Both good and bad cholesterol up while on a diet

Question
QUESTION: I'm a 35 year old man in good shape. At my year physicals all my labs and  exams look good. I do have borderline high cholesterol. Rather than taking medication I've been trying to reduce this with diet and exercise. My exercise level is hard to increase because I'm already working out most everyday. So I'm focusing more on diet. After 6 month I improved my triglycerides significantly and my good cholesterol went up as well. Unfortunately my bad also went up a tad bit. So now I'm buckling down even more on diet. The past two weeks I've been reading a lot on sterols and how they can help improve your bad cholesterol level along with a good diet. Today I read a article and its saying there are some studies that indicate this is only a short term thing and over times your level will actually increase. I'm wondering if you have any knowledge on this subject and what your thoughts might be. Thanks for your time, Tom

ANSWER: Hello,

The cholesterol dynamics you described is typical for a low fat dieter, is this your case? If yes, than you might want to consider reducing carbohydrate intake while increasing "good" fats intake. You don't specify your workout routine and exercise type optimal for your metabolic profile can be also something that you might want to learn about.

More about good and bad cholesterol
http://atkinszone.com/2008/05/metabolic-syndrome.html

More about carbohydrates and fats
http://atkinszone.com/2008/05/food-insulin-link.html

Exercise type to improve metabolic profile
http://atkinszone.com/exercise/2008/06/high-intensity-interval-training-for.html

Also, read my answer to a similar question
http://atkinszone.com/faq/2007/09/exercise-and-dieting-with-metabolic.html

Hope it helps,

Tanya Zilberter





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your quick response. Honestly I don't know much about nutrition or eating the right way. I just know in the past  I've thrown caution to the wind in the past and eaten very unhealthy. I've reduced the amount of bad fat intake. I've started snacking on fruits, walnuts(careful not to eat too many)  eating oatmeal for breakfast, veggies / salads for lunch, etc. Over all reducing my bad fat intake was my #1 goal. I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight. I'm 6ft1 210 lbs 35 year old male. I play basketball about 4 times a week (competitively) for approx 1-2 hours. I've read about sterols and have started using the smart balance spread and minute maid OJ to get my recommended intake level. Does this info change your advice? What thing can I do to try to improve my  cholesterol levels??

Answer
It changes probably the exercise part. Otherwise, as I suspected, too much of carbohydrates. To start removing your body fat, you have to initiate lipolysis - the burning of your body fat for Fuel INSTEAD of glucose. But as long as you supply glucose precursors in the forms of oatmeal, for example, it is not going to happen since glucose is an easy thus preferred energy carrier. Also, the bad fat concept doesn't seem to be getting much support in research studies. Good or bad, any fat help shifting your body toward burning its own fat instead of the consumed carbs.

Take a look at the page explaining why it happens: http://bantadiet.com/banta/?page_id=12

Tanya Zilberter

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