Off the Charts Triglycerides

[CCsAdventures]

Hello fellow Whole30ers!

 

I'm on day 21 of my first whole30! I just did my annual health screening and everything is perfect and down vs. last year...except triglycerides! They came back at 400! 

 

Here are my other numbers:

Total Cholesterol: 147 (was 175 last year)

HDL: 54 (was 69 last year)

LDL: 13 (N/A 2014)

Glucose: 84 (was 91 last year)

BP: 98/66 (same)

Triglycerides:  400 (was 44 last year!)

Weight: 170

Height: 5'11"

 

...and here are my questions:

 

1.  Is this normal as a reaction to whole30? 

2.  I've tried taking Fish Oil in the past, but it causes me to break out terribly.  Are there other supplements that are whole30 approved that might help?

 

This just blows my mind to be honest.  Any feedback would be great!  Thanks everyone!

[missmary]

Dietary intake of cholesterol has little direct impact on blood levels in general. Whole30 style eating tends to improve cholesterol panels, because it reduces inflammation (with the exception that during weight loss there may be a temporary increase as the body metabolizes excess body fat).

 

If I got your numbers I would be asking for a retest just to be sure--it is easy to put an extra zero on a number, might be worth double checking to be sure these are accurate results.

[Tom Denham]

Two of your numbers are suspect. Having LDL of 13 is questionable since the reference range is under 100 for good. And going from 44 to 400 in one year with triglycerides is questionable too. That said, you will sometimes have more fat in your blood when you are losing weight, but we generally hear of that making your total cholesterol go up, not just triglycerides. If your doctor is concerned, I would want to repeat the test.

 

Instead of taking fish oil, eat salmon or tuna at least 3 times per week. I quit taking fish oil several years ago and eat canned salmon, tuna, or sardines every other day. 

[CCsAdventures]

Thank you for your input!  The test was done this morning by my company at our annual "Health Screening" with a finger stick after fasting.  A re-test may be exactly the answer! 

[Brewer5]

I am on my phone so I cannot link it, but Dr. William Davis has a great article about this on his Wheat Belly site. I am willing to bet you have lost weight on your Whole 30, and that fat release is responsible for your test results.

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/06/i-lost-weight-and-my-cholesterol-went-up/

Hey, I figured it out. 400 is still crazy high and I would definitely re-test.

[GrannieD]

As an RN who helps out doing these finger stick tests for companies I would definitely not panic. Just make sure you follow up with your primary MD and have a full panel done for accuracy. Those finger stick tests are supposed to be pretty darn accurate but they are meant to be a screening tool so you know whether or not you need follow up.

Also, I thought it took a while of eating this way for our blood profiles to "even out". Maybe 3-6 months. Maybe the mods could comment on this aspect.

[missmary]

Also, I thought it took a while of eating this way for our blood profiles to "even out". Maybe 3-6 months. Maybe the mods could comment on this aspect.

 

Absolutely! Especially if there is weight loss involved, but generally, I wouldn't panic over numbers from mid-or just-past whole30. This one was particularly odd because the tris were so out of line with the other values, so I suspected problems with the test itself.