Hi all,
I've been doing a moderate version of the Atkins diet for about the last 14 months. I thought I'd post my cholesterol scores(before and after) and hopefully get some opinions from our resident experts.
I am 30 years old, 5'11'', and about 175 lbs.
First set of scores taken on 7/22/02
Total- 152
Tryilycerides- 116
HDL- 29
LDL- 100
Excercise levels prior to both tests were about identical, btw. Here's the next set taken about one month ago after 14 months of being on a moderate form of the Atkin's diet:
Total- 186
Triglicerides- 72:)
HDL- 43:)
LDL- 129 :(
Given those scores, would you say my cholesterol levels are overall better, worse, or about the same? Any advice? Should I quit? The diet has helped keep me lean where before I would have a little bit of a belly.
Shit! I mispelled cholesterol in my title. ARRRRG!!! What a dumbass.
Overall I'd say that's a plus, but thats just from a lab monkey's POV.
Much worse, the major goal is ldl and you have a major increase in it. some are better, like hdl and tri, but a 30% increase in ldl is very bad.
heh, OK forget I said anything.
"Much worse, the major goal is ldl and you have a major increase in it. some are better, like hdl and tri, but a 30% increase in ldl is very bad."
I don't remember where I saw it, but I read that the correlation between heart disease and low HDL was becoming more prominent than the correlation between high LDL and heart disease. Is this BS?
No, it is true. I do not do cardiology anymore, and I agree that the hdl is improved, but I know that the mjor target of treating cholesterol is ldl so my interpretation is probably correct. I would defer to a cardiologist or endocrinoligist on this but I think overall I would prefer the first set of numbers. But hell, I have been wrong before
"heh, OK forget I said anything."
I take it howardo has some credibility here. Sorry, I don't know who the all-stars are.
Howardo, if my LDL has gone up so much, is there something in particular about the Atkin's diet that caused it? Foods high in saturated fat?
Also, if I could isolate what has caused the relative improvement in my HDL and Triglycerides, that would be great.
High dietary saturated fats is the answer, if you tok in leaner protein sources and higher fiber it would most likely be better, and monosaturated oils such as olive oil. My biggest concern in this diet is the long term effects, meaning 10-20 years. there is a lot of thinking that a high protein and fat diet long term can be carcinogenic. We could not know the answer for a couple of decades. I think for the short term, this diet is ok and at your age I would not worry too much about the cholesterol numbers, even at 130, the ldl is not bad. That help?
"That help?"
Yes. You rock!
Marck- he's a doctor, I was a lab monkey for a few months. I'm outclassed :)
"My biggest concern in this diet is the long term effects, meaning 10-20 years. there is a lot of thinking that a high protein and fat diet long term can be carcinogenic. We could not know the answer for a couple of decades."
This is basically what my doctor said. His specific concerns over the long run were kidney problems and colon cancer.
It is interesting, as a physician I look at effects long term, a lot of them are not obvious for many years. Look at female hormones, prescribed to millions, now shown to increase cancer and heart disease. Th eonly way to show that was a long term study.
I'm going to start a new thread about the best food sources for protein.