I need your opinion : Lipids & Cholesterol

(Daniel Rothrock) #1

Recently went for the annual physical and all metrics came back great w/ exception of the lipid panel. I’ve read a few of the older posts but thought I would share my numbers. Here are the last 3 panels so you can see my history.

Date Total HDL TRIs LDL
3/18/2017 184 56 83 111
10/31/2017 182 59 113 102
11/8/2018 218 42 233 138

As you can see, my HDL went down, LDL went up, and TRIs skyrocketed!

A couple things about me: I’m allergic to chicken, turkey and all fish. I can eat eggs and red meats. My doctor wants me to limit red meats, butter, cheese, fried foods (to which I don’t really eat) and alcohol (to which I don’t really drink). He also says that most of these numbers are probably elevated due to less movement (I fully herniated my L5S1 three months ago and have be less active due to the injury, although, I’ve had periods of time where I was inactive before as well.)

I really enjoy keto and can see myself living this lifestyle, but this concerned me after my numbers elevated so significantly. I started keto about 1.5 months prior to the panel. I’ve read contradictory studies about food intake and their effects on fats/cholesterol, and honesty, I’m as confused as ever.

What is your opinion? Should I eliminate red meats, butter and cheese altogether and go more more vegan? Do I leave my diet alone and focus on the cardio/exercise portion and re-evaluate?

I’m also confused about MCT oil as it’s so high in saturated fat vs. un/poly and I’m reading pros/cons about that, now, too.

Any advice is appreciated.

(Todd Allen) #2

When your blood was drawn for the most recent panel how long did you fast?

(Brian) #3

I wondered if there could be things confounding your last test. Are you on pain meds? I could imagine severe pain doing things to stuff like adrenaline that might aggravate your numbers.??

Are you eating a good many carbs or getting some extra creaping in?

I dunno, but I’m skeptical about reading too much into a single test and would feel like I’d want to reaffirm those numbers before making a drastic change. But that’s just me.

Good luck!

(Empress of the Unexpected) #4

I have learned from the forums that it usually takes about six months on keto before the lipid panel numbers settle down.

(Daniel Rothrock) #5

Thanks Todd. I fasted as I normally do… stop eating the night before and I don’t eat until after blood was drawn. I didn’t note my last meal time but it would have been before 8 PM. Blood drawn around 6:30 - 7:00 AM.

Does that help?

(Daniel Rothrock) #6

Thanks, Brian. I’m not on pain meds and haven’t been since about 2 weeks after the injury. I don’t smoke or do drugs. I will have a drink occasionally.

I’m sticking to my carb manager and don’t go over the suggested 24 net carb or 40 gross carb limit with exception of a couple days… and even at that, I didn’t go crazy – probably 50 total carbs max. I’ve considered carb-cycling as of recent and may introduce that after I have a handle on this lipid situation.

(Daniel Rothrock) #7

Thank you, Regina. That’s good to know! I’m due for a 6-month check-up in May. I’ll see how things go from here on out.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #8

Great. Keep us posted. I had my blood checked at six months and everything had improved. Also important is to fast 12 to 14 hours prior to having your blood drawn. Any more or less than that can skew some of the results.

(Bob M) #9

Red meats, butter, and cheese will not raise your cholesterol. Those values are wildly variable. Were you fasting (by this, I mean intermittent fasting or longer term fasting) before your last values?

(Daniel Rothrock) #10

Bob,

I have fasted intermittently several times, typically just by skipping breakfast and then trying to wrap-up dinner before 7 PM. I can’t say that I do it on a usual basis; however, I’ve probably done some form of IF a dozen or so days in the past 2 months.

Prior to me starting keto, I did drink alcohol more regularly. After reading your posted article, is it possible that the liver is removing fatty acids and that’s what caused my lipid panel to increase? I started the change with a detox to help cleanse the liver… but this was probably 4 weeks prior to the blood work.

I like the science as I’m really enjoying keto. But I want to make sure I’m not doing any damage at the same time :wink:

(Todd Allen) #11

Sometimes doctors fail to notify people to fast before lipid panels. When people eat keto not fasting can dramatically spike triglycerides which also throws off LDL as it isn’t measured and the calculation involves triglycerides. Less well recognized is that fasting too long can also drive up triglycerides and LDL.

There are other things which can also adversely impact results such as rapid weight loss, sickness, recent hard exercise/exertion, injuries & pain, etc. If your insurance will cover it a good strategy would be to wait a few months and retest to see if the past results were a fluke or the start of a new pattern.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

@Daniel_Rothrock First, don’t even think of worrying until you see what your numbers are like once you’ve been keto for at least six months. Right now, you are a work in progress.

Second, check out Dave Feldman’s work at

Dave is a software engineer who is making some original contributions to lipidology as a citizen scientist. You will find his explanations of all this illuminating. One of his key discoveries is that these numbers are far more volatile than has hitherto been believed. If you are one of his “lean-mass hyper-responders,” he even has a method of manipulating your test results to get numbers that won’t scare your doctor.

You might also wish to check out Ivor Cummins’ site,

Ivor is another citizen-scientist with an interest in lipidology. Between the two of them, Dave and Ivor have greatly clarified the issues involved with cholesterol.

Lastly, another researcher you might wish to check out is Prof. David Diamond, a neurophysiologist at the University of South Florida who got interested in lipidology and nutrition for personal reasons. Here is his assesment of what cholesterol test results really mean:

(Daniel Rothrock) #13

Good reads. I’ll continue to monitor my numbers to the best of my ability and see where things go from here.

(Omar) #14

yes

that what happened with me

but I do not know if it is the six month or quitting coffee

the first sample in 2017 is pre keto

two weeks before the November 2018 sample I quit coffee.

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(Daniel Rothrock) #15

Why did you quit coffee?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

@Alpha I’d love to know the reason, as well. On these forums, I’ve read both that caffeine facilitates ketosis and that caffeine kills ketosis, so it would be really nice to know which is really true.

In the meantime, though, can anyone see where I left my IV drip? I thought it was right here by the coffee pot . . . . :grin:

(Omar) #17

it could be both true. one of the individuality things. It could be my IBS AND coffee combination.

I start to enjoy hot ginger with HWC or milk and cumin with lemon. luckily and to my surprise I found they sell lots of herbal tea in the coffee shops here so I really did not miss coffee.

regardless of my lipid panel improvement is it coffee or not, a significant digestion and IBS improvement are beyond doubt.

I know that not many people will buy into caffeine is bad because of the proven research of the benefits.