My total cholestrol, LDL and triglycerides all went up!

[Carol Wray]

I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years and decided this spring to go completely plant based because my cholestrol was high. I read ‘The Starch Solution’ and began following the eating plan. I really enjoy this way of eating and have lost almost 25 pounds!
The problem is, when I went and had my lipids tested all my numbers have gotten worse!
My total cholestrol has gone from 7.09 to 7.5, my LDL has risen a point from 4.4 to 5.4, my triglycerides have gone from 1.07 to 2.22 and my ratio chol/HDL ratio has gone from 3.2 to 6.6! My HDL has gone down from 2.19 to 1.14!
I was stunned when I got these results, I have been following the diet and not adding oils.
I am not sure what to do now, my Doctor wants me on statins.

[DanTheYogi]

Hi Carol,

How long have you been following the plan, and how recently did you lose weight before your test? It is typical for cholesterol to temporarily go up after losing weight. It would be best to get the tests done again a month or two after your weight has stabilized.

Congrats on the weight loss! It sounds like the program is working well for you. Keep it up!

[Carol Wray]

Thanks, but I am not sure it is working! The weight loss is great but I really went on the eating plan to improve my lipids. I did mention to my Doctor that I had lost weight and that I had read that it could affect my cholesterol levels and my Doctor did not agree with that idea. I will get my lipids tested again before I go on statins but I am a little frustrated and think perhaps I need to be eating some fats. Seems like if I do not eat them my body just makes more cholesterol.
I am wondering if anyone else had this problem and, if so did it resolve itself?

[verde]

Thanks, but I am not sure it is working! The weight loss is great but I really went on the eating plan to improve my lipids. I did mention to my Doctor that I had lost weight and that I had read that it could affect my cholesterol levels and my Doctor did not agree with that idea. I will get my lipids tested again before I go on statins but I am a little frustrated and think perhaps I need to be eating some fats. Seems like if I do not eat them my body just makes more cholesterol.
I am wondering if anyone else had this problem and, if so did it resolve itself?

As long as by fats you don't mean oils and other processed foods, I think you should be fine.

[DanTheYogi]

Thanks, but I am not sure it is working! The weight loss is great but I really went on the eating plan to improve my lipids. I did mention to my Doctor that I had lost weight and that I had read that it could affect my cholesterol levels and my Doctor did not agree with that idea. I will get my lipids tested again before I go on statins but I am a little frustrated and think perhaps I need to be eating some fats. Seems like if I do not eat them my body just makes more cholesterol.
I am wondering if anyone else had this problem and, if so did it resolve itself?

Hey Carol,

Eating high fat foods will not help your lipid profile. Even if they are "healthy" fats (avocado, nuts, etc), at best they will have a neutral effect, and they could certainly make things worse. The only instance where they might "appear" to help is if you were using them to replace unhealthy processed foods, like refined grains, white flour, white sugar, etc. Of course, replacing these foods with unprocessed starches/veggies/fruits would be even more beneficial.

If you are really concerned, post a detailed diary of your daily diet and we may be able to give you more direct advice.

[verde]

Thanks, but I am not sure it is working! The weight loss is great but I really went on the eating plan to improve my lipids. I did mention to my Doctor that I had lost weight and that I had read that it could affect my cholesterol levels and my Doctor did not agree with that idea. I will get my lipids tested again before I go on statins but I am a little frustrated and think perhaps I need to be eating some fats. Seems like if I do not eat them my body just makes more cholesterol.
I am wondering if anyone else had this problem and, if so did it resolve itself?

Hey Carol,

Eating high fat foods will not help your lipid profile. Even if they are "healthy" fats (avocado, nuts, etc), at best they will have a neutral effect, and they could certainly make things worse. The only instance where they might "appear" to help is if you were using them to replace unhealthy processed foods, like refined grains, white flour, white sugar, etc. Of course, replacing these foods with unprocessed starches/veggies/fruits would be even more beneficial.

If you are really concerned, post a detailed diary of your daily diet and we may be able to give you more direct advice.

Last year I was having too much processed foods like soy lattes sweetened with brown sugar, and lots of juices (albeit vegetable juices like carrot and beet), and my cholesterol levels went up! As soon as I stopped with the processed stuff and replaced my sweet cravings with whole fruit, my levels went down. Processed food really takes a toll on cholesterol, especially if you come from a family of high cholesterol producing people, which I do.
Exercising helps too, particularly cardio.

Other than that I don't know if nuts and avocado have an effect (either positive or negative).
The best is to eat whole foods, focusing on carbohydrates. And to give it time.

[Carol Wray]

I do not eat processed foods but have been making fresh vegetable juices in the mornings. It had not occurred to me that veggie juices could affect my lipids! I will give up the juicing for awhile and see what happens.
And yes, Yogi Dan I will post a daily account of my eating as I really want to solve this and not have to take statins. I had a cardiac calcium scan recently and it showed the beginnings of calcification in my artery’s so I am very concerned about the cholestrol numbers. And, I did take a statin a few years back and had many side effects.

[verde]

I do not eat processed foods but have been making fresh vegetable juices in the mornings. It had not occurred to me that veggie juices could affect my lipids! I will give up the juicing for awhile and see what happens.
And yes, Yogi Dan I will post a daily account of my eating as I really want to solve this and not have to take statins. I had a cardiac calcium scan recently and it showed the beginnings of calcification in my artery’s so I am very concerned about the cholestrol numbers. And, I did take a statin a few years back and had many side effects.

Well there you have it. Maybe you're not thinking of it that way but even vegetable juices ARE indeed processed food! It is a more "healthy" processed food but nevertheless it's processed. And yes, having it especially in the morning will surely affect your cholesterol! The only two things I was doing was veggie juices in the morning and 150ml of soy milk with blackstrap molasses on my cup of tea in the evening after dinner. And that was enough to raise my cholesterol through the roof!
Most people wouldn't think of those two items as processed food! But they are!

Other than that I was eating only truly whole foods!

Now that I've learned my lesson I'm super careful with what goes in my mouth and try to make sure most everything is in its whole form, or at least make sure that I eat all parts of the food even if it went through some process (example: mashed potatoes go through the mashing process but I keep their skins in the mash and so it's still a whole food because nothing was extracted from it).

Oh and btw, I gave myself three months before retesting...you may be tempted to do it earlier (I know I was!) but I think it's worth the wait, otherwise you might not see immediate changes in your levels and it may discourage you... So give yourself time to do what's right daily for a while.

Hope this helps and that your levels get fixed. Remember that this REALLY is a whole foods lifestyle!

[Atheria]

Not sure if you are a coffee drinker, but drinking unfiltered coffee really can cause your cholesterol to go up. I witnessed that in my own body. I had switched to French press...and had to go back to drip.

Atheria

[verde]

Not sure if you are a coffee drinker, but drinking unfiltered coffee really can cause your cholesterol to go up. I witnessed that in my own body. I had switched to French press...and had to go back to drip.

Atheria

I didn't even know that! Not that I'd ever drink coffee (I'm allergic to caffeine), but it's important to tell people about this!

[verde]

Not sure if you are a coffee drinker, but drinking unfiltered coffee really can cause your cholesterol to go up. I witnessed that in my own body. I had switched to French press...and had to go back to drip.

Atheria

I didn't even know that! Not that I'd ever drink coffee (I'm allergic to caffeine), but it's important to tell people about this!

[TwickenhamSteve]

Hi Carol, firstly well done on the weight loss.

Re your cholesterol levels, there maybe another factor to consider. As you lose weight, your own bodyfat is being released back into your bloodstream which might result in higher readings than you were expecting to see.

From a lot of reading on other forums, the consenus seems to be to wait three months after your weight stabilises and then retest.

Good luck,
Steve

[exercise_guru]

I too am excellent at producing Cholesterol. I haven't had my lab tests yet but I have implemented the following in my program. I eat overnight oatmeal with oatbran added This is for the Beta Glucan. I also eat legumes everyday as well. Recently I decided to add more insoluble fiber like greens and apples to try to increase transit time. I am hoping this will expel more cholesterol out of my body. They say it takes up to 6 months for Cholesterol numbers to stabilize. You could look at Dr. Gregger nutrition.org. He has a lot of videos on Cholesterol with a plants food diet.

[Carol Wray]

Altheria, I love my French press coffee and had no idea it could raise cholesterol levels! Back to filtered coffee tomorrow!
I have stopped making veggie juices. Thanks so much everyone for all your help, I really appreciate the advice.

[verde]

I too am excellent at producing Cholesterol. I haven't had my lab tests yet but I have implemented the following in my program. I eat overnight oatmeal with oatbran added This is for the Beta Glucan. I also eat legumes everyday as well. Recently I decided to add more insoluble fiber like greens and apples to try to increase transit time. I am hoping this will expel more cholesterol out of my body. They say it takes up to 6 months for Cholesterol numbers to stabilize. You could look at Dr. Gregger nutrition.org. He has a lot of videos on Cholesterol with a plants food diet.

Have you noticed any increase in transit time? I've noticed that more insoluble fiber actually reduces my transit time. And that it's the soluble one that increases it (like oatmeal, soaked flaxmeal, and fruits and vegetables rich in it)...but since you're already having loads of soluble fiber too (oats, beans) you won't notice a difference in the effect between those types of fiber...