HailiMarie91 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Hello All! Today is day 32! A few days ago I had some blood work tested. It seems that my cholesterol is elevated.... in fact... it is high. The only life style change have made is doing a Whole 30. Anyone else experience this? Maybe I had a few too many burgers (no buns of course) or eggs? (high cholesterol does NOT run in my family, so I cant blame genetics... ) This is kind of discouraging information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted February 7, 2014 Moderators Share Posted February 7, 2014 Most people experience their cholesterol going down after a Whole30. Going up is less common. Search the forum for discussions of cholesterol. You probably have a lot less to worry about than you might imagine. Conventional wisdom has been focused on lowering cholesterol to lower and lower levels, but some doctors have begun to question the wisdom of lowering a substance that our body needs so badly it makes its own in the liver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Did you lose weight during your whole30? During weight loss it is not unusual for cholesterol levels to appear to be elevated. This is temporary. Beyond that, know that conventional wisdom regarding cholesterol is not very nuanced. Without looking at the different types of cholesterol and the particle size, it is hard to know if there is anything to be concerned about here. Did they do a full panel? What were your numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HailiMarie91 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 I did lose weight. I lost about 10 pounds. Thank you for that information. I did not know that. Here are my numbers: Total: 254 LDL: 156 HDL: 55 Tri: 133 I know they arent terrible. I am a RN and have been learning more and more about how the nutritional courses I took in school are irrelevant, and seeminly full of nonsence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ultrarunnergirl Posted February 7, 2014 Moderators Share Posted February 7, 2014 Here is a very interesting article by Chris Kresser on cholesterol that should ease your mind. http://chriskresser.com/cholesterol-doesnt-cause-heart-disease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyB Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Did you fast before having the test? Might be a dumb question but... I know I've had cholesterol finger prick tests where I didn't fast and the numbers were way high (I ate a bag of M&Ms on the way over). I wondered why the doctor bothered doing the test.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcgirltoo Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Help! Cholesterol numbers and Seeing my doctor on Friday.... I had a cholesterol test 18 months ago, with very high total and LDL cholesterol. Since then I have done a complete Whole 30, in the spring of 2013, and I am on day 20 of a second whole 30. Here were my numbers in October 2012, which was the motivation to try the first Whole 30: Total: 317 HDL: 87 LDL: 217 Triglycerides: 63 Total/HDL ratio: 3.64 my Doctor wanted me to start in statins immediately. I said no, and wanted to try to see if I could improve the numbers with diet. Since then, I have been following a mostly Paleo diet, being very careful about wheat, but allowing some dairy. I sarted this second whole 30 with the idea that I might be having issues with dairy, so I had been dairy free for about 4 weeks when I took my most recent cholesterol test. Here are the new numbers, from last Monday (2 weeks into the second While 30) Total: 308 HDL: 97 LDL: 203 Triglycerides: 40 total/HDL ratio: 3.18 So while the HDL and Triglycerides and the ratio are all good, the total and the LDL seem too high. Any words of wisdom before I see the doctor on Friday, and hear again that I need to be on statins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Ask to get your thyroid checked. My numbers were close to yours for several years (but refused statins because I was in my 20s and 30s) and finally saw them drop significantly after getting my thyroid treated properly. There's more to cholesterol than just food! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcgirltoo Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Ask to get your thyroid checked. My numbers were close to yours for several years (but refused statins because I was in my 20s and 30s) and finally saw them drop significantly after getting my thyroid treated properly. There's more to cholesterol than just food! Karen, thanks for the suggestion. I did have my thyroid checked with a TSH with reflex number of 1.47, which is within the reference range (although I don't have any idea what that number means). My Mom has had low thyroid all of her adult life, along with several of her sisters and my cousins, so it is certainly possible. I'm thinking of changing docs to a specialist in Functional Medicine-- has anyone tried this? From what I read, it seems like the FM focus is on the whole person and causes of disease, rather than just treating symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I did have my thyroid checked with a TSH with reflex number of 1.47, which is within the reference range (although I don't have any idea what that number means). TSH alone is not enough to know if you have thyroid issues, and the reference range also doesn't tell the whole picture. Ask for a full Thyroid panel including antibodies. If you Doctor will not run a full panel or explain your numbers to you I would find another one that will. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praxisproject Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 If anyone is trying to rule out thyroid issues, also get the Reverse T3 tested, it's not included in some "basic tests" and some malfunctions are only visible with this test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Ann** Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 TSH is not a good indicator of thyroid function. You should also have free t3 and free t4 done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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