Marci0393 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I just received some blood test results from my doctor and I am wondering if I need to make some small adjustments for my next whole 30. My main concern is my cholesterol. My HDL is good at 49 but my LDL is high at 137 and my Triglycerides are high at 278. I re-read the section in ISWF on eggs and cholesterol and it says that if you divide your Tri by your HDL 4 is high and 6 is the danger zone, mine is 5.67. My last W30 I ate A LOT of eggs and red meat. I am wondering if I should cut them out and do more lean protein? I know that eggs and grass fed beef are really good for you, but I don't know how else to bring my numbers down. Another area of concern is that my C reactive Protein (which is an indicator of inflimation) was high. The nurse practitioner said that if I don't smoke (which I don't) then that is an indicator of high stress, which I would say I have. Suggestions on that? Also, and I am not sure if this is related, I have had a stiff neck and shoulder on my right side for a week. The blood test was about 3 weeks after my W30 (actually W27) and I was not eating with any restrictions, but I don't eat much processed food anyway. I was eating grains and dairy in moderation. The good news is that my electrolites, A1C, Thyroid function, B-12 and uric acid were all good. My blood sugar was high, but I had just eaten lunch and my Vit D was low, but I am taking a suppliment. I also take PE Nutrient 950 with Vit. K and a cod liver oil suppliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Well, your triglycerides are high, and that has more to do with your carbohydrate intake than your fat/cholesterol intake. You said you had just eaten lunch, which is why your blood sugar was high? Does that mean that your lipid panel was also not fasted? If that's the case, then none of your numbers mean squat and you should retest. If you WERE fasted, then how much stuff did you add back in post W30? You say grains and dairy in moderation...but what does "moderate" mean? Stress is a big contributor to c-reactive protein, but you could either have been getting over a little cold or you're reactive to grains/dairy (which are both inflammatory). Even if stress isn't the cause of the CRP bump, I'd really encourage you to not look for a nutritional solution to a lifestyle problem with that stuff. Meditation, stress-reducing practices like yoga, just reevaluating your life and making stress reduction a priority, etc... Again, if your lipid labs weren't taken fasted, you can't trust ANY of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marci0393 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Interesting. I was just getting over a cold. I had just eaten lunch, but they said it was not a fasting test? I'll do a little more research. Even if my lunch had an affect on the numbers, my cholesterol was borderline high when I was tested about a year and a half ago as well. Just to clarify, I am working on addressing my lifestyle issues as well. I am trying to work some more me time into my schedule for physical activity. I think the cold had more to do with it than my stress level. I have a high stress job and 2 kids (one is special needs), but I have always handled stress well. I don't really feel over stressed much. I am more concerned about the cholesterol than the c-reactive protein. I think exercise will be my main focus to bring it down, but I was eating 3 eggs almost every day on my last W30. I know that cholesterol in food is not the big contributor but that can't have helped, right? I am thinking I might try to do 2 eggs every other day, and have fish for breakfast on the off day? I don't eat enough fish because my husband doesn't like it (and I live in a rural area of a landlocked state and it's hard to find good fish) but he cooks his own breakfast so that would be a good time to work it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted March 5, 2013 Moderators Share Posted March 5, 2013 I'm not bold enough to recommend that no one else worry if their cholesterol levels are high, but I am becoming increasingly comfortable with mine being high. But having triglycerides as high as yours would make me nervous. My triglycerides fell sharply after I started eating lots of eggs and red meat, so I don't think that is your problem. One of my food gurus recommends everyone eating 3 egg yolks per day for the nutrition they include, so I would not view cutting your intake as a good thing. I eat 4 whole eggs per day most days. Exercise should be a part of stress management for you. No P90X/CrossFit/etc. Brisk walks, jogging, some weight lifting, but no killing yourself with competitive stuff. You've already got enough stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Marci, imo, blood lipids should ALWAYS be a fasted test. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068759/ The article above says that clinicians are trying to make the test "easier" for patients and not requiring them to fast...but they've admitted that doing so will skew the triglycerides value, as those stay elevated for hours after eating. I personally will ALWAYS fast for these tests, if I can. Anyway, so your real tri number is a big question mark, so you can't use the handy dandy calc that ISWF gave you to determine risk. I've written a lot about cholesterol on the forum. Do some searching for more indepth discussion about it...but I would consider a clean, fasted test to evaluate if the W30 improved your markers or not. They almost definitely did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marci0393 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Confession: I HATE cross-fit. I know other people treat it like their religion, but I honestly do not enjoy it at all. I am competitive when it comes to other stuff, but not exercise or physical sports. I have never really liked exercise and the only physical activities I remotely enjoy are swimming, hiking and bike riding (leisurely). My workouts are usually 30-60 minutes on the elliptical. I really want to start going to a yoga class, but none of the ones I can find fit my schedule. When the weather improves I will start walking every day. I know I need to incorporate some strength training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marci0393 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 I did do a little research about the fasting v. non-fasting lipid panel and the consensus seems to be that there is up to a 20% variance. Even if you take that into consideration, my Triglycerides would be well over 200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moluv Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 When you say you were eating "grains and dairy in moderation" were you doing so with no side effects? Are you certain that you do not have celiacs or a gluten intolerance? I'm asking because gluten itolerance/celiacs is implicated in elevated triglycerides as well as inflammation. If you do have any type of grain/gluten sensitivity there is no such thing as moderation- one serving could be enough to start up a whole new symphony of downstream negative effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marci0393 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 I really do think the inflammation was probably a result of the cold I was still getting over. As for the grains and dairy, I didn't do a re-introduction after my W27, but I have never noticed any particular sensitivity to grains or any other food. I don't eat a lot of dairy because I'm not crazy about milk or cheese. Post W30 I probably had one or two servings of grains and one or fewer servings of dairy a day. Most days I eat no dairy. The most significant changes I noticed on the W30 were my energy levels. I had more energy and it was sustained all day. I also had very few cravings as long as I avoided fruit. I don't have issues with my digestion and I usually only get headaches pre-period so those are triggered by hormones, not food. Unless there are symptoms that I am missing, I don't think I have any particular food sensitivities. I am about 25Lbs overweight. Overweight people typically have high cholesterol. I don't think there are any underlying causes other than I need to lose weight, exercise more and eat better. I'm just wondering about the "eat better" part in relation to my egg and red meat consumption. I am going to a 3 day conference starting tomorrow, but when I get back I plan on prepping for my next W30 over the weekend and starting on Monday. I do understand that the eggs and red meat are not likely what caused the problem. I just think that until I get it under control it can't hurt to cut back a little and substitute some W30 compliant foods, like fish, that tend to lower trigs and LDL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moluv Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 If these elevated numbers ARE influence by being overweight, you stand a far better chance of losing that weight by eating nutrient dense grassfed beef (with all the fat!) and pastured egg yolks (and fish like salmon) than with grains in yor diet. As one mod said above, it has more to do with carbohydrates than meat. That's just conventional medical establishment ideology. It's faulty though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 It's always possible there was an error in the test results. I would suggest a repeat before worrying further. Like Tom my cholesterol has increased to a watch level... But my triglycerides are extremely low so I am not concerned. And my iron, vitamin d and b12 levels are finally healthy after struggling for a number of years even though eating meat and getting lots of sunlight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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