Clem28 Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Hi all! I have just completed my first Whole30 (vegetarian version) and I feel great. Energy levels are through the roof, I am sleeping great, and my digestion is calm and smooth. While doing the Whole30 I relied on eggs and tofu for my protein, which translated into about 4-6 eggs a day. I also cooked everything in coconut oil during the Whole30. Prior to starting the Whole30 I was relying on only tofu and protein shakes for the majority of my protein since I was vegan and I was not using coconut oil, or really any cooking oil, at all. I was eating a very clean diet and following a 3 day strength/2 day cardio workout schedule. I continued to workout for 3-4 days each week with a combination of strength and cardio during my Whole30. I have an at home cholesterol digital monitor and I test myself every 1-3 months since I have had high cholesterol before and I want to stay on top of my numbers. The day before starting my first Whole30 my fasting numbers were: Total- 175 HDL- 75 LDL- 89 Triglycerides- 51 My fasting numbers as of this morning after finishing my Whole30 are: Total- 256 HDL- 75 LDL- 169 Triglycerides- 60 To say the least I am disappointed. I had hoped to see no change or a change for the better. My starting numbers were pretty great and made me very happy when I saw them, but now that my total and LDL are so increased I am rethinking my egg and fat consumption. Could I be one of those rare people whose liver responds to dietary fat by cranking out cholesterol? My thinking is that I should scale back on eggs, and maybe my cooking fats, as I move forward. I would really like to continue eating in this style most of the time, but I would like to tweak something to hopefully bring those numbers back to where they were prior to the Whole30. Thanks for any input/help/advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andria Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Saturated fat WILL increase cholesterol levels (actual dietary cholesterol has little effect on your cholesterol levels. However, what is important to determine is your ratios(TC/HDL, etc) and LDL particle size. My cholesterol and LDL has gone WAY up since following a paleo type diet. Also, your high HDL is 'cardioprotective.' You might want to read: http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-why-everyone-should-know-their-ldl-particle-number There are a ton more articles, but headed off to work and don't have time to post more. Moderator Tom should come along with several links for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 We all react differently to good fats. When I eliminated all fast sugars and carbs, mine went down 72 points within 3 months. If I reintroduced pizza, tofu, soy, protein powders and other items...it would go up again. Whey protein powder boosts blood sugar. I used to make whey and soy protein shakes, I don't believe I'll ever use them again. For 3 months, I ate 18 eggs a week....to the amazement of my doctor. Milk sugars were boosting my trigly before the W30. I gave up milk products. My numbers are still stable and it's now 5 months. I use coconut vinegar, EVCoconut oil, coconut aminos, Macadamia Nut oil almost every single day. I eat alot of citrus - lemons, limes, grapefruit, they're great for lowering the 'bad' cholesterol. I use the juices of all three as condiments every day, including the zest of lemons and limes. The vege lifestyle may be more suitable for your overall body chemistry. Only you would know that. I went to the health food store yesterday and the owners asked me what in the world have I been doing? I don't tell anyone unless they ask me. I told them I've been eating eggs and living on coconut products. Nuh uh... Yes, I do. I used to buy all of their protein powders, chips, gluten free products that have replaced gluten with sugars. I have saved so much money by eliminating all of those items. I quit taking vitamins....huge savings. Eggs were the best little supplements for my health. Good fats have given me the best skin I've ever had. It's contrary to everything we've ever been told. People stop me in the grocery store...I tell them if they ask me about the Whole 30. I'm still doing a slow roll reintro because I don't plan on going back to a life of fast sugars and refined carbs. I know what they did to me. They were robbing me of my health. I wish you well, Clem. I hope you find the right combination of foods that will give you radiant health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted November 1, 2014 Moderators Share Posted November 1, 2014 In my opinion, as a layman with no medical credentials outside of mental health, your cholesterol numbers are fine. Lots of MD's would say otherwise, but medical research is beginning to recover from the corrupt information fed to the industry by pharmaceutical companies. [Wow. I don't talk like this in real life, but the cholesterol industry pisses me off big time.] I don't know why your LDL went up when lots of people eating Whole30-style see their numbers go down, but I would not let that make me give up eggs. Here are a collection of links to cholesterol info I have collected over the past year or two. The last one was published on the Whole9 blog last week. http://paleononpaleo.com/paleo-high-cholesterol/ http://paleononpaleo.com/paleo-cholesterol-testing/ http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-cholesterol-and-saturated-fat-are-not-the-enemy http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-statins-dont-save-lives-in-people-without-heart-disease http://healthcorrelator.blogspot.com/2013/05/sudden-cholesterol-increase-it-may-be.html http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/ http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/ http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/statins/statin-madness/ http://whole9life.com/2014/10/truth-cholesterol/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Hi all! I have just completed my first Whole30 (vegetarian version) and I feel great. Energy levels are through the roof, I am sleeping great, and my digestion is calm and smooth. This is what I would focus on most. Would you rather feel great, sleep great, have energy and good digestion? Or would you rather have "good" numbers, based on somewhat arbitrary criteria? There is lots of science that suggests cholesterol is actually good and protective for your brain function. I'm sure there can be too much of a good thing, but I wouldn't worry about your current numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem28 Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Thank you Andria, MeadowLily, Tom Denham and missmary for your helpful comments. I am going to experiment over the next 30 days with removing coconut oil and coconut milk (biggest sources of saturated fats during my Whole30), but keep eggs and everything else the same. Then I will retest and see what happens. I admit that I am prone to kneejerk reactions to my cholesterol numbers since I have so successfully kept them in the "good" range for so long prior to my Whole30. But I also realize, like missmary said, that I should focus on how wonderful I am feeling and try not to obsess over this one readout of health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Posted 11 July 2014 - 09:08 AM keightlynn, on 10 Jul 2014 - 1:01 PM, said: My cholesterol numbers greatly improved after going paleo. A couple years ago I got a quite bad cholesterol test result and was told to go "low fat, whole grians, etc" - I did the opposite and in less than a year completely changed my cholesterol profile. My total numbers are high, but the doctor said my ratios were so good that he didn't have any concerns. And my triglycerides (which are the most dangerous) were so low that the nurse couldn't believe it. And I have a a family history of high (bad) cholesterol so I'm fighting genetics here. Yay! Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem28 Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Just wanted to provide an update on the effect of removing all coconut oil from my diet for the past 28 days on my cholesterol levels. As of this morning my fasting numbers were: Total 194 HDL 69 LDL 111 Triglycerides 68 During these past 30 days I continued to eat eggs daily, so I feel quite confident that it was the coconut oil used for cooking that caused my LDL and total to increase so dramatically during my first vegetarian W30. It is also quite amazing how quickly my numbers came back down after eliminating that one fat source. I am super excited to do my second W30 starting January 1st and will use this new knowledge to tweak it and make it even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkor Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Cholesterol is brain armor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantommeb Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Where did you get a cholesterol monitor? Sounds like something great to have around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem28 Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 Where did you get a cholesterol monitor? Sounds like something great to have around. I bought it from Amazon- they have several models. High cholesterol runs in my family and so awhile back I decided to monitor my numbers to learn best how foods affect my blood lipids. I am a scientist by trade and so I love personal experimentation and data collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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