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Good and not so good blood work.

Longjohn

By Longjohn
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Longjohn Flahute

Longjohn ★

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I had a doctor appointment with my PCP to go over my blood work. She said my cholesterol is up. We’re going to give the diet and exercise thing one more shot. My blood work they always run for my leukemia tested almost normal. She checked me all over and said I was in excellent health except for the cholesterol.

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Square Wheels Flahute

Square Wheels

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Fantastic!  Ask her to do an insulin level.  Been listening to a lot of books in the car, some related to cholesterol.  Seems carbs can increase cholesterol too, possibly more than digested fats.  I'm not too convinced, but it's worth a look.  I eat far too many carbs, very little fat, and my cholesterol is less than 140.  That's not the case for everyone.

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Razors Edge Flahute

Razors Edge ★

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2 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Fantastic!  Ask her to do an insulin level.  Been listening to a lot of books in the car, some related to cholesterol.  Seems carbs can increase cholesterol too, possibly more than digested fats.  I'm not too convinced, but it's worth a look.  I eat far too many carbs, very little fat, and my cholesterol is less than 140.  That's not the case for everyone. 

I've heard there is a link between too much sugar and cholesterol.

In any case, keep fighting the good fight, Longjohn!

Tom

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Square Wheels Flahute

Square Wheels

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5 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

I wonder if it might be the beer? Could I give up beer for six months? I almost asked her about beer but we got talking about something else and it slipped my mind. I get more blood work in six months.

What could it hurt?  Try it for 6 months.

How high was your cholesterol, if you don't mind?  

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Square Wheels Flahute

Square Wheels

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5 minutes ago, petitepedal said:

Cheese, eggs, red meat...on the eat less of list...more cardio....

Depends on what "science" you believe.  I don't eat any of those things and I have a fantastic cholesterol.  I do eat a modest amount of carbs too.  There is clear evidence that carbs contribute more to a high cholesterol than fats.

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Longjohn Flahute

Longjohn ★

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32 minutes ago, petitepedal said:

Sorry could not complete after the @_____  Anyway...eating LESS cheese, eggs and red meat and more cardio are what they say will improve your cholesterol..

LJ...seems like you did more kayaking this summer...need more cardio...

My guess anyway...

Maybe I shouldn’t eat my wife’s cooking on the weekends. She likes to cook when she is not working.

51 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Med related maybe? 

The only meds I have taken were ten antibiotic pills when I had pneumonia. That was early this summer.

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ChrisL KOM / QOM

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Good news on the leukemia.  My doc doesn't get too worked up with one time spikes and will adjust my statins when he sees an increase over 2-3 blood tests.  He said cholesterol can spike after a couple of bad meals and they can't do an A1C type test for it.  Seems like your doctor is doing the same. Glad to see they didn't put you on statins off the bat.

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MickinMD KOM / QOM

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18 hours ago, petitepedal said:

Cheese, eggs, red meat...on the eat less of list...more cardio....

Eggs, particularly yolks, have been removed from the bad-cholesterol list.  For reasons not understood, their cholesterol doesn't transfer into the bloodstream easily.

But it seems to me that there's a much greater variance in what effects different people's cholesterol than is usual for nutrition.  My father ate an awful diet and always had low cholesterol.  My diet has been pretty good lately, but I also always have low cholesterol, usually between 128-155.  My last blood test was Cholesterol 152, HDL 61, LDL 77.

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Randomguy Flahute

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8 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

Eggs, particularly yolks, have been removed from the bad-cholesterol list.  For reasons not understood, their cholesterol doesn't transfer into the bloodstream easily.

I have said it before, but there has NEVER been a credible study that links cholesterol in food to cholesterol in the body, and this statement is generally agreed to by almost everyone on earth who has looked at the issue in depth in the last 10 -  15 years.   There may be outliers, but damn, it is time to drop this cholesterol is bad thing, the eggs are bad thing, etc.

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Wilbur Flahute

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10 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I have said it before, but there has NEVER been a credible study that links cholesterol in food to cholesterol in the body, and this statement is generally agreed to by almost everyone on earth who has looked at the issue in depth in the last 10 -  15 years.   There may be outliers, but damn, it is time to drop this cholesterol is bad thing, the eggs are bad thing, etc.

It has been proven that most government diet guides are completely wrong.  Including the diabetic diet.  I eat near zero carbs, moderate protein and high fat.  The ponds are dropping off and I feel really good.  20 years younger good.

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Randomguy Flahute

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2 minutes ago, petitepedal said:

More cardio is a big plus... However there is genetics ...I have a biking friend who rides daily..lots of miles..and he has cut his diet to almost completely vegetarian  and his cholesterol is still in the 300 range.....no amount of diet and exercise is gonna fix your genes...

Yuh huh, because the nutrition and exercise advice from 1998 doesn't work, it is that simple.

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Randomguy Flahute

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29 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Keep in mind, they want to fix you.  They don't want you to fix you.  No profit in that!

Plus, I wonder how old their information is that was used as a basis for the listicle.  Again, it seems to be the same discredited research from many decades ago that people just kept repeating until everyone accepted it as gospel, and not factoring in the new research.

Also Petite, if people ride hard a lot, they are doing it for reasons other than health reasons.   I have seen articles that give the range of cardio benefits up to 30 - 45 minutes to get health benefits, after which you are doing it to improve your cycling rather than improve your health.  Those studies suggest plainly state that going hard for longer than that is not only not any healthier, but is actually detrimental to overall health.   It was weird seeing than, then digesting it, then thinking about it some more, wanting to disagree with it, then realizing that it is probably true.  That said, if you want to ride harder, longer, and faster, you have to train harder, longer, and faster, so long rides with effort it is.  This is all definitely harder to recover from, stresses your system more, and makes you more susceptible to illness than riding for less than an hour and calling it good.  

That kind of thinking goes directly against what I think of when I (used to) ride, I like the constant improvement and being able to go longer and harder and faster.  When I trained a lot, I got really fit, but I did get more colds and flu and PRI and such.  I imagine if you trained hard on the bike with intervals and hard climbing for an hour at a time, at the end of the year you would probably be 90% as fit as you would if you did 4-6 hour rides a time or two during the week with some recovery rides built in, but without the burnout or overtraining you might get otherwise.

 

Strength training has been proven time and again to be much better for weight or fat management than cardio alone, but combining them is best.  If you gotta choose one, though, go with strength training.

I need to take my own advice, and quit the sugar again, and start exercising.  I would love to do a century next year and start with weights again. <sigh>

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Razors Edge Flahute

Razors Edge ★

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29 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Keep in mind, they want to fix you.  They don't want you to fix you.  No profit in that! 

While I agree with the first part, I challenge you to find ANY study not motivated by a "they want to fix you".  Your diet that you are doing well on came from folks who want to fix you. If you find research on something, it was done and paid for by groups wanting to fix something.

I'd point more towards the "it took thousands of years to get to Isaac Newton, a couple hundred more to Einstein, a few decades more to Hawking, ..." sort of progression.  People are right to point out the out-of-date eggs, cheese, & red meat = bad cholesterol, but that's sort of where we still are with diet and nutrition - somewhere in the "we've identified some of the problems, but still can't quite figure out the details."  Definitely not a perfect analogy, but we are truly improving our "science" in regards to nutrition. 

Tom

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Longjohn Flahute

Longjohn ★

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5 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I agree that a single high cholesterol number is not worth taking too siriusly.  Excellent that the leukemia is taking a break!

Petite posted that link to the Mayo Clinic and it reminded me that I was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic, well my blood was. I took my orders for blood work to the local clinic and the guy drawing the blood looked up the test on the computer. He said he had never seen an order like this. He had to draw about eight vials and put different chemicals in each one and they had to be shipped overnight in dry ice to Mayo. The guy who literally wrote the book on my disease is at Mayo Clinic.

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MickinMD KOM / QOM

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On 9/15/2018 at 4:18 PM, Randomguy said:

I have said it before, but there has NEVER been a credible study that links cholesterol in food to cholesterol in the body, and this statement is generally agreed to by almost everyone on earth who has looked at the issue in depth in the last 10 -  15 years.   There may be outliers, but damn, it is time to drop this cholesterol is bad thing, the eggs are bad thing, etc.

I've never looked at it in detail because, apparently, I inherited genes from my father where we could eat the most awful diets and still have low cholesterol.  But when my family doctor goes over my every-3-month diabetic blood test, as he searches the table in his computer for my cholesterol test numbers he always asks, "You're not on statins, are you?" and I always reply no - that my cholesterol is often lower than the lowest value displayed on cholesterol websites.

I do know that, during a period where I was very physically inactive, my HDL would run closer to 40 when 60 or better is desired.  It's the good cholesterol and is supposed to function like dump trucks that haul bad junk out of your body and you want as many of them as you can get.

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