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Cholesterol
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Roadie2000
Posts: 1,801 Member
in Debate Club
My most recent blood work revealed my LDL was high, my Triglycerides were high, and my LDL/HDL ratio was 5.1. My doctor told me I should cut down on high cholesterol foods like red meat. I did that for a while and wanted to lose some weight, so I thought I'd try the keto diet for a while. Shortly into that I realized that most of the foods I was eating had a lot of cholesterol, so maybe the keto diet wasn't for me.
After doing a little research I realized there is an overwhelming amount of information on cholesterol, and some of it contradicts what I've always been lead to believe.
Some say the keto diet is actually good for your cholesterol. Some studies say there's actually no connection to heart disease. Some say it's mainly genetic and has little to do with what you eat.
Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol? I already exercise plenty, don't smoke, rarely drink, try to avoid red meat, fried foods, and trans fats, and I'm losing weight but my levels are still bad. I don't plan on doing keto ever again, it wasn't for me, but are eggs okay? I get a lot of mixed messages. And what should I try to eat more of to lower it? Does it matter?
After doing a little research I realized there is an overwhelming amount of information on cholesterol, and some of it contradicts what I've always been lead to believe.
Some say the keto diet is actually good for your cholesterol. Some studies say there's actually no connection to heart disease. Some say it's mainly genetic and has little to do with what you eat.
Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol? I already exercise plenty, don't smoke, rarely drink, try to avoid red meat, fried foods, and trans fats, and I'm losing weight but my levels are still bad. I don't plan on doing keto ever again, it wasn't for me, but are eggs okay? I get a lot of mixed messages. And what should I try to eat more of to lower it? Does it matter?
3
Replies
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Disclaimer: Not a doctor. Just a guy on the internet.
I think part of the reason it is confusing is because the general scientific consensus is changing with new research. Dietary cholesterol is being considered less and less of a bad thing when it comes to blood cholesterol. Saturated/Trans fat are being more linked to it. So you want to avoid food high in those, but not worry as much as dietary cholesterol. Eggs in moderation are fine.
In general because the Keto diet tends to rely on a lot of foods that are high in Saturated fats, I wouldn't think it is the best for people with high cholesterol unless it was modified.
As for which foods would help, here is a list from the Mayo Clinic. Basically what you want to be looking for is high fiber foods, foods high in omega-3 fatty acids (fish), and foods high in monounsaturated fats. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/cholesterol/art-200451929 -
For a lot of people, saturated fat is an issue...more so than cholesterol in foods. Your liver produces cholesterol and when you take in dietary cholesterol, your liver makes less.
I had high LDL cholesterol and brought it down from 163 to 93. It didn't happen overnight...took me about a year to get it down to that level. Much of my issue is hereditary so I have an uphill battle. I eat red meat, but I overall watch my total intake of saturated fat and try to keep it at about half of the upper limit recommendation. I changed my diet to include a lot of vegetables and some fruit and I frequently eat legumes and lentils. I eat oats about 3-4x per week and keep my fiber intake pretty high.
Avocados are also a regular part of my diet and they pack a lot of nutrition and the fats in avocados help raise HDL levels. I also have to stay on my cardio game...when I don't, both my cholesterol and blood pressure start to rise. I eat eggs...usually a couple egg whites from a carton and one whole egg about 3-4 times per week.
I also limit refined carbohydrates and don't eat a lot of sugar...my diet is largely whole foods/minimally processed foods focused. I also take a supplement called Cholestoff Plus which is plant sterols and stanols which "compete" with cholesterol in the blood stream and cause less cholesterol to be absorbed.
Mine is back up right now...my guess is I started snacking on a lot of cheese again and eating more saturated fat, and my exercise fell off a bit over the winter and I put on about 8 Lbs. I go back in April for a recheck...I don't expect it to be fully normal, but I do expect to see some improvement.4 -
@Roadie2000 while I have been Keto for 4.5 years to try and resolve health issues with good success I have learned to more or less ignore LDL. The annual health exam required by my health insurance carrier does not even ask about LDL any more because for the most part it seems to have little health/longevity meaning. My MD stated the same.
Now driving your triglycerides down to say 75 and getting your HDL up to 75 should be very good for health/longevity concerns so any WOE that will do that for you could be helpful because Keto is just one of many ways. Below is one info source about lowering triglycerides. The funny part it is hard to drive down triglycerides without increasing HDL numbers.
https://ruled.me/best-triglyceride-lowering-diet/
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IMHO...more whole food plant based foods will bring the numbers where they should be. I suggest you research this woe and experiment.4
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i was interested to read up on a more detailed cholesterol testing that I had done. it measures the size of the cholesterol 'pieces' (molecules?) and reports on the % of big ones and little ones , in each of the 'good' and 'bad' categories.
now i cannot recall which was the worst one, but, the point is: the ratio of good to bad is another metric for assessing your risk. One size isn't nearly as risky as the other, and, may be behind the reason why diet doesn't change results for everyone.
i couldn't make any difference with diet. But, I did use the test above to talk with my doctor about adjusting the dosage of statin DOWN to as low as possible. (i had to work a little harder to convince my doc to order the detailed blood test, but, she really didn't have a good reason to deny it to me.)
hope this is useful.2 -
My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.8 -
My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.20 -
I also did a modified Atkins diet for 8 months and finished with a panel of 200 total, 130ish LDL 60ish HDL and 40 for triglycerides. My triglycerides came down from 130.
The best recommendation anyone could give is to eat a whole food, fiber rich diet, low in processed and refined carbs, with moderate saturated fat intake.
I would see if a Mediterranean style diet would interest you.4 -
I managed to get off of Lipitor and BP meds using diet (75 pounds off) and plenty of exercise. The statin was easiest to get off of when my doc finally quit harping on my total cholesterol and started paying more attention to the good:bad cholesterol ratio. My total cholesterol is still high...so I still monitor annually.
I do agree with earlier posters that this info is constantly changing.
I had to quit drinking 100% to get off BP meds...I miss it a bit, but I don’t miss taking BP meds even more, so it works out 👍2 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
Except I practically live on the "bad" carbs and all I did to lower my cholesterol was add in an egg yolk or two every night. Nothing else in my diet, exercise or weight changed.7 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
Except I practically live on the "bad" carbs and all I did to lower my cholesterol was add in an egg yolk or two every night. Nothing else in my diet, exercise or weight changed.
If you will read my post you will see I said nothing about cholesterol.6 -
Roadie2000 wrote: »Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol?
Yes....your Doctor.
7 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Roadie2000 wrote: »Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol?
Yes....your Doctor.
You really think primary care physicians are the best place to seek cholesterol advice?9 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Roadie2000 wrote: »Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol?
Yes....your Doctor.
You really think primary care physicians are the best place to seek cholesterol advice?
Compared with random strangers on the internet? Heh.15 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
Except I practically live on the "bad" carbs and all I did to lower my cholesterol was add in an egg yolk or two every night. Nothing else in my diet, exercise or weight changed.
If you will read my post you will see I said nothing about cholesterol.
I did and since cholesterol is made up of triglycerides, LDL, and HDL, you kinda did.
Unless how cholesterol is measured has changed...11 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
If we're basing this simply off of personal anecdotes, my triglycerides (and overall cholesterol levels) are great and I get about 60% of my calories from carbohydrates.
So what does that indicate to you, Gale?13 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Roadie2000 wrote: »Can anyone "explain it like I'm 5" how to be healthy with my cholesterol?
Yes....your Doctor.
You really think primary care physicians are the best place to seek cholesterol advice?
I'd rank them above internet forums.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
If we're basing this simply off of personal anecdotes, my triglycerides (and overall cholesterol levels) are great and I get about 60% of my calories from carbohydrates.
So what does that indicate to you, Gale?
Last time I had my triglycerides checked they were in the 40s (which is on the cusp of to low). I eat over 200g carbs a day.9 -
janejellyroll wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
If we're basing this simply off of personal anecdotes, my triglycerides (and overall cholesterol levels) are great and I get about 60% of my calories from carbohydrates.
So what does that indicate to you, Gale?
That indicates to me you have found a WOE that works for you. Best of continued success!7 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »My triglycerides dropped from over 300 down to 45 eating pork, whole eggs, sausage, steak, lamb, real mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, and substantially lower carbs.
A1C went back down to the normal range too.
Good job. That indicates to me that eating carbs is the main source of triglycerides not protein and fat.
If we're basing this simply off of personal anecdotes, my triglycerides (and overall cholesterol levels) are great and I get about 60% of my calories from carbohydrates.
So what does that indicate to you, Gale?
That indicates to me you have found a WOE that works for you. Best of continued success!
I don't see how you can reconcile that with your previous conclusion that eating carbohydrates is the main source of triglycerides.
Eating carbohydrates is the main source of triglycerides unless someone finds a WOE that works for them that has the majority of calories coming from carbohydrates?
Seriously, what are you arguing here?13
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