The Great Cholesterol Experiment

Let me preface this to say that I had my yearly physical a few weeks ago and my blood tests came back with stellar results. My HDL is high, my LDL is low, My trigyclerides are low, and my combined cholesterol score is normal. I am overweight, but not unhealthy. I have an autoimmune disease, and want to continue to lose weight, but as far as my overall health goes, I am in good shape.

So today my husband got his blood test results back from his yearly exam and discovered that his cholesterol is high, and of course his doctor is already talking about statins...

My husband is sort of an Agnostic when it comes to the Paleo diet or any alternative approach to diet and nutrition. However, after some discusssion, I challenged him to follow my diet (without cheating at all) for one month, and then have his blood tested again.

The rules are simple: He must eat exactly what I give him for the next 30 days, without sneaking off to snack on sushi, and without the huge bowl of fruit for breakfast he is accustomed to, or the handfuls of cashews and dried cranberries that are his favorite snack. We are going (more) Primal and low carb. 30-50 grams of carbs a day, three meals, two snacks, no calorie counting.

I just hope the low carb paleo works for him as well as it has worked for me. If it fails to improve his blood work, I have promised to eat his way for a month and support him in his "low fat/low calorie" Paleo approach. Mine is definitely not low fat or low calorie.

Update:

So about a month ago, my husband got his Cholesterol tests back from the doctor, and they were high. She of course, immediately mentions statins, and I freak out. I BEGGED him not to go on statins, but rather to follow my diet and see if it brought down his cholesterol first. He agreed to follow my Paleo diet without cheating for an entire month, and then get his blood tested agin. Last Friday he went in to get his blood tested, and he got his new Cholesterol test results back yesterday and here they are:

Original scores:

Total Cholesterol - 268
HDL - 56
LDL - 183
Triglycerides - 144



New scores:

Total Cholesterol - 206
HDL - 44
LDL - 148
Triglycerides - 72

As you can see, everything went down pretty drastically--except for HDL. I am concerned about the HDL because it should be higher than 40 and even higher than that is better, and it in fact went down 12 points. I think it must be stress--M has been busy with school lately, and it causes stress, which I know can affect your HDL levels. So, he is sticking to the diet with me, and I am going to try to work on raising his HDL more. More olive oil, more laughing, more exercise, and plenty of avocado and wine.

All of this "progress" is centered on the idea that Cholesterol even matters. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't...but at least for now, it matters to M. And so the Great Cholesterol Experiment will continue until things balance themselves out...

I for one feel pretty good about the results. :)