My Paleo

If you truly want to lower your cholesterol levels you need to introduce foods good at doing it for you – prunes (they are better than oatmeal), oats, chia seeds, ground flaxseed meal, raw nuts and seeds – and so on. You don't have to give up meat but you do need to give your body help.
My husband and I dropped our levels in half in 3 months. Yes, in 3 months. We did go vegan during that time. My good went up considerably as well. It has kept my husband off statins.
We eat a mostly plant-based diet now. We eat eggs now again – but only locally raised that are raised outside on organic traditional diets. My favorite are turkey eggs now. On the rare times we eat meat it is only locally raised once again. We eat a diet high in veggies, seeds and nuts – plus yep, oats. I know oats are looked down upon but you don't need a lot either -1/2 cup dry of old-fashioned dry is plenty per day!

I used to eat a fair amount of meat, eggs, and saturated fat. Once my high cholesterol condition was diagnosed, I cut down to only 1-2 ounces of lean meat per day, normally poultry, and augmented that with olive oil and plant protein. Cooked oatmeal is pretty bland, but it can be fixed up with raisins, molasses, cinnamon, and walnuts, and then it is good enough. Instead of complete eggs, I use only an egg substitute which is mostly egg white (since it is the egg yolk that carries the cholesterol). As a result, I dropped my LD cholesterol (the bad stuff) down to a third of what it used to be, and the HD cholesterol (the good stuff) has increased.

You can have a high cholesterol condition and not have any real medical problem from that. However, for many people, that is not the case.

–B.G.–

"You can have a high cholesterol condition and not have any real medical problem from that. However, for many people, that is not the case."

That is true, but the problem is knowing if you are one of those people who don't have to worry about your cholesterol.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating IMHO, that whole eggs, in the absence of lots of saturated fats or sugars, are one of the best foods for raising good cholesterol, and if you can keep your ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol high, then you are in good shape. The trick is actually to eat plenty of eggs. The best bet is to eat just eggs, either boiled or poached, by them selves

"whole eggs, in the absence of lots of saturated fats or sugars, are one of the best foods for raising good cholesterol, and if you can keep your ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol high, then you are in good shape."

that's good to know. Since I started Paleo (or Primal really) I eat eggs almost everyday in the form of quiche. Whole eggs, not whites. I was wondering if that's what raised my total cholesterol. My quiche has eggs, lots of veggies, butter and usually some kind of meat (chicken sausage usually, but sometimes grass-fed ground beef or even shrimp). I'd really like to be able to keep eating that, my breakfast is one of my favorite meals!

Forgot to add, curiously, my vitamin D level dropped, almost in half. When I had my blood work done at the start of this program, I had a pretty low vitamin D level, so I started taking 1000mg of D3 a day. Yet my D level dropped even further, from like 11 to 7 or something like that. Doc is wondering if something about Paleo really churns up vitamin D. Weird.

So I'm gonna start popping 2000mg a day – 1000 twice a day.

Thanks for sharing, Doug. I wonder if replacing the fattier meats with whey proteins and and increase in plant foods would help you?

There is nothing new about Paleo and what you have experienced is one of the criticisms of this approach to eating ( personally, moderation in diet plus exercise has always worked for me).

Have any of those who have jumped on the Paleo wagon had their blood checked before and after apart from Doug? Any one mind sharing?

I have my blood checked once a month in my diabetes checkups. My cholesterol is doing great. no problems at all.

The only problems I am having with Primal, is that it is hard to have the time to prepare the food, and with my extremely busy schedule I often have no time to eat anything other than what I can grab and go, which sometimes means more carbs than I shold be eating. This is a failing on my part, though. I need to work on my discipline, whether it is with paleo or otherwise. I just need to do what I can to make sure that I always get enough vegetables, keep down the carbs (but not eliminate them), get an adequate amount of protein, and make sure to get lots of the right kinds of fats. Which means more planning and meals kept ready to eat in the refrigerator. Hard to do in Japan where it's so hot and humid that anything left out of the fridge goes bad immediately, and the fridge isn't very big (not much space in Japanese apartments). Most Japanese, including my partner, buy foods day-to-day. My partner eats mostly paleo-style now, and is doing very well on it (no urging on my part, believe me!).

Doug, everything that I've read about vitamin D indicates that supplements rarely work very well. Our bodies are not designed to get it from our food. The best way to get vitamin D is from direct exposure to sunlight. This doesn't mean getting sunburned or attempting to get a tan, but about 20 minutes or so daily of exposing as much of your skin as possible to sunlight. It is one of the few in-body vitamin gathering abilities we still have that our bodies can make on their own. Most other animals, for instance, produce vitamin C within their bodies, whereas we need to get it from our food.

"I had a pretty low vitamin D level, so I started taking 1000mg of D3 a day"

Yes, join the crowd.

About two years ago, my routine blood tests showed a slight D deficiency, so my physician simply advised me to add more D sources in my regular diet, which I did. Then three months later, the tests showed D getting even worse, so 1000mg daily has been added since then. At least it isn't getting any worse, and the vitamins are not expensive.

I think a lot of us are trying to cover up more to prevent sunburn, so we are not getting as much natural sunlight which helps the body convert the dietary D3 into something usable. Of course, if we get plenty of sunlight, then we get in line for things related to skin cancer. You can't win once you get past forty years old.

–B.G.–

I read somewhere that after 15 minutes of sun exposure, the sun destroys vitamin D as fast as it creates it.

So, you need to get 15 minutes of exposure

The risk of skin cancer is low for that exposure

Miguel, do you take insulin? Insulin can actually lower cholesterol from what I have read and would confuse your results with Paleo. Given that, I would like to hear from non-diabetics.

"I wonder if replacing the fattier meats with whey proteins and and increase in plant foods would help you?"

Interesting note, David. I did a high-protein diet in the past in concert with a robust exercise plan, but much of the protein was from egg whites and whey powders, as well as lean meats. I lost a lot of weight (yeah, I've had issues with weight and cholesterol in the past, you'd think I'd learn, but nooooooooooo), and reduced my cholesterol significantly (below 160 for total, as I recall, but still had too high bad cholesterol). That's why I thought Paleo, with weight loss, would significantly lower my cholesterol as well. It was quite a shocker, to be honest, when I talked to the doc today.

So, from my past, I think you're right, and will start heading in that direction after I get back from my Sierra trip.

Dave, you’re not going to dismiss me because I’m diabetic that easily! ;-)

Diabetics actually have worse problems with cholesterol than non-diabetics. Those who have bad blood sugar control and high blood sugars frequently get very high problems with plaque buildup in their arteries (and elsewhere). By using insulin correctly they lower their blood sugars and subsequently cholesterol is lowered, too. (American Diabetes Association: Effects of Insulin on Cholesterol Synthesis in Type II Diabetes Patients). The controlling agent is the amount of blood sugar, not the insulin itself. It’s concerned with “insulin resistance, which is something most people don’t understand so well, I think. Anyone who gains more weight than they should is having problems with insulin resistance. It’s the culprit behind the whole obesity epidemic. It’s also one of the existing precursors to full-blown diabetes (and actually defines Type II diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where antibodies attack and kill the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. Type II diabetics have none of these antibodies), usually accompanied by hyperinsulinism, when the pancreas, in order to compensate for the over-consumption of carbohydrates, produces an abnormal amount of insulin. Since it is insulin that allows the body to utilize carbs and store the energy as fat, too much insulin causes people to gain weight. The more you gain weight, the more insulin resistant you become. The more insulin resistant you become the less your body is able to utilize the insulin it makes (if you’re not diabetic and your pancreas still produces insulin), and thereby the blood sugar increases in the circulatory system. WIth blood sugar increasing, so does your cholesterol level go up, especially the bad cholesterol.

Also the type of fat you eat affects the type of cholesterol HDL or LDL your body takes in. It is very important to distinguish between types of fat.

I’m in the midst of heading out the door (preparing for a month walking in the Pyrenees on Monday!), so I don’t have time to look for more involved scientific reports, but here are some links that might answer some of your questions, Doug:

How to Interpret Cholesterol Test Results

Hubby’s Cholesterol is Suddenly Sky High!

Cholesterol – A Primer (Attempt 2) page

This is an interesting presentation. Your cholesterol may not be a very reliable marker for health.

https://vimeo.com/45485034

Ha! Definitely not dismissing you, nor your condition, Miguel. I was only trying to eliminate potential factors that could cause an increase in Doug's bad cholesterol. Control some of the factors, if you will. Why would taking in good fats result in the increase of bad cholesterol? I am wondering if the body rebels?

Consider those that take TRT or testosterone replacement therapy. By doing so, their body shuts down production of natural testosterone and begins producing estrogen. The long term effects can be significant as the person must continue to take TRT for the rest of their lives. I am curious to know if that is maybe what is happening in this case. Doug's body is producing bad cholesterol or converting good cholesterol into bad.

Dave, just kidding, I hope you know.

I'm not at all qualified to determine in any way what is happening with Doug. I have absolutely no idea. I'm learning that cholesterol is actually an essential part of the body's functions, and not an optional evil occurring in the body solely due to bad eating habits. The body couldn't function at all without cholesterol. That much I know. Why the bad and good cholesterol get balanced or get imbalanced the way they do… beats me. Just throwing out ideas to try and understand what is going on. And to learn more about cholesterol here if it is possible.

One of my biggest fears with Paleo was cholesterol. I've learned something though… another personal health thing to add to the list. There is also something outside of diet that can be an issue when it comes to cholesterol… familial hypercholesterolemia (say that five times fast). Anyway, that's the issue I have. I'm very active, I have a very heart and diabetes friendly diet yet my HDL is still way too low. My triglycerides are low and my LDL is normal. The difference between the LDL and the HDL is concerning for my specialist. I've asked about further dietary modifications but was told that this isn't dietary and I could be a 104 pound vegan and I'd still have the same issue. It's irritating that I will likely have to be on a low-dose of a statin for the rest of my life. Family genetics… bleh.

"Since I started Paleo (or Primal really) I eat eggs almost everyday in the form of quiche. Whole eggs, not whites. I was wondering if that's what raised my total cholesterol. My quiche has eggs, lots of veggies, butter and usually some kind of meat (chicken sausage usually, but sometimes grass-fed ground beef or even shrimp)"

This is one of the many potential pitfalls of a modern attempt at a paleo diet. Some can get away with a diet high in cholesterol and saturated fats, but some may not. The problem is not the cholesterol, as this was likely high in a traditional paleo diet, but the combo of high cholesterol AND saturated fats is what can cause elevated cholesterol, as can elevated insulin/blood sugar. So maybe try ditching the butter (not paleo by any stretch of the imagination) and substituting sausage and beef for wild game or cold water seafood.

There can be so many reasons for low vitamin D levels that it is hard to work out what is wrong. Obviously sunshine is the best option, but the old recommendation of 10-15 minutes per day on hands and face is pretty far off the mark. That amount was based on someone who is fair skinned, at midday on the longest day of the year, and assumes an absolutely clear sky with no pollution or much water vapour in the air. Depending on where you live and your skin colour, you will need either a longer exposure or more body surface exposed. This is especially true if you are more than a month either side of the longest day of the year, or darker skinned. I would suggest hands and face are the worst things to expose, as these already get high exposure and are thus most prone to signs of aging, but that comes down to personal preference. We also become less efficient at making vitamin D from sunshine as we get older, so increase times again if you are over ~40. Even so, most of us store a great amount of vitamin D in our fat stores, and losing weight releases some of this most of the time. However, if you have been deficient for a long time, then you may not have much stored in fat. Alternatively, you may have not lost enough fat. You can count on 10-15lbs of weight loss from changes in fluid alone by switching from a high carb to low carb diet. This usually happens in the first two weeks. The rest of your weight loss may have been a combo of fat and muscle, so maybe your fatloss hasn't been as much as needed to restore vitamin D levels. Our ancestors counted on this fatloss over the winter months to keep vitamin D levels high enough for good health. Us modern humans don't undergo these seasonal fluctuations in fat gain/loss, and often miss out on crucial circulating vitamin D. Fat folks, even though they have the greatest stores of vitamin D, are often most at risk for low levels of circulating D.

Supplements usually work, but there are some reasons why they can fail. Not taking them with a large fatty meal is the main one, but many drugs also interfere with absorption. These include some very common drugs given to middle-aged and elderly people such as statins and antacids. Hopefully your doctor is aware of what drugs you are taking and their possible interaction with D absorption, but it never hurts to take your health into your own hands and be informed.

Hope things improve whatever you do!

http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2012/08/11/western-states-100-low-carber-wins-ultramarathon-steve-phinney-and-jeff-volek-study/

In the comments, he says he ate one gel an hour (15 hour race) to run 100 miles in a record breaking time.

"Supplements usually work, but there are some reasons why they can fail. Not taking them with a large fatty meal is the main one, but many drugs also interfere with absorption. These include some very common drugs given to middle-aged and elderly people such as statins and antacids. Hopefully your doctor is aware of what drugs you are taking and their possible interaction with D absorption, but it never hurts to take your health into your own hands and be informed."

I've so far stayed off the drug train. I simply don't like taking 'em. My doc is giving me 4 more months to get the cholesterol down by diet and exercise and I'm going to make the most of it to keep off statins. The only 'pills' I take now are the Vitamin D (up to twice a day) and fish oil tablets in the morning.

I appreciate your entire post, I'll take the butter out of the quiche and look at getting different things in there, or perhaps forgo the meat altogether in the quiche.

There is no such thing as "bad" or "good" cholesterol. The only thing that really matters is your triglycerides are low. If they are small and dense they can collect in your arteries. If they are big and fluffy they will not. Every one has naturally different levels of cholesterol. your Cholesterol numbers also go up and down at different times of day. your BODY makes its own cholesterol. Trying to fit everyone inside a set number is a scam to get more people on drugs. They also lower the number every once in a while to get even more people on drugs.
Why do I still see people talking about their cholesterol with out focusing on triglycerides in 2012?
You can dismiss me and conform to conventional pharmaceutical informed medicine, but this a paleo thread and this line of thinking is the opposite of paleo.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-did-my-cholesterol-go-up-after-going-primal/#axzz24C8DmYym

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cholesterol/#axzz24C8bRZkT

http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Does-Cholesterol-Cause-Heart-Disease-Myth.html

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/cholesterol

http://chriskresser.com/the-hidden-truth-about-statins

I agree with Brian, in that you mainly want your triglycerides to be low. LDL cholesterol can be damaging, or not, and mainly depends on it's oxidation level. Unfortunately there are not (yet) routine tests for oxidised LDL, so most doctors are wary of high LDL levels. If it were me, I would be using some measures of body composition to make sure most of the weight I was losing was indeed from fat. If your triglycerides are low during active weight loss, it may indicate that you are losing more muscle and water than fat. You actually should have a decent level of circulating triglycerides if you are burning a lot of body fat for fuel.

So you may not have anything to worry about. But I would still question whether or not you should be eating a diet HIGH in saturated fats. Cholesterol itself rarely, if ever, raises your LDL levels, but can raise your HDL levels, which is a good thing. But, relative to modern meat sources, ancestral (primal) meat was much lower in saturated fats, even though total cholesterol was similar. So if you want to stay primal, try to stick to wilder meats and ditch the dairy. It may not be necessary, but sure won't hurt.

Congratulations, Doug. I've been on the Paleo diet for a several months and although I haven't lost much weight I feel a lot better and my skin has cleared up amazingly well! There are many other benefits to the Paleo diet, as you know.
Good luck,
Dawn

Ya Doug,
How about a summary of the last 26 months?