Why Did My Cholesterol Go Up After Going Primal?
While the majority of people who go Primal see their blood lipids improve, a significant minority do not in the short term. They see LDL cholesterol skyrocket, or their total cholesterol increase, and sometimes triglycerides even mysteriously elevate despite a low-carb intake.
What’s going on here? Should you go on statins? Should you add grains back in? Should you start jogging for a couple hours every night? Should you even worry about it?
Before you freak out, let’s go over a couple things:
Even though it may be sufficient to get your doctor to write a statin prescription, keep in mind that a total cholesterol level of between 200 and 240 is associated with the lowest risk of all-cause mortality (PDF).
If it’s LDL you’re worried about, total particle count is the thing to watch. Standard lipid panels, including LDL-C (amount of cholesterol inside the particles) and total cholesterol, can certainly give you an idea of your particle count, but you might want to read up on advanced lipid tests, too, if you’re not satisfied. Confirm that your “elevated cholesterol” is actually an issue.
That said, seeing a host of beyond-end-range numbers on your lipid test can be scary. It can also be confusing, especially if everything else appears to be going so well for you health-wise. So today, I’m going to explore a few of the reasons why your cholesterol might have gone up after going Primal. Some reasons will quell your fears, while some may provide avenues for further experimentation. At any rate, you’ll learn something.
You’re losing weight.
Going Primal often means weight loss. This is a good thing, as excess body fat is unhealthy. We want to increase lean mass while decreasing fat mass. Usually, such weight loss leads to improvements in lipid numbers. If you get your cholesterol checked when you’re fifty pounds overweight, lose it all, and check it again once your weight stabilizes, your numbers will likely have improved. That’s what the studies tend to suggest.
When you lose weight the good way – by burning body fat rather than lean mass – you are consuming pure animal fat. Say you’re dropping a pound of body fat every four days or so – that’s releasing a stream of 3500 calories-worth of animal fat into your blood stream as triglycerides and free fatty acids. If you take a snapshot of your lipids in the midst of this rapid weight loss, there’s a chance that your numbers will look off. Triglycerides in particular may be up, way up (since your blood is now full of them, newly liberated from adipose tissue).
Solution: Recheck once your weight has stabilized.
You’re deficient in some key micronutrients.
Yeah, the food we get to eat on Primal is delicious and incredibly nutritious, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely immune to nutritional deficiencies, especially considering a lot of the food we stopped eating – grain products like breakfast cereal and granola bars, and processed foods of all kinds – were our most reliable sources of vitamins and minerals thanks to the wonders of fortification.
A few of the most common include:
- Iodine - Iodine is required for production of thyroid hormone, and too large a reduction in thyroid activity can lower the expression of LDL receptors. Without enough LDL receptors, LDL doesn’t get cleared from the blood. Primal eaters who give up iodized salt for sea salt without making up the difference with adequate seaweed and seafood may be missing out on iodine (eating tons of goitrogenic cruciferous veggies at the same time might compound the problem).
- Copper – Copper deficiency is associated with elevated levels of LDL, as well as increased particle number. Both oysters and ruminant liver are excellent sources of copper. You eating your offal and shellfish?
- Selenium – Selenium deficiency is associated with reduced LDL receptor activity (and subsequent elevated LDL levels). Salmon, kidneys, and brazil nuts are great sources of selenium.
Check out my post on micronutrient deficiencies (plus this one) to see what else you might be missing.
Solution: Eat some liver, shellfish, seaweed, salmon, brazil nuts, and check your diet against a nutritional database for a couple weeks to see if you’re hitting all your targets.
You’re grazing all day.
People coming from a standard Westernized diet are usually ravenously hungry at all times. They have trouble going several hours between meals. And then they switch to Primal eating, their hunger issues improve, but the snacking remains. It’s tough to beat. After all, we live in a culture of snacking (those of us in the US, at least). If you work in an office, snacks abound. Donuts are always being trotted in and paraded about. Jars of candy beans and M&Ms adorn every second desk. People keep “snack stashes” in their desk drawers.
And so we snack. Instead of giving our bodies and digestive systems a break, we remain in “fed” mode. As soon as our bodies start to get a handle on the nutrition we’ve recently ingested, we send in some more – just as our guts were about to crack a beer and take a load off. Admittedly, I don’t have any studies to reference, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that staying in the fed state hampers our ability to utilize the fatty acids in our blood (since there’s a constant influx of nutrients, why bother burning what we have?), and thus might cause elevated cholesterol.
I’m not saying you have to fast, because you don’t. But I would caution people against grazing – against always having something on hand to absentmindedly munch on, against gallivanting around with a sackful of salted nuts on your belt, against eating 6-12 small “meals” per day so as to avoid imminent muscle catabolism. Just eat real meals, substantial plates of food that keep you sated for four to five hours a pop.
Solution: Eat real meals.
Your activity levels don’t match your carb intake.
While I’m a proponent of tailoring your workouts so that you don’t require a high-carb diet, many people enjoy maintaining a high level of sustained intensity in their workouts. That’s cool. I get it. Just don’t think you can stay very low carb and enjoy good health while maintaining high-intensity endurance or metcon training on a daily basis.
What’s this have to do with cholesterol? Well, if you’re hitting the metcons regularly without the necessary glucose infusions, your body conserves what glucose is available. We need some glucose for brain function (ketones and other sources can handle a lot of our brain’s needs, but not all of it), so in order to preserve what little glucose is available, T3 thyroid hormone is reduced. Normally, T3 increases glucose utilization, but when the body doesn’t have enough due to mismatched exercise output and carb input, T3 must drop to conserve glucose. Unfortunately, this lowered T3 can lead to lowered LDL receptor activity, which leads to increased lipid levels.
Solution: Align your activity levels with your carb intake.
You’re still not moving frequently at a slow pace.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: low level aerobic activity in the form of walking, hiking, easy cycling, or even light rowing is absolutely essential. There’s a reason it forms the base of my Primal Blueprint Fitness pyramid. When you go for a good-sized walk, you’re not burning calories. You’re not blasting your abz, bunz, and gunz. You’re not vomiting on yourself from overexertion. It’s not exciting. It won’t make a good Youtube video set to Linkin Park. But what you will be doing is utilizing those free fatty acids that might be throwing off your lipid panels.
In one study, patients who walked briskly were far less reliant on cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes medications. Those who took the longest walks at the briskest pace were the least likely to have LDL cholesterol high enough to warrant statins. In another, brisk walking was enough to reduce triglycerides and LDL particle count in overweight women.
Lifting heavy things and sprinting once in awhile are excellent acute stressors that elicit fantastic health and performance benefits, but constant low-level movement is the foundation of it all, especially if you’re eating more fat and trying to become a true fat-burning beast.
Solution: Do I even have to say? This isn’t optional. Go for a walk!
You’re not lifting heavy things.
Cholesterol isn’t out to get us, you know. We don’t manufacture the stuff to commit slow suicide. It actually serves a purpose in our bodies. From cholesterol, we produce steroid hormones, sex hormones, and make vitamin D (with a little help from the sun, of course). With cholesterol, lipid particles transport nutrients and antioxidants to various parts of the body. Research shows that, following weight lifting, we also use cholesterol to repair and rebuild muscles.
In fact, acute bouts of resistance training can cause large reductions in blood lipids. One study found that total cholesterol was reduced up to 48 hours after a single weight training session. Another (PDF) found that the cholesterol reduction persisted at 72 hours post workout. Interestingly, the drop in cholesterol in both studies accompanied a rise in creatine kinase, an indirect marker of the degree of muscle damage caused by strength training. The fact that the effects persist for days after a single bout of weight training suggests that regularly lifting heavy things can effectively manage your cholesterol.
Eating fat can increase cholesterol. Not in everyone, not even in most, but enough people see a (usually neutral) increase in cholesterol when they start eating more fat. That’s all well and good as long as you make use of it. Lifting heavy things, whether it’s your own bodyweight, someone else’s, a barbell, a log, or a machine, breaks down and then repairs muscle. Cholesterol is required to repair muscle, to make it stronger. To make you stronger. If you squander the opportunity to use all that cholesterol by failing to lift anything heavy, don’t be surprised if things get a little screwy with your blood lipids.
Solution: Lift heavy things at least twice a week.
Notice a common thread? Most of these reasons for elevated cholesterol are easily testable. And if you can test them, you can probably find a solution. Think back to the recent series on self-experimentation if you need some pointers.
That’s what I’ve got. What about you? Has your cholesterol increased since going Primal? Do any of these sound familiar? If so, how are you going to approach the issue – if at all? Or, if something else was causing your increase, tell us how you fixed it. Thanks for reading, everyone!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Fatty liver was not directly referenced but approx. a third of Americans suffer from a non-alcholic fatty liver (source: dailylipid or kresser).
LDL levels might even be worse if one has a fatty liver. I’d assume that living primal would eventually help the liver to remove the fat deposits in it. As Mark stated in the article, the fat has to go somewhere and that is your bloodstream.
I had NAFL, numbers in the 200s, slowly slowly they went down, and then i started primal eating, within 6 weeks they were only slightly higher than the normal of about 35?. But, my LDL in all that time, was ok, below the ‘normal’ It has been 3 months of primal (and finding out i was diabetic, and already lowering meds once, BS are very good now) I havent had my cholesterol checked, but i am interested in seeing what they have done. I have also lost 20 lbs. Yay PB!
Great post!! My cholesterol has increased. I think it had to do with being too low on carbs when compared to my training regimen. I have now upped my carbs a bit, I feel much better and I will soon get re-tested.
I’m not sure if my cholesterol has always been high or not, but it is above the recommended levels now. HDL and trigs are AWESOME though, so I doubt there’s anything “wrong” with me. My mom’s a healthcare practitioner and does worry about my high LDL, so I’m experimenting with some things before my next annual check up next month. I’ll let you know if my experiment has any effect on lowering the LDL.
I am mostly primal after doing the Whole 30 a few months ago. I have a history of slightly high total cholesterol with LDL at 114 and HDL at 66 four years ago after getting LDL down from 144. Now,since going low carb/primal, LDL-C is 181 and HDL is 87 with triglycerides at 44.8. I don’t know what to think. After reading numerous MDA articles, I don’t think I should be concerned, but I’d like to be sure. Weight-lifting, walking often. Comments anyone?
I’ve had a problem with my cholesterol since I developed non-diabetic reactive hypoglycemia when I was 17. I refused to take statins. What I’ve discovered over the years is that reducing my carb intake and lifting heavy things really does help. Also, for me, my body does very well on trail mix with almonds, walnuts, and cranberries. I take Mega Red, an omega-3 supplement.
Since increasing my nut intake, my cholesterol is now normal. Some research has been done to show that nuts do help lower cholesterol. I know that’s not exactly Primal, but that has been my experience.
It could come back to bite me but I am simply staying away from the modern witch doctors until I either have no choice but to go unless my insurance or medicine in general greatly improves. I don’t see that happening in my life time even if I live to be 100.
Been primal for about 4.5 months. Recent blood work results: Trig-67; chol-252; HDL-69; LDL-170. LDL increased about 55 points from pre-primal blood test. The article is very relevant for me and will review and experiment. Need to start lifting heavy things, but I do long & brisk walks.
my profile after semi primal is same above
Just had a checkup (one year mostly primal) and sure enough, my total cholesterol went up a good bit, BUT my ratios were all better, my HDL went up and my triglycerides went down (my tri/HDL ratio was excellent .641). My total went from 168 to 210, so the automatic alarms for “near death by cholesterol over 200″ went off in the doctor’s office. Luckily the doctor understands the paleo/primal thing (mostly) and just suggested more lean meats and fish.
I’ve read about a lot of people having the same experience as me. I kind of expected it and don’t plan on changing a thing.
Lean meats and fish, did you forget? fat is good for you!!
same thing here. not to worry. if your HDL is up and trigs are down, that means your elevated LDL is on account of the big fluffy ones (healthy) as opposed to the VLDSs (unhelathy). do the test again once your weight is stabilized, and getting rid of the toxins fm your adipose tissue and liver are mostly over. i plan to do the same thing in a few months. till then, no worries
My LDL was up since going primal, but the density was super low, meaning it’s the benign type.
As a 46 year old woman in the UK I am amazed at all the cholesterol level checks you have in the US. Most people in the UK only see their Dr if they are unwell and apart from my 70 year old MIL who had a stroke I dont know anyone who has had their cholesterol tested.
Probably just as well for me not too be tested as I dont want to be told to take statins etc. not that I would even if advised to.
Availability and disinformation creates demand.
As a 44 year old man from Canada I agree entirely with everything you said. We go to the doctor when we are ill and only then.
by then it might be too late especially if you are over 40. how about annual screening or bi-annual preventive screening? always better to be health conscious than not.
I think a lot of people go when they can’t lose weight. That will lead to a CBC and cholesterol and thyroid test. Then it is usual to get those numbers retested down the line. Don’t worry, you’ll be catching up with the US just as soon as you have as many obese people as we do.
I did my “over 45 bloods” with the GP (an Australian suggested health screening check) I opted for to see where I was at and all were perfect, perfect, perfect (I’m 49, been +/-55kg for almost 30 years). I had planned anyway on repeating them after 12 months primal so wait out on results! I actually dont expect much of a change because I rarely ate sugar anyway and dropping grains was much not that hard to do (thank goodness!).
At my company they’ve offered health screenings for many years. Last year they became “required”. Well, not required, but you pay an additional $20 per month if you don’t do one. That amount also applies to your spouse if they are on the companies health care plan (for a possible total of $40 extra per month).
We’ve been told it’s optional to have a screening, not required. It’s up to us about what we want to do, but if we choose not to have the screening, we pay for it, each month.
I’ve always had the screening, even before they started charging you if you skip out on it. Not sure if it is related to the healthcare reform, or has more to do with a particular requirement between our healthcare insurance provider and the company.
MONTHLY?!
haha hey im totally with you there, at one point i hadn’t visited the docs for several years, thought it was just me when reading on everyone having checks
for this that and the other, rather just get on with it.
I’ve been 80/20 or maybe 70/30 Primal for over a year and have lost 25-30 pounds which puts my small-framed 5’4″ body at 120#. There’s a history of heart disease, stroke, diabetes (type 2), and low thyroid in my family, so while I hoped it wouldn’t happen, I wasn’t surprised at my first post-primal physical to see that my total cholesterol was 330, LDL-over 200, HDL-107, and triglycerides-67. I wasn’t surprised, but at 55 years, I was concerned. I re-read everything I could on this site and went to thedailylipid.com to read and listen to podcasts and then made my plan of action. For one month now I have been
1. paying more attention to the ratio of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats in my diet using fitday.com to track that.
2. Eating fish 2-3 times a week instead of 2-3 times a month.
3. I won’t go back to grains, but have returned to eating well-soaked, fermented beans whenever I eat a meal high in polyunsaturated fats. I know this goes against primal guidelines but I’m the one with the high cholesterol and bad genes.
4. I’m female but I’m trying IF by adding a 24 hour fast once a week and I like how I feel when fasting.
5. I already walk daily, but I see that I need to increase my speed and to add lifting heavy things, although I can almost do one chin-up…yeah!
6. Grazing all day is probably something I should pay more attention to.
I’m very, very glad to see today’s post.
I would love to have your low triglyceride count. THAT’S a nice number.
Please see this article from Dr. Michael Eades about low triglycerides and LDL chloresterol measurements. LDL levels are usually calculated rather than directly measured and having triglyceride levels <100 can throw off the calculation.
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/weight-loss/low-carbohydrate-diets-increase-ldl-debunking-the-myth/
Wow! This link and the eating academy link shared by Travis are amazingly interesting and very informative. I am learning so much! I can hardly stop reading. Thank you!
Wow, a post on Cholesterol on MDA and there is no link to Dr. Peter Attia’s brilliant series on it. Travesty!
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-vii
This link is to Part 7 obviously you should start from Part 1 that is linked in Part 7. Have at it!
It got so hot and humid here (Missouri a.k.a. Misery) that I gave up moving frequently at a slow pace, but this morning I threw my kids in the stroller, put on my vibrams, and walked in a fasted state all the way to the city park accidentally. Oh yeah! Walking fasted is so much easier for me. I had no idea.
I am reading “The Book of the Eskimo”. The Inuits kept their sled dogs hungry because they ran better if fasted.
I fast twice a week. On one of those days I actually step foot in a gym to do some heavy lift instead of the usually Calisthenics. The other fasted day I go for my weekly trail run. My performances are ALWAYS better when I’m in a fasted state!
Anne D
If you’re bothered, Lloyds Pharmacy do a (rather basic) cholesterol check for just fifteen English pounds!
Mark, very timely article, thank you. I’m lucky that Primal and hefty weight loss is improving my lipids in every way. I do wish you had mentioned that cholesterol results can vary quite substantially over even a few weeks, so really, unless one has a couple prior tests as a baseline, one lone test does not a baseline make. I’m very glad you reminded us fat-losing folks that things will be off until our weight has leveled for a while.
Again, a timely article! Thank you.
Thank you Mark for this. I needed to read this, as I have been a bit slack lately exercise wise. My cholesterol when it was checked in November 2011, nearly gave my doctor a coronary! LDL was way up, but my trig/hdl ratio was .76 (just done the math), and I was still loosing weight. She knew I would tear up a statin script, and we decided to test again in a years time, but I am going to see her soon, and point her towards the work being done on that ratio, and here (can only hope). I still have weight to loose, and it is going slowly, but I would never change what I am doing now, you and this community has changed my life and that of quite a few of my friends, so thank you one and all!
My LDL went down and my HDL went up after switching to the primal lifestyle, but I recently switched jobs that makes it so I have a lot less slow movement than I used to… should be interesting to see my next lab results.
Off topic, but what’s with the Jolly Honest Abe, there?
Brilliant! Should be required reading for all cardiologists and general practitioners.
there is a lower mortality in the range 200-240 only because countries with lower cholesterol are poor and with very bad healthcare not because somewhat more cholesterol is good.
You MIGHT be right. Maybe not. I know that people here might attempt to pick what you’re saying apart, but it MIGHT be correct to some degree.
ddd is very likely correct. The graph represents pure associations, anyway, and it must NOT be concluded that higher cholesterol is responsible for decreased all-cause mortality.
If you are on of the lucky genetic ApoE4 variants out there, you will have terrible lipid panels. This group usually will suffer cardiac/stroke events at young ages. If you’re parents or their parents suffered heart attack or strokes at a very young age (30-45) you may be one of the genetic lottery winners; but you would need a genetic test to verify. The only way to help this out at all is to maintain a low carbohydrate/low fat diet.
So which genetic group can’t increase their numbers no matter what. I have decided to quit worrying about it, but from time to time I worry. My total cholesterol is in the 120′s, the ratio is ok, and my triglycerides are usually 48. I always read every comment on cholesterol posts to see if anyone else, other than my father and children, is like me,
You cannot have both low carb and low fat. Which did you mean?
Interesting that this article just came out. I just got my blood tested after being primal for a little over a year, and the doctor said that everything is looking great!
Thanks for the weight lifting link. One of my tween fantasies was to become a female bodybuilder. I didn’t like being called a dyke for doing chin-ups on the playground, though. It’s great to see encouragement for women to be strong.
As for cholesterol, I had it checked once when I was 15. Doc said I had the cholesterol of a 12 year old! Woah.
After 4 months of Paleo my TC went up about 60 points.
HDL:80, Tri: 71, LDL: 192.
My doctor was not happy. Although, I did point out that my ratios are still ideal! She wanted me to either go on statins or talk to a cardiologist and tell him about my paleo diet. I opted out for both for now, and am doing the following as a test:
• More fish/seafood
• Less bacon (i know, i know)
• Reducing my nut intake (I was sort of over indulging on almonds and pistachios)
That HDL:Trig is GREAT. If you’re going to ignore that, pls read the cholesterol series at Dr. Attia’s eatingacademy.com
If you’re taking a statin, you should absolutely be taking Co-Q10, as statins basically shut down your body’s production of it.
your Lipids are almost exactly as mine and my physician is freaking out. I was already on a low dose of Lipitor (10mg). Any more of any statin than 20mg literally makes me ill. I was eating a few more processes meats very high in saturated fats and not enough “good” fats a month prior to testing. So I understand the Bacon dilemma. I will continue the same statin and increase the better fats and reduce the high saturated fat intake but not eliminate it. I’m at 9% body fat do the slow moving everyday and lift to bodybuild 5 times a week. My doc is crazy if she thinks I’m unhealthy.
An interesting post. Thank you. I have been referred to a hospital lipidologist (UK) by my GP on account of a very high LDL reading. Very good HDL and Tri, but very high LDL.
In American money(last time they were measured, anyway): Total,483; HDL,93; Tri,71.
Hmmm. I’d ask for a free retest.
Hi, I have been folowing your website and reasing your book , it has been 2 months already since I became 100 % Primal, went to the doctor 3 days ago, He call me today and said to me your blood work looks good, cholesterol high ( 186 ) is that high ? and testosterone high 1400 , is that high.
I’m 48.
Total cholesterol levels do not really correlate with anything. If you have good triglyceride to HDL ratios, I would not worry about the rest. A few years ago, my total cholesterol level went up to about 245, but my tri/HDL ratio was about 1. My doctor wanted to put me on statins immediately. I politely declined. My doctor is overweight and recently had a heart attack. Hmmmmm…
“My doctor is overweight and recently had a heart attack. Hmmmmm…”
Incredible! What a great advertisement he is of CW. You should send him a copy of PB..
Same experience here… I’ve been paleo/Primal for almost two years, run regularly, CrossFit regularly and yet the doctor expresses concern to me over my high cholesterol that was from a blood test two years ago without even waiting to see what my new bloodtest shows. Important to note… this doctor was at LEAST 60lbs overweight! Thanks, but, no thanks. On a side note, but related, does anyone know of any Paleo/Primal doctors or functional medicine doctors in Phoenix, Arizona?!? Apparently I’m in need of a new doctor!
I’m in Phoenix too and would love to find a paleo friendly doctor.
Chris — check out the site below. It might be of help to you.
http://paleophysiciansnetwork.com/
I was thinking that too, thanks, Marianne.
I just had my annual check up at my nephrologist(renal transplant)and I’m on some medicines for life,but a different medical opinion might be informative and helpful.
I have tried that link for searching for paleo physicians here in AZ and unfortunately, it seems that there isn’t much of a selection to choose from. Do any of you live in Arizona (Phoenix area) and have a good naturopath/homeopath doctor or functional medicine doctor that you like? If so, please email me at wylandfn1992@gmail.com
Thanks!
Just adding my support.
Search “cholesterol myths” on Amazon.com and you will find dozens of well-researched, fair texts indicating the mythological status of cholesterol concerns.
Simple blood tests like total cholesterol and LDL-c are likely to go the way of the dinosaurs in the next few years, just like the PSA tests that are now being de-emphasized (I remember reading about how useless many physicians considered these even several years ago; the bureaucracies are just now changing their recommendations).
The only test considered a good indicator of coronary disease is the TG/HDL ratio.
Endlessly worrying about fine-tuning one’s paleo/primal diet may be needlessly stressy. The whole point of the diet is to make certain changes (i.e., dump grains, beans, and dairy) so that one doesn’t NEED to worry anymore!
Agreed— everything I’ve read has indicated that the TG/HDL ratio is really the only thing to look at.
Correct. Paleo for 3 years and counting. My TC pre paleo was 180. Now is it is between 300 -340 but my HDL is over 80 and Trigs around 50. I’m 5 9″ 168lbs bodyfat under 10 percent, 40 years old, lift heavy and often. I even had a direct LDL measurement which confirmed my LDL is pattern a (large). Furthermore my insulin resistance score was 4 on a scale of 0-100 (VERY insulin sensitive). The lipid hypothesis is crap!!! We all know grandparents who lived into their 90′s eating high fat before doctors new about cholesterol. It’s total nonsense!
I went low carb, then primal last year and dropped ~70lbs total and have kept it off since then pretty easily. My doctor was pretty astonished at the improvements in my lipid tests. Because he sent me for lipid tests on the same day he gave me a tetanus shot, I had an elevated CRP result. After a month I re-tested and all was okay. So I have 3 different sets of tests to compare on my blog, if anyone is interested:
http://www.lowcarblearning.com/2011/12/my-cholesterol-test-results-on-lchf-low-carb-high-fat-diet/
For reference, I’m 40yo. Was holding at 191 lbs for a few months (my lowest since high school) but started CrossFit last month and have put on 5 lbs of muscle since then.
Good resource is Dr. Thomas Dayspring. Google him and listen to some of his easy to understand explanations of the cholesterol issue.
As to primal fine tuning. Shrimp and seaweed are key.
You can’t just eat bacon and 12 ounce steaks every day. Eat real food, keep it simple, don’t stress and as Mark says, take lots of walks.
Enjoy it…that’s what life is about anyway
Marc
My total cholesterol went up a few points after going primal. But, Blood pressure dropped a ton when I lost all of my 10 lbs of belly fat. My doctor will actually take me off of BP med. (Lisinipril 10mg) if the BP stays so Low!!
I still have a great Good to bad Ratio for cholesterol.
Mark what do you think about The Art And Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance?
I haven’t read this one yet, but I’ve read their book designed for athletes. Found it to be really well-researched and a worth-while read.
Low-carb athletes do great.
Hmmm, I posted a link to Dr. Peter Attia’s site where he is running a brilliant series on cholesterol. Apparently it didn’t make it through the moderator.
I highly recommend you take a look at eatingacademy.com for some seriously in-depth information on cholesterol.
I also posted that link. Maybe they’re behind on approving posts.
Only seems to be for comments with actual links in them.
The link has now been posted/approved above.
This is an excellent article, with excellent well explained common-sense solutions. The deficiency of key micronutrients is covered very well by Mark. This is why the best chemical-free sustainable farmers supplement their animals with iodine and selenium (especially in the midwest). Those 2 things are about the only off-farm inputs required.