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Extremely High Cholesterol!

love2travel

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love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

Well, I was shocked to hear that my LDL is off the charts high, as is my total cholesterol. My HDL is low. Perhaps this is partially due to my being gluten-free now for five months and now I am absorbing? I cook everything from scratch, exercise daily, and so on.

Thankfully everything else (i.e. thyroid, vitamin levels) are all well within normal range. My celiac panel results are not back yet - am curious about that, too. My numbers before were very high - now they had better be very low as I have been insanely strict as I have confirmed celiac disease.

Darn it - now I must dramatically decrease all this baking I've been doing...and the cheese. :( I eat lots of cheese every day. I will be adding more legumes and nuts to the mix. If this does not help I must go on medication as it is desperately high. :blink:

Anyone else notice their LDL/total cholesterol levels dramatically elevating after going gluten free?

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Marilyn R Community Regular
Marilyn R
Posted

Hi lovetotravel,

My HDL was above normal limits but LDL within normal range about a year after going gluten-free. I'd been totally off dairy for about 9 months then. Before going gluten-free, all of my bloodwork, to quote my doctor, "was perfectly normal". She said that over and over but never ran the celiac panel. (Argh!)

Have you tried grapeseed oil yet? It is pretty wonderful, and nice for baking. And if you haven't tried almond flour yet, it's wonderful. (Good source of protein, low in carbs too.)

I know you love cheese. You poor thing, sending you ((((hugs)))).

If you're going to do legumes, you might want to think about getting a pressure cooker. There's a whole new world of cooking out there if you don't already have one in your kitchen arsenal. Velvety curry pea soup in half an hour. Good luck! (I have an MD appt this month, hoping for no bad blood results this time around.)

Gfreeatx Apprentice
Gfreeatx
Posted

I have not had mine go up, however I did have elevated cholesterol prior to my diagnosis. I did not want to go on a statin since I am usually THAT person that gets all the bizarre side effects they tell you on the commercials, so my doctor has me taking fish oil instead twice a day. I have to say it works great with no side effects. My cholesterol came down to 156 after six months of taking it. I would see if your doctor would allow you to try that for awhile first before going on medication. My cardiologist actually says that in Europe that is what they typically give patients with cholesterol issues, not drugs. Make sure you get the ones that say no fish burps though. ;)

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted
  • Author

Hi lovetotravel,

My HDL was above normal limits but LDL within normal range about a year after going gluten-free. I'd been totally off dairy for about 9 months then. Before going gluten-free, all of my bloodwork, to quote my doctor, "was perfectly normal". She said that over and over but never ran the celiac panel. (Argh!)

Have you tried grapeseed oil yet? It is pretty wonderful, and nice for baking. And if you haven't tried almond flour yet, it's wonderful. (Good source of protein, low in carbs too.)

I know you love cheese. You poor thing, sending you ((((hugs)))).

If you're going to do legumes, you might want to think about getting a pressure cooker. There's a whole new world of cooking out there if you don't already have one in your kitchen arsenal. Velvety curry pea soup in half an hour. Good luck! (I have an MD appt this month, hoping for no bad blood results this time around.)

Yes, I have used grapeseed oil for ages and love it! And almond flour. Love it, too. A pressure cooker is one of the very few pieces of kitchen equipment I do not have for some weird reason.

Thanks for the encouragement!

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted
  • Author

I have not had mine go up, however I did have elevated cholesterol prior to my diagnosis. I did not want to go on a statin since I am usually THAT person that gets all the bizarre side effects they tell you on the commercials, so my doctor has me taking fish oil instead twice a day. I have to say it works great with no side effects. My cholesterol came down to 156 after six months of taking it. I would see if your doctor would allow you to try that for awhile first before going on medication. My cardiologist actually says that in Europe that is what they typically give patients with cholesterol issues, not drugs. Make sure you get the ones that say no fish burps though. ;)

I have been taking fish oil for about three years. Sigh...

I know what you mean about side effects - I'm the one who if something is supposed to knock you out it keeps me awake. Or painkillers (i.e. morphine, opioids) make things worse. I really, really do not want to have to take meds for this. Since my numbers were staggeringly high I wonder how much diet will improve them?? I can only try! Perhaps I should treat trans fat as though it were gluten and avoid it like the plague. :)

  • 2 weeks later...
Marilyn R Community Regular
Marilyn R
Posted

It's worth a try. And at the risk of being really boring, I'll suggest once again that you get a pressure cooker.

You can teach classes in PC. You can do Osco Busco in less than an hour! If that doen't sell you, I'll shut up forever. :)

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted
  • Author

It's worth a try. And at the risk of being really boring, I'll suggest once again that you get a pressure cooker.

You can teach classes in PC. You can do Osco Busco in less than an hour! If that doen't sell you, I'll shut up forever. :)

OK - you've convinced me! I still cannot believe I have never had one. I even do sous vide for crying out loud! You had me at osso bucco... :D

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Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

My total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglicerides were all low before gluten free. In fact my trigliceride level was abnormally low being off the chart low. I had a doctor at the time tell me she had never seen a patient with a level that low. I was told I was lucky. Well, after I was diagnosed with celiac I found one little article about low triglicerides and that it could be a sign of malabsorption. I found very little info about low as all the articles I was finding were focused on high triglicerides and cholesterol. I did have my levels checked over a year ago because I was curious what they were now. All my levels are within normal range now for the most part with needing to get my HDL up some more.

Reba32 Rookie
Reba32
Posted

trans fats should be avoided at all costs, they're not good for you even in small doses, and it really is quite easy to stay away from them.

Also, a high carbohydrate diet can contribute to high LDL levels because too much carbs in the diet causes the body to store fat. Which unfortunately, quite a lot of peole who go gluten-free have a very high carb diet because that's what the packaged gluten-free flour options are. Go with lower carb options like nut flours, and with healthier fat options for cooking and baking, like olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil. Transfats (*anything* that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated is a trans fat!) and inflammatory oils like corn oil (omega 6s) should be avoided. Also stay away from all refined sugars, and high sugar content foods (any ingredient that ends in -ose is a sugar). Excess sugars are also stored as fat in the body, contributing to a high LDL count.

And, contrary to popular belief, whole eggs are a very healthy food, and do not contribute to a bad cholesterol level. So enjoy eggs whenever you like :)

Bubba's Mom Enthusiast
Bubba's Mom
Posted

My hubby had a nearly fatal heart attack at the age of 51, in 2005. He went to nutrition classes and the one of the top things on the list was NO trans-fats. We avoid it like the plague!

They are not normal in nature. They are a manufactured form of fat that the body doesn't know what to do with. They cause inflamation, which causes all sorts of bad reactions in the body.

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted
  • Author

trans fats should be avoided at all costs, they're not good for you even in small doses, and it really is quite easy to stay away from them.

Also, a high carbohydrate diet can contribute to high LDL levels because too much carbs in the diet causes the body to store fat. Which unfortunately, quite a lot of peole who go gluten-free have a very high carb diet because that's what the packaged gluten-free flour options are. Go with lower carb options like nut flours, and with healthier fat options for cooking and baking, like olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil. Transfats (*anything* that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated is a trans fat!) and inflammatory oils like corn oil (omega 6s) should be avoided. Also stay away from all refined sugars, and high sugar content foods (any ingredient that ends in -ose is a sugar). Excess sugars are also stored as fat in the body, contributing to a high LDL count.

And, contrary to popular belief, whole eggs are a very healthy food, and do not contribute to a bad cholesterol level. So enjoy eggs whenever you like :)

Thanks for the information. I took nutrition in university but it is one thing to know something in your mind and quite another to practice it. Thankfully I almost never eat anything processed - I make my own condiments and everything but I have been doing lots of gluten-free baking and experimenting. I also test many recipes for various cookbooks, magazines and so on and have been doing more of that lately as well. But I do know that my cheese intake dramatically increased for several months as well which obviously isn't good (I have now cut out dairy).

Yes - I'm so glad that eggs do NOT have high cholesterol and I eat them frequently. Thankfully I have not reacted to them! :)

  • 1 year later...
Snowhawk Newbie
Snowhawk
Posted

Well, I was shocked to hear that my LDL is off the charts high, as is my total cholesterol. My HDL is low. Perhaps this is partially due to my being gluten-free now for five months and now I am absorbing? I cook everything from scratch, exercise daily, and so on.

Thankfully everything else (i.e. thyroid, vitamin levels) are all well within normal range. My celiac panel results are not back yet - am curious about that, too. My numbers before were very high - now they had better be very low as I have been insanely strict as I have confirmed celiac disease.

Darn it - now I must dramatically decrease all this baking I've been doing...and the cheese. sad.gif I eat lots of cheese every day. I will be adding more legumes and nuts to the mix. If this does not help I must go on medication as it is desperately high. blink.gif

Anyone else notice their LDL/total cholesterol levels dramatically elevating after going gluten free?

 

I have noticed that while I was never diagnosed with Celiac, my doctor recommended I try going Gluten Free.

I gave it a half hearted effort for one week, then had my blood lipid panels drawn. To my surprise my LDL and total cholesterol

came down (considering I started with a total of 425 and the Zetia only brought it down to 385... big deal... but the lack of gluten

brought it down another 45 points (340... I know... it's still too high... but I've been told all my life... "it's hereditary". Well... got news

for those who say that... Cholesterol is your body's response to inflammation!" Well known fact among the medical community BUT

if they search and destroy the inflammation... they'd put themselves and the pharmaceutical companies out of business (or partly)

so I thought... nuts to you... I'm gonna start trying to eliminate various things and see what happens.I eat a fair amount of Salmon

(high in Omega 3s), use Flax seed (grind as I need it), eggs are back in my diet AND the lactose intolerance that leaves you craving

cheese has been solved by using goat and sheep milk products... no probemo!  I was on statins and finally said "no more". Side effects were not worth it.

 

You have to get on the internet and search, search, search and work with your doctor. If he/she won't cooperate... find one who will.

Those who actually help cure people are usually the ones who won't take insurance thus... can't be as easily controlled by the

corporates. They go back to the original intention of doctors... to heal and cure their patients.

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