Devistating blood results.

[Cobbystock]

Am devistated by my blood results & doctor wants me to come off Atkins, but as I love this WOE & have lost 113.5lbs am very reluctant to do so.
The practice nurse doesn't even want me to have Olive oil & certainly not the coconut oil I've just started taking. I was on extended induction so have immediately gone on to OWL. Have stopped eating eggs & am now eating leaner cuts of meat & more fish.

My results are:- (sorry these are UK results. -Don't know how to post them as US version)
2004 HDL 1.55 2005 HDL 2.2
LDL 4.12 LDL 8.8
Trig 0.91 Trig 0.8
Cholesterol 6.1 Chol 11.4

Cholesterol should be under 6 apparently. Hdl has improved as have triglycerides but the concerns are the total Cholerterol & the LDL. They couldn't tell me the breakdown of the LDL don't think that was tested.
I'm trying to research these results but any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks Kath

[2big4mysize]

okay deep breath those are not devastaing results. There are many reasons your LDL can go up other then diet did your doc run some other tests to see menapause and low thyroid are just 2 medical conditions that can cause LDL to rise. diet is only responsible for about 20% of the cholesterol in our bodies the rest is self made in the cells and in the liver and is a product of our genetics.

You can lower your LDL through making a few Atkins changes too.

Are you on the nut rung? Almonds and serveral other nuts like walnuts actually have been studyied in the diet and they lower LDL cholesterol so you could up your nuts. :yes

Are you drinking coffee? it has a chemical that raise cholesterol in it :yikes

Are you drinking Tea green or black? (after you have gootten all your required water in you could drink tea as it has a chemical in it the lowers cholesterol. you can drink decafe too as that does not alter the chemical.
:yes

What is your fat of choice for cooking? Monosaturated oils lower LDL like olive or canola oils. polysaturated oils neither raise nor lower LDL like corn peanut, or soy. sat fat raise LDL that would be butters and lard. so you could alter your fat choices like remove the skin from your chicken but cook it in a monosatureated oil or serve it with a monosat fat sauce at the table after you pulll off the skin.

Choose from the leaner cuts of Beef and pork the beef council has a list of 19 leaner cuts you can find in most stores. http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com...n/leancuts.asp :yes

Are you exercising? Exercise raise your HDL even more which is good and that in turn helps lower your blood LDL as HDL carries LDL back to the liver for reprocessing or expelling as BILE. :yes

How much soluble fiber do you have in your diet? the soluble fiber lockes up cholesterol and that bile containing LDL so it can't be used nor reabsorbed. the body then expelles it and the fat intestine sensors holler WE NEED MORE BILE HERE and the liver makes more using up more blood LDL :yes Oat bran a rung 9 Atkins OWL food can lower LDL 40% oatmeal can lower it 9% for a serving eatten daily.

How are your Omega3s? that can lower cholesterol too FLAX Meal is the highest plant food in omega#s and an Atkins induction acceptable fiber for regularity rule 12 chapter 11 DANDR.
There is some research suggesting creatinine will also lower it check the supplements forum for Shawneens post on it.

So as you can see there are many potential ways to alter your Atkins and still do Atkins to lower your LDL and improve your cholesterol numbers. I had a big LDL rise too and negotiated with my doc in Dec 2002 about making some Atkins changes instead of meds and he agreed to retest in 3 months I added more flax and nuts cut the butter and satureated fats way back to about 20 grams a day, upped my mono fats and in 3 months my LDL was back in acceptable ranges and my HDL was up making my TC/HDL ratio under 2 (betwen 3-5 is what heart docs look for) and my doc was very happy. It has staid down ever since.

[Cobbystock]

Thanks for that 2bigformysize. I am going through the menopause, don't think thyroid is a problem however. I've added brazil nuts, but will change tomorrow to Almond. I've already stopped eating chicken skin etc. Don't drink coffee & drink about 3/4 cups of green tea daily as well as my water. I use Olive oil & have just introduced coconut oil too. I do 3 hour long exercise classes a week & at home do WATP tapes. I'm starting oats tomorrow & will look for oat bran next week. I'll check the supplement section later & also check out creatine. Thanks for your swift reply. I've printed out your reply to read again at leisure.

[LilBit]

2big4mysize, what is your opinion on the effects of Coconut Oil on Cholesterol?

I've noticed that it's a big topic on this board, but it's just one more thing to raise Cholesterol, I would think? :confused

[Desertthorn]

I am glad that 2big answered your post. My cholesterol was high and 2big made me feel a lot better about it.
There are things that you can do to lower your numbers, and still stay on Atkins, but I am amazed that they said no olive oil as it has been proven to be so good for you. I think I would discuss this with a doctor or nutritionist.

[2big4mysize]

unless you are on the grain rung you don't want to add oats as that could cause cravings and blood sugar problems for you. becareful any soluble fiber that has tsimilar properties to oat bran can lower your cholesterol. Beta-glucan is the name of the soluble fiber found in oats. 3 grams of beta-glucan per day are needed to reduce cholesterol and it tkes about 4 weeks which is why the Quaker OAts commercial says 30 days.You need 1 cup of cooked oat bran, 1½ cups of cooked oatmeal or 3 cups of instant oatmeal, the more processed the food the more you have to eat :yikes

foods high in soluble fiber are barley, oatmeal, oat bran, beans, psyllium, grapefruit, apples, and pears. As you can see you can stay even induction low carb with the psyllium

One of the studies done on the stuff said for every 1 gram of soluble fiber consumed per day, total and LDL cholesterol decreased by 1.55 mg/dl. Not sure how that would relate to your units.

Oh and I forgot to tell you about soy as i'm allergic so i didn't use it but it has a natural chemical in it that works like the statin drugs to lower cholesterol.

You may see some stuff on niacin but the amount you need to lower your cholesterol requires a Rx from a doc.

[Cobbystock]

Thanks 2bigformysize you'rea fount of information. I'll search for beta glucan later on. I've had oats for the last 2 days & it hasn't affected my blood sugar so far, although I've only been taking 2 tablespoonsful (measured raw.) I'll add psyllium husks too. I've got some of those.
I've not been able to find oatbran so far in the UK.
I've researched coconut oil & it appears to lower cholesterol, so I'm trying that & olive oil.
Thanks for your help & support.
Kath

[2big4mysize]

I was a mazed they will even sell you beta glucan by itself to use and it is extracted from brewers yeast so if you are yeast sensitive you don't want it also there has been no direct studies don't on taking the stuff in pill form only in Oats form.

oh and those beans are actually the legumes rung in Atkins

One warning oats are 1-6 beta glucan and there are many many different formations beta glucan can have but not all will worjk the same in the human body sort of like billions of door keys in the world but only certain ones open certain doors.

[Cobbystock]

Thanks 2bigformysize, Haven't been able to locate beta glucan in the uk, so I'll stick to oats & pysillium husks.