Blood tests

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alexstosic
alexstosic Posts: 11 Member
Anyone on keto improved their blood tests?
I'm really interested cause I want to take a new test by the end of the week
And doing keto for a month now, and I'm eating a lot of chees and eggs.
I'm a little concerned about cholesterol

Replies

  • wildfirediva
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    Honestly some people have seen a spike in Total Cholesterol but they have also noted an increase in HDL (good cholesterol). I believe there are a few forums on http://www.bodybuilding.com on this exact subject.

    Personally I tend to feel many doctors get caught up in the Total number and really want it to be extraordinarily low (often below 100). If you have no family history of heart disease or predisposed condition, in many newer studies up to 250 can be healthy. [Relatively to source of fats - Quality OFAs, Grass fed beef/pork/chicken/lamb, etc. ]
  • gmansmom2
    gmansmom2 Posts: 201 Member
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    How did your tests go?
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
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    Often times blood tri's are a bit high because of fat mobilization. Most doctors freak out about this. Cholesterol is not specifically bad for us nor does it cause problems. They also freak out about this too. Find a new doctor if this is the case.

    A high cholesterol is a sign of good health while it's in good balance. That's why Low carb, AND low inflammation is an overall healthy diet despite what the common sheep believe.

    So I think (opinion here) that blood tests are not a good way to measure vascular health. Instead, measure the inflammation and check for blockages. I've seen studies were very low carb people have had their heart disease nearly 100% reversed. That's worth noting. Do your own research though and make your own conclusions.
  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
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    My cholesterol was never in an unhealthy range but it was sitting at the top of a healthy range. All my numbers have come down except the HDL which went up one point (a good thing). I don't remember what my total numbers were 6 months ago when I started back on a keto diet but in the last 3 months my triglycerides went down from 103 to 68. I eat all the eggs, bacon and meat I want (within calorie limits). I gave up dairy about 2 months ago for hormonal reasons.
  • astronomer25
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    Blood tests only a month out are not worth it in my opinion. You should wait about 12 weeks and measure your progress then. If you are truely keto-adaptive, then it should take 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust. Eating a cheat meal can knock you out of of the keto-adaptive state, so I would make sure you are not cheating for at least 2-3 weeks before the blood work.

    By the way, I am assuming you are doing Nutritional Ketosis (Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Peformance, or Why we get Fat books). If that is the case, then you should be eating 85% fat, 15% protein, and 5% carbs.

    Studies show that High Cholesterol is more often because of dietary carbs instead of dietary fat. 25% of your Cholesterol is due to dietary intake, the rest is made by your body. BTW - all cholesterol is good, its only when it ends up in your artery walls that it is bad. If you are truely concerned about your cholesterol, then you need to get an NMR lipoprofile test or a VAP panel test to measure cholesterol instead of the standard lipo blood tests which only give you LDL, HDL, and Triglycerides.

    http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-iii