Hi, I am Beginner in CRON Diet. Did I Do Something Wrong?

[Deniz]

Hello everyone, I am on the Cron diet for nearly 1 year. I am also eating healthy for nearly 5 years and sometimes do cron but not regularly, I try a vegan diet before (18 months) but I gave up. I am 25 now. Peoples think I am 18-19 years old. My height is 5.4(162cm) and my weight is 108Ibs(49kg). My general nutrition came from the liver, sardines, broccoli, fruits, and vegetables. I'm not so much strict about them. I can't count my calories but watch my weight. I'm avoiding dairy, sugar, and trans fats. My blood pressure is 100/60. Today I take a blood test. But my total cholesterol is 234. LDL is 144 and HDL is 78. Trigiliseride 58. Vitamin B12 is 886. Nearly all others are in the normal range. Insulin in blood serum is 3. Glucose is 66. Calcium 10.1. HbA1c% 5.2. How can I lower my cholesterol levels? What do you suggest I do ? Sorry, I can't find a way to translate my results into English.

[Dean Pomerleau]

Hi Deniz, 

Welcome to the CR Forums. Your blood work looks quite good except for cholesterol. Barring something unhealthy about your diet or lifestyle that you haven't shared, I'd speculate your high cholesterol may be due to genetics. That appears to be the case for my wife, who is thin, eats healthy (nearly vegan), and exercises daily but still has LDL cholesterol around 130 mg/dL. She has one Apoe4 allele according to 23andMe, making her prone to elevated cholesterol. Does high cholesterol run in your family? 

Amla supplements gave her a modest benefit (see here) so that might be worth a try. Going back to a healthy vegan diet might help too. Otherwise you are probably left with stains or living with high cholesterol as your only two options. 

Good luck! 

--Dean 

[Deniz]

Thank you so much, Dean,

Yes, my all family members have high cholesterol. It can be genetic. My doctor tells me, try to be more active. I also try to drop a few lbs, eat a more vegan-heavy diet, and make more exercise. If they are don't work I try taking supplements.

 

[AlanPater]

I would cut the liver.

[Mike41]

3 hours ago, Deniz said:

Thank you so much, Dean,

Yes, my all family members have high cholesterol. It can be genetic. My doctor tells me, try to be more active. I also try to drop a few lbs, eat a more vegan-heavy diet, and make more exercise. If they are don't work I try taking supplements.

 

My question is do you have any close family members who had heart disease. Grandparents, uncles, aunts first cousins and of course parents and siblings.

[Deniz]

 

17 hours ago, Mike41 said:

My question is do you have any close family members who had heart disease. Grandparents, uncles, aunts first cousins and of course parents and siblings.

Yes, my mother has Tachycardia.

 

[Mike41]

What I’m getting at is your ldl concern. If there is no history of Coronary artery disease in your older and deceased relatives I wouldn’t be very concerned. Tachycardia is associated with multiple lifestyle and or cardio issues. So that alone doesn’t tell you much if anythingwrt LDL levels.

[Deniz]

44 minutes ago, Mike41 said:

What I’m getting at is your ldl concern. If there is no history of Coronary artery disease in your older and deceased relatives I wouldn’t be very concerned. Tachycardia is associated with multiple lifestyle and or cardio issues. So that alone doesn’t tell you much if anythingwrt LDL levels.

The doctor in the hospital which I do a blood test, says your LDL is high. You must drop it. After that, I ask other doctors(profs) which I'm familiar they say nothing to worry about.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Deniz

[asa t]

LIVER is your problem. Your ferritin is also too high, so first step is stop eating the poison. 

[mccoy]

Dr. Peter Attia has hosted in his Drive podcast dozens of hours on lipidology. Even from other sources, it is also clear that no matter what you are eating or doing, in some people lipids homeostasis will not be perfect. Back to the podcasts from Peter Attia, the only viable solution to adjust a stubborn homeostasis seems to be correct lifestyle + pharmaceutical drugs. Statins, PCSK9 inhibitors and something else which I may have missed. I would consult specialists in your area, say that you want to prevent cardiovascular events and are maybe, unders their advise, willing to start taking specific medicines early. 

A second strategy would be to try all supplements available, there is Amla, there is red rice extracts which has been experimented in Italy, there is berberine, there are more. They will not lower the values very much but they may allow you to go on for a few extra years without medicines.

[IgorF]

Since the topic bubbled up, I would say - high normal on calcium is not normal. For the age mentioned it could be higher but IMHO it still should be inside the range, maybe somewhere in third quartile.

If calcium intake is considerably less than 1g (maybe for the mentioned weight and height 0.8 could be a target) assuming there is a lot of sun in Turkey it could make sense to increase it intake, preferably dietary.

Br,

Igor

ps: If money is not a concern it could be checked a few times with ca+pth+vitD shots to see the combo of values

Edited March 19, 2023 by IgorF

[Ron Put]

3 hours ago, mccoy said:

Dr. Peter Attia has hosted in his Drive podcast dozens of hours on lipidology. Even from other sources, it is also clear that no matter what you are eating or doing, in some people lipids homeostasis will not be perfect. Back to the podcasts from Peter Attia, the only viable solution to adjust a stubborn homeostasis seems to be correct lifestyle + pharmaceutical drugs. Statins, PCSK9 inhibitors and something else which I may have missed. I would consult specialists in your area, say that you want to prevent cardiovascular events and are maybe, unders their advise, willing to start taking specific medicines early. 

A second strategy would be to try all supplements available, there is Amla, there is red rice extracts which has been experimented in Italy, there is berberine, there are more. They will not lower the values very much but they may allow you to go on for a few extra years without medicines.

Attia can be very informative, but he tends to get people who agree with him and some of them seem to be shilling. He is high-protein, high-fat (a bit less so nowadays) guy and that's the bend of the guests he has. Again and again we har that dietary cholesterol doesn't matter unless you have a genetic predisposition, because most of it excreted. But "most of it" is 70-80%, which still leaves the subject with 20-30% absorption. So, instead of advising cut the eggs, the cheese or the meat, the suggestion is statins.

As to amla, I've been taking it for a couple of years and honestly have not noticed any particular benefits. But then again, I am metabolically healthy and don't have high blood pressure, so maybe it works for those who do.

Berberine I would stay away from -- I too k it for a while and it seems to screw up my numbers a little in the wrong direction, but not in a relevant way. More importantly, it can drop one's blood sugar too low and the swings it may cause can have a detrimental impact.

[mccoy]

Ron, I wouldn't say that PA suggests hi numbers of lipids, on the contrary his optimum thresholds are pretty rigorous, more so than the lab thresholds.

Anyway, at the end of the month there will be the release of his much waited for book, I've preordered one so we'll be able to speak about official opinions