Cravings and cholesterol page

[Vic Isadude]

I decided to give paleo a go a few weeks ago. So, no bread, rice or pasta for ~3 weeks and no spuds or cakes for ~2 weeks. But, I still get sweet quite big cravings in the evenings after my main meal. This is not new, I have always had such cravings, but they have intensified over the last week and I have been bingeing a bit – maybe 40–50g of chocolate (I guess ~200–300 calories) per night. Weird thing is – I get these cravings even if I am feeling fairly full. If I throw out all the chocolate in the house I suspect that I’ll probably just go searching through the cupboards until I find something else sweet. Last night I made enchiladas using the recipe in the PB cookbook. I used double cream (no idea what the UK equivalent of half and half cream is) and afterwards I thought that a spoonful might reduce my sugar cravings. Well, it did but I ended up eating over half the remaining cream (maybe around 500 cals) before I stopped. Felt a bit queasy but as not as bad as times in the past when I have had major sugar binges and have eaten like a whole chocolate bar in an evening. It feels like kind of ‘alcoholic’ or addictive behaviour to me and I’ve got to be careful here. Back in my drinking days before I found AA, I would occasionally try to clean up my act and try to abstain from drinking and smoking but after a while I would snap and end up on a bender drinking worse than ever. I feel a little disappointed that eating a diet that is high in fat and protein has not removed these cravings as I was hoping that it might.* I have some chocolate-flavoured whey protein that I drink as a shake after gym sessions, would it be an idea to have one or two of these in the evening if I get sugar cravings after a meal, rather than a load of cream?
One good thing – I am managing to get through the day without chocolate, biscuits or cakes – which are ever-present in our office, so that is a bit of an achievement. *

I have a second query as well. Just now, while writing the first bit about cravings I had a call from my doctor asking me to go in next week for a chat about lifestyle. One of the things that made me want to try Paleo is that I found out 6 years ago that my cholesterol levels were not v. good. They put me on a statin which gave me some side effects so I stopped it, and refused to try another. After that I gave up eating meat, started to eat as much fish as I could tolerate and also took fish oil supplements – that helped a bit, there was a slight increase in HDL I think. So, I went along last week to find out what my levels are now, as a kind of baseline, just as I start Paleo and the results that she just gave me over the phone were that my Total cholesterol is 6.3 mmol/l* (which I think works out to 243.6 mg/dl), the HDL is 0.9 mmol/l* (I think = 34.8 mg/dl) and the LDL was 5 mmol/l* (= 193.3 mg/dl). I am not particularly worried about this – I can’t find my previous results but I think that these levels are similar to what they were about 5 years ago, although back then my LDL levels might have been around 4.3 mmol/l (= 166.3 mg/dl). What I will probably do next week is tell them that I have recently changed my lifestyle and that it may take a few months for my body to adjust and then ask them if the test can be repeated in say six months time. Does that sound reasonable, or should I leave it for a bit longer to let my system adjust? Also, I should have done a 12 hour fast before the test, but the night before I forgot about the test and I had some food maybe 11 hours before – at which point my partner walked in and reminded me about the test. Could that have affected the results?

[magicmerl]

I decided to give paleo a go a few weeks ago. So, no bread, rice or pasta for ~3 weeks and no spuds or cakes for ~2 weeks. But, I still get sweet quite big cravings in the evenings after my main meal. This is not new, I have always had such cravings, but they have intensified over the last week and I have been bingeing a bit – maybe 40–50g of chocolate (I guess ~200–300 calories) per night. Weird thing is – I get these cravings even if I am feeling fairly full.

Make it high cocoa / low sugar chocolate, and you're good to go.

If I throw out all the chocolate in the house I suspect that I’ll probably just go searching through the cupboards until I find something else sweet. Last night I made enchiladas using the recipe in the PB cookbook. I used double cream (no idea what the UK equivalent of half and half cream is) and afterwards I thought that a spoonful might reduce my sugar cravings. Well, it did but I ended up eating over half the remaining cream (maybe around 500 cals) before I stopped. Felt a bit queasy but as not as bad as times in the past when I have had major sugar binges and have eaten like a whole chocolate bar in an evening. It feels like kind of ‘alcoholic’ or addictive behaviour to me and I’ve got to be careful here.

I hear you on the cream. Our 'go to' pudding is a banana and a piece of dark chocolate, heated until soft, covered in cream. Decadent and absolutely delicious.

Back in my drinking days before I found AA, I would occasionally try to clean up my act and try to abstain from drinking and smoking but after a while I would snap and end up on a bender drinking worse than ever. I feel a little disappointed that eating a diet that is high in fat and protein has not removed these cravings as I was hoping that it might.* I have some chocolate-flavoured whey protein that I drink as a shake after gym sessions, would it be an idea to have one or two of these in the evening if I get sugar cravings after a meal, rather than a load of cream?

It appears that you are still addicted to sugar. I wouldn't cheat with sugar. I've been hammering the dark chocolate a bit in the evenings recently, and decided to have a couple of eggs with butter and cream as a snack last night. Very filling.

One good thing – I am managing to get through the day without chocolate, biscuits or cakes – which are ever-present in our office, so that is a bit of an achievement. *

Yay. There's halloween lollies in my office too (despite the fact that we are NOT american) and some people are stunned that I can turn down free lollies. It gets easier the more you wean yourself off it (say in 2-3 weeks).

I have a second query as well. Just now, while writing the first bit about cravings I had a call from my doctor asking me to go in next week for a chat about lifestyle. One of the things that made me want to try Paleo is that I found out 6 years ago that my cholesterol levels were not v. good. They put me on a statin which gave me some side effects so I stopped it, and refused to try another.

Good for you. Statins are evil and increase all cause mortality.

After that I gave up eating meat, started to eat as much fish as I could tolerate and also took fish oil supplements – that helped a bit, there was a slight increase in HDL I think.

Fish is awesome.

So, I went along last week to find out what my levels are now, as a kind of baseline, just as I start Paleo and the results that she just gave me over the phone were that my Total cholesterol is 6.3 mmol/l* (which I think works out to 243.6 mg/dl), the HDL is 0.9 mmol/l* (I think = 34.8 mg/dl) and the LDL was 5 mmol/l* (= 193.3 mg/dl). I am not particularly worried about this – I can’t find my previous results but I think that these levels are similar to what they were about 5 years ago, although back then my LDL levels might have been around 4.3 mmol/l (= 166.3 mg/dl). What I will probably do next week is tell them that I have recently changed my lifestyle and that it may take a few months for my body to adjust and then ask them if the test can be repeated in say six months time. Does that sound reasonable, or should I leave it for a bit longer to let my system adjust? Also, I should have done a 12 hour fast before the test, but the night before I forgot about the test and I had some food maybe 11 hours before – at which point my partner walked in and reminded me about the test. Could that have affected the results?

Yeah, it does. Your numbers are a little borderline, but really, it almost doesn't matter what the results are. Whether they are good or bad you shold eat healthy food that will increase HDL and decrease Trigs. Right?

Read through the first two posts in the primer in my sig. The important thing is the RATIOS. And for me, the one I focus on is Trig/HDL. If that's good then my LDL is the large puffy good kind.

[Vic Isadude]

Thanks a lot, your primer is really interesting, I will keep on referring to it until I get my head around this cholesterol business and when I go to the surgery next week I'll ask for more details on trigs and how they calculate LDL levels.

[Annlee]

Even more recent info is covered in Peter Attia's 9-part series on cholesterol - highly educational. Bear with it - start here:

The straight dope on cholesterol

[prodistat]

In regard to cravings, you might have some specific food triggers that make you crave foods.

Are you eating nuts? I had to eliminate almonds to get rid of that feeling. My rule of thumb is if I eat something and I feel "stuffed but still hungry" or "hungrier" after eating it, then I eliminate that food from my diet. Eating nuts makes me feel "hollow." I don't have a better way to describe it. Anyway, if you notice a certain food makes you want to eat more later, or isn't satisfying when it should be, that food may not agree with your system.

[Vic Isadude]

Hi, thanks for the links.
I have printed off Griff's primer & parts I - IX of Peter Attia's series so I've got plenty of reading to do.

I hadn’t thought about triggers, will have to keep an eye on what I eat and how I feel afterwards. I was wondering if it might be to do with lack of bulk from the starchy stuff that I have now stopped eating. My partner is not paleo but has not v. keen on carbs since she read a book about nutrition (The Diet Delusion I think) about two years ago. On several occasions in the last 12 months I have seen her eat nothing but a plateful of roasted vegetables in the evening and then an hour later she had to drive down to the supermarket and buy more food because she was so hungry. That was before I came across Paleo and I wasn’t v. supportive towards her – partly because I dislike roasted vegetables and was trying to discourage this culinary tendency. I do eat vegetables although I do so without enthusiasm and maybe I need to try and force myself to eat more. It’s a bit of a catch 22, I know fruit and veg is good for me and I push myself to eat it, but my heart’s not in it – it’s like taking medicine. I find some things like broccoli, cabbage, carrots, sprouts and spinach really unpleasant. When I was forced to eat such food as a child it used to make me throw up, so unfortunately I have quite negative associations with some types of vegetables. I can eat avocadoes and tomatoes ok and have been hitting those pretty hard lately and also eating quite a lot of salad – which is not unpleasant, just boring. Aubergines and butternut squash are not too bad either so I need to spend more time looking at the recipe book. I have been eating quite a of nuts lately hazelnuts & walnuts mainly - need to buy more macadamias. It’s still early days yet and I guess it’s going to take a while to find out what works for me.

[Annieh]

My partner is not paleo but has not v. keen on carbs since she read a book about nutrition (The Diet Delusion I think) about two years ago. On several occasions in the last 12 months I have seen her eat nothing but a plateful of roasted vegetables in the evening and then an hour later she had to drive down to the supermarket and buy more food because she was so hungry.

That was before I came across Paleo and I wasn’t v. supportive towards her – partly because I dislike roasted vegetables and was trying to discourage this culinary tendency. I do eat vegetables although I do so without enthusiasm and maybe I need to try and force myself to eat more. It’s a bit of a catch 22, I know fruit and veg is good for me and I push myself to eat it, but my heart’s not in it – it’s like taking medicine. I find some things like broccoli, cabbage, carrots, sprouts and spinach really unpleasant. When I was forced to eat such food as a child it used to make me throw up, so unfortunately I have quite negative associations with some types of vegetables. I can eat avocadoes and tomatoes ok and have been hitting those pretty hard lately and also eating quite a lot of salad – which is not unpleasant, just boring. Aubergines and butternut squash are not too bad either so I need to spend more time looking at the recipe book.

Hi Vic, no wonder your partner was still hungry, she probably needed to include a serving of protein with her meal ie MEAT.

I also thought salads were boring but recently have begun to enjoy them more. Even though they do include basic veges like lettuce and cucumber I think it's the added treats like feta, avocado, nuts, seeds, bacon that really make them delicious.

A pure dressing of olive oil and lemon juice is helpful too.

I don't know about forcing yourself to eat veges, but you can probably encourage yourself by upping the flavour and presentation. Butter and bacon can make even spinach taste good. Truly.

[inesenite]

If your cravings are pure "sweets" cravings, l-glutamine might help. A teaspoon on glutamine, dissolved in heavy cream (if you want, you could add Stevia) should help - it does for me. I also add it to my post-workout whey shake as it has many functions in the body and helps with muscle and gut repair too.