Cholesterol

[julie]

I've gone through some of the content here. I am concerned about my cholesterol shooting up if I try this diet. A knowledgeable friend advises me against it.

[skb]

I've actually known quite a few individuals whose cholesterol levels have fallen after going LCHF. I don't know about your knowledgeable friend.

Science also supports this idea. We have a document for download at this time, that will clear a lot of the confusion on the subject.

Also do consider ;
1) In 1937, Columbia University biochemists David Rittenberg & Rudolph Schoenheimer demonstrated that dietary cholesterol had little or no influence on blood cholesterol.
2) Dietary cholesterol is poorly absorbed, 50 percent at best (Mary Enig, PhD; Michael I. Gurr, PhD, lipid biochemists). According to these lipid biochemists, the more cholesterol you eat, the less cholesterol you absorb.
3) "Cholesterol in food has no affect on cholesterol in blood and we've known that all along."  These are the words of Professor Ancel Keys, American Heart Association board member and father of the low fat diet

The US Dietary Guidelines have also begun to recognize these facts and have removed cholesterol containing foods from as dietary demons.

[walkerwally1]

I have read that about 20% of people on LCHF have a problem with lipids and have to make adjustments.  The other 80% actually see an improvement in their lipids.
One person that had a problem was Franziske Spritzler, the Low Carb Dietition.  You can read about her problems here :
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/category/saturated%20fat

She is still a very large proponent of LCHF but had to learn to make some adjustments to her diet.

Because so many people had found that their lipids had improved after changing to LCHF I expected mine to do the same but I was shocked when I had a lipid panel done and my cholesterol and my triglycerides both went up a lot.  While an increase in cholesterol may be understandable the raise in triglycerides was a real head scratcher.  Everything I was doing should have lowered trigs, lower carbs, more exercise, quitting smoking, and yet they were way higher, over 500.
I stuck with it and saw a gradual improvement, I didn't change anything I was doing.  Three years later my last two lipid panels have had everything in normal ranges.  Last labs :
cholesterol  155
HDL             65
LDL              69
Trig            134
I don't know what was the reason for such high results when first starting LCHF or why it all came into line after a couple of years but it may be of interest to some.  One of the things I have learned is that, at least for me, I have to give a change time because it seems my body will resist change for quite a while.  Same thing with my bg when first cutting carbs.  It took a couple of months to see results, others see almost immediate results. 

[skb]

I don't know what was the reason for such high results when first starting LCHF or why it all came into line after a couple of years but it may be of interest to some.

Rapid initial weight loss can increase cholesterol levels but I don't know if the increase can be to the extent that the numbers go >500

[walkerwally1]

Yeah, I have heard that weight loss will throw off lipids but, although I did lose some weight, it wasn't rapid or a large amount.  I have come to realize that I often don't fit the mold for "most people" LOL, but I am glad that I did give my body time to make adjustments.  I think my main point was that people understandably want to see change and look for it to happen quickly.  I have found that it doesn't happen quickly for me but it does happen.  Sometimes it just takes patience so don't despair.

[Timewise]

After doing ample research I started following LCHF on 5/1/2015.  I had been dealing with type 2 for over 9 years.  I was taking 2,000mg of metformin, 126u of slow acting insulin, nightly, and Januvia.   My last A1c was 7.9 and climbing.   Trying LCHF was the only thing to try other than more medications....my Cholesterol was not a problem, but at time would be a tad high for what my doctor wanted for a diabetic male at 65 years of age.  My family has a history of heart disease.  So I was concerned....

After following LCHF for 6 months, my A1c dropped to 5.8!  I had lost 50lbs weighing in at 270lbs.   I stopped taking Januvia soon after I began LCHF.   I also was able to reduce my nightly injection of insulin from 126u to 25u during this time.   My blood pressure normalized at 120/80, and my Cholesterol did show a slight change, being just a bit higher than my doctor wanted.

After doing lots more research and talking to others who had similar problems, I decided to disregard my Cholesterol and remain focused on maintaining my blood sugars.   I did this based on a lot of reading that I did and information from other that said after initially losing weight you will see an increase in cholesterol, bit it will drop into normal areas after 12-18 months of maintaining blood sugar control.

On my 12 months check up following my 5.8 A1c, my Cholesterol was normalized for what my doc wanted me at.  He was surprised.   I also had a heart scan and heart stress test, just to make sure all was well.  I got a 100% clean bill of heart health...and still my A1c remains between 5.8 - 6.2!

Good Luck

[rocky]

Rapid initial weight loss can increase cholesterol levels but I don't know if the increase can be to the extent that the numbers go >500

I have lost 20+ lbs. Wonder if my cholesterol levels are high. Need to check it. Where's my "to do" list ? 

[Shanny]

The two most meaningful components in a cholesterol screening are HDL and triglycerides. After a few months on LCHF, HDL will begin to rise, which is good, although that rise also raises the total number. And triglycerides should drop, which offsets the rising HDL somewhat.

Unless you've been tested for particle size LDL, the LDL numbers aren't terribly significant, although the doctors of the world seem to be fixated on them. As for particle size . . . after being on LCHF for awhile, your LDL particles should convert from small dense particles which are unhealthy, to large fluffy particles which are innocuous.

Here are two links from our main page - one explains more about LCHF and the other discusses how fats came to be so wrongfully vilified in our culture.

Why LCHF?

Ending the War on Fat

[starsign]

Julie,
From personal experience I can tell you that cholesterol numbers change for the better on LCHF. We've seen a more than 10% drop in AJ's number post eating this way. I would urge you to try it out for a couple of months and see for yourself. Initially we were also skeptical about LCHF. Going by what someone says without giving it a shot might not be such a good idea. 

[patdart]

Mine sure dropped both after my first year of eating LC/HF.  I can't comment on what happened in that year because it wasn't checked.  It was never a large problem, but my cardiologist told me he was thrilled for me to be eating that way.

[Sweety]

1) In 1937, Columbia University biochemists David Rittenberg & Rudolph Schoenheimer demonstrated that dietary cholesterol had little or no influence on blood cholesterol.
2) Dietary cholesterol is poorly absorbed, 50 percent at best (Mary Enig, PhD; Michael I. Gurr, PhD, lipid biochemists). According to these lipid biochemists, the more cholesterol you eat, the less cholesterol you absorb.
3) "Cholesterol in food has no affect on cholesterol in blood and we've known that all along."  These are the words of Professor Ancel Keys, American Heart Association board member and father of the low fat diet

Why does cholesterol drop ? If someone can throw some light on that please.

[rocky]

Interesting question. I would second that.

[Shanny]

I'm going to leave this here & if it's too big a bite for y'all, then just bookmark it to read sometime when you're better able to swallow it.

Dr. Peter Attia is an incredibly knowledgeable resource on all these things, and here is a multi-part discourse on cholesterol. This is the first part, and at the bottom of this page are links to the other discussions.

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

[skb]

Shanny has given you the perfect resource to understand cholesterol and all its aspects. Do read from that and try to understand it. However, to answer your limited question, let me try, from what I understand of the subject;

Dietary intake of Cholesterol has little effect on serum cholesterol. Only about 10-15% of ingested cholesterol ends up in the blood stream. This is due to the fact that the fats in diet are mostly triglycerides and due to their chain lengths & size they do not permeate into the blood stream from the digestive tract. Rather they take the lymph route of circulation through which they are distributed in the body. Finally via the thoracic duct, what remains is delivered into the blood stream.

The body makes it own cholesterol and it makes more if it senses that the diet is lacking in cholesterol AND vice versa. This is because most of the cholesterol circulating within the lipoproteins comes from our own bile juices. The bile is made out of fats & cholesterol and used in breaking down and digesting our food. Once its job is done, it is resent to the liver for re-processing via the portal vein. Here, the liver decides how much of it is to be reprocessed or sent into circulation. Dietary intake of fat is the determining factor in that.

Finally, it is well known that carbs get broken down into glucose, which is stored as glycogen on priority basis. Thereafter, rest is sent into circulation for muscle storage or immediate use. Whatever is left in circulation after that is converted in triglycerides & stored in adipose tissue. Because of this,it is the carbs that actually impact the fats in circulation the most. So by eating LC/HF you allow the body to take it's own course correction and see cholesterol levels drop.

Hope that was clear.   

[rocky]

Shanny / skb thanx,

That will take some time to be read and/or understood. Will come back with questions if I have.