Cholesterol

[Suzanne]

Hi everyone! So my husband and I have been on the carnivore diet for close to 4 months now. Has anyone else's cholesterol gone up? Mine is naturally high, but now sits at 7.85 My doctor is having a fit because I went off statin a number of months ago. Should I be concerned???

[Bob]

19 hours ago, Suzanne said:

Mine is naturally high, but now sits at 7.85

This is 303.56 mg/dl for us USA folks

19 hours ago, Suzanne said:

My doctor is having a fit because I went off statin a number of months ago. Should I be concerned???

The general consensus in the keto-carnivore community is No. If you are eating a Proper Human Diet (i.e. carnivore, keto, ketovore, maybe a delicate step towards animal-bases), and all your other numbers are looking good, then LDL is not a number of concern. 

Mine went up. As I lost weight it skyrocketed into the 500's but now that I have been weight-stable for the last 8 months it has dropped back into the 200's. 

[Scott F.]

There is a lot of research (as new as 2023/204) where the "Bad" cholesterol number is not as "bad" as once thought. The newest information suggests it is the ratio between the "good and the bad" that carry the health risks. An example would be a good number of "100" and a bad number of "400" would be 4:1 and that is a concern.

But if the bad number is "300" and the good number is "100" there is less of a concern and the 200:100 ration (2:1) even better.

I'm interested in this as well. I started a little over 60 days ago and have some bloodwork scheduled for later in the month (shooting for 90 days in) and then normal blood work in another 90 days when my infusion is due.

My interests are peaked because.......back in 2018 I was put on a statin for cholesterol. After a week I started developing odd symptoms/medical issues. The odds/ coincidence was the four biggest complaints I was having were four of the top five 'known side effects" of that particular statin. I stopped the statin but a few days later they had not passed nor worked themselves out or, so I thought. They actually worsened and then on Labor Day morning I woke up as blind as a bat. Everything was dark gray. Freaked me out.

It took some four months of blood work, MRI's, spinal taps. visual evoke testing, and then all of that all over again to determine I had an auto-immune disease called NMOSD (neuromyelitis optica  spectrum disorder or Devic's). 

I'm not a medical professional by any means, nor any stretch, but I was fine one week, took some new medicine and was almost knocked in the head. As the Neuroscience Center at Duke University figured me out and got me on medicines/infusions all has been better. Each time the cholesterol conversation comes up I feel like the treatment for one thing was the trigger for another and the 'another' was life threatening.

I am eager to see if my immuno-panel changes with the 90 days of carnivore, but I am also interested to see where the cholesterol numbers land. 

Thus far I have lost 42lbs. with carnivore, a moderate workout plan, walking as much as 12-hour shift work allows and occasional fasting. I can't see one thing being the factor but a combination of things, maybe even a sequence of events. Started carnivore-started walking and working out-lost 42lbs-energy level up and overall, feel better/more energetic than before. 

May even be considered better life choices, but again, I am not a medical professional. LOL 

Scott

[Geezy]

I had a blood test six months into carnivore and then another six months later. My results were actually lower. After a full year as a carnivore.
My overall cholesterol was 299 but came down to 269.
LDL was 225 but then down to 190.
Triglycerides were 87 then down to 66.
HDL was 57 but then went up to 66.
This puts my HDL to Triglyceride ratio to a 1 which is a fantastic number considering that that is the true maker for cardiovascular health.
I’m actually concerned about my LDL dropping because it’s a well documented fact that there is more all cause mortality in older people who have lower cholesterol. I want mine to stay elevated.


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[Bob]

Also remember that when you are actively losing weight, your LDL will go up. There is cholesterol in your adipose tissue that gets released into the blood stream as you use that stored fat for energy. When you are eating a ketogenic diet, you are relying on fat for energy. LDL is what transports that fat to your cells.

I would be wary of a lipid panel until you had at least 90 days of being weight-stable. And 180 would probably be better.

[Suzanne]

Thanks for the info everyone! I will try not to panic about the high numbers. I guess I'm still wrapping my brain around the fact that what I have always believed to be true us not. It's quite the learning curve.

[Geezy]

Thanks for the info everyone! I will try not to panic about the high numbers. I guess I'm still wrapping my brain around the fact that what I have always believed to be true us not. It's quite the learning curve.

That’s perfectly normal. We all had to break the chains of misinformation to learn the truth. We were all brainwashed at one time including the carnivore doctors that we now follow.
Keep doing your research and understand how we have been lied to our whole lives. Immerse yourself into the culture and continue to garner information.


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[Roxie]

Help. I’ve been on carnivore for a year and just had my blood work done. My total cholesterol is 437. A little scared. Talk me off the ledge. 

[Scott F.]

Google 'ratio between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol'.

Lots of new studies coming out that debunk what was taught to doctors and what has been told to us for decades.

There are several youtube videos from doctors who are sort of 'going back on what they thought and how they now practice medicine.

I'm a naysayer and doubter by nature but as medicine moves forward 'higher cholesterol today' is not what it was even five years ago.

Not offering up any advice on your actual cholesterol numbers but there is some new and really interesting studies that are only 1-2 years old.

 

Scott

[Scott F.]

2 hours ago, Roxie said:

Help. I’ve been on carnivore for a year and just had my blood work done. My total cholesterol is 437. A little scared. Talk me off the ledge. 

High Cholesterol on the Carnivore Diet: Should You Worry? (allthingscarnivore.com)

[Geezy]

Help. I’ve been on carnivore for a year and just had my blood work done. My total cholesterol is 437. A little scared. Talk me off the ledge. 

Don’t fear the cholesterol but instead fear the ones telling you it’s bad. Education will displace fear so check out the Lean Mass Hyper-Responder report. Look up videos from Dr. Berry on this subject and see what a cardiologist and heart surgeon have to say about it so look up videos from Dr. Ovadia.


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[Miranda]

On the topic, if any of you have already had a chat with doc, about cholesterol please share stories about how that went. I have hyperlipidemia on my chart. I feel like it's a bad mark in school. I hope the standard of care catches up with the hard science on this one and soon!

[Susyn C_137]

I used to give blood and they would always have a hissy fit over my cholesterol (around 500). My triglycerides were low, even when I was eating my worst, and my ratio was always great. Now I'm eating the Proper Human Diet. I can't do any better than that. It will be what my genes determine it should be. I have zero heart disease in my family anyway. 

[Geezy]

On the topic, if any of you have already had a chat with doc, about cholesterol please share stories about how that went. I have hyperlipidemia on my chart. I feel like it's a bad mark in school. I hope the standard of care catches up with the hard science on this one and soon!

My chat went like this.
Doc…your cholesterol is way to high I want you on a statin.
Me…No thanks doc, it’s right where I want it to be.
Doc…you have a heart condition and this high cholesterol will kill you.
Me…you told me covid would kill me too if I didn’t get the jab and you were wrong about that and I believe you are wrong about this and I’ve done my research. I will never take a statin.
Doc…well I’m sorry you feel this way but I’m recording this in your file.
Me…I understand your standard of care requires you to do what you do but I’m the one in charge of my health. I appreciate your concern though.
Of course all of this went on after he praised me for what I’ve accomplished in my health journey by going zero carb. Yeah, don’t look at the results, just follow that “Standard of Care”.


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[Bob]

On 7/25/2024 at 5:52 PM, Roxie said:

My total cholesterol is 437. A little scared. Talk me off the ledge. 

Remember that your cells are using fat for energy instead of glucose. Fat needs to be transported in the blood inside lipoproteins (because fat can't mix with water/blood). So it is only natural that your cholesterols would increase when you are fat adapted.