Cholesterol Update - from LDL 238 (6.2) to 77 (2.0) in 3 months diet alone.

[deadz]

This is what happened after limiting simple sugars:

9/6/2022

total-216
tri-115
ldl-151
hdl-44

3/14/2023

total-185
tri-75
ldl-126
hdl-45

[loco]

The big alarm for me was the Xanthelasma under my eyelid which happened when I was eating low carb, higher fat.

What are your vitamin D levels?  Have you had them tested?  Do you take a vitamin D supplement?  It appears vitamin D levels that are too low or too high could have an indirect link to cholesterol abnormalities and possibly to Xanthelasma.

"Xanthelasma is found among people who take Vitamin d"
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/vitamin-d/xanthelasma/

"Low vitamin D levels could result in dyslipidemia, and lipid abnormalities"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680594/

"These expected physiological responses to vitamin D therapy were correlated with a significant increase in LDL cholesterol."
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.112.254110#d4403376e1

[loco]

The big alarm for me was the Xanthelasma under my eyelid which happened when I was eating low carb, higher fat.

If by low carb you mean this:

I was on a moderate protein, moderate fat,  moderate carb diet (2400 calories, 33% P, 33% F, 33% C) and I was lean, but my LDL cholesterol was 238 (6.2).

That is 198g carbs per day.  That is in no way, shape or form a low carb diet.

Low carb is less than 100g carbs per day.

Very low carb (keto) is less than 20g carbs per day.  Carnivore is zero carbs per day.

In addition, eating a diet that is both high/moderate carb and high/moderate fat is a recipe for disaster, unless you are a baby or a young, healthy, fit athlete.  Otherwise, eating like that promotes very fast weight gain and all kinds of metabolic abnormalities. 

Most people must choose either low carb or low fat and stick with that long term, if they want to be healthy and avoid all kinds of metabolic diseases.

"The Randle cycle, also known as the glucose fatty-acid cycle, is a metabolic process involving the competition of glucose and fatty acids for substrates. It is theorized to play a role in explaining type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randle_cycle

[IroNat]

This is what happened after limiting simple sugars:

9/6/2022

total-216
tri-115
ldl-151
hdl-44

3/14/2023

total-185
tri-75
ldl-126
hdl-45

That's excellent, deadz.  Congrats.

Did this change in diet reduce your bodyweight?

[deadz]

That's excellent, deadz.  Congrats.

Did this change in diet reduce your bodyweight?

Thanks! Yes, went from 217 down to 204lbs.
I'll add that I'm on a good dose of Test and have been for many years.

[jwb]

If by low carb you mean this:

That is 198g carbs per day.  That is in no way, shape or form a low carb diet.

Low carb is less than 100g carbs per day.

Very low carb (keto) is less than 20g carbs per day.  Carnivore is zero carbs per day.

In addition, eating a diet that is both high/moderate carb and high/moderate fat is a recipe for disaster, unless you are a baby or a young, healthy, fit athlete.  Otherwise, eating like that promotes very fast weight gain and all kinds of metabolic abnormalities. 

Most people must choose either low carb or low fat and stick with that long term, if they want to be healthy and avoid all kinds of metabolic diseases.

"The Randle cycle, also known as the glucose fatty-acid cycle, is a metabolic process involving the competition of glucose and fatty acids for substrates. It is theorized to play a role in explaining type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randle_cycle

My original diet when I was overweight was much higher carb, but also higher calorie, because I ate mainly processed carb foods with added sugars.

I ate a ton of breakfast cereal, bread, pasta etc and not a lot of fruit and vegetables.

I didn’t eat very much protein or fat though to be honest. I would just grab a carb food every few hours because I hate to cook.

I was overweight and my LDL was around 150.

I lost 70lbs on a much lower calorie and total carb diet. But the new diet was higher in both protein and fat that is for sure.

After a few years my blood test came back with LDL now at 238 and I developed the Xanthelasma. I tipped over the LDL point my body could handle.

[IroNat]

My original diet when I was overweight was much higher carb, but also higher calorie, because I ate mainly processed carb foods with added sugars.

I ate a ton of breakfast cereal, bread, pasta etc and not a lot of fruit and vegetables.

I didn’t eat very much protein or fat though to be honest. I would just grab a carb food every few hours because I hate to cook.

I was overweight and my LDL was around 150.

I lost 70lbs on a much lower calorie and total carb diet. But the new diet was higher in both protein and fat that is for sure.

After a few years my blood test came back with LDL now at 238 and I developed the Xanthelasma. I tipped over the LDL point my body could handle.

Interesting but why did you say you were on a low carb eating plan?

It appears you were eating high carb.

[jwb]

Interesting but why did you say you were on a low carb eating plan?

It appears you were eating high carb.

This was the diet before I went lower carb and my LDL went up.

[loco]

This was the diet before I went lower carb and my LDL went up.

You might be eating less carbs now than you were eating before, but you are not eating "low carb" like you said you are.  198g carbs per day is not low carb.

Did you see my post above about Xanthelasma and vitamin D?

[jwb]

You might be eating less carbs now than you were eating before, but you are not eating "low carb" like you said you are.  198g carbs per day is not low carb.

Did you see my post above about Xanthelasma and vitamin D?

will go through those links after work might take me several hours to reply though.

I may not have been low carb by some standards, but I was lower carb than I had been, and much higher saturated fat.

Either way, the lower carb, higher fat diet resulted in 70lb weight loss because I counted calories and didn’t cheat.

[jwb]

You might be eating less carbs now than you were eating before, but you are not eating "low carb" like you said you are.  198g carbs per day is not low carb.

Did you see my post above about Xanthelasma and vitamin D?

watched the video.

I have never used a vit D supplement and I have no idea what my levels were/are.

That guys cholesterol was around 800 on carnivore and vit D supps! No wonder he got Xanthelasmas.

Will check the links later tonight.

[IroNat]

Congrats on the weight loss, jwb.

[loco]

watched the video.

I have never used a vit D supplement and I have no idea what my levels were/are.

That guys cholesterol was around 800 on carnivore and vit D supps! No wonder he got Xanthelasmas.

Will check the links later tonight.

I was just curious since there seems to be a link to vitamin D levels and supplementation.  Xanthelasmas is rare, especially in men.  It seems very little is yet known about what exactly causes it.  Half the people with Xanthelasmas don't have high cholesterol.

Maybe in some people it's an issue with their liver making it unable to clear out enough cholesterol from the blood, or an issue with their skin making it unable to use cholesterol to produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.   

The guy in the video did have extremely high cholesterol, but he said it dropped significantly after stopping vitamin D supplementation.

Congratulations on your weight loss and on lowering your cholesterol through diet and lifestyle changes instead of using medications!

[Gym Rat]

Hell of a weight-loss transformation JWB!!  Well done man!!

[jwb]

I was just curious since there seems to be a link to vitamin D levels and supplementation.  Xanthelasmas is rare, especially in men.  It seems very little is yet known about what exactly causes it.  Half the people with Xanthelasmas don't have high cholesterol.

Maybe in some people it's an issue with their liver making it unable to clear out enough cholesterol from the blood, or an issue with their skin making it unable to use cholesterol to produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.   

The guy in the video did have extremely high cholesterol, but he said it dropped significantly after stopping vitamin D supplementation.

Congratulations on your weight loss and on lowering your cholesterol through diet and lifestyle changes instead of using medications!

The diet I initially used to lose weight did have a jump in eggs and lean ground beef so Vit D probably did go a little at least. It also had a big drop in refined carbs and total carbs.

My current diet is very low fat, low refined carbs, high fiber.

This pic show most of the weight loss though I am a little leaner than the after pic  today to be honest.

Age 51.

[loco]

The diet I initially used to lose weight did have a jump in eggs and lean ground beef so Vit D probably did go a little at least. It also had a big drop in refined carbs and total carbs.

My current diet is very low fat, low refined carbs, high fiber.

This pic show most of the weight loss though I am a little leaner than the after pic  today to be honest.

Age 51.

Good job!  Looking a lot better than most 1st world people in their 20s.

[jwb]

Good job!  Looking a lot better than most 1st world people in their 20s.

was nice to get rid of the man boobs that were starting to come.