How worried should I be about cholesterol?

heathernz

I'm looking for some guidance here - for some reason I find the readings around cholesterol confusing.

Six months ago the Dr told me my cholesterol was on the high side - the reading in New Zealand are different that the US, but here I had a rating of 6, which I think converts to 230.

In the past six months I have lost 10kgs (22lbs), 8kgs (17lbs) of that has been this year. Last week I had my cholesterol test re done, and it has increased significantly - to 6.6 (around 250).

I love this primal way of eating and i feel great, but I'm not sure how worried I should be about the cholesterol. I though I would google which meats are the highest and reduce them, and introduce more fish, which we don't eat much of.

Has anyone had a similar experience of cholesterol increase with primal? Any ideas, information, feedback (or reassurance!) would be appreciated!!!

Cheers Heather

heathernz

By the way my LDL was apparently high - increased from 4.2 (162) to 4.5 (174) - however my HDL level was good - increased from 1.4 (54) to 1.5 (58). At least one reading was good!!! Sigh...

njdoll

what were your triglycerides?

ThePBQ

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss!

Decreasing your red meat intake and increasing the amount of fish you're eating might help. I wouldn't eliminate red meat altogether, but fish is a great, delicious source of protein full of omega-3s and all kinds of good stuff. So it would be good to eat more of it even if you weren't worried about your cholesterol. You might also consider increasing your ratio of vegetables to meat. While I'm a firm believer in eating some sort of protein at most meals, you might want to decrease the meat and increase the veggies on your plate.

Also, you haven't mentioned anything about your exercise habits. If you're not exercising, getting moving will help you lower your cholesterol.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

njdoll

This is a great read for not just OP but anyone wanting to understand the numbers:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread4723.html

twinmom01

I've had the opposite - my cholesterol has gone down...

Here is the thing about cholesterol - it is primarily genetic and only slightly influenced by the intake in dietary cholesterol - so if you are genetically predispositioned to higher cholesterol then you do want to watch your dietary some...

heathernz

My exercise levels are good - three or four gym visits per week and usually a couple of brisk 30 minute walks also. I think dropping some meat is indeed the logical step, and replacing them with fish. I've also stopped having an egg every day with breakfast to every second day, having more tomato and mushroom instead.

Also I've stopped cooking in butter, gone back to olive oil. I've also heard that almonds and walnuts are good for cholesterol, I don't particularly like either but do sometime use LSA - which I will now use more often.

I figure too that I will be a little more careful but not change what I am doing too much until I get closer to my goal weight - then I will further reduce protein and fat - lucky I love my veges!!!

The Dr offered me a session with a dietician - but I know they are gonna want me to eat stuff like grains... so I'm gonna figure this out myself and stick with the primal - just found this, not giving it up now - I feel too good

jessiepilot

What I tell my patients is to not even look at their total cholesterol - it means nothing if it's high because your HDL, or good cholesterol is included in the calculation. High LDL levels have a familial component in some people - we generally want to see them < 140-160 but if your HDL is high we're not so worried about a higher LDL. The best thing you can do for LDL is not have a high percent of body fat, especially belly fat - most providers no longer tell their patients to cut out red meat, a balanced diet and low body fat are key.

_Kitten_Kate

This is a great read for not just OP but anyone wanting to understand the numbers:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread4723.html

Thanks for this ..
I just got my blood test done and they said mine was high.. 204.
I have been dieting since January. But started Primal the week of the test...(last week)

Great info.
The only thing about the info is...and I could be wrong, but I wrote a paper on it.. I may not remember correctly..
But damage to the arteries comes from inside the artery walls.... a layer becomes exposed. Then the body "patches" it with cholestrol. I'd have to dig up the paper to double check. but I think I remember that correctly. But don't quote me.

Anyway... Thanks for the info.

As soon as I get my full results.. I gonna use those calculations.

cathyL11

I would say not to worry about your cholesterol and worry more about keeping your trigliceride levels low. Remember too that if you were a high carb eater and had any kind of fatty liver disease as a result -- you might be losing fat from your liver which will temporarily increase your cholesterol level.