Increase in LDL on keto

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(Mitali) #1

Hey guys! I’m Mitali from India, I was diagnosed type 2 which literally raised my HBa1C from 5.4 (without medications) to 7.2 within just two months, after failed attempts to control my blood sugars, I started with keto in the December of 2017. Took a break in Jan, and I’ve been in keto since. I experienced amazing weight loss (15kgs) and a HBa1C of 5.6 since then. Other problems also disappeared with keto (brain fog, painful menstruation, joint pain, low vit D, low b12, and clearer skin) I was in love with being in keto, I recently got some blood work done and the cholesterol levels seem to be on the higher side,

Here are my numbers:
HDL CHOLESTEROL - 34 mg/dl
LDL CHOLESTEROL - 174 mg/dl
TRIGLYCERIDES 179 mg/dl
TC/ HDL CHOLESTEROL RATIO 7.2 Ratio
LDL / HDL RATIO 5.2 Ratio
VLDL CHOLESTEROL 35.86 mg/dl
NON-HDL CHOLESTEROL 208.7 mg/dl

There are few things I’d like to mention:

Initially, I took the drugstore cod liver oil which I later learnt wasn’t doing me any good at all.
(I’ve changed that recently to amway nutralife salmon omega)
Does rapid weight loss increase LDL too? because I lost the weight in 3 months.
With these numbers, am I at an immediate risk of an heart attack?? (I know, I’m anxious)
Also, is Keto/Low carb feasible as a long term diet?

Thanks in advance, and esp. thank you Karl and Richard for the amazing podcast!

Edit: I’ve been browsing the forum and read David Feldman’s blog post ‘‘Cholesterol drop protocol’’ and he mentions avoiding coconut or MCT oils before cholesterol test which I actually ate quite an amount of before the test, could it affect my tests in any way?

(Karen) #2

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/the-feldman-protocol-thread/7789

This can happen a lot

K

(Rob) #3

To be fair, your diagnosis of T2 didn’t raise your A1C, your A1C rise gave you your diagnosis. It seems that A1C can fall off a cliff once your pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to manage carb inputs at which point, keto is your best option as you’ve found.

Weight loss shows it’s working but it isn’t working because of the weight loss - causation matters. Your Cholesterol isn’t great by traditional standards but those standards are utter crap. You need to get at least 2 consistent tests 3+ months apart and see the trends. As long as your results are valid and getting better there is nothing to worry about. Cholesterol in the blood means many things, and in keto, almost all of them are healthy. Read more at Dave Feldman’s site and stop worrying about it. Get another test later and you should see the important things trending in the right direction (trigs down, HDL up) as your A1C has already done (much more important). Feel good about this progress and KCKO!

(Mitali) #4

Dear Rob, thanks for responding!
Sorry, what I meant to say was I didn’t get pre diabetis at all, I just moved suddenly from non diabetic (5.4 hba1c) to diabetic (7.2 hba1c) in just two months before I could make sense of anything, I was worried if there was any underlying cause for that.

I didn’t understand what you meant by ‘‘Weight loss shows it’s working but it isn’t working because of the weight loss - causation matters’’

Yes, I will test myself again after three months and post the update here. Thank you so much! This forum has put my mind to ease!
:hugs::hugs::hugs:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

He meant that obesity and diabetes are not cause and result, but are rather both caused by an underlying metabolic problem, called “metabolic syndrome.” Also included under this rubric are cardiovascular disease, hypertension, fatty liver disease, gout, dental caries, Alzheimer’s disease, certain cancers, and others I am forgetting at the moment. Metabolic syndrome is the result of insulin resistance caused by a high level of carbohydrate in the diet, especially a high level of refined sugar. Remove the sugar and greatly reduce the amount of other carbohydrates in the diet, and insulin levels will drop to the point where most of these conditions can be reduced, reversed, or even eliminated, depending.