Sudden spike in cholesterol...any ideas???

souzan651

Every six months I have my blood work done as part of my diabetic review. April last year my cholesterol was 7.9 or 305 I started
my keto lifestyle on 23-Apr-13. In September 13 six months later I had my blood tested again and my cholesterol had a significant drop to 3.9 or 150, my blood was tested again last week and my cholesterol has spiked and is back to 7.1 or 274. I have changed nothing in my diet and log everything everyday. I know my weight loss has been very quick, this was not intentional it just happened that way and now I have slowed down. I don't know if this would have a bearing on my cholesterol level, and I am quite baffled I don't understand why this has happened. The medical team I see do not understand the ketogenic diet, and no matter how I try to inform and enlighten them they are very dismissive and of course it is my diet to blame. Does anyone have any idea or has this happened to anyone else. I have done a lot of research and can find no evidence of a keto diet having this effect.
So please anyone with any ideas...please enlighten me.
Thank you for your time, I hope I haven't bored you too much.

crossroad2012

Did your blood work have a breakdown of how much was HDL and LDL? They usually throw in a triglyceride check along with it. You would need to compare all of these numbers to make sure your body is on the right track.

kiramaniac

Yes. Total Cholesterol is an outdated way of assessing risk.

Here's the deal.
On LC, typically triglycerides go down (they are directly tied to sugar / carbs. That's great.
HDL typically goes up. HDL is typically known as "the good cholesterol". This is also good.
LDL meanwhile is calculated based on your total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL. LDL is considered "the bad cholesterol". LDL sometimes does some weird stuff. For some, it goes down. For others, it goes up.

The problem is that LDL can actually be "fluffy" or "dense". The fluffy stuff is fine. It's the dense LDL that becomes an issue. On Low Carb, LDL typically gets larger and fluffier. But they don't measure the size of the particles - they are only measuring the quantity. Why does LDL become more dense? Triglycerides (which again, ties back to sugar).


Take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E57cFhjpxgw

If you want to jump ahead, go to around 12:30 in the video - here they talk about cholesterol values. But the entire video is quite interesting and informative, and explains what's happening in your body with fat storage and sugar and cholesterol.


Other resources --
There's a new documentary out called "Cereal Killers" where they discuss cholesterol quite a bit. The individual in Cereal Killers goes on keto, and does have the particle size measured before and after.

This article also talks about this -- see # 5 and #9.
http://authoritynutrition.com/10-benefits-of-low-carb-ketogenic-diets

I also like this cholesterol ratio calculator, which I think does a good job of looking at the ratios(which tend to be more important than any of the individual values).
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol.php

One more. Jimmy Moore also has a book he put out recently called "Cholesterol Clarity". Here he tries to explain the cholesterol issues. Jimmy is a long time low carber, and did a full 1 year "experiment" with nutritional ketosis, where he measured his blood ketones every day. It's also worth checking out.

FindingMyPerfection

Yes. Total Cholesterol is an outdated way of assessing risk.

Here's the deal.
On LC, typically triglycerides go down (they are directly tied to sugar / carbs. That's great.
HDL typically goes up. HDL is typically known as "the good cholesterol". This is also good.
LDL meanwhile is calculated based on your total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL. LDL is considered "the bad cholesterol". LDL sometimes does some weird stuff. For some, it goes down. For others, it goes up.

The problem is that LDL can actually be "fluffy" or "dense". The fluffy stuff is fine. It's the dense LDL that becomes an issue. On Low Carb, LDL typically gets larger and fluffier. But they don't measure the size of the particles - they are only measuring the quantity. Why does LDL become more dense? Triglycerides (which again, ties back to sugar).


Take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E57cFhjpxgw

If you want to jump ahead, go to around 12:30 in the video - here they talk about cholesterol values. But the entire video is quite interesting and informative, and explains what's happening in your body with fat storage and sugar and cholesterol.


Other resources --
There's a new documentary out called "Cereal Killers" where they discuss cholesterol quite a bit. The individual in Cereal Killers goes on keto, and does have the particle size measured before and after.

This article also talks about this -- see # 5 and #9.
http://authoritynutrition.com/10-benefits-of-low-carb-ketogenic-diets

I also like this cholesterol ratio calculator, which I think does a good job of looking at the ratios(which tend to be more important than any of the individual values).
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol.php

One more. Jimmy Moore also has a book he put out recently called "Cholesterol Clarity". Here he tries to explain the cholesterol issues. Jimmy is a long time low carber, and did a full 1 year "experiment" with nutritional ketosis, where he measured his blood ketones every day. It's also worth checking out.

bump to keep this info.

souzan651

Thank you so much Kira, as ever lots of great information. I am waiting for my copy of the blood test to come through, and I will be able to see the ratio of LDL and HDL. All the other tests that have been done, I was in "normal" range. When I asked about the level of triglycerides I was told that was also in normal range. I am finding this quite difficult to understand especially after the first six months when my cholesterol dropped to an acceptable level, and then has spiked to a ridiculous level. Still I have never felt better that I do at the moment. So I am going to plough through all your great info, I am going to calm down and keto on!

kiramaniac

One more for you... http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2010/03/22/dr-uffe-ravnskov-fat-and-cholesterol-are-good-for-you/

At a workshop held at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, researchers looked at every single study about the risk of having high or low cholesterol and came to the same conclusion: Mortality was higher for women with low cholesterol than for women with high cholesterol.

That's right... Mortality is HIGHER for women with low cholesterol.

keep calm, and keto on...

souzan651

Thanks again Kira, I have just bought the Jimmy Moore Cholesterol Clarity, An excellent piece of work. I am feeling good again about my chosen way of life. The more I read and find out, the more empowered I become. Although It took a very compassionate Doctor to make me realise I had given up on life and had stopped caring about myself because of the weight I had gained and the years I had spent trying to lose it. Now I feel great and life is for living to the full, and just when I feel I have been knocked down again (the news of having very high cholesterol) you wonderful lady give me the information to pick myself back up and keto on. xx

kiramaniac

Yay! It is so frustrating to think of how many people have probably quit low carb because of cholesterol results that didn't fit the outdated model. It is crazy.

You are on the right path!

janruffin

Please understand that your health care practioner is required to give you a full copy of your lab work if you request it.
This is under the ACA (Obamacare). Telling you it is "normal" is not giving you the answers you need.

kiramaniac

Another one for you --
http://primaldocs.com/opinion/must-respectfully-disagree/

In the new paradigm, from current science, we have learned that:

Dietary cholesterol has little influence over serum cholesterol: the body increases cholesterol production when dietary cholesterol falls, and vise versa.

There is no correlation between cardiovascular disease and any of the following: dietary saturated fat, total LDL, total or dietary cholesterol.

LDL cholesterol values represent a heterogeneous population of hazardous LDL particles (small, beady and likely to get caught in an inflamed blood vessel) and big fluffy LDL particles that bounce right over any bump in the vascular road. Two ways to determine your LDL particle profile are the LDL particle number (high numbers are hazardous, representing more small particles) and the LDL typing, A (big) vs. B (small) particles.

The potential side effects of statins include increased risk of muscle pain, dementia and cognitive deficits, breast cancer, and more.

The potential side effects of a high carbohydrate diet in sensitive people include elevated triglycerides, fasting glucose, visceral fat accumulation and type 2 diabetes.

Saturated fats, cholesterol, and nutrients in avocados, coconut oil, and eggs are well loved by your brain, heart and metabolism.

Most importantly we have learned in the new paradigm that a low carbohydrate, high fat, moderate protein diet outperforms both the Mediterranean Diet and the ultra-low-fat Ornish diet when it comes to weight loss and preventing or reversing the main plagues of modern civilization, which I would count as six: cardiovascular disease (heart disease and strokes), type 2 diabetes, cancer, arthritis, dementia and depression. I use the word “plague” quite intentionally: as a nation we suffer significant morbidity, mortality, and expense attributed to all of these conditions.