high triglycerides and low HDL

girlviernes
girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
in Food and Nutrition
In June I had a scare with having a possible plaque in my eye and some stenosis showing up on a carotid artery ultrasound. At the time my HDL was 42, LDL was 81 , and triglycerides were 277. My vitamin D was also very low. I started taking a baby aspirin daily and vitamin D supplement. I have PCOS, and I strongly believe I have insulin resistance but that has never been diagnosed (A1C is about 5.2, fasting glucose 81). I'm also about 90 lbs overweight.

I've been working on my diet for about a month, and I have been steadily getting more active for about 2 months (in the last week I exercised every day). I've lost about 18 lbs since June.

Today I did a fitness assessment and my HDL was 34, LDL 57, and triglycerides were 326. I'm very frustrated to see the numbers going in the wrong direction.

First of all, I am wondering if today's test was accurate since I was not a full 12 hours fasted (I was about 11 hours fasted), and they just used a little machine that gave results in about 5 min.

Second, would you expect to see improvements in this time frame, or do I need to have more patience?

I know I have room in my diet for change. Right now I am eating a lot of processed meat and I can probably reduce my carbohydrate intake, although I like the balance I am at now which is about 190 g/day (on an 1800 kcal diet). It feels very sustainable, and I am eating practically no refined carbohydrates.

Replies

  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    To clarify, I would like to know whether I should not put too much emphasis on the results today (either because they are likely innacurate or it would be too soon to have seen improvements) because I have found a diet that works well for me in that I'm losing weight and have no desire to binge eat or overeat. However, if I should have seen improvements by now then I will try making additional changes to diet.

    Thank you!
  • morlanchaos
    morlanchaos Posts: 25 Member
    In my experience, lipid levels are not repeated any sooner than 4-6 mos. I was told by a physician it really does take a while for those changes to occur.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    I improved my lipid profiles (after 6 mos.) from increased fibre and decreased carbohydrates in my diet.
    Anecdotal obviously n=1
    Nothing crazy, I just cut back carbs to about 40% (180g) of daily macros or less. Ratio was C/P/F 40/25/35
    Seems counter-intuitive but raising fat and lowering carbs lowered my LDL/triglycerides and raised my HDL.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    I wouldn't go by your second reading it takes longer to get blood analyzed than that. Anyway I would reduce your carb intake and replace it with protein and not worry too much about the saturated fat, in fact embrace it........this is the basic formula to raise HDL and lower triglycerides and of course losing weight and exercising. Both of the dietary changes also effect particle size of cholesterol lipoproteins effecting the size upwards........which is less atherogenic. imo

    Fred and I are on the same page. Cheers Fred :drinker:
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Forget about today's test. You will need three or more months using an appropriate lab.
    To reduce triglycerides, cut carbs and eat omega 3-- fish oil, salmon, walnuts.
    The LDL will go down when you lose some weigh and the HDL can go up with exercise.

    Keep in mind that the LDL is mostly a result of our genes and is not influenced a great deal by diet.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member


    Keep in mind that the LDL is mostly a result of our genes and is not influenced a great deal by diet.
    While I do agree with this generally speaking, diet is actually 1 area where we can influence which type of LDL lipoprotein the liver will produce. In order for the liver to deliver the required cholesterol for all of the bodies needs it requires a transport system, which is a lipoprotein but they also carry proteins and triglycerides, mostly triglycerides generally. If a person has a high triglyceride count the liver will actually produce more lipoproteins to carry the given amount of cholesterol that was originally needed. Basically someone can have 2000 LDL particles that carry X amount of choleterol and another can have 400 carrying the exact amount of cholesterol. The problem is the smaller the amount of cholesterol in each lipoprotein the more atherogenic it becomes, so basically we want big LDL lipoproteins and simply lowering triglycerides does exactly that, and they're less atherogenic....and lowering refined carbs and sugar does that in spades.....Hope that made some sense. lol
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Thank you for the feedback. I will continue with what I have been doing, but I will make steps towards increasing omega 3s and reducing grains in particular a bit further.

    Very interesting about the lipoproteins. I have been wondering if my cholesterol numbers themselves looking pretty low could have to do with the high triglycerides.
  • qotsagirl314
    qotsagirl314 Posts: 20 Member
    Hi there, could you clarify something? Was your blood work lipid panel a fasting one? One thing I learned rounding with doctors is that triglycerides can read very high if it's not a fasting level.

    Edit: Derp, totally missed the part where you said you fasted for 11 hours. But yeah, levels can be off if you've eaten anything besides water and black coffee.

    Some things that can raise triglycerides is having a high carb diet, but genetics definitely play a role. You should aim for total cholesterol of <200, LDL<100, HDL>45 (females), and Trig <150. Goals are more strict if you're a diabetic or you have cardiovascular or peripheral artery disease. When was your last A1c? An A1c of 5.2 is not bad at all. That's normal. An A1c of >6.4 is diabetic.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    In my experience, lipid levels are not repeated any sooner than 4-6 mos. I was told by a physician it really does take a while for those changes to occur.

    My husband has problems with triglycerides and his doctor tests again in 3 months. He can get significant improvement in the time from simply cutting back on beer and exercising more.

    I don't know anything about PCOS (I had to google it) but I would be very concerned if my numbers jumped that much higher when I was actively trying to reduce them. 11 vs. 12 hours of fasting should make little difference in the resutls, if any at all.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Carbohydrates are responsible for the triglycerides in general, if you have IR that fits. Calculated LDL may be depressed by the high triglycerides, did they give you total cholesterol ?

    The rapid analysers are good enough for tracking.
  • Kate7294
    Kate7294 Posts: 783 Member
    Bump...
    Will need to be tested again myself in a few months.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Total cholesterol is 157.

    My A1C of 5.2 was in June. However, I have been reading/hearing lately that insulin resistance especially in women can be missed by A1C/fasting glucose at least for a long time. I have a number of clinical features including PCOS, carry my weight in the middle, and darkened skin around my neck and armpits. I'm going to see an endocrinologist in a couple of weeks who I hope will help me to clarify and treat this, as past doctors have always looked at my A1C and dismissed any concerns I had about IR.
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
    I'd give it a bit more time. You didn't mention exercise but are you working out on a regular basis? If not, try to add in cardio, weight training, and stretching. It does wonders for blood sugar and cholesterol numbers!:smile:
    By the way, I took a peek at your food diary. I was expecting to see lots of processed food but not so much. You eat a pretty clean diet and make some great choices! Nice work! The only thing I noticed was quite a few meals with pasta but you also had some nice meals with kale too!
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Hey, thanks for taking the time to look at my diary. I probably should label things more clearly. The "pasta!" is actually my label for pasta sauce I made with red sauce, chicken sausage, onions, and asparagus. I tend to cook in big batches and then eat that for a while.

    Regarding exercise, I take dance class about twice a week and go out to dance for a few hours 1-2x per week. I've started using cardio machines and weight lifting as well but just in the past week. I'm doing a challenge and that has motivated me to up it significantly.

    I'm definitely feeling good about where I am but very anxious about my health with the numbers and other issues. But frankly, it took 20 years of poor food choices and being sedentary to get here, and sadly I can't undo that damage in a month or two.

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