Triglycerides suddenly way up after nearly year on keto

(Ben Davis) #1

Started low carb in 2016, full keto in November. On 5/25/2015 my A1C was the highest ever - 5.7% which got me scared and starting to look at low carb. It has dropped to between 5.4%-5.5% since 8/28/2015 until now, almost a year into keto. I was so happy with trigs - was 177 on 8/28/2015, then down to 130 on 6/15/2016, then super drop to 68 on 1/20/2017. This result has gotten numerous family and friends to start going keto! However, my test from this week shows my trigs jumped WAY up to 154. I have been strict on this diet since November. I mean, I had one of mom’s Christmas cookies and that’s the only real cheat I’ve done this whole time. I’ve tracked this close. Glucose was 87 during this test which was not fasting. I’ve lost 30 pounds and feel great, but haven’t been able to get my A1C below 5.4% that @carl and @richard recommend.

Why are my triglycerides spiking?

#3

Hm. Something happened to my post…odd!

How about a fasted retest?

(Richard Morris) #4

it said “post deleted by author” … I reset it.

Definitely retest to confirm. In theory dropping Carbs lowers Trigs … but in some people they can go up. But not usually down then up. It’s worth noting that no-one really knows why some people’s trigs go up, or what it means diagnostically.

Also regarding HbA1c - 5.5 appears to be a pivot point above which things slowly get worse. But when we let our livers look after glucose we all seem to stop at different levels. Some people as low as 4.8 and some up around 5.3. Those should in theory be the same level of glucose - but it is possible that 1 persons 4.8% is the same glucose exposure as another persons 5.3%, and the difference is one person has red blood cells that live longer.

(Sonia A.) #5

Does the one with 5.3 % have red blood cells that live longer ?

I’m curious because my a1c is 4.6 %. Does it mean that my red blood cells have a shorter lifespan ? And what does it mean regarding health ?

(Richard Morris) #6

It’s an hypothesis I’d like to see someone test. Get a population of people on a ketogenic diet getting their glucose from their livers and kidneys and measure their HbA1c and correlate that with RBC lifespan.

The same amount of glucose will make red blood cells that don’t live as long less glycated. @Brenda donated blood a month before getting her HbA1c tested - her numbers dropped cos she successfully punked the test. Because she had donated 600ml of blood that was probably glycated … by the time she had her blood test 600ml of her blood was younger than the rest and therefore less glycated.

(Ben Davis) #7

I have been a regular platelet donor for nearly 10 years. I donate every two weeks usually. That shouldn’t affect my red cells. However, I checked my donation history and I had a lull where I didn’t donate from 7/9/2016 until 2/4/2017, a few weeks after my 1/20/2017 labs. Probably nothing to consider, but an interesting data point.

Do you recommended a fasted retest? Or keep the variables as similar as possible? (Same time of day, etc.)