"THREAD OF THE WEEK" cholesterol....

[book]

the newest issue of Prevention quotes a study that shows that adding a pinch of cinnamon at each meal can reduce cholesterol anywhere from 12 to 40 percent. It suggested 1/6 of a teaspoon at each meal for a total of 1/2 tsp a day. And it lowers blood sugar as well.

I don't know as much about cholesterol since so far knock on wood, it has not been a problem. But I can certainly understand the concern!

book

[IrishIrish]

I limit beef to no more than 3 days a week. The rest of the time I eat poultry, fish, shellfish.

[shawnee]

This should become Post of the week, Why?

Because the increase in LDL is one the biggest 'glitches' I've seen across the board w/a lot of people (including myself & several other mods) with this WOL.

I found that out of the gate my tryglycerides plummeted now down by over 80% (from 243 to 43!) & my LDL went up around (38 preAtkins to 65, that is great) but LDL initally increased & continued up for the 1st 6 months. Finally almost one year on I have gotten it to start coming down to slightly below my preAtkins readings. Two things I start using that were supposed to help & seemed to do so were GLA (Borage Oil) & Flaxseed Oil in addition to my Omega 3's. The standard GLA most people take is Evening Primrose Oil but Borage Oil is reputed to be much more effective.

Also if your tryglycerides are really low & HDL high (which they are) that can offset the high LDL's many times. I experienced the same as you, migh LDL went up 6 monthes into the program but now they have started to come back down again.

Some other mods have reported a decrease by watching carefully their saturated fat intake & replacing with monounsaturated fats like change butter to olive oil, lots of nuts etc

If you don't have problems with high blood glucose readings at all then you can also do as in South Beach & replace some of your high fat items with complex carbs like legumes, small amounts of whole bread. If your B/Glucose readings are high do not try this.

Don't let that doctor put you on statins, ultimately in my mind they are way worse for you than the condition of your health indicated by your current readings. Pls do some research on this before you let him do this. A vast majority of current research points to NO change in incidence of heart disease between those who take statins & those who don't! Please remember elevated blood lipids is not a disease like diabetes or hypertension but only an indication of statitical tendency towards heart diease.

Since your Tryglyercides & HDL components are already much improved you are on the right track. Your ratios are much better than before & trust me you are much much healthier than in the past.

finally Mod Tommy posted some research showing that a regular intake of the supplement Creatine often drops LDL levels by 30% over a period of 3 months. He found that to happend with his own levels after using Creatine.

Because of that (& its more traditional muscle enhancing properties) I have started taking Creatine just completeing the 1 week loading phase today.

I will let you know in 3 monthes what happens.

[Chris]

One more thing I just thought to add -- fibre. Certain kinds of fibre, such as psylium husks, have been shown to help in the reduction of total cholesterol. Metamucil makes capsules of pure pslium husks that are often used for just that purpose.

[thinsgreat]

Thank you all for your responses. Since i last posted i have spoken to my nutritionist who more or less reassured me that i am not a heart attack waiting to happen, that there are many factors contributing to heart problems. we are going to try some natural approaches which i will post next week. In addition, i spoke with my doctor regarding meds. Initially, it was his nurse who relayed the suggestion of a statin. When he and i spoke he said he was very surprised with what was happening with me. he had spoken with other drs. who equally were surprised. he said most patients that have been on atkins have either dropped (chol.) or stayed the same. he really didn't seem terribly concerned and suggested that i continue with what i was doing since i found something that was working so well. i told him about the nutritionist and the summer exercise i have planned... he agreed with me and said we'll take another reading in 6 weeks. i felt much better, but to be completely honest, i am still troubled that within 7 months my once stable chol. rose 78 points.

[canuck]

Often when that sudden increase occurs it is a sign of a genetic condition so stay on top of it, is heart disease in your family, work with your doc, do allot of research on meds and alternatives and throw no idea out the window, trust your instincts and research, work hand in hand with your doc, ya cant go it alone and we are not medical experts here so take what fits from comments here and use them and what doesn’t fit toss it. We all have opinions but can’t advise you what to take or do, only share our info and you and your doc make an informed decision. Some people have side effects to meds and alternative meds and some don’t so it’s all trial and error. There are no blanket statements when it comes to conditions and use of meds.

Still lots of work needs to be done in this area.

I too am stunned what happened with mine as it dropped so good then boom then began to rise and still is although all above ideas were tried and didnt work so after several months and after much research and especially being as a diabetic I will use a statin for awhile as lots of data I have read to support it works.I will try again to go off it as I get more lean body muscle.

No one has a heart attack immediately…… the small particles collect and can puncture the walls of arteries and you can build a clot then eventually you can have a stroke or heart attack so it isn’t something to freak about but is something you need to look at.

Only ten ys ago a diabetic normal chol was 11 and now is 2.8 (metric), this is all due to good sound medical research, so just keep reading, keep working with your doc, sounds like he knows about low carbing and see what works for you.

Keep sharing with us as this is an area we all need to learn more about.

[markmcsw2000]

I just heard on AOL about some guy suing Atkins for his heart attack. I too have seen my cholesterol go up and down depending on how much meat I ate. One time I had NO meat for 30 days and my cholesterol went from 268 to 179! And I found out there is as much cholesterol in lean turkey or fish as in a steak. So this lawsuit kinda scares me.

[kimmee13]

I've only had my cholesterol checked once before (5 years ago) and my total was 147. To make sure I was still ok I had them check it again last week.. 239!! I just don't understand, I eat very little cheese, beef like once a week, how can it have jumped so high?? My LDL is now 152, HDL is good at 58 and she said my triglycerides are fine, but I just can't understand how I could have exchanged fried foods, etc for veggies and seen such a huge increase. So now she wants me to go on a low fat diet for 6 months and have it rechecked, grrr >.<
Still haven't decided what to do, leaving for Jamaica in 3 days, guess I'll worry about figuring it out when I get back.

[beaglemamma]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones... my cholesterol was so high they put me on lipitor.... and it's in my family - big time. My mom is a little bit of a thing and her cholesterol is through the roof. But I decided to fight this thing in my diet and it worked.

It's the main reason I haven't left atkins. I have only lost 13lbs, but my cholesterol, blood sugar and pressure are all normal now.

I didn't cut back on meats or fats. (not saying you should or shouldn't) Bacon has been my friend! :hug

I was worried about it but it all went to normal. This is a girl who was two steps from being diebetic, was on lipitor and had extremely high blood pressure.

Another suggestion is to add some flax meal to your diet. It has to be ground flax as your body can't break down the seeds enough on it's own. Flax oil is good too.

Are you taking any fish oils or anything?

[kimmee13]

Back! No I don't take any supplements at all. I have a feeling that my initial reading was unreliable, at the time I wasn't really eating anything, so it makes sense my cholesterol was low, I just think it jumped after that. Guess I will wait it out and just try to stick with lower fat meats, etc and see what happens when I get it checked next.