# Dieting to flip HDL and LDL cholesterol/Lessons learned



## notsoswoleCPA (Sep 14, 2018)

In December of 2017, my new HRT doctor had me start this diet in the attempts to flip my good and bad cholesterol levels.  For the last NINE MONTHS, I followed a regime of eating red meat once per week, eliminating egg yolks, taking a gram of fish oil per day, and eating an avocado per day.  Do you want to know how much my HDL and LDL cholesterol changed?  Nothing that I would consider statistically relevant!

I have my follow-up appointment on Monday, but I doubt he will convince me to eat even more vegetables, chicken, turkey, and fish than I have been eating...  In fact, my HDL and LDL levels were better BEFORE I started this asinine diet that was supposed to make things better.

For the record, my November labs had my HDL at 34 mg/dL and the LDL at 123 mg/dL.  Post super strict diet, my HDL was 31 mg/dL and my LDL was 130 mg/dL.  To think, my new doctor stated that my cholesterol would improve significantly on this diet!  

Pre-diet my overall cholesterol was 186 mg/dL and Post diet it was 183 mg/dL.  On the bright side, my triglycerides did improve the most going from 144 mg/dL down to 109 mg/dL.  I attribute that to the extra cardio that I have been putting in but maybe diet impacted something that was already in the normal range to begin with.  Regardless, I guess it is true when it comes to diet and the fact that it will barely change cholesterol in some.  What is the latest stat, 25% of one's cholesterol is impacted by what they eat?

The only thing added to my HRT regime was HCG.  My Anastrozole dosage was actually lowered from 1 mg per week to .25 mg per week then back up to .5 mg per week...


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## Jin (Sep 14, 2018)

I’m supposed to eat tofu, seaweed and mushrooms to lower my cholesterol. Maybe you should try it!  :32 (6):


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## notsoswoleCPA (Sep 14, 2018)

Jin said:


> I’m supposed to eat tofu, seaweed and mushrooms to lower my cholesterol. Maybe you should try it!  :32 (6):



Oh, I had plenty of meals with tofu and mushrooms in them.  I'm not a fan of seaweed, except for sushi wrap.  

I'm trying to find the dang article that I read where they stated that what one eats will impact their cholesterol a maximum of 25%.  IIRC the article stated that single digit improvements were the norm when diets were drastically modified in the hopes of improving cholesterol.  I tried to argue that my HDL and LDL were always bad, ever since I started getting bloodwork in my 20s, but every medical professional seems to think that a diet will flip it.  Well, if nothing changes after nine months, I don't think it is going to change.  I truly feel this is a case of genetics 1, me 0.

Regardless, beef and pork are back on the menu along with whole eggs.


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## Flyingdragon (Sep 14, 2018)

Increase the fish oil to 5000mg  -10000mg a day, that will make a difference..... A gram of fish oil is nothing....


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## BRICKS (Sep 14, 2018)

This is from 2012, so old news.  I thought that the idea of whole eggs and meat being a problem was old debunked myth.  Your doc should know this.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22037012/


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## notsoswoleCPA (Sep 14, 2018)

Flyingdragon said:


> Increase the fish oil to 5000mg  -10000mg a day, that will make a difference..... A gram of fish oil is nothing....



Whoops, I wrote that wrong.   I was taking ten 1,000 (or higher) mg pills per day since February.  I tried the uber expensive Nordic Naturals in the beginning (Dec-Feb), with no difference.  My doctor stated that it hadn't been long enough as he pulled labs in February to test his protocol.  When I ran out of the Nordic Naturals, I just switched to the Costco brands.  One came in the 400 count bottle and the other was the Wild Alaskan fish oil @ 1,400 mg per pill.

So between 10,000+ mg of fish oil per dayl two or more servings of salmon per week; and cod, mahi mahi, chicken and turkey breast along with a slew of vegetables for my other meals, I'm fairly disappointed.  My breakfast generally consisted of egg whites or egg beaters with an avocado.


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## Flyingdragon (Sep 14, 2018)

Wow, thats disappointing.....


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## Rhino99 (Sep 14, 2018)

What types of carbs have you been eating?
You were taking 100mg fish oil per week or per day?


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## dk8594 (Sep 14, 2018)

I had a similar experience.  I ate a ketogenic diet for 12 months in 2017 (lots of red meat, eggs, butter, etc.)  There was an initial  increase in my cholesterol when I first started it, but in the long term (after 2 months) my numbers leveled out to where they were before eating a diet of "taboo" foods.


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## Viduus (Sep 14, 2018)

Diet contributes less then a third to your over all cholesterol and they’re starting to think it’s even less then that.

Anastrozole WILL negatively effect lipid ratios. Aromasin will not. 

Red Yeast Rice will improve it if the suppliment has a certain chemical in it. Companies are not allowed to advertise whether or not it has the chemical and can helm cholesterol in the us. Each brand is a gamble. Thanks big pharma!

edit: cholesterol isn’t bad for you, it’s just an indicator. Research is showing it’s  when things are oxidized that the body builds plaque around it to protect itself. Seeker shared a cooking oil chart that’s really helpful. Don’t burn your cooking oils... that seems to be the biggest factor to me. I now picture how many times fast food places burn and reuse bad oils. That would explain the correlation there as well.


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## PillarofBalance (Sep 14, 2018)

Viduus said:


> Diet contributes less then a third to your over all cholesterol and they’re starting to think it’s even less then that.
> 
> Anastrozole WILL negatively effect lipid ratios. Aromasin will not.
> 
> ...



Correlation is how we got into this cholesterol mess with all these men being put on a statin.

Only that that ever impacted my cholesterol was...

Oh wait... Nothing has ever impacted it. Not exercise nor diet or any other factors. Not even juicing my brains out ever really affected it much.


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## notsoswoleCPA (Sep 14, 2018)

Rhino99 said:


> What types of carbs have you been eating?
> You were taking 100mg fish oil per week or per day?




10,000 mg per day.  I was stupid tired last night, lol.

As for my carbs, they generally come from fresh fruit, vegetables, steel cut oats, and brown rice.  I put a helluva lot of effort in this only to end up severely disappointed.  

My macro target was approximately 200 grams of protein per day, 150 grams of carbs, and I just let the fat shake out where it did to keep my calories between 2,500 and 3,000 per day.  IDK what I am going to do next, but eff the doctors with their useless advice!  I want my whole eggs and red meat back, lol.


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## DieYoungStrong (Sep 14, 2018)

PillarofBalance said:


> Correlation is how we got into this cholesterol mess with all these men being put on a statin.
> 
> Only that that ever impacted my cholesterol was...
> 
> Oh wait... Nothing has ever impacted it. Not exercise nor diet or any other factors. Not even juicing my brains out ever really affected it much.




Can't say the same for triglycerides though.

I 100% agree that lipid profiles are 95% based on genetics. You can help triclycerides with exercise and fish oil. High triglycerides is not a good thing.


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## snake (Sep 14, 2018)

That really sucks CPA!

I moved my total cholesterol down just a little. Got my HDL up from 35 to 40 with some fish oil and Triglycerides down with cardio. That brought the ratios in a little better. I also use some Red Yeast Rice. In all, it may all be B.S. 

This I find real interesting. Total Cholesterol= HDL+LDL+20% of the total Triglycerides. If Triglycerides are a key factor as DYS mentioned, why is it only accounted for at a 5:1 rate? To me, I bet it was a comprise between two "Experts" on a late Friday afternoon and dinner was getting cold.


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## notsoswoleCPA (Sep 14, 2018)

I think I will pick a brand of red yeast rice to try next and just go back to eating my macro targets.  I'm over listening to diet advice from professionals that just doesn't work!


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## Gadawg (Sep 14, 2018)

85 percent of people who have heart attacks have "healthy cholesterol levels". Does that make any sense?


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## notsoswoleCPA (Oct 10, 2018)

Quick update, doctor 2 told me to take niacin.  I've been an established patient of his for years and he agreed that my crap hdl is genetics related and said my TRT protocol isn't doing me any favors.  Granted, he also agreed that my hdl/LDL has remained constant despite diet and exercise, so I guess the TRT comment was just a dig at the other doc.


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## Flyingdragon (Oct 10, 2018)

Educate the 2 doctors who seem to know very little about the dangers of Niacin especially in those who are healthy.....


https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease...art-problems-may-create-some-research-finds#1


notsoswoleCPA said:


> Quick update, doctor 2 told me to take niacin.  I've been an established patient of his for years and he agreed that my crap hdl is genetics related and said my TRT protocol isn't doing me any favors.  Granted, he also agreed that my hdl/LDL has remained constant despite diet and exercise, so I guess the TRT comment was just a dig at the other doc.


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