Grains causing elevated cholesterol?

[JeffN]

While cholesterol is only a marker, it is a marker we monitor in relation to heart disease as it is a known risk factor.

Yes, it is true that we do occasionally run into people (even those eating a WFPB, "Healthy" Vegan diet) who have high(er) cholesterol and are not at risk but that is not an "across the board" statement that is 100% true. We just don't say, oh don't worry about it. There are several tests and labs we can run to see if they actually have existing disease and if there is any existing disease, can monitor to see it it is progressing or reversing.

To just say that elevated cholesterol numbers don't matter in someone eating a "healthy" Vegan or WFPB eater (long term or not) is not a concern, is a concern

If not, show me the evidence.

Remember, not all vegans (or WFPB) eat healthy and many of them have CVD, T2DB, HTN, Obesity, etc. About 1/3 of the participants who come to the program are vegans who think they eat healthy.

An LDL over 160 is considered high and I would not take it lightly

In Health
Jeff

[GeorgiaBuck]

Thank you all for the replies. I am definitely not planning on taking it lightly and am trying to explore all of my options. While my hope and goal was to avoid being on a statin I know that if I am predisposed to higher cholesterol that may be something I have to consider. What tests would you recommend I have done to confirm that Jeff?

[JeffN]

Thank you all for the replies. I am definitely not planning on taking it lightly and am trying to explore all of my options. While my hope and goal was to avoid being on a statin I know that if I am predisposed to higher cholesterol that may be something I have to consider. What tests would you recommend I have done to confirm that Jeff?

The first test (or experiment) to do is to make sure that you are as 100% adherent to the diet as recommended by Dr McDougall and if you have any questions to post them here (or in my forum) and always err on the side of caution during the experiment. Do the experiment for at least 3-6 months to see the impact on your cholesterol.



In Health
Jeff

[GeorgiaBuck]

Thank you! My focus now is definitely trying to be very strict on diet in order to have a good barometer of how my body will react. January 1 will be roughly 3 months in and here is a sample day of what I eat.

Breakfast
3/4 dry gluten free steel cut oats
Cooked in water
1 cup blueberries
Cinnamon
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon ground flax

Lunch
Sweet potato
1/2cup black beans
2 big handfuls of spinach or arugula
Low sodium salsa
Lemon squeezed on top

Dinner
Typically a vegetable soup with greens

Here are my current guidelines. I am still new so please let me know if there are any recommendations I should change.
Wfpb no oils
No plant milk or nuts
No coffee
No alcohol
No gluten

I was curious if I should try and eliminate grains all together and just focus on potatoes as my starch if there was truly any corroboration between cholesterol and grains. Thank you so much for your time!

[JeffN]

1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 tablespoon ground flax

One is more then enough and the flax is a much better choice. 1 tbsp is plenty

No gluten

Not necessary unless you have celiac or confirmed GSD

I was curious if I should try and eliminate grains all together and just focus on potatoes as my starch if there was truly any corroboration between cholesterol and grains.

None what so ever.

I would be interested to see if you have entered 3-5 days worth of your intake into the CRON-O-Meter and if so, what the average looks like. If you have not done it, I would suggest you do it. From my perspective, your intake seems very low in starches and calories, which, if so, is unsustainable for most

Thank you so much for your time!

You are welcome

In Health
Jeff

[GeorgiaBuck]

I have downloaded that app but have not used it as of yet. I will do it for the next few days though and report back. Reading my post back, I realized I didn’t give much detail on the vegetable soup. While it does have plenty of greens and veggies it also has some type of whole grain and beans. Thanks again for the advice and I will post back here in a few days with detailed results.

[Flo73]

I might have missed it, but what was your cholesterol October 1st, or just before you started this program?

My cholesterol could fluctuate from 330 to 400 depending on what I was eating. The drop rate when I went on this program was maybe 10/20points per week. The stricter I went, the most drop I saw.

[GeorgiaBuck]

Hey Flo. Here are the only numbers I have that were not after October. I had lab work done in March 2018 eating the SAD diet and my total 349
Ldl 234

Based on that number it is a huge improvement to where I am now, hopefully with strict adherence it will come down even lower. Thanks again!

[Flo73]

Exactly! If your previous number was so high, I would think you had a major improvement! And it will go down even more with time and strict adherence!

[GeorgiaBuck]

Hey all! I just wanted to share my most recent results. While still high they are progressively coming down!

Total 204
LDL 149
Hdl 37
Triglycerides 88

For me this is great confirmation that the mantra “time and adherence” really works. Thank you all for the help and guidance. I will check it again in 3 months and see where we are. Thanks for reading!

[Lyndzie]

EXCELLENT!!

[Wonderbugg]

Dr. Klapper has a very convincing explanation as to why long-term WFPB eaters don't need to worry about their cholesterol numbers. He explained it to me on the phone and then sent me a recent 22 minute film he made about cholesterol, which includes that angle of this subject from minute 18.
I'm sorry I don't know how to attach it here!

Where is this film?
I'm very interested.
I have also heard that not drinking enough fluids can cause high uric acid.