Triglyceride/cholesterol issues

[EggNot]

Heya folks!

So... I became lacto-vegetarian two years ago and switched to a vegan diet about 8 months ago (with a few minor cheese mishaps). 99% of everything I eat is a plant based whole food, not refined or processed. I cook just about every meal myself as i'm the chef for my family. I'll occasionally have a vegan sweet with some sort of processed sugar. I eat an extraordinary amount of cruciferous greens and vegetables along with fruits. I eat a large amount of beans and other grains. The bread I eat is Ezekiel bread or whole wheat tortillas. I'll use a couple tablespoons of Flax seeds every other day. I use VERY little oil when cooking. Basically the diet thats talked about in Forks over Knives, Eating and Healing Cancer from the Inside Out.

How can my triglycerides be high.. 180'ish? My total cholesterol is 167. My LDL is 98.6 and my HDL is 27. Based on the high triglycerides and LDL, i'm at high risk for heart disease. I feel thats a bunch of crap. Is a healthy vegan diet a mitigating factor that makes certain high blood numbers irrelevant?

Science has based all it's study of healthy blood numbers on an animal based diet, do they even have an accurate number for what IS correct and healthy for vegans? I eat healthier than anyone I know and exercise 4 times a week. Wth is going on?

I look forward to any input!

Thanks!
Dave Presley
EggNot

[masurabi]

Hmmm, this is interesting, the only thing that comes to mind is the little bit of sugar you are eating, but if it is just a little bit than it shouldn't be a problem. Cholesterol is used by the body as an anti-acid. So remove all the beans--(very acid forming) and limit your grains from your diet and make sure that majority of the food you are eating is RAW, because once you cook certain kinds of food they can actually turn from alkaline to acid. So try to cut out as much sugar, beans and cooked food as you can for a few weeks and then take the test again, hopefully it will bee much lower, your diet seems pretty healthy so this is probably a genetic weakness as well.

[Catrina]

I am having a similar issue. It's very disheartening! I still have about 25 lbs to lose so maybe that's it.
Did you ever find the key to lowering the bad numbers?

[Robinwomb]

I think that there are a number of factors besides just diet as far as cholesterol goes. What sort of medications are you on if any? What is your age? Do you have other medical conditions? is there a family history (genetic component) to high cholesterol?

I had my cholesterol levels checked as part of a free screening at work last Spring, a little over a year of being vegan at that time. I ate quite healthy before becoming vegan, and even healthier as a vegan. My cholesterol definitely improved (it was not bad before though). It went from 155ish (total cholesterol) to 125. My LDL as a vegan was 62 and HDL 57 (this actually went down slightly from my omnivore days when my HDL was 62). My fasting glucose was 82 or 86 (can't remember the exact number but I posted it on a thread here somewhere), and triglycerides were 27. I suspect my total cholesterol would be even lower but for the fact that I am post surgically menopausal and have been on thyroid medication for 23 years. I am extremely active and quite small.

Sometimes a high or low weight can affect those numbers, and other medical conditions like the thyroid, menopause (or in a mans case andropause), diabetes etc. And sometimes it is genetic too. Maybe it will just take some more time too. 8 months is not that long. Also, if you are still including animal derived foods in any amount that might affect your levels too, especially eggs.