I had my cholesterol checked last week. Chol 240. LDL 82. These numbers are about 10 points higher than one year ago. Both times were fasting samples. I've been on the Atkins Diet for roughly a year. (Hard to believe it's been that long) Anyway my doctor wants to start Lipitor. My wife wants me to start it also. But I don't want it.

I've lost about 10 pounds in the past year. My hobby is distance running and this has been my best year in the past 10 years of running. MY blood pressure is about 90/60 (no mis-print). My resting pulse at this moment is about 55 beats per minute. That is high for me. The reason it's high is because five days ago I ran 100 miles in 29 hours. A complete blood panel shows no problems.

I don't want to start drugs. I started Atkins because I'd heard it's good for lowering cholesterol. I've kept with it because of how it has helped my running. I ran 100 miles a few days ago. I had no real muscle soreness two days after the race. In my high-carb days I would be in severe pain for 7-10 days after a race.

In every respect I feel better since starting Atkins. But if my cholesterol is getting worse I'll have to try a different diet scheme. Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

kaypeeoh

I suggest you get a copy of Atkins Vita-Nutrients book. And Udo Urasamus's, "Fats that kill, Fats that Heal"

Am I understanding the numbers you posted--your LDL is 82? And your total cholesterol is 240? That would mean that your HDL level (the "good" cholesterol( must be through the roof! And, BTW, an LDL level below 100 is considered ideal. I can't comprehend why your doc would want you on cholesterol lowering medication. Am I missing something here?

IS it possible you've made a typo and your LDL is really 182???

Yes I screwed up copying the numbers. Chol is 240, LDL is 158. 240 minus 158 is 82, which I assumed is HDL.

Hiya, kaypeeoh. Actually, you don't just subtract the LDL from the total to get the HDL figure--I don't know why. It's close, but not exact.

This is just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I wouldn't give up this WOE just because your cholesterol has risen 10 points. Ten points isn't that much--it may not even be biologically significant--and it might have been a fluke of the testing. Also, for some people, diet makes absolutely no difference in their numbers. If that's the case, you won't be able to control your LDL through this WOE or any other. And this WOE is obviously so good for other things, like weight loss and blood pressure.

I have a genetic problem with cholesterol, and have been taking Lipitor. It's helped tremendously. At this point I don't know whether there's been an interaction between the WOE and the Lipitor, or whether it's due to the Lipitor alone. But for the first time in my life, my cholesterol numbers are good. Initially I opposed taking Lipitor, and have been trying to cut my dose. But after the last few rounds of research, I've decided to resume the normal dose. It has very rare side effects, is extremely effective in lowering LDL, and may prevent cognitive decline in the elderly (which is something I'm very worried about). So if you end up taking it, you may actually be better off in several ways.

HTH

I will never take a statin unless God forbid I had CHD. They do very little for people with high cholesterol who are otherwise healthy. The statins trial are all a manipulation of statistics of relative risk. Did you know that if you took all the statin trials together mapped all the results the difference in survival between taking a statin and not taking a statin is .2% absolute risk over 5 years! Some triuals showed higher mortality with statin use! Slightly more than half the people who have heart attacks have low to normal cholesterol levels. Is there somethig wrong here with the Lipid theory?? All the statin trials were paid for by the pharmaceutical companies! Do you smell a rat??? Lose weight any way you can whatever works, avoid carbs and especially avoid transfats and vegetable oils. Eat fruits and vegetables, animal fats and more fish fats even a omega 3 supplement. Eat well and exercise. If your TC is below 350 don't worry. Don't worry about LDL either, LDL & cholesterol (yes they are different) cannot penetrate the endolethium or lining of the artery. No way never period!! Because if they did placques would appear in all arteries in all parts of the body and they do not PERIOD! There are 4 ways plaques develop, 1. Genetic damage to arteries resulting in inflammation 2. injury 3. disease 4. Diabetes BUT NOT Cholesterol. Heck the small benefit statin drugs provide is seen in weks while if you believe the cholesterol lipid thesis it takes 20-30 years of matter to build up and cause plaque. Then how does a statin work. It reduces inflammation hand has plaque stabilization properties. But for cholesterol don't worry about it...Everything I said can be referenced and proven. I personally looked at the WOSCOPS trial and did my own statistics. you need to go to www.thincs.com and www.secondopinions.com

Why not have the test re-done? Do it at a different clinic and see if the results are the same. How are you with eating fats. Fats are good at bringing cholesterol down.

Hi there

My lipid profiles were not good when I started Atkins 3 years ago, and I was a runner too.

I switched to weightlifting, and the combination of controlled carb consumption and heavy weightlifting has done WONDERS for my cholesterol scores.

Heavy resistance training builds muscle mass, which uses up more blood sugar and leaves less to be stored as fat/cholesterol. It is also associated with improving HDL scores, and I can definitely testifiy that this has been the case for me.

You haven't mentioned if you do any, but if you don't, I would seriously recommend heavy weightlifting for an hour 3 times a week. It'll round out your running, give you cross-training benefits, and counter the catabolic effects of the endurance training that you do.

It'll also help get rid of any belly fat you might have clinging to you.

Good luck. I don't like what I've heard of Lipitor. I'm glad I was able to avoid taking it.

Suggest you read this press release:

http://www.thincs.org/pressrelease82004.htm


Val