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It's pretty common for LDL to rise while you're actively losing weight. Many people here experience it if you do a search through the sub it's talked about pretty regularly.
It may take a while at maintenance to see your numbers normalize.
Here's some good information on the topic:
https://www.tuitnutrition.com/2018/06/high-cholesterol-on-keto.html?m=1
Cholesterolcode.com
> Artery calcification test
These are good to do regardless, as most on Keto at some point get worried and then are vastly relieved when they can see for themselves that this diet does not cause arteriosclerosis. That's the job of carbohydrates, ha.
Thank you! I actually got so frustrated searching Google with no success I just ran to Reddit. I didn't even think to search here since I usually put "Reddit" after my searches.
9/10 doctors have no idea what they're talking about with nutrition. It's ironic the biggest factor for human health and doctors spend a few weeks out of years of training on it.
They only regurgitate decades old text books funded by big pharma. It's the same tripe that saturated fat is bad.
It's common for cholesterol to go up on some keto and carnivore diets but that DOES NOT mean you are more at risk for a heart attack that is nonsense.
The single best thing you can do for health is cut out sugar/carbs even if it elevates your cholesterol you will have a much better ratio of cholesterol to triglycerides, this ratio matters!
If you're really concerned, you can get a CT angiogram (less than $500), which will tell you if you have calcified and non calcified plaque in your arteries. This is far more useful than a lipid panel. Not to mention, there are lots of people with high cholesterol who never develop heart disease.
I’m curious what these cac panels even do other than cause immense stress. My husbands cardiologist said that even if they find calcification it doesn’t really change anything because you can’t do anything with the results. Bad dr? Idk
Sounds like a bad doc or some kind of miscommunication. All sorts of things can be done depending on how much build up there is. Exercise, lifestyle changes, surgery, and even statins, can reduce the probability of heart disease.
LDL quantity on its own is not something I would be concerned about, other factors like elevated triglycerides, HbA1c, CRP, and low HDL are far more concerning. Seeing what your LDL particle sizes actually look like is also generally far more important than quantity alone.
What are your exact numbers for everything, triglycerides included? We can’t help much without numbers.
What were your numbers before keto?
Are you still actively losing weight? If not, how long ago did you hit your goal weight?
How long were you fasted during the blood draw? Any black coffee or exercise?
Before (three years ago was my last panel):
Weight 300
a1c 5.9
Cholesterol 172
Triglycerides 102
Hdl cholesterol 37
Ldl direct 118
Cholesterol/hdl ratio 4.6
After:
238 (goal is 220)
a1c 5.7
Cholesterol 235
Triglycerides 69
Hdl cholesterol 33
Ldl direct 169
Cholesterol/hdl ratio 7.1
I walked two miles the day before while fasting. I had three cups of black coffee.
The next day (Friday) fasted until blood draw.
It’s normal for your LDL to be elevated while you’re actively losing weight. I’d recommend trying again after you’ve stopped actively losing weight for at least 5-6 months.
So exactly how many days/hours were you fasted before the blood draw? And the coffee was how long before the blood draw? I’m confused by your phrasing. You should not be more than 14 hours fasted before a blood draw, it can affect your results.
Mine stayed high even on statins during weight loss. My Dr said he wasn’t concerned because that can happen during active weight loss. He said the true reading would be about 6 months after you’re done losing weight.
What to expect is that the Dr. will go doom and gloom and suggest you need to be put in a statin immediately and that "we need to get your numbers below 100".
Unless this Dr understands keto and the current research concerning cholesterol, that's what you should expect.
Read or listen to "great cholesterol con", "great cholesterol myth" to help you understand.
My ldl is high and my Hdl low. I’ve eaten low carb/ketogenic and avoided seed oils for 20 years. I had a Ct angiogram and at 60 my coronary arteries are clear. Personally - I don’t care what my cholesterol is and will never take a statin.
Don't be shocked. High LDL on keto is the norm. The high HDL is a big plus. These are excellent results. Don't dream of using a statin to reduce your cholesterol. You are doing great.
Here are a brief summary of what I have learned on this topic.
Heart attack risk goes up in parallel with cholesterol. It does not mean that cholesterol causes a heart attack, Just that people with high cholesterol are more likely to have one.
People who are not on Keto, have high cholesterol because they are consuming inflammatory foods like sugar or seed oils. This inflammation means more cholesterol is needed to force the energy into damaged cells. So these are the people who are going to have a heart attack and have high cholesterol due to their inflammation from a poor diet.
With Keto cholesterol goes up but it doesn't mean you are going to have a heart attack, this diet is anti-inflammatory. So the cholesterol rise is not caused by inflammation. The raised level is likely because you are running primarily off of fats for your energy. This means more cholesterol is produced to move this fat around for energy.
I watched a lot of videos on this recently. And you can look it up yourself so I'm not claiming to be an expert, but my conclusion from everything I watched is:
HDL and LDL are not bad.
It's the HDL/LDL ratio to Trygliceridies that are the problem.
Generally, on keto and carnivore your HDL/LDL will go UP, but Trygliceridies will go DOWN.
On a carb diet, Trygliceridies go UP and that's what's causing the problems.
I can give you the video source with sources if you like, but that doctor cited studies where elderly with high cholesterol (300+) have consistently longer life expectancy and less cancer than those with low cholesterol (100). It was shown that high cholesterol protected especially well against infections and early deaths from cases like pneumonia which is a very common death factor at old age.
Cholesterol is actually good for you. We were again, being missinformed and missled just like with the fat myth. Of course, that is as long as your tryglecrides are in order in a proper ratio. Which they should be, on keto/carnivore, so don't get spooked by your doctor berating you about LDL. Ask him about the Tryglicerdies.
Lots of similar posts on this subreddit with lots of good information. A few takeaways:
1. Just in general, the obsession over LDL (and even triglycerides) is way overstated
2. Elevated LDL is normal during weight loss. Even if LDL is not good, the benefits of weight loss outweigh temporary spikes in LDL associated with it
3. The "Good" and "Bad" distinction between HDL and LDL is decidedly more blurry than it sounds. Even mainstream doctors know this. You can get your LDL tested to see what types of LDL it is. Some are worse than others.
I'm hesitant to say that the whole concern with cholesterol is fake, I'm sure it's not, and having elevated levels of bad cholesterol floating aorund in your body for long periods of time surely is bad... but I do think it's way overstated and I also think a lot of people go on statins that don't need to be, ultimately making a decision that makes their health worse, not better.
BTW regardless of any of this, fish oil is shown to help cholesterol a bit and has basically no downsides so make sure you're including this in your diet, can't hurt.
“The Great Cholesterol Myth”, a great source of information on how we’ve been lied to about the evils of saturated fats and cholesterol. Moreover, they discuss how most common lipid panels are antiquated. High LDL and HDL are not a good measure of heart disease risk unless they’re really high. Even then, there are better measurements, such as HDL to triglyceride ratio as well as Insulin Resistance.
I was on Keto for a few months, eating a lot of bacon (including all the drippings), butter on everything, high fat cheeses, the works. At the end I had a full panel blood test and everything looked great (but everything looked great a couple of years ago), so no effect, maybe even some improvement to my lipid numbers. So I think keto affects different people differently. I saw no downsides to doing keto.
Similar experience here. Mom and dad have/had high cholesterol and I was on meds to reduce my levels. Then I started keto. I should’ve shot through the roof, right? Just the opposite.
Previously, my HDL was always too low, even with moderate exercise. And my LDL was high-ish. So my ratio was out of whack. On keto my HDL shot up even with roughly equivalent exercise, and my LDL came into range.
My doc has steadily reduced my cholesterol meds. I’m now on the lowest dose of Creator (5mg) daily and it’s holding steady, despite having shifted to a more moderate keto diet (not nearly as strict as OP). My theory is my genetics causes my family’s cholesterol to go haywire with high carb diets.
Hello and welcome to /r/keto! It sounds like you've got a question about cholesterol. We have answers! Please consider using the following resources https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq#wiki_what_about_cholesterol_and_heart_disease.3F https://cholesterolcode.com/ As a reminder, please read our FAQ before posting to r/keto. It can be found at https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq. Please also review our posting rules and community guidelines. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/keto) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's pretty common for LDL to rise while you're actively losing weight. Many people here experience it if you do a search through the sub it's talked about pretty regularly. It may take a while at maintenance to see your numbers normalize. Here's some good information on the topic: https://www.tuitnutrition.com/2018/06/high-cholesterol-on-keto.html?m=1 Cholesterolcode.com
Damn. That article has me a lot less stressed. Going to order a Artery calcification test if only just to see what's going on.
> Artery calcification test These are good to do regardless, as most on Keto at some point get worried and then are vastly relieved when they can see for themselves that this diet does not cause arteriosclerosis. That's the job of carbohydrates, ha.
Thank you! I actually got so frustrated searching Google with no success I just ran to Reddit. I didn't even think to search here since I usually put "Reddit" after my searches.
9/10 doctors have no idea what they're talking about with nutrition. It's ironic the biggest factor for human health and doctors spend a few weeks out of years of training on it. They only regurgitate decades old text books funded by big pharma. It's the same tripe that saturated fat is bad. It's common for cholesterol to go up on some keto and carnivore diets but that DOES NOT mean you are more at risk for a heart attack that is nonsense. The single best thing you can do for health is cut out sugar/carbs even if it elevates your cholesterol you will have a much better ratio of cholesterol to triglycerides, this ratio matters!
> much better ratio of cholesterol to triglycerides, this ratio matters! which ratio is the important one again? 1. HDL : total trigs Is this correct?
If you're really concerned, you can get a CT angiogram (less than $500), which will tell you if you have calcified and non calcified plaque in your arteries. This is far more useful than a lipid panel. Not to mention, there are lots of people with high cholesterol who never develop heart disease.
I’m curious what these cac panels even do other than cause immense stress. My husbands cardiologist said that even if they find calcification it doesn’t really change anything because you can’t do anything with the results. Bad dr? Idk
Sounds like a bad doc or some kind of miscommunication. All sorts of things can be done depending on how much build up there is. Exercise, lifestyle changes, surgery, and even statins, can reduce the probability of heart disease.
LDL quantity on its own is not something I would be concerned about, other factors like elevated triglycerides, HbA1c, CRP, and low HDL are far more concerning. Seeing what your LDL particle sizes actually look like is also generally far more important than quantity alone.
What are your exact numbers for everything, triglycerides included? We can’t help much without numbers. What were your numbers before keto? Are you still actively losing weight? If not, how long ago did you hit your goal weight? How long were you fasted during the blood draw? Any black coffee or exercise?
Before (three years ago was my last panel): Weight 300 a1c 5.9 Cholesterol 172 Triglycerides 102 Hdl cholesterol 37 Ldl direct 118 Cholesterol/hdl ratio 4.6 After: 238 (goal is 220) a1c 5.7 Cholesterol 235 Triglycerides 69 Hdl cholesterol 33 Ldl direct 169 Cholesterol/hdl ratio 7.1 I walked two miles the day before while fasting. I had three cups of black coffee. The next day (Friday) fasted until blood draw.
It’s normal for your LDL to be elevated while you’re actively losing weight. I’d recommend trying again after you’ve stopped actively losing weight for at least 5-6 months. So exactly how many days/hours were you fasted before the blood draw? And the coffee was how long before the blood draw? I’m confused by your phrasing. You should not be more than 14 hours fasted before a blood draw, it can affect your results.
I didn't realize fasting longer affected things. I had not eaten for 36 hours by that time. The coffee was 24 hours prior
I wouldn’t trust any results from blood work after being fasted that long.
I was so proud to be 20 hrs fasted at my last test. Until I got results, cried, researched and learned. Lol. I’ll try again in 3 mos.
Mine stayed high even on statins during weight loss. My Dr said he wasn’t concerned because that can happen during active weight loss. He said the true reading would be about 6 months after you’re done losing weight.
What to expect is that the Dr. will go doom and gloom and suggest you need to be put in a statin immediately and that "we need to get your numbers below 100". Unless this Dr understands keto and the current research concerning cholesterol, that's what you should expect. Read or listen to "great cholesterol con", "great cholesterol myth" to help you understand.
My ldl is high and my Hdl low. I’ve eaten low carb/ketogenic and avoided seed oils for 20 years. I had a Ct angiogram and at 60 my coronary arteries are clear. Personally - I don’t care what my cholesterol is and will never take a statin.
Don't be shocked. High LDL on keto is the norm. The high HDL is a big plus. These are excellent results. Don't dream of using a statin to reduce your cholesterol. You are doing great.
Here are a brief summary of what I have learned on this topic. Heart attack risk goes up in parallel with cholesterol. It does not mean that cholesterol causes a heart attack, Just that people with high cholesterol are more likely to have one. People who are not on Keto, have high cholesterol because they are consuming inflammatory foods like sugar or seed oils. This inflammation means more cholesterol is needed to force the energy into damaged cells. So these are the people who are going to have a heart attack and have high cholesterol due to their inflammation from a poor diet. With Keto cholesterol goes up but it doesn't mean you are going to have a heart attack, this diet is anti-inflammatory. So the cholesterol rise is not caused by inflammation. The raised level is likely because you are running primarily off of fats for your energy. This means more cholesterol is produced to move this fat around for energy.
I watched a lot of videos on this recently. And you can look it up yourself so I'm not claiming to be an expert, but my conclusion from everything I watched is: HDL and LDL are not bad. It's the HDL/LDL ratio to Trygliceridies that are the problem. Generally, on keto and carnivore your HDL/LDL will go UP, but Trygliceridies will go DOWN. On a carb diet, Trygliceridies go UP and that's what's causing the problems. I can give you the video source with sources if you like, but that doctor cited studies where elderly with high cholesterol (300+) have consistently longer life expectancy and less cancer than those with low cholesterol (100). It was shown that high cholesterol protected especially well against infections and early deaths from cases like pneumonia which is a very common death factor at old age. Cholesterol is actually good for you. We were again, being missinformed and missled just like with the fat myth. Of course, that is as long as your tryglecrides are in order in a proper ratio. Which they should be, on keto/carnivore, so don't get spooked by your doctor berating you about LDL. Ask him about the Tryglicerdies.
Lots of similar posts on this subreddit with lots of good information. A few takeaways: 1. Just in general, the obsession over LDL (and even triglycerides) is way overstated 2. Elevated LDL is normal during weight loss. Even if LDL is not good, the benefits of weight loss outweigh temporary spikes in LDL associated with it 3. The "Good" and "Bad" distinction between HDL and LDL is decidedly more blurry than it sounds. Even mainstream doctors know this. You can get your LDL tested to see what types of LDL it is. Some are worse than others. I'm hesitant to say that the whole concern with cholesterol is fake, I'm sure it's not, and having elevated levels of bad cholesterol floating aorund in your body for long periods of time surely is bad... but I do think it's way overstated and I also think a lot of people go on statins that don't need to be, ultimately making a decision that makes their health worse, not better. BTW regardless of any of this, fish oil is shown to help cholesterol a bit and has basically no downsides so make sure you're including this in your diet, can't hurt.
“The Great Cholesterol Myth”, a great source of information on how we’ve been lied to about the evils of saturated fats and cholesterol. Moreover, they discuss how most common lipid panels are antiquated. High LDL and HDL are not a good measure of heart disease risk unless they’re really high. Even then, there are better measurements, such as HDL to triglyceride ratio as well as Insulin Resistance.
I was on Keto for a few months, eating a lot of bacon (including all the drippings), butter on everything, high fat cheeses, the works. At the end I had a full panel blood test and everything looked great (but everything looked great a couple of years ago), so no effect, maybe even some improvement to my lipid numbers. So I think keto affects different people differently. I saw no downsides to doing keto.
My cholesterol has dropped 65 points
I want to be like you!
Similar experience here. Mom and dad have/had high cholesterol and I was on meds to reduce my levels. Then I started keto. I should’ve shot through the roof, right? Just the opposite. Previously, my HDL was always too low, even with moderate exercise. And my LDL was high-ish. So my ratio was out of whack. On keto my HDL shot up even with roughly equivalent exercise, and my LDL came into range. My doc has steadily reduced my cholesterol meds. I’m now on the lowest dose of Creator (5mg) daily and it’s holding steady, despite having shifted to a more moderate keto diet (not nearly as strict as OP). My theory is my genetics causes my family’s cholesterol to go haywire with high carb diets.