I am in some serious disbelief right about now. I just got a call from my doctor with my blood results from my yearly wellness exam a few weeks ago and my cholesterol has gone up 41 points!! From 170 to 211!!! What the heck!?!?
I really don’t know how this is possible considering I eat WAY less cheese than I did last year and I eat a mostly plant-based diet. I can hardly work right now because I am so disturbed. I don’t think that high cholesterol runs in my family, but I am checking on that one…
So what is the plan? My doctor is also a nutritionist, so I am writing down ever single bite that goes into my mouth this week and go back in on Monday the 16th to figure out this mystery. I’m wondering if maybe it is the flax seed that I add to my shakes? Maybe it’s the mass amounts of hummus? I don’t eat very much olive oil…
She asked me what I ate, portion size, and if I worked out. I let out a bit of a laugh because anyone who knows me, knows that I work out 6 days a week. I am also pretty neurotic about what I eat. Asking me if I eat well and exercise is like asking if the Pope is Catholic.
Alright, I am going to try and get a grip on this and maybe I’ll have an answer next week. I am going to ask her to take my blood again to test this. Wow…I would have never expected that from the results.
Has anyone ever had this happen…getting a result you never expected? Any ideas on what I could be eating that has made my cholesterol jump?
1 Comment
November 9, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Pang,
Don’t fear the high cholesterol thing. If your doctor knows anything, he/she will tell you that its the HDL/LDL ratio that matters – not the total value.
Additionally, it’s not saturated fat and consuming animal products that causes increases in cholesterol. It’s typically a diet that has moderate-high amounts of carbs, and industrial processed oils that have high omega-6 content that contributes to inflammation.
Check out this blog: wholehealthsource.blogspot.com it’s written by a PhD (so even the professor can geek out with you). Here are some good links to check out:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/04/cordain-on-saturated-fat.html
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/10/heart-attack-risk-reduction-low-hanging.html
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/cholesterol