Will soon start the carnivore diet, anything I should expect when it comes to my cholesterol values?

[premious]

So I have decided to give the carnivore diet a real try for about 2-3 months. My plan is to cut everything out except beef, salt and water in this period and see how I feel and then if everything is good start to reintroduce more foods.

 

However I am curious if there is anything I should expect in regards to my cholesterol profile? I will take bloodwork and should I expect it to rise or be stable or fall?

 

For other people who also followed their bloodwork and went on to the carnivore diet how did your cholesterol profile change or react?

[Bob]

It's a bit of a coin toss. Some people's cholesterol doesn't change much. Others see their HDL go up and their LDL go down. Many see both their HDL and their LDL go up. 

I'm in it for weight loss, and there is stored cholesterol stored in adipose tissue that gets release as you lose wieght. As a result, my HDL has remained stable and I my LDL has gone up. I am unable to get an LDL reading currently due to my high triglycerides.

[premious]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:47 PM, Bob said:

It's a bit of a coin toss. Some people's cholesterol doesn't change much. Others see their HDL go up and their LDL go down. Many see both their HDL and their LDL go up. 

I'm in it for weight loss, and there is stored cholesterol stored in adipose tissue that gets release as you lose wieght. As a result, my HDL has remained stable and I my LDL has gone up. I am unable to get an LDL reading currently due to my high triglycerides.

Thank you, is the LDL going up a concern for you?

[Geezy]

My LDL was around 200 pre carnivore. After a 147 days on carnivore I had my biannual physical and blood work was done.
This was my lipid panel.



As you can see my total cholesterol was 299 and my LDL was 225.
While my nutritionally ignorant doctor is upset about it, I’m not the least bit concerned.
LDL is an essential hormone in the human body. Every cell in your body is made up of LDL cholesterol.
There has never been any evidence that LDL cholesterol has any negative effects on the cardiovascular system, in fact, quite the contrary. There is evidence to show that those with lower LDL numbers tend to die of all cause mortality more that those with higher numbers.
If you are metabolically healthy (key words there) then higher LDL cholesterol is a sign of good health.
The only numbers that you should concern yourself with are your triglycerides and HDL.
Ideally you want your triglycerides below 100 and your HDL above 50.
Then to get a risk assessment you divide your triglycerides by your HDL. Any numbers of 1.5 or lower is a good indicator of cardiovascular health.

Tri50 =

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[Bob]

18 hours ago, premious said:

Thank you, is the LDL going up a concern for you?

Not at the moment. I can't get a reading but I am going to assume it is way into the 300's.

The reason I am not concerned is because I am still in active weight loss. Cholesterol is stored in adipose tissue, so as I lose visceral fat, this cholesterol gets released into my bloodstream. 

About 6 months after weight stabilization I would be able to get a better baseline for what my cholesterol will typically be.