Hi I’m new to keto, I started a little bit after Thanksgiving and have been moving right along so far. I had to get some tests done for my health insurance (it’s a thing they do where if you get weighed/blood drawn etc you save 40% on your premium so I do it every year.) My weight was fine as I have been losing some extra weight I put on since starting this diet and my waist circumference has gone down YAY!! All of my numbers were good, blood glucose etc. except the cholesterol which was bad, kind of scary bad. I did call my doctor and have an appointment set but not until next week so in the meantime I’m trying not to freak out. My numbers for HDL cholesterol went from 75 to 84 which was good from what it says but my LDL cholesterol went from 140 to 206, which says its basically the danger zone. I guess i’m looking for a little advice while I wait for my appointment on if anyone has had to lower their cholesterol on the keto diet how they did it? Is this normal to happen? Should I toss the eggs and bacon I had planned one eating for breakfast? probably 
My diet has changed so much that I expected my body to have some funky numbers as I’ve gone from eating fruits, veggies, black coffee all the time to cheese, bacon , HWC etc. and basically eating foods I haven’t eaten in years. Any advice would be so appreciated as I’m freaking out thinking I’m about to drop dead here! Thanks in advance!
Newbie needing some advice about cholesterol levels etc
cholesterolcode.com has some exciting self-research being done.
TL;DR: The fact that LDL is considered a risk for heart disease is based on incredibly bad science. In the context of a ketogenic diet, high LDL cholesterol may not be a bad thing.
You’re welcome. Dave is very active on social media as well and is great about answering questions. I suggest setting a good chunk of time aside to read, there’s a lot!
I was worried about this too and had a blood test at three months of keto for some life insurance. I can’t remember all the numbers but LDL showed low in the range along with the triglycerides. The surprise for me was the HDL number. The normal “good” range topped out at 80 I think and I was 93. I decided that I was not going to worry about it and keep eating LC/HF. It is also well known now that cholesterol in eggs has nothing to do with cholesterol levels in the blood. I have eggs, heavy whipping cream, cheese, butter, MCT oil, two stripes of bacon and a sausage patty for breakfast daily.
Good to know, I’m hoping to be reassured at my doctors appointment but it’s just scary to see my numbers sky rocket like that! I’m usually normal in all those tests
Big Pharma wants you to be scared so you will buy into their statin program. They’ve spent a lot of money on biased research and propaganda to inflate claims that lowering LDL will greatly reduce your risk for heart attack. While lowering LDL does have a very small risk reduction, just know that people with “normal” LDL levels have heart atttacks too.
A lot of recent science suggests that Trigs divided by HDL is a better measure of heart health.
If lipid values are expressed as mg/dl (like in the US);
TG/HDL-C ratio less than 2 is ideal
TG/HDL-C ratio above 4 is too high
TG/HDL-C ratio above 6 is much too high
https://www.docsopinion.com/2014/07/17/triglyceride-hdl-ratio/
If you are interested in understanding more about the cholesterol controversy, this video by Dr. David Diamond might help:
Thank you, my family has a history of heart attacks (not for this reason though) so my mind immediately goes to worst case scenario mode. I will do some research and try to breathe!
This video is mind blowing and anyone who is being told to take statins should take a look at it.
Though this is not a popular position on this forum - I don’t have any observable side effects from statins, so I take the one my doctor prescribed (atorvastatin). It’s $18 for a 3 month supply (generic) so I don’t think there is a big conspiracy to make a profit off of it.
When I get my weight down close to maintenance I may test to see what my numbers look like without it, but for now I’m taking it.
Following your doctor’s advice is the right thing to do, without regards to popularity. If your doctor is reflexively, and consequently, ignorant of the advantages of a low-carb diet, that’s a separate and usually addressable issue.
I am not suggesting to ignore your doctor’s advice but I am suggesting that you get informed on the risk to benefit ratio of any drug and having a discussion with your doctor. The ads for some of these statins (see video) deliberately skewed the data to conceal that it offered about a 1% improvement while introducing some negative side effects. Me, I am more of a let me try to heal myself with diet exercise etc. before I start taking drugs.
In 2017 the global cholesterol-lowering industry is worth $19.2 Billion and is forecast to grow 4.9% each year during the next five years. Which means that the industry will be worth $24.4 Billion in 2022.
It keeps my cholesterol numbers within the “normal” ranges across the board. Whether that is a help or not is apparently the subject of much debate.
To make a long story short - I had stopped taking my statins about 2 months before starting a keto diet (not because of a plan, just ran out of refills and had not gotten around to calling the doc). 6 weeks into keto I made an appt to get an annual “well patient” physical and blood work, and the cholesterol numbers were a bit off - HDL too low, LDL and total too high. Not horribly so, but enough to where the doc wanted me back on the statins.
So I am doing an experiment now. I want to go in for a recheck 6 months after the last visit, which will be April 2019. Then I want to stop the statins and get tested again after 2 or 3 months to see what the numbers look like without them. If cholesterol is still high, I’ll go back on them and repeat the process if/when I get to my goal weight in another 6 months or a year.
He was fine with the whole thing, and pleased with my (at that time) 20 pound weight loss. He sort of non-nonchalantly said “just need to keep an eye on the cholesterol levels” and when the results came back, he wanted me to start taking them again so I complied. I’ve been going to this guy for years and he’s a pretty pragmatic guy.