High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

[whiteisle]

My husband and I have been doing Atkins for about 4 weeks. He's very fit, muscular, and has little body fat to lose; however, the health benefits of Atkins really attracted him to the diet, and I need to lose baby weight, so we decided to both do it. Now we're both scared, though, because his cholesterol went from 190 to 277 in about 4 weeks!!! I don't know the breakdown because he was just donating blood when we got the results. I've read that this happens sometimes, and then it goes back down. Is this true? What should we do? When should we test it again?

Any advice, please???

[BDawg]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

How well is he sticking to the diet?

[pinkfusion]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Do you have the book? Chapter 10 discusses this, I believe. There are also numerous threads similar to yours where cholesterol has risen within the first couple of months. I don't see many posts regarding cholesterol levels after that. Maybe they quit Atkins, but I suspect that it just corrected itself or they tweaked their specific foods that they were consuming.

Are you both cardio fit or just something like weightlifting?

[whiteisle]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

We both exercise a lot, but he has slacked off on the cardio lately- mostly been hitting the weights. I'm going to talk to him about using the treadmill more. And while I did a search to find out how others are doing with their cholesterol, I only found the "I'm freaking out about my cholesterol posts" and no follow-ups. It's just super scary because his Dad had a fatal heart attack at age 42. I found some info on niacin (Dr. Atkins actually suggested it's use in one of his books), and some other supps. My hubby has used most of them, but recently stopped- we thought this diet might do the trick, but so far that's not worked by itself.

[whiteisle]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

How well is he sticking to the diet?

He's sticking to it- he's that type...type "A"

It's admirable while also being very annoying

[Slapshot]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Disclaimer: he should follow his doctor's advice.

That being said, I think 4 weeks is too early to get a good handle on larger effects of Atkins on lipid profiles. Here's an article you might find helpful: Moved to LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com/Blog: Don't Get Fooled By Ridiculous Atkins Diet Blood Vessel Study

[pinkfusion]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Do you guys take Omegas and COQ10? I tripled my Omega 3's when I started, and take COQ10 4 times a day. I am going to check my cholesterol in a few months. My total has always been under 100. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I'm sure someone with more experience than I have with this will come along soon to help!

[phil h]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Total cholesterol means nothing.Mine rose quite a bit but it was due to my HDL climbing over 100.That is eye popping good.The important levels are triglycerides and VLDL. Both of these usually lower substantially on a low carb, high fat diet.

[imagood1]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

My triglicerides and total cholesterol went up when I had my lipids done a month ago -- I've been on Omacor (4 gm a day) for 3 years for high triglicerides. Will have them re-done in a couple months and see what happens.

[chinadoll]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Take a deep breath. Initially you body is trying to cope with the lack of Insulin which is the mechanism by which your body manufactures its own cholesterol. Things can go haywire while your body sorts it out. Many people have found that it takes about 4-6 months for the cholesterol to normalize. Mine is actually far lower now and high in HDL, low in LDL and triglycerides. A month in you probably got tested at the worst possible time.

[msanjelpie]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

People who have a total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL or more typically have twice the risk of coronary heart disease as people whose cholesterol level is desirable (200 mg/dL). If your test didn’t show your LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, your doctor should order a fasting profile.

The point here is that 'risk' doesn't mean he is going to drop dead tomorrow... People who have heart attacks due to arteriosclerosis and athrosclerosis usually have an ongoing problem for years before something bad happens...

Wait a couple of months and then get a fasting blood lipid test from your doc. Things should have calmed down by then...

[whiteisle]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

Thanks to everyone who posted; the info was very helpful. We will just have to wait it out for now and re-test in about 2 months.

[Nancy Mo]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

If you husband is already fit, he should not do the induction or OWL, maybe the fourth phase.

[whiteisle]

Re: High, HIGH Cholesterol on Atkins!!!

He's very fit- he has the whole six pack and such. I could just beat him sometimes (: But he is a weightlifter and in the military, so he stays pretty fit just from his day to day lifestyle. However, even though he eats an induction style menu daily, he hasn't lost much scale weight. I can see his abs more clearly though. I think that once you get your body fat pretty low, it's really hard to lose much more. To reach that super lean stage, I think he would have to play with the protein/fat/carb ratio more.