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Got my blood work results

T

TheBDB

Diamond Member
I went in for a physical on tuesday, but before they never said anything about fasting. When I got there the doctor asked if I had eaten anything, and when I said yes, she asked if it had a lot of sugar. I said no, so she said it should be fine. Now they called me today and said I had high cholesterol. I had eaten cereal with whole milk. I wonder how much the numbers are off.
 
The triglyceride level would be the only thing that would be really affected by eating a meal and then getting lipids drawn. If you are having blood drawn, fasting is usually the rule of thumb, although I do recall seeing a study last year sometime that cholesterol levels were significantly affected by consuming a meal before having blood drawn.

If the "cereal" is a mass-market cereal, that could bump the triglycerides somewhat. There's a ton of added sugar in those things, with perhaps the exception of the blander cereals like corn flakes, plain yellow-box Cheerios (not the "honey nut" or other varieties, obviously) and rice krispies.
 
red meats and anything that is animal fat affects your LDL
Sugar on the other had affects your triglyceride lvls or TGs

The way you can lower your cholesterol levels in general is having a healthy weight, eating legumes and berries (soluble fiber), exercising @ 30 mins a day, lowering consumption of animal fat (fish fat is good), alcohol, and highly refined sugar.

...and fasting 8 hours before a blood draw 😀
 
Whole milk is actually quite high in saturated fat. You may want to try 1% and see how you like it (2% is still considered to be a bit high but is lowest some people will consider consuming)
 
Also, suggest you start taking fish oil and Co-Q-10 supplements. I knocked 50 points off my triglycerides just by taking two 1200mg fish oil supps, twice a day. :awe:
 
TheBDB said:
I'll get the numbers on monday. I just don't know how useful they will be.
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Yeah, the tests typically require fasting for a reason. Your doctor wasn't quite correct to let you take it unfasted. Also, your breakfast wasn't entirely clear of sugar. Most cereals have at least 10g of sugar per serving and people don't typically eat one serving. I'd probably try to get another one and contest the charge for the first one since the advice of your doctor wasn't in your best interests. It could've greatly skewed your results.
 
Kipper said:
The triglyceride level would be the only thing that would be really affected by eating a meal and then getting lipids drawn. If you are having blood drawn, fasting is usually the rule of thumb, although I do recall seeing a study last year sometime that cholesterol levels were significantly affected by consuming a meal before having blood drawn.
Click to expand...
Nutritionist told me this also.

Last test had a "vldl" listed. After some reading, found out that they measure total cholesterol, hdl, triglycerides. Then estimate vldl and the ldl. wondering how accurate the #'s are with 2 out of 5 being estimated.

This clears it up.😵

Total 211
ldl 119
hdl 76
tri 80
vldl 16
 
highland145 said:
Nutritionist told me this also.

Last test had a "vldl" listed. After some reading, found out that they measure total cholesterol, hdl, triglycerides. Then estimate vldl and the ldl. wondering how accurate the #'s are with 2 out of 5 being estimated.

This clears it up.😵

Total 211
ldl 119
hdl 76
tri 80
vldl 16
Click to expand...

VLDL is basically = triglyceride measurement. That number divided by four is added to LDL + HDL to get total cholesterol. Those numbers aren't particularly bad, LDL is higher than it could be but a few minor tweaks to your diet to bump that number lower. HDL is high...quite high, which is a good thing.
 
Chol - 200
Tri - 186
HDL - 50
LDL Calc - 113

One thing I found interesting was the only recommendation I got was to take 1 fish oil capsule per day and have it checked again in 6 months.
 
Kipper said:
VLDL is basically = triglyceride measurement. That number divided by four is added to LDL + HDL to get total cholesterol. Those numbers aren't particularly bad, LDL is higher than it could be but a few minor tweaks to your diet to bump that number lower. HDL is high...quite high, which is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Cardio 6 days a week plus olive oil/fish oil caps/raw almonds, walnuts for snacks.

I still eat wings and burgers. Really pisses the nutritionist off but she's on my dime.😉
 
TheBDB said:
Chol - 200
Tri - 186
HDL - 50
LDL Calc - 113

One thing I found interesting was the only recommendation I got was to take 1 fish oil capsule per day and have it checked again in 6 months.
Click to expand...

Triglyceride level is above where it should be (<150), and LDL is also higher than optimal (<100). Fish oil will help push down TG levels but there are more effective dietary interventions you can make, like reducing your consumption of concentrated sweets and foods with added sugar and limiting your alcohol intake (&#8804;2 drinks/day for men, 1 drink = 12 oz beer, 6 oz wine, 1 oz spirits). The LDL could be lower, I'd chalk that up to both high triglyceride level and your saturated fat intake - the whole milk, for instance.

Exercise (if medically cleared), losing weight (if overweight), and quitting smoking (if you do) will also help - all pretty obvious solutions. But without knowing specifically what you eat, it's hard to say what other dietary "changes" could be made.

P.S. This time, fast for your lipid test.
 
Kipper said:
Triglyceride level is above where it should be (<150), and LDL is also higher than optimal (<100). Fish oil will help push down TG levels but there are more effective dietary interventions you can make, like reducing your consumption of concentrated sweets and foods with added sugar and limiting your alcohol intake (&#8804;2 drinks/day for men, 1 drink = 12 oz beer, 6 oz wine, 1 oz spirits). The LDL could be lower, I'd chalk that up to both high triglyceride level and your saturated fat intake - the whole milk, for instance.

Exercise (if medically cleared), losing weight (if overweight), and quitting smoking (if you do) will also help - all pretty obvious solutions. But without knowing specifically what you eat, it's hard to say what other dietary "changes" could be made.

P.S. This time, fast for your lipid test.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can't really go wrong by making your life healthier, whether the test was right or wrong. Pick up some cardiovascular activity that you like doing or can do with friends/spouse/team/etc. Participate in that 3-5 times a week. Start taking some fish oil, eat things with more fiber (both soluble and insoluble), eat more seeds and nuts.
 
highland145 said:
Nutritionist told me this also.

Last test had a "vldl" listed. After some reading, found out that they measure total cholesterol, hdl, triglycerides. Then estimate vldl and the ldl. wondering how accurate the #'s are with 2 out of 5 being estimated.

This clears it up.😵

Total 211
ldl 119
hdl 76
tri 80
vldl 16
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a fantastic HDL. Mine is 24. :whiste:
 
highland145 said:
Can you say OOPS?
Click to expand...

Heh, my doctor told me to exercise, take flax seed oil, and drink moderately. I'm doing the first two, but I have a hard time drinking. My blood pressure was so high for so long that I know that I probably won't have a long, healthy life. I'm just going to get what I can out of it.
 
Chaotic42 said:
Heh, my doctor told me to exercise, take flax seed oil, and drink moderately. I'm doing the first two, but I have a hard time drinking. My blood pressure was so high for so long that I know that I probably won't have a long, healthy life. I'm just going to get what I can out of it.
Click to expand...

Except you can also eat more monounsaturated fatty acids from good sources (nuts, seeds, avocados), eat more soluble fiber (to get your LDL down), and take blood pressure meds to control your hypertension. You most certainly can live a long and healthy life. You just have to be proactive about it.

PS: Fish oil has way more research backing it than flax seed oil. Try supplementing that instead.
 
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