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Originally Posted by bowtiej
Just had blood work done and the doc wants me on 20mg Lipitor : (
Canadian metric readings were as follows:
Total chol = 7.58
Trig = 1.8
LDL = 5.75
HDL = 1.0
I've been on lowcarb for 6 months and have lost about 28 lbs. Now 172 and stand 5' 9". How do these #s jive with Atkins and what am I doing wrong?
Thanks all for any help with this. Bow
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hi there Bow,
First ... the mmol SI values (Système Internationale) are used by every country in the Western World, except the USA which still clings to the old system.
OK ...
Yes, total chol over 6.2 is high, desirable to be below 5.2
LDL over 4.1 is high, desirable below 3.0
HDL below 1 is too low, over 1.6 is desirable
trigs of 1.7 - 2.3 are "borderline", desirable to be below 1.7
Some people experience a transient "worsening" of their LDL and triglycerides in the early months of lowcarbing .. due to mobilizing stored fat, especially abdominal fat. It does come down as long as you stick with the diet. Here's what the Drs. Eades of Protein Power have to say:
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I’ve been on the plan for awhile and feel better than I ever have. I’ve lost weight, my blood pressure is down and my sugar levels are now normal. My most recent lab tests show that my cholesterol and LDL went up. What am I doing wrong?
First of all, be aware that you are not doing anything wrong. The most consistent finding after people go on our program is that triglycerides drop and HDL, the "good" cholesterol increases. This indicates that your insulin levels have dropped and you have stopped converting excess amounts of sugar into fats as trigylcerides. Cholesterol is a number that is composed of both good and bad fractions, therefore we don’t tend to track it nearly as close as more specific levels of HDL, triglycerides and LDL. LDL cholesterol is made up of different particles that vary from person to person. Depending on the type of particles that predominate, one is said to have either pattern A or pattern B. With pattern A, the LDL is light, fluffy, and relatively large. This pattern is actually thought to be beneficial. With pattern B, the molecule is heavy, dense, and relatively small. This pattern is thought to be detrimental. Pattern B is a partial consequence of excessively elevated triglycerides. When triglycerides go down after the Protein Power Plan has been adopted, a phenomenon called the "beta shift" occurs where LDL is transformed into pattern A. So, paradoxically, even though the level of LDL appears to increase, the type of LDL that is being formed is usually much healthier. The difficult part is that the lab testing to determine your levels of LDL "A" and LDL "B" can only be done in a research laboratory with electrophoresis methods. While we cannot be 100% certain that this is what happened in your case, the research strongly supports this view.
The most important thing is to look at the overall picture. With the Protein Power approach we look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio as one of the best measurements of risk for heart disease. An upper limit of 5 is considered desirable, with anything over that indicating an increased risk. Some measures to help bring down your cholesterol and LDL levels are: stay on the plan (some people panic and feel that the plan is causing the opposite effect), take a "no-flush" niacin 500 mg 2-3 capsules per day, increase your fiber intake with perhaps psyllium seed powder-1-2 TBS mixed in water per day, and avoid excessive saturated fats and trans fats (fried foods and margarine.)
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LDL is no longer considered to be a reliable indicator of heart disease risk. Triglycerides are more predictive .. yours are borderline, so would be good to focus on lowering that. Your HDL could be improved .. over 1.6 is protective against heart disease even in the presence of an elevated LDL.
What were your numbers like before you started LC'ing?? Are these worse, better, no change? If you didn't have them checked before you started, then you have no way to know that they may actually be an improvement from before.
As suggested above, you should re-read the chapters on cholesterol and supplements in the Atkins book. Use more monounsaturate fat such as unprocessed olive and flax oil. Consume fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel and sardines at least 3 times a week, or take fish oil supplements. If you smoke, quit .. and start exercising if you don't already. Especially aerobic type ... brisk walking is excellent.
Doreen