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

[jwb]

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).

Before I considered a statin I thought I would do a diet experiment.

The only food I dropped was eggs (was eating 2/3 per day). I reduced ground beef, chicken breast, avocado, macadamia nuts.

I increased Brown rice and sweet potato.

The only foods I added were wild caught pink salmon, black beans and steel cut oats.

Other foods include potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and apples

New macros are 2400 calories, (20% P, 10% F, 70% C). My fiber has gone up a lot.

I never cheat, snack or eat junk, but I didn’t do that before and my LDL was 238 (6.2).

One thing I do which I think helped LDL clearance so much is I make all the food at once and put it in a huge bowl then divide into four equal meals for the next day. So I don’t have one meal where there might be a high amount of fat and other meals with little or no fat. That perhaps allows the LDL recycling receptors in the liver to not be overwhelmed and get “backed up” so to speak… that is my theory anyway.

Benefits have been increased energy, acne has cleared up a lot, and very little dental tartar compared to before.

Btw, I did this because an advanced lipid test came back with high lp(a) levels and very small LDL particle size. Both of which are not good things to have.

[tacobender]

That’s awesome bro

[tacobender]

What color did it turn your asshole?

[tacobender]

My erectyle disfunction is getting better (no homo) 

[Humble Narcissist]

How much weight did you lose?

[LurkerNoMore]

Great job.  You really want to avoid statins if possible.

[Humble Narcissist]

Great job.  You really want to avoid statins if possible.

Only if you want to have sex and not constantly have gas.

[jwb]

How much weight did you lose?

zero.

Calories were exactly the same.

[jwb]

Great job.  You really want to avoid statins if possible.

Or take the lowest dose possible at least.

[GymnJuice]

That's a remarkable drop in cholesterol while adding carbs. Did you have any medicine or supplement changes during that time?

[IroNat]

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).

Before I considered a statin I thought I would do a diet experiment.

The only food I dropped was eggs (was eating 2/3 per day). I reduced ground beef, chicken breast, avocado, macadamia nuts.

I increased Brown rice and sweet potato.

The only foods I added were wild caught pink salmon, black beans and steel cut oats.

Other foods include potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and apples

New macros are 2400 calories, (20% P, 10% F, 70% C). My fiber has gone up a lot.

I never cheat, snack or eat junk, but I didn’t do that before and my LDL was 238 (6.2).

One thing I do which I think helped LDL clearance so much is I make all the food at once and put it in a huge bowl then divide into four equal meals for the next day. So I don’t have one meal where there might be a high amount of fat and other meals with little or no fat. That perhaps allows the LDL recycling receptors in the liver to not be overwhelmed and get “backed up” so to speak… that is my theory anyway.

Benefits have been increased energy, acne has cleared up a lot, and very little dental tartar compared to before.

Btw, I did this because an advanced lipid test came back with high lp(a) levels and very small LDL particle size. Both of which are not good things to have.

What are your other cholestrerol readings?  Total cholesterol, Triglycerides, HDL, etc?

Good video to learn more about LDL:

[loco]

What are your other cholestrerol readings?  Total cholesterol, Triglycerides, HDL, etc?

Good video to learn more about LDL:

Good vid, and so is this one from 5 days ago:

[LurkerNoMore]

Only if you want to have sex and not constantly have gas.

Not sure about sex and gas part/problems but everyone that I know that went on them complained of leg pains and other discomforts.

[wes]

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).

Before I considered a statin I thought I would do a diet experiment.

The only food I dropped was eggs (was eating 2/3 per day). I reduced ground beef, chicken breast, avocado, macadamia nuts.

I increased Brown rice and sweet potato.

The only foods I added were wild caught pink salmon, black beans and steel cut oats.

Other foods include potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and apples

New macros are 2400 calories, (20% P, 10% F, 70% C). My fiber has gone up a lot.

I never cheat, snack or eat junk, but I didn’t do that before and my LDL was 238 (6.2).

One thing I do which I think helped LDL clearance so much is I make all the food at once and put it in a huge bowl then divide into four equal meals for the next day. So I don’t have one meal where there might be a high amount of fat and other meals with little or no fat. That perhaps allows the LDL recycling receptors in the liver to not be overwhelmed and get “backed up” so to speak… that is my theory anyway.

Benefits have been increased energy, acne has cleared up a lot, and very little dental tartar compared to before.

Btw, I did this because an advanced lipid test came back with high lp(a) levels and very small LDL particle size. Both of which are not good things to have.

Great job !! 

[oldtimer1]

Going to cut down eggs like you and substitute oatmeal. That's a really drastic change in LDL through diet. My brother who is 77 was told in his early 70's he had high cholesterol so he became a vegetarian. His passion is bike riding which he does a lot of road miles.  He was excited to see what giving up meat would do for his cholesterol.  It did nothing. Very slight changes.  Some people genetically manufacture cholesterol in their liver. I wonder if drinking alcohol contributes considering all the work the liver does to get rid of the alcohol after drinking? I can imagine a compromised liver could over make cholesterol.

[Gym Rat]

Horribly low lipid level. Most cardiac-related deaths are people in your new range.
Cholesterol is very important and protective... 238 could have been fine, if you had very high HDL??
(Its just an invented target/range).  One of the biggest farce's pulled on the public.
Mortality is not affected at all, especially people in your old range.
Your new range, not so much.  Test levels non-existent in that low range as well... Test is made in cholesterol...

Big pharma created this to push statins for trillions of dollars...

[OAK]

Horribly low lipid level. Most cardiac-related deaths are people in your new range.
Cholesterol is very important and protective... 238 could have been fine, if you had very high HDL??
(Its just an invented target/range).  One of the biggest farce's pulled on the public.
Mortality is not affected at all, especially people in your old range.
Your new range, not so much.  Test levels non-existent in that low range as well... Test is made in cholesterol...

Big pharma created this to push statins for trillions of dollars...

LOL

COVID expert.

Public health specialist.

Cardiologist.

Is there ANYTHING you can’t do?

😆

[IroNat]

LOL

COVID expert.

Public health specialist.

Cardiologist.

Is there ANYTHING you can’t do?

😆

F*ck off, Woke-Oak.

[Hendrixian]

Nice, I believe the added fiber helped a lot. I also have high LDL, I suspect it's genetic since everything else is fine. It seems oat bran is the best type for cholesterol, I always forget to eat it.

[jwb]

That's a remarkable drop in cholesterol while adding carbs. Did you have any medicine or supplement changes during that time?

zero medicine or supps

[jwb]

Horribly low lipid level. Most cardiac-related deaths are people in your new range.
Cholesterol is very important and protective... 238 could have been fine, if you had very high HDL??
(Its just an invented target/range).  One of the biggest farce's pulled on the public.
Mortality is not affected at all, especially people in your old range.
Your new range, not so much.  Test levels non-existent in that low range as well... Test is made in cholesterol...

Big pharma created this to push statins for trillions of dollars...

I was in the low carb, don’t worry about LDL cholesterol so long as your trigs and HDL are good, camp for a while.

But then I got a Xanthelasma under my eyelid. If I had cholesterol deposits outside my body, what the hell was happening inside my body?

Things like lp(a), ApoB, and LDL particle size are things anyone with high LDL should look at because the low carb camp told me I would have large fluffy LDL particles and mine were tiny and very dangerous.

My low carb gurus didn’t  even talk about lp(a), but that is a killer (just ask Bob Harper who almost died from a heart attack at age 50 on a paleo diet).

This is a counter argument to most low carb LDL info.

[loco]

[jwb]

Going to cut down eggs like you and substitute oatmeal. That's a really drastic change in LDL through diet. My brother who is 77 was told in his early 70's he had high cholesterol so he became a vegetarian. His passion is bike riding which he does a lot of road miles.  He was excited to see what giving up meat would do for his cholesterol.  It did nothing. Very slight changes.  Some people genetically manufacture cholesterol in their liver. I wonder if drinking alcohol contributes considering all the work the liver does to get rid of the alcohol after drinking? I can imagine a compromised liver could over make cholesterol.

I definitely wasn’t expecting such a huge drop myself.

Being lean and having good insulin sensitivity helped a lot I think.

A lot of vegetarians still eat lots of oils and fats and also refined sugars and simply too many calories.

I eat zero oil or butter. I do get unsaturated/monosaturated fat from salmon, macadamia nuts and avocado, but I eat these in limited amounts.

I think spreading out the fat intake equally amongst my 4 meals is really important too.

[loco]

I was in the low carb, don’t worry about LDL cholesterol so long as your trigs and HDL are good, camp for a while.

But then I got a Xanthelasma under my eyelid. If I had cholesterol deposits outside my body, what the hell was happening inside my body?

Things like lp(a), ApoB, and LDL particle size are things anyone with high LDL should look at because the low carb camp told me I would have large fluffy LDL particles and mine were tiny and very dangerous.

My low carb gurus didn’t  even talk about lp(a), but that is a killer (just ask Bob Harper who almost died from a heart attack at age 50 on a paleo diet).

This is a counter argument to most low carb LDL info.

Glad you found a diet and lifestyle that works for you, but more and more studies are showing that very low carb diets long term actually decrease lipoprotein(a), decrease small particle LDL, and increase large particle LDL in addition to lowering Triglycines and increasing HDL, thus lowering the risk for cardiovascular decease significantly:

"Low-fat diets have been shown to increase plasma concentrations of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], a preferential lipoprotein carrier of oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) in plasma, as well as small dense LDL particles.

Diets low in total and saturated fat have been shown to increase plasma Lp(a) levels."
https://www.jlr.org/article/S0022-2275(20)40966-6/fulltext


"My n=1 experiment in July 2020 demonstrated an increase in Lp(a) back to 101 mg/dL on a very high-carb diet within 2 weeks, and a drop back to 74 mg/dL after 3 weeks on the ketogenic diet afterwards. The observed large changes in my Lp(a) were thus reproducible by a change in carbohydrate consumption and might have clinical relevance for patients as well as researchers in the field of Lp(a)."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7841845/

Lipoprotein(a) and dietary proteins:"casein lowers lipoprotein(a) concentrations as compared with soy protein"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522042952

"Consumption of a very low carbohydrate diet with nutritional ketosis for 2 years in patients with type 2 diabetes lowered levels of small LDL particles that are commonly increased in diabetic dyslipidemia and are a marker for heightened CVD risk. A corresponding increase in concentrations of larger LDL particles was responsible for higher levels of plasma LDL-C. The lack of increase in total LDL particles, ApoB, and in progression of CIMT, provide supporting evidence that this dietary intervention did not adversely affect risk of CV"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7724865/

"Glut1 Deficiency (Glut1D) is caused by impaired glucose transport into brain. The resulting epileptic encephalopathy and movement disorders can be treated effectively by high-fat carbohydrate-restricted ketogenic diet therapies (KDT) mimicking fasting and providing ketones as an alternative cerebral fuel.

In contrast to previous short-term reports on adverse effects of KDT, 10-year follow-up did not identify cardiovascular risks of dietary treatment for Glut1D."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29199027/

"Statin therapy is not warranted for a person with high LDL-cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet"
https://journals.lww.com/co-endocrinology/fulltext/2022/10000/statin_therapy_is_not_warranted_for_a_person_with.14.aspx

[jwb]

Glad you found a diet and lifestyle that works for you, but more and more studies are showing that very low carb diets long term actually decrease lipoprotein(a), decrease small particle LDL, and increase large particle LDL in addition to lowering Triglycines and increasing HDL, thus lowering the risk for cardiovascular decease significantly:

"Low-fat diets have been shown to increase plasma concentrations of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], a preferential lipoprotein carrier of oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) in plasma, as well as small dense LDL particles.

Diets low in total and saturated fat have been shown to increase plasma Lp(a) levels."
https://www.jlr.org/article/S0022-2275(20)40966-6/fulltext


"My n=1 experiment in July 2020 demonstrated an increase in Lp(a) back to 101 mg/dL on a very high-carb diet within 2 weeks, and a drop back to 74 mg/dL after 3 weeks on the ketogenic diet afterwards. The observed large changes in my Lp(a) were thus reproducible by a change in carbohydrate consumption and might have clinical relevance for patients as well as researchers in the field of Lp(a)."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7841845/

Lipoprotein(a) and dietary proteins:"casein lowers lipoprotein(a) concentrations as compared with soy protein"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522042952

"Consumption of a very low carbohydrate diet with nutritional ketosis for 2 years in patients with type 2 diabetes lowered levels of small LDL particles that are commonly increased in diabetic dyslipidemia and are a marker for heightened CVD risk. A corresponding increase in concentrations of larger LDL particles was responsible for higher levels of plasma LDL-C. The lack of increase in total LDL particles, ApoB, and in progression of CIMT, provide supporting evidence that this dietary intervention did not adversely affect risk of CV"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522042952

"Glut1 Deficiency (Glut1D) is caused by impaired glucose transport into brain. The resulting epileptic encephalopathy and movement disorders can be treated effectively by high-fat carbohydrate-restricted ketogenic diet therapies (KDT) mimicking fasting and providing ketones as an alternative cerebral fuel.

In contrast to previous short-term reports on adverse effects of KDT, 10-year follow-up did not identify cardiovascular risks of dietary treatment for Glut1D."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29199027/

"Statin therapy is not warranted for a person with high LDL-cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet"
https://journals.lww.com/co-endocrinology/fulltext/2022/10000/statin_therapy_is_not_warranted_for_a_person_with.14.aspx

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