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One thing I have noticed about writing here at DietDetective is that previous topics I have already addressed have a peculiar way of coming back around again and again as more and more new people suddenly discover the low-carb lifestyle for the very first time. If that's YOU, then let me officially welcome you to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" way of life. Stick around a while, I won't bite...too hard! :)
I certainly don't mind covering an issue over and over again as long as people are still asking the questions that they are most concerned about. I recently received an concerned e-mail about something that I am sure is on the minds of many people who are either on a low-carb diet for the very first time or are thinking about it. It's about cholesterol.
With the widespread prevalance of cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, and Zetia (with that commercial featuring the fat female television cooking show host who is utterly annoying!), people have come to fear their cholesterol numbers like never before. Oh my gosh, am I gonna die if my cholesterol goes up above 200?! As absurd as that may sound to those of us who have educated ourselves about the cholesterol lie that exists, you have to realize that a great majority of people totally freak out when they perceive they have "high" cholesterol.
Here's the frantic e-mail I received from a new low-carber about her cholesterol:
Hello! I am in my second month of a low-carb diet. I am following a modified version of South Beach. To date, I have lost 14 pounds already and was feeling great...until this week. I had a physical and got my blood work done and the results were scary. My cholesterol is sky high:
Total -- 301 (yes 301!)
HDL -- 83
LDL -- 148
Triglycerides -- 62
Now I am afraid to continue on with my low-carb diet. My doctor only states that she "Does not trust the lab results....this profile does not make sense." Boy that really scares me to hear her say she is not trusting the results. Anyways, now I fear I'm gonna have a heart attack or stroke. Do you have any insight about this? It would be greatly appreciated.
Because this e-mailer is expressing a lot of issues that I believe may be on the hearts and minds of many other brand new low-carbers or potential ones, I'd like to share with you my thorough e-mail response including pertinent links to articles I have written about this subject before. Hopefully this will shed some light on the cholesterol issue and clear up the confusion and concern that apparently continues in the minds of many.
This was my response:
THANK YOU so much for writing to me today. CONGRATULATIONS on making livin' la vida low-carb your permanent lifestyle choice and I'm happy to address your cholesterol concerns.
First, let me calm your fears and ask you to try to relax about your blood test results. We have been conditioned by the medical establishment to assume certain things as it relates to health indicators (namely cholesterol) that people get in a tizzy when the numbers fall outside of the so-called "normal" parameters.
This may surprise you, but your lipid profile isn't all that different from mine actually. And it was about this time last year that I had many of the same feelings you did regarding my supposedly "high" cholesterol numbers. Check out just a few of the posts I wrote about it at the time:
"Cholesterol Conundrum: Do I Statin Or Not?"
"Doctor Gives Me Four Months To Get LDL Down"
"Consensus On Cholesterol Is Avoid Statins"
"My Cholesterol Craziness Continues"
"Lowering Cholesterol Through Better Choices"
Since I wrote all of those posts, I have become much more educated about cholesterol numbers for people who are on a low-carb diet. They should be measured quite differently than the traditional tests administered to people eating a high-carb diet. Respected physician and low-carb expert Dr. Mary C. Vernon has said that when your triglycerides are below 100 (as yours are), then your LDL numbers are not going to be accurate.
Dr. Vernon also added that elevated HDL (which you have and that's a VERY GOOD sign you are doing the diet correctly) and total cholesterol can happen "because intermediate density lipoproteins are being measured as LDLs." In other words, some of what is being measured as LDL is actually a false positive that could be LDL or could be HDL. It distorts the entire picture.
All the latest research is pointing to low-carb benefitting cholesterol greatly, that high LDL can be good, low HDL can be bad for heart disease risk, that the triglyceride/HDL ratio is what is most important, and that HDL and triglycerides are better markers for cardiovascular risk than LDL and total cholesterol.
Those are the cold hard facts directly from the latest research!
In fact, coming up this Tuesday afternoon there will be a HUGE study that will shock the world of diet and health set to be published in a major medical journal about how low-carb diets have been found to be just as good or better on all the health indicators than high-carb, low-fat diets, including on cholesterol number. Be sure to look for my post about it then!
Also, if you haven't yet picked up a copy of Anthony Colpo's "The Great Cholesterol Con," then it is well worth the time to read all the research this Australian man has compiled about the truth regarding cholesterol. I also was able to interview him last year just before he released his book.
Are you starting to feel a little better now? I sure hope so. Like I said earlier, we have been so conditioned to worry about issues that really have no negative bearing on our health whatsoever and cholesterol is one of them. That's not to say you can't have cholesterol problems when you are on a low-carb diet, but it looks from your numbers like you are doing AWESOME with your blood test results. Your triglyceride/HDL ratio is an astonishing 0.75 (that's better than my 0.83)!
Be proud of what you are doing and confident that you are living a healthier life than you ever have before. THANKS again for writing and please feel free to contact me anytime! Take care!
Does anyone else have a thought, comment, or question to share about this issue?
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