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After noticing that my post meal blood sugars can spike after eating a normal carb meal and having an a1c of 5.7% I went on a lower carb diet with a lot of salads and plenty of eggs... 3-4 eggs per salad, some weeks eating 18 eggs. This was not done constantly, but in spurts... basically low to moderate carb, relatively high fat, low to moderate protein diet. Carbs spread out more with smaller meals (glycemic load)
A few things of note.. above normal potassium intake from switching from store bought dressing to making my own dressing using potassium salt, also banana consumption. High fat diet, but saturated fat consumption was only moderate... coming from dairy and turkey mostly.. lots of monounsaturated omega 9's from using canola/olive oil in my dressings. Low to moderate carb consumption.
Milk consumption above normal in the weeks leading to this test as well.. 2% and whole milk, maybe a gallon or two a week.
If have have a blood sugar issue (I assure you I do) it would appear to be caused not by insulin resistance but poor beta cell function/capacity. Would not be surprising considering my diet before I knew I had a problem.
I've been a jogger all my life, going 4 miles or so 2-4 days per week. Did not exercise for 2 days before test. Hadn't eaten in about 24 hours either though.
Dietary cholesterol for most healthy people has very little effect on serum cholesterol since there's normally a corresponding decrease in cholesterol production in the body when cholesterol is consumed in the diet. Some individuals though, seem to be more responsive to dietary cholesterol due to differences in cholesterol absorption efficiency, sterol excretion, conversion of hepatic cholesterol to bile acids, modulation of HMG-CoA reductase, etc. It appears that you aren't one of them.
According to William Castelli, former director of the Framingham Heart Study, the best predictor of heart disease is total cholesterol/HDL, and he says that we should aim for a ratio under 3.5, and also for triglycerides under 60.
It's a really interesting interview, except for the bit of cognitive dissonance where he says if he could he would get everyone on a strictly vegetarian diet, and then later talks about how he eats sardines all the time and how they're so good for heart health. And then he talks about how Vitamin K2 is so great for bone and heart health and how these are found in high concentrations in egg yolks, hard cheeses, pastured meat, etc.
In my opinion the 300 mg limit for cholesterol is a little ridiculous.
For example...
Breakfast- 1 poached egg, bowl of oatmeal with 8 oz 2% milk, blueberries
Lunch- spinach salad with walnuts, apple, red onion, apple cider vinaigrette, and 2 ounces of feta cheese
Dinner- Salmon fillet, asparagus, sweet potato
Total cholesterol: 368
We're supposed to believe that this isn't a healthy diet? Even for people without heart disease?
Here is what I know to be true. My husband started eating a plant-based diet almost a year ago (at the suggestion of his vascular doctor who is vegan). My husband's total cholesterol went from 160 (with HDL and LDL numbers not being great)....to a total cholesterol of 108 with perfect HDL and LDL.
Before staring his plant based diet, he exercised regularly (as he does now) so that hasn't changed. A year ago on a regular basis he ate 3 eggs 5 times a week and meat with every meal, low-fat milk, butter, olive oil, etc.
I know that people here post about how "Dietary cholesterol for most healthy people has very little effect on serum cholesterol." In my husband's experience, this simply is not true.
Attributing any change in his lipid profile to dietary cholesterol is purely conjecture. It could have been from decreased saturated fat, increased phytosterols, changes in carbohydrate sources and amounts, or any number of dietary and other factors. It sounds like he made massive changes to his diet, cholesterol consumption is just one part of that. And like I said, some do seem to respond more to dietary cholesterol, he could be in that group of genetically-susceptible individuals.
But dietary cholesterol increases HDL numbers, so it would be illogical to attribute better (higher) HDL numbers to a decrease in dietary cholesterol. If he were genetically-susceptible he would be expected to have had high HDL, high LDL, and high TC, and not low TC, low HDL, and moderate LDL.
That type of profile is more consistent with consumption of high-GI carbohydrates.
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 03-28-2013 at 10:41 AM..
In my opinion the 300 mg limit for cholesterol is a little ridiculous.
For example...
Breakfast- 1 poached egg, bowl of oatmeal with 8 oz 2% milk, blueberries
Lunch- spinach salad with walnuts, apple, red onion, apple cider vinaigrette, and 2 ounces of feta cheese
Dinner- Salmon fillet, asparagus, sweet potato
Total cholesterol: 368
We're supposed to believe that this isn't a healthy diet? Even for people without heart disease?
that is quite a healthy diet... perhaps aerobic exercise is the key, or in part it's just genetics, and some people are just screwed through no fault of their own. Or a combination of things. All I know is that doctors come down on obese people so hard acting like they are walking heart attacks, but my grandmother is now 81 years old and has been obese as long as I have been alive. I admit to not having seen that many reach that age obese but for whatever reason it can happen... genes? She's always been a milk drinker.. maybe the added potassium in the diet from some of her eating habits?
Attributing any change in his lipid profile to dietary cholesterol is purely conjecture. It could have been from decreased saturated fat, increased phytosterols, changes in carbohydrate sources and amounts, or any number of dietary and other factors. It sounds like he made massive changes to his diet, cholesterol consumption is just one part of that. And like I said, some do seem to respond more to dietary cholesterol, he could be in that group of genetically-susceptible individuals.
But dietary cholesterol increases HDL numbers, so it would be illogical to attribute better (higher) HDL numbers to a decrease in dietary cholesterol. If he were genetically-susceptible he would be expected to have had high HDL, high LDL, and high TC, and not low TC, low HDL, and moderate LDL.
That type of profile is more consistent with consumption of high-GI carbohydrates.
My husband's vascular specialist - one of the best in our area - advised my husband to stop eating meat and if possible go vegan. We don't take advice from unknown internet people with odd opinions about our health....we follow the advice of our Harvard trained specialist.
My husband's vascular specialist - one of the best in our area - advised my husband to stop eating meat and if possible go vegan. We don't take advice from unknown internet people with odd opinions about our health....we follow the advice of our Harvard trained specialist.
I did not offer you or your husband any advice, nor did I offer any opinions about your health. I'm not sure where you got that idea. You guys can eat whatever you want.
Furthermore, your appeal to authority about your doctor's advice to your husband to change has diet has absolutely nothing to do with anything I wrote.
My husband's vascular specialist - one of the best in our area - advised my husband to stop eating meat and if possible go vegan. We don't take advice from unknown internet people with odd opinions about our health....we follow the advice of our Harvard trained specialist.
From your earlier post it seems your husband's cholesterol wasn't particularly high anyway. I am surprised to see his total at 160, but his other number not good> I don't really think, the fact that your doctor is Harvard trained or graduated from the University of Mississippi really makes a lot of difference. I do think, his being a vegan and trying to convince others to follow his way of eating might be a little over the top. This would be like a Baptist doctor who never drinks alcohol or a Mormon who never drinks coffee suggesting all his patients follow in his footstep. I am glad hubby's diet has worked for him and I think it is great you have made an adjustment to your eating habits. I don't think this is what works for everyone. From what you have said, he ate a really unhealthy diet, not just slightly so. 15 eggs a week and meat with every meal isn't doing anything in moderation. think:
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