet.

    Because she is very very active and does not eat a lot of calorie dense foods, she struggles a bit to stay above Underweight.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    AlexiaC47 wrote: »
    Extremes don’t work for me. I tried Atkins years ago, which totally worked for about 2 weeks, but with an awful boomerang.
    I understand the point of all or nothing w/Ketosis. I don’t want to be there. Just change my ratio a bit.

    Luckily I do a ton of cardio. I should have mentioned my good cholesterol is very high (90-100).

    Many years ago I was a vegan for 2 years (before vegetarian for 10, and back to mixed). As a vegan I had become very lean and thin. 105 lb. I don’t remember macros back then but I’d bet my carb ratio was higher. So I guess that argues for calories being more important for weight loss.

    You guys are making me feel like my macros are within an ok range. I’ll maybe sneak in more egg whites and protein powder.
    Thank you!

    So, what's your total cholesterol, LDL, ratio? Triglycerides? If HDL is at 90, total cholesterol is likely to be high, but whether that's a problem . . . ?
  • AlexiaC47
    AlexiaC47 Posts: 65 Member
    Hi- yes it's a problem if unchecked. My bad cholesterol (when I am not being careful) is between 160-200--very high. Triglycerides 89. Before covid, I had gotten the bad cholesterol down to 140 by careful purposeful eating (still high, but low for me).

    Right now LDL/bad is 160 but I am re-testing in a few months to see how low I can get it. If I do not lower it significantly, I may need meds.

    It's mainly genetic for me, but diet can help control it. I really want to avoid medication if I can.

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