Low carb vs low cal for metabolic syndrome
wabmester
Posts: 2,748 Member
Noob here with a long-time diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.
In the past, I viewed my metabolic syndrome as a curiosity. No meds were recommended because my total cholesterol and blood sugar were "normal."
That changed this year after AMA guidelines for recommending statins changed. Apparently, the new guidelines recommend statins for anybody with a 10-year CHD risk > 7%. I didn't want to start on statins, so I asked my doc for options. He said "lose some weight."
I've tried various diets and exercise before to improve my cholesterol numbers, but I've never tried to lose weight before. 10 years ago, I tried low carb. I know that works for me -- my HDL went up, and my TG went down to "normal." But the family wasn't really on board with low carb, so I haven't been a very faithful adherent, and now my HDL/TG numbers aren't so good.
Anyway, the standard medical advice to simply lose weight does seem to have some scientific merit, so I'm trying the old-fashioned calorie deficit approach, and I'll check my cholesterol numbers again after I lose 20lbs or so (the data suggests a 10lb loss should have an impact).
Has anybody else here "cured" their non-obese metabolic syndrome with simple old-fashioned calorie-deficit weight loss? Did you stay cured? How about long-term low-carb diet adherence?
In the past, I viewed my metabolic syndrome as a curiosity. No meds were recommended because my total cholesterol and blood sugar were "normal."
That changed this year after AMA guidelines for recommending statins changed. Apparently, the new guidelines recommend statins for anybody with a 10-year CHD risk > 7%. I didn't want to start on statins, so I asked my doc for options. He said "lose some weight."
I've tried various diets and exercise before to improve my cholesterol numbers, but I've never tried to lose weight before. 10 years ago, I tried low carb. I know that works for me -- my HDL went up, and my TG went down to "normal." But the family wasn't really on board with low carb, so I haven't been a very faithful adherent, and now my HDL/TG numbers aren't so good.
Anyway, the standard medical advice to simply lose weight does seem to have some scientific merit, so I'm trying the old-fashioned calorie deficit approach, and I'll check my cholesterol numbers again after I lose 20lbs or so (the data suggests a 10lb loss should have an impact).
Has anybody else here "cured" their non-obese metabolic syndrome with simple old-fashioned calorie-deficit weight loss? Did you stay cured? How about long-term low-carb diet adherence?
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I reversed my "metabo" (as they call it here in Japan) diagnosis (bad LDL cholesterol was creeping up, trigs were too high) by losing 24 lbs in 2013 via LCHF -- my most recent health checkup blood tests show me back in the optimum range. I had tried low-cal, low-fat diets many times before, but I never was able to stick to them as I would start craving stuff and fall off the wagon quickly. LCHF curbs my cravings (I am a carb addict) and so far so good, been stable for the past year at my current weight. But I still log every day, to keep me honest
I was at a conference over the weekend, ate more carbage, and sure enough, Monday was tough with cravings surging. Upped my fat intake. It is Wed here now, I am feeling back in control. KCKO!
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I have the same experience as camtosh. Low calorie takes more will power then I have . Good for the short term only.
It appears that it is fat that curbs appetite . Not to say you can have a calorie free for all. That is not the trade off. It is being able to control calories that seems the real point.
Feeling hungry all the time is not an option any longer.0 -
Hi wabmester. I've always had really good lipid numbers so my results aren't astounding but still significant I think. Last year I lost 30 pounds by counting every calorie that went into my mouth. My lipid results improved just a tiny bit. This year I had the lipid panel done after 4 weeks of LCHF (7 pound wieght loss) and my results had improved much more than after the 30 pound weight loss on low calories. I lost the weight in about 6 months then I stalled. Probably because I was hungry and would end up eating at maintenance everyday. On LCHF I'm not hungry. Some days I eat 1700 calories and some days it's 2500. It's deinfitely been a big mindset change. Now I'm checking to be sure I've eaten enough fat instead of not too many calories.0
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Another factor, for me, with regards to cholesterol, was untreated thyroid condition that didn't show out of normal range. Finally one test flagged as maybe borderline low. Luckily my doctor knew that my best range before had been much higher and took that as a sign to start meds. my TG dropped from 260 to 120 in a few months. By adding two eggs every day for 3 months, I dropped my overall number by almost 30 points. I'm excited to see what changes come about as I continue on my LCHF journey...day 28 today! 0
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Good input. I've been running a mild calorie deficit for about 3 months now. Only losing about 1/2 lb per week, and that mild-deficit lifestyle seems pretty sustainable to me. I generally only fall off the wagon at restaurants (I also can't resist their carb-laden treats).
In terms of low carb, I found it only really kept my TG in check when I was under 70g or so. I still try to stay under 100g most of the time, but that amount appears to be sufficient to both restore my glycogen stores (so my early low-carb water-weight loss came back) and increase my TG to nasty levels.
I'd like to try the weight loss without going super low-carb just to see if it works on HDL/TG independently of low-carb. If it doesn't, I'll go back to low carb.
BTW, I've been reading everything I can find about metabolic syndrome recently. One of the surprising stats is that the condition affects something like 40% of people over the age of 50. That's an astounding number.0
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