i got my new lipids tests back and they're awesome! my 'old' me tests were total cholesterol 210, HDL 35, LDL 159, and i don't know what my tri's were...this test i got back to day is total cholesterol 167, LDL 120, HDL 34, Triglyc 64....im so confused why my HDL fell by one point...the higher the number the better your off and it's optimal to be above 40...and yet i fell by one point...i thought atkins was suppose to not only drop all the bad cholesterol while raising the good....any suggestions on how to make it higher?

Wow Stacy - I am impressed with your total cholesterol is great!

I found a web page that discusses how you can raise your HDL, hopefully this helps:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hd...esterol/CL00030

The first time when I was on the diet I did not see my total cholestrol drop. Before starting this time around (Nov. 2006) I got tested and I was really high (236) and my Dr wanted me on Low Fat diet. I already had finished one week of Induction and didn't want to change and commited to doing the diet and getting checked again in 3 months. I would love for my results to be like yours so was hoping you could answer some questions regarding how you are doing Atkins....

1. How often do you exercise?
2. How long have you been on Atkins?
3. Do you eat a lot of meat, eggs, cheese or does your diet consist of fish, chicken?
4. Do you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol?

I would appreciate any info you could provide back...I would absolutely love to see my results go down as significantly as yours cause if it doesn't my dr. wants to put me on medication

hi dawn!

i started atkins this time around on 10/16/06..i too went to the dr's for my first round 8 days after i started it. my doctor too wanted me on a low fat but i stuck to my guns and said simply, no. she said well we'll see in three months what your results will be. i went back on friday and found out i lost all together 45 pounds and she was really impressed BUT she said "you know, this atkins diet your on, if your cholesterol goes up it's because of it". i told her that i'd be surprised if it did and had my tests done on saturday morning. i don't do an exercise routine of any kind. when it was warmer out i would walk 3 miles and when we were in nyc a week ago for ten days we did walk a lot but i don't do anything aerobic. i will start however soon some kind of plan because i joined a weight loss competition in my city and i made a promise/goal that i would exercise at least 20 minutes a day 5 days a week...that officially started today.
i don't smoke and i do drink occasionaly before atkins..i had a glass of champaign on new years but since i can't have any sugary drinks nothing really is worth drinking to me.
i do eat alot of red meat, no fish, lots of cheese...well i use to consume a lot of cheese but haven't had too much in the last month. i eat alot of pecans and sunflower seeds. i have eggs maybe once or twice a week, i really don't care for them. i hope this helps any more questions feel free to say it.

dawn i forgot to mention...if tested during your first two weeks of induction your numbers will actually increase a little...atkins says that in the books that i have. i'm not sure if he gives a reason of why that is or if he ever knew why that is but it does. that is why he tells people to get their tests done before starting the diet and then after a couple of months...so your numbers in reality by be slightly less than 236 since you were in induction when getting them done.

good luck, i'm sure you'll see great things when you get your next round, i was looking more forward to this than christmas lol.

Do you eat low carb bread or bars that might contain wheat or wheat gluten? There's a doctor that thinks wheat suppresses HDL levels.

no, i gave that up when i started low carbing i don't do any low carb breads, bagels etc...i think it might be because i don't exercise..i have a goal this year to run a 5k so when i start training for that i hope that will increase the hdl

That's great news about starting to exercise Stacy - it'll definitely help with continued weight loss too. When are you planning to start training? (Maybe I should take this to your journal. Feel free to respond in mine if you want.)

All tests have a margin of error
I read an article that by goverment's standard, the test can be off by 15% in accuracy, either way. Google it Sounds like a great result btw, good work!

Thanks for your response Stacy, you definitely have given me some encouragement that mine too may go down. I was thinking that the way yours dropped you were doing a low fat, low carb diet. (I eat more meats then fish or chicken, a lot of cheese, bacon and eggs - I am not close to being low in fat)

I actually got my cholesterol tested 11/27, the day before I started on Induction so I knew my starting point so it wasn't a spike from induction for me just the true results of all the junk I was putting in my mouth before I started the diet

A couple weeks ago I did start a work out routine and committed to at least 3 days a week of some type of activity.

My biggest fear comes because I was on Atkins for a over year back in Sept 03 - Dec 04, I watched my cholesterol slowly climb up to 286 but I ate a lot of the LC products off the shelf including the candies, ice cream and would eat them in excess and had myself convinced since it was in my carb range it was okay. This time around I only have something with sugar alcohols in it about 2 times a week max. and have stayed away from the LC products from the shelf.

Thank you so much for sharing the information with me.....I feel so much better and hopefully around the end of February when I get tested again I will be here posting the positive results like you did!

Way to go on joining the weight loss competition in your city....that is definitely a motivator and I bet the exercise will help you raise your HDL.

thanks dawn, it's nice to know something i do (no matter how trivial it seems) can benefit someone else. when i had cancer and went through a years worth of treatments, during my low points that is what i kept telling myself to get through it, that maybe i got this because it's going to help someone else, even if i'm unaware of it...i think the same way about my weight that by maybe me being over 300 pounds (which in my LIFE i never thought that would happen to me since i was so active up until after i had my daughter) it might help someone else who is struggling with that number, and now that i'm losing i may affect another person, i think that's what we here all hope to achieve on top of losing weight....

that is really weird that your cholesterol went up when you were on atkins before. however, it does make sense that if you were eating prepackaged foods that could happen..i read here somewhere that much of that may not even have been as low carb as it claimed to be.

i didn't know you were asking if i eat low fat, lol, im a little dense...one thing i know is that as i get older i really don't know much lol..im so against low fat hence why i don't think i'd ever survive on the south beach diet.

As we've all learned from those relentless tv commercials (US anyway), there's a genetic component to cholesterol levels. Also, it's possible that hysteria over "high cholesterol" is overblown, and the risk factors for heart disease are more complex than simple cholesterol readings. It's worth some study.

I've been on Atkins for four years. My total cholesterol used to run 170-204. My last reading? 250. My doctor didn't bat an eyelash, and here's why:

HDL--140 (off the charts)
LDL--98
Triglycerides--57

I believe the reason for that high HDL number is exercise, exercise, exercise. But low-carb eating, with a high fat component, has certainly not caused an alarming increase in triglycerides or LDL.

All this is highly individual. But Stacy, my best advice would be to add regular exercise to your life, if you're not already doing it, or increase it a bit if you are.

thanks bk...i suspect that is what the problem is too. i think hdl is directly influenced by aerobic activity.