Low Carb/carnivore vs. Low Fat/vegetarian
 

That's me and my sister. I'm the low carb one right? That's why I'm here. :) My sister has been a low-fat vegetarian for 35 years, since she was in high school. I'm fat (5'7" and 270 pounds), my sister is skinny (6 feet tall, 125 pounds). Recently we both had blood tests done too. Neither was what I would call bad, but my sister has me soundly beat in the blood lipid area too:

Value...Me....Sister
TC......221...210
HDL......58....68
LDL.....161...130
TG.......65....50

So while I think my numbers are not so bad, hers are clearly far better. So clearly low carbing is not the be all and end all of blood lipid numbers! But my sister's doctor *still* wants to put her on statins! :eek:

Oy vey!

We're all different, Debbie. I mean there are some people that live to be very, very old living on garbage and smoking cigarettes.

And a standard cholesterol test doesn't answer the one crucial question... what size is your LDL? If you have the small sort, you're in trouble. If it is big you're going to be fine.

Actually you're numbers are pretty close, considering the difference in diet. From everything I've read about vegan diets you'd think your sister's numbers would be a lot lower.

I had a physical this morning, it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. All the nurses were chubby, too, so weighing in wasn't even that bad. I'm having a fasting blood test tomorrow morning for all the standard stuff: cholestoral, blood sugar, and several thyroid tests. I'm anxious to know the results. I hope they're good.

The doctor said that controlling my insulin levels with a low carb diet would help with my irregular heart beat. That was a pleasant surprise! ;)

Have you considered doing an about face to low-fat/vegetarian yourself?

No, never ever. :D

My sister is vegetarian, but not vegan. She does eat eggs, cheese, butter, etc. She is *low fat* compared to most low carbers, but she is not Ornish-low. She does not believe in eating "low fat" or "fat free" products. She will only put half-and-half or cream in her coffee. And while she is about 99% vegetarian her secret vice is ...... *BACON* - though she only eats it a few times a year.

But her diet I would have to say is heavily grain-based, lots of wheat and white flour. She eats a lot of pasta and bread. But she is also pretty much a "from scratch" cook and does not eat a lot of packaged or prepared stuff. She also loves things like cookies - but she is the sort of person who can go to a bakery, buy ONE cookie and eat it, and be totally satisfied. I was never satisfied until I had eaten the entire batch. :D

She is almost 53 and looks better in a bikini than her 25-year-old daughter, who has thighs like I did at 25, and a bit of a cellulite problem, and a little round belly. My sister's belly is totally flat, she has small, firm and perky breasts, her thighs are smooth and slender. Well, she *does* have varicose veins! Gotta find something there, :lol:

P.S. If you look at my "before" picture in my gallery that is my sister in the photo with me. Actually she is also in the "now" picture with me too along with our third sister - who falls sort of in-between us - neither fat nor skinny but basically normal weight (5'8" and about 145 pounds) and has a diet that bounces between 3-4 days low carb, then a few weeks of eating every brownie, cookie, donut, cake and pie in sight, then back to LC for 2-4 days, then back to binging on every sweet carb she can lay her hands on, etc. ad infinitem.

Thirty-five years vs. "low carb since spring 2006, but *serious* since Jan. 2009"? Let's see your numbers after another six months to a year...

All that grain would give me a terrible stomach ache. No way could I do a vegetarian diet like that. Besides, I'm hungry all the time when I eat that way, probably due to high and then super low blood sugar. I'm like you, Debbie, one cookie is never enough. Back when I used to buy Oreos I could eat a whole row of them. Or more. Its so unfair that some people can eat that stuff and not gain weight while the rest of us get fat just from sniffing it. :agree:

Hmm, yet all the LC books I've read say the dramatic changes to blood lipids show up within 3-6 months of low carbing or less!

Debbie, if you're really concerned join the Track Your Plaque program and get a good cholesterol test done. One that shows the type of cholesterol you have in size and whether or not you have the small sort of the large sort. And you can always get a heart scan done to see if you have coronary calcium, which is ultimately the problem.

Anyway, there are supplements that can help -- if you actually need help, you can't tell from the standard crappy cholesterol test.

I'm not really concerned. I mainly just posted it as an example showing that good blood lipid numbers can be achieved in more than one way apparently. :D

Hello Nancy, I was wondering, what is a heart scan? Is it invasive? Thanks!

I'm sorry - I didn't read that correctly! When I saw "Jan. 2009" I was thinking you meant this January. My bad. :o

I was just wondering what your blood work looked like before you got serious with low carbing. Has it been an improvement for YOU?

Since we are all so different, even within the same family, I wouldn't worry too much about it...as long as you both are healthy or headed in that direction. I've always believed that what works for one person may not work for another, and your post here seems to prove that! Not everyone has a damaged metabolism or faulty pancreatic function...the pancreas is designed to function properly for life. I just think some of us, either genetically or for some other unknown (to me) reason, can't handle carbohydrates as well as others. How do you think you would do with her diet?

Keep up the good work! You are an inspiration to me...I don't post a lot here, but do read a lot, and your posts are always an encouragement!

Donna

ROFL, I'd be so miserable on her diet I don't think I'd even care what my blood lipid values were. :D