Hi Docs,
My cholesterol levels has been elevated since I started lifting about 2 years ago. My family doctor is a bit concerned. My guess is because I’ve been more liberal in meat and milk (2% fat) consumption. Except in the initial few months in LP, my body weight has been very stable. So, my calories intake has been “at maintenance”.
Sex: M
Age: 47
Height: 172cm (5’8")
Weight: 71kg (156lbs)
Waist: 34" (Asian)
Body fat: ~20% (readings from bathroom scale & caliper; and visual)
Training history: LP for 3 months, then fooling around with TM and (non-BBM) HLM. TM failed badly. HLM gave me progress but slow progress. Recently on Bridge 1. Will start Bridge 3 soon.
Fasted Lipid Studies:
Total Chol: 6.6 mmol/L (255 mg/dL) → Recommended level 5.5 mmol/L (213 mg/dL)
HDL: 2.1 mmol/L (81 mg/dL)
LDL: 3.9 mmol/L (151 mg/dL) → Recommended level 2.5 mmol/L (97 mg/dL)
non-HDL: 4.5 mmol/L (174 mg/dL)
Triglyceride: 1.2 mmol/L (106 mg/dL)
LDL/HDL ratio: 1.9
Chol/HDL ratio: 3.1
All my other readings (e.g. blood pressure, glucose level, etc) are well within the normal range.
Questions:
-
The general guideline from my family doctor is to reduce saturated fat (and, by extension, fast food) consumption. Will this be your recommendation too?
-
However, some recent researches [1, 2, 3], particularly by Kummerow (of trans fat fame and credibility [4]), indicate the culprit of heart disease is oxysterols (oxidised cholesterol?), not cholesterol, and it is unsaturated fats more susceptible to oxidisation, not satuarted fat. Kummerow recommends consuming saturated fats and avoiding unsaturated fats.
When you face minority views like this which disagree with or even contradict the general consensus and official guideline, how do you approach them? Do you side with the consensus until the consensus changes? However, from the history of trans fat, we can see the official guideline can fall far behind the actual science. Will there be objective factors which make you switch your view before the majority does?
- I’ve started altering my diet to lower my fat intake. One thing I’ve done: switching out peanut butter toasts and switching in oatmeal for breakfast. To my surprise, this gives my constipation. I’m already consuming plenty of water. The symptom has persisted for a week. I’m pretty sure oatmeal is the culprit. When I stopped eating it, the constipation went away in 1-2 days. On the net, there are sporadic “reports” that oatmeal caused constipation to some people. What gives? Is it just because of a change of diet? Will my digestive system adapt and will the constipation go away?
[1] Interaction between sphingomyelin and oxysterols contributes to atherosclerosis and sudden death - PMC
[2] The relationship of oxidized lipids to coronary artery stenosis - PubMed
[3] https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/1846638/association-dietary-circulating-supplement-fatty-acids-coronary-risk-systematic-review
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/06/16/the-100-year-old-scientist-who-pushed-the-fda-to-ban-artificial-trans-fat/