Cholesterol WAY up after Whole30

[MomInAustin]

I just finished the Whole30 with my 19 year old daughter, and we were very strict about sticking to all the guidelines.  We also increased our exercise.  My normal diet before Whole30 was fairly low in sugar, high in processed carbs, low in veggies, I rarely ate eggs, and drank a couple glasses of wine a day.  So, yeah, not great.  My last check up a couple weeks before I started Whole30 had these numbers:

glucose 101

cholesterol 285

triglycerides 170

HDL 55

LDL 196

Ratio 3.56

weight 141

So my goals for Whole30 were to improve my glucose and cholesterol numbers and lose weight.  My numbers on the day I ended the Whole30 (blood work done at Any Lab Now) were:

glucose 87 - yay, yay!

cholesterol 307 - whoa, yikes

triglycerides 130 - my ins. agent sister says this is the only number insurance adjusters care about 

HDL 49 - crap, this is the first time in decades it's been below 50.  I think it's from losing the wine.  My exercise actually increased.

LDL 232 - now I'm wondering if the lab screwed up my results

Ratio 4.73 - these results made me literally start crying

weight 136 - thought I'd lose more weight too

Dang, you guys.  My doctor told me in May to make an appointment with a cardiologist.  I *really* don't want to be put on statins and I was so hoping to see good results after the Whole30, and was definitely shocked to see them go the other way (though I'm super happy about the glucose and triglyceride numbers).  

I know other people have posted about their cholesterol going up in this forum before, but from what I can see mine are the only ones that started high and went even higher. I'm pretty disappointed and I'm about to throw the baby out with the bath water, but first I'd love to hear what you all have to say.

My thoughts are this:  I ate eggs 17/30 days, and I normally might eat only a couple eggs a month.  My red meat intake didn't really increase, and I didn't eat a lot of shellfish.  I'm thinking what I might do is add a glass of red wine and a bowl of oatmeal a day to my diet and keep everything else Whole30 compliant.  I've heard eating oatmeal can lower LDL's in as little as 4 weeks.  Then I'll make an appointment with my cardiologist and have them retest.  Or should I see a functional medicine practioner?  I'm really worried about this high cholesterol now and am not sure how much longer I should experiment before I move to "traditional" medicine.

I'd really like to know what this community's take is on all this.  I did read the troubleshooting chapter in the Whole30 book and didn't really find anything helpful or applicable to my situation.  Thanks in advance!!

[salsasis14]

Most doctors I've seen are hesitant to prescribe drugs when a lifestyle change (change your diet, exercise more) will be the difference, as long as the patient is willing.  If the cardiologist wants to put you on meds, ask for 30 days to see if you can bring your numbers down a bit.  The whole30 mentality is learning what works for you- spend those 30 days doing a variation of what you did before (maybe add more legumes if they worked for you and HDL friendly fats like salmon or avocado).  

Also, diet isn't the only factor for cholesterol, so don't throw this baby out yet.  I know everything I said above is about diet, but if you get your 30 day reprieve and the numbers stay where they are, it could be other factors, ones that are harder to control (like genetics).