My Ttl Chol Increased 50% - Any Ideas Why?

[slimcaboose]

I was thrilled by the rapid weight loss I have experienced on the Atkins diet. I have been on the diet for about 4 months and my weight went down much faster than I could have hoped and has stayed down, 20 lbs less than before the diet began. At 150 lbs, I'm at the weight I desired, enjoying what I eat and feeling fine.

But my total cholesterol has skyrocketed (from 238 before to 323 after). My LDL has also increased. HDL has also increased but not by nearly as much. So my ratio of Total to HDL has increased from 4.5 to 5.

From what I understood reading about the diet, this was NOT supposed to happen. I was expecting a mild increase in the total. But a 50% increase is just too scary. If I can't get the cholesterol down, I'm going to have to give up on the diet. Which is real shame, because in every other way this diet iw working out great for me.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of increase? Has anyone else figured out what the root causes for them was?

[Aradasky]

Really look at what you are eating. If you are eating a lot of fruit, many fruits are turned into chloresteral by the liver. If you get a chance, you should go watch a full lecture, about 1 1/2 hours lecture by Gary Taubes on you tube. There is a lot of good info there. When you go to the doctor, be armed with all the info and research you can be. Sometimes our genes give us high numbers. Look at your family, any heart trouble? How long did they live and what did they die from? That is a huge factor to be considered when thinking about the numbers. Don't panic, this is something that should be looked at with an eye towards whether it is really as bad as you think. It might not be, but if you decide to go that way, meds can lower it.

But really, if you don't do anything else, watch Gary Taubes.

[Aradasky]

PS. Congrats on the loss!!!

[slimcaboose]

Thank you four quik response.

You say that "I should be eating mostly vegetables, with moderate amounts of protein and very little fat." Well, I eat a lot of veggies, but I have not been restricting my protein or fat intake at all. I figured that, as long as my weight is stable, I must not be making much insulin and therefore must not be producing much cholesterol. I am drinking lots of water, at least 32 oz/day, usually more. I usually eating 1 small portion of fruit each day.

If you're interested, here's a food log for one week

Monday, October 10, 2011
	1.0	cup	tomato	4	gr/cup	4.00
	4.0	cup	lettuce	0.3	gr/cup	1.20
	1.0	tbsp	bleu cheese dressing	0.5	gr/tbsp	0.50
	1.0	can	salmon	0	gr each	0.00
	0.8		avocado	3.5	gr each	2.63
	1.0		chicken breast	0	gr each	0.00
	1.0	tbsp	bleu cheese dressing	0.5	gr/tbsp	0.50
	5.0		strawberries	0.7	gr each	3.50
	1.0		small apple	13	gr each	13.00
	2.0	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	3.00
	2.0		salmon burgers	2	gr/patties	4.00
							32.33
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
	4.0		egg	1	gr each	4.00
	1.0	oz	cheddar	0	gr/oz	0.00
	1.0	cup	spinach	2	gr/cup	2.00
	8.0	cup	bok choy	0.8	gr/cup	6.40
	1.0	cup	spaghetti sauce	8	gr/cup	8.00
	1.0		chicken breast	0	gr each	0.00
	0.1	cup	spaghetti sauce	4	gr/cup	0.50
	1.0	oz	cheddar	0	gr/oz	0.00
	2.0		strawberries	0.7	gr each	1.40
	1.0		chicken breast	0	gr each	0.00
	0.5	cup	spaghetti sauce	4	gr/cup	2.00
	0.3	cup	cashew	35	gr/cup	8.75
	2.0	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	3.00
	0.5	lb	mahi mahi	0	gr/lb	0.00
							36.05
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
	1.0		chicken breast	0	gr each	0.00
	0.5	cup	spaghetti sauce	8	gr/cup	4.00
	1.5	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	2.25
	1.0	cup	broccoli	3.5	gr/cup	3.50
	4.0	cup	lettuce	0.3	gr/cup	1.20
	1.0	can	tuna	0	gr/can	0.00
	1.5	tbsp	mayo	0	gr/tbsp	0.00
	2.0	oz	cream cheese	0.75	gr/oz	1.50
	0.7	cup	cashew	35	gr/cup	24.50
	2.0		salmon burger	2	gr/patties	4.00
	0.3	lb	mahi mahi	0	gr/lb	0.00
	1.0		small apple	13	gr each	13.00
							53.95
Thursday, October 13, 2011
	1.0	can	beef veg soup	16	gr each	16.00
	0.2	head	cabbage	30	gr/head	5.00
	0.3	cup	cashew	35	gr/cup	10.50
	1.0	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	1.50
	0.3	head	cabbage	30	gr/head	7.50
	1.0	cup	spaghetti sauce	8	gr/cup	8.00
	2.0		salmon burger	2	gr/patties	4.00
	4.0		strawberries	0.7	gr each	2.80
							55.30
Friday, October 14, 2011
	17.0	spear	asparagus	0.333333	gr/spear	5.67
	4.0		egg	1	gr each	4.00
	2.0	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	3.00
	1.5	cup	spinach	2	gr/cup	3.00
	2.5	cup	broccoli	3.5	gr/cup	8.75
	1.0	cup	spinach	2	gr/cup	2.00
	0.5	can	coco milk	10	gr/can	5.00
	1.0	lb	shrimp	12	gr/lb	12.00
	0.1	head	cabbage	30	gr/head	3.75
	0.1		onion	9.5	gr each	1.19
	1.0	clove	garlic	1	gr each	1.00
	0.3	lb	chicken	0	gr/lb	0.00
	6.0		cherry tomatoes	0.5	gr each	3.00
							52.35
Saturday, October 15, 2011
	1.0	lb	chicken	0	gr/lb	0.00
	2.0		sausage	2	gr each	4.00
	12.0		deli chicken slices	0.3	gr each	4.00
	4.0	oz	cheddar	0	gr/oz	0.00
	2.0	oz	cream cheese	0.75	gr/oz	1.50
	2.0		strawberries	0.7	gr each	1.40
	1.0	cup	broccoli	3.5	gr/cup	3.50
	0.4	cup	spinach	2	gr/cup	0.80
	0.2	can	coco milk	10	gr/can	2.00
	0.4	lb	shrimp	12	gr/lb	4.80
	0.1	head	cabbage	30	gr/head	3.00
	0.1		onion	9.5	gr each	0.48
	0.4	clove	garlic	1	gr each	0.40
							25.88
Sunday, October 16, 2011
	7.0	lb	ground turkey	0	gr/lb	0.00
	4.0	leaves	romaine	0.333333	gr each	1.33
	3.0	oz	jicama	1.1	gr/oz	3.30
	2.0	oz	swiss cheese	1.5	gr/oz	3.00
	1.5	cup	blueberries	13	gr/cup	19.50
	4.0	tbsp	cream	0.42	gr/tbsp	1.68
	2.0	tbsp	almonds	2	gr/tbsp	4.00
							32.81

[scottie mike]

You really need to look at all the numbers and the newest measure -- the size of one (which one?) particle.

High total cholesterol could be OK if you have the right numbers. High cholesterol does not directly cause anything. And many people have high numbers and are doing fine. The particle size measurement seems to be more correct measurement. It seems to be directly tied to plaque buildup. So you have low cholesterol and the wrong particle size, you will have plaque buildup.

The other possible is that you have bad measurement. It happens. As the doctor when you should re-test. Don't change your diet.

[Aradasky]

I so agree, I don't see a problem with your food at all. My doctor has told me for years, that our parents and other direct relatives are the biggest cause for cholesterol. Genetics can not be overcome sometimes. I would really do tons of research before taking any meds. Again, look at your family history.