I posted here last November about bloodwork I had done that showed elevated Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, indicating hypothyroidism. Of course the medical professional (RN) I was seeing at the time wanted to put me on Levothyroxine. I resisted, started taking a kelp supplement thanks to the recommendation of the good people on this board, and this year my TSH is well within the normal range. However, unfortunately, now my cholesterol numbers are high, particularly triglycerides, so if anyone has ideas how to get that under control I would appreciate the help. In any case, thanks Great Awakening! Edit to add: The doctor wants me to try diet and exercise for 3 months and then retest cholesterol. So no prescriptions for now. Again, you people are wonderful!
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (100)
sorted by:
Lots of good info being provided as usual. However, people need to be more specific in what they're saying. I will try to elaborate.
When you get your panel, it will provide numbers for LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Many new studies are positing the most important markera are HDL, triglycerides, and the ratio of HDL/triglycerides. High HDL, low trigs, and high ratio. Dr Berry has a lot of great info. Lift heavy things to increase HDL. To decrease trigs, eat less carbs. High trigs suggest you're consuming more carbs than your body can handle.
Now the LDL. Most people taking statins belive LDL is bad; in fact it is not bad and is actually very necessary as people have pointed out. Is high LDL cholesterol bad? It depends.
Depends on what?? Your metabolic state. Chronic hyperinsulinemia and high LDL together is a recipe for cardiovascular disease. What indicates hyperinsulinemia? Fasting Glucose or A1C.
High LDL with good metabolic health (insulin sensitive, low glucose or A1C) coupled with high LDL is helpful, not harmful.
High LDL is necessary but not sufficient for cardiovascular disease. Medical companies couldn't make a drug to increase HDL but figured out how to reduce LDL and pushed the cause of cardiovascular disease as high LDL.
Think of LDL as kindling on a fire. If you are insulin sensitive there won't be a spark. If you have lots of sparks and lots of kindling, probability of fire is exponentially higher.
Intervention: baseline amount of carbs you're eating in a week and test your blood glucose 3 times a day. Reduce this number to an amount where you can get your glucose in a good range. Do this for 3 months and get cholesterol done again. Notice decrease trigs. Continue until low enough