secret agent girl wrote:Kiralynx wrote:Peeled zucchini can be turned into noodles, also, raw or cooked.
Broccoli stems, too.
MoneyGal, I've been wondering how has low carb. been working for you?
DreamStalker, do you think a person could eat low carb. and still have high cholesterol?
And, to anyone familiar with low carb. eating, what might you think was going on and might be helpful if someone were eating very low carb. and there was little to no weight loss? We're taking it as a given that all eating is, in fact, very low carb.
Yes. I think it is possible to eat low-carb and still have a high total cholesterol number. The thing is that the use of the total cholesterol number by itself is outdated and of no value for monitoring cardiovascular health as is the use of LDL values (often referred to as the “bad” cholesterol).
More important are the HDL and triglyceride components of the total cholesterol number. Low HDL values (<40) combined with high triglyceride values (>100) generally imply that the LDL cholesterol particles are small dense subtypes (VLDL) conducive to arterial plaque development. Unless one gets the more detailed cholesterol test (VAP, Berkeley, and NMR ... only VAP is available online w/o doctor's request), the typical test one gets from their PCP only measures HDL and triglycerides. LDL is calculated from those numbers and can lead to significant error. Despite this fact, insurance companies continue to force doctors to use the much less informative method of cholesterol testing.
The cholesterol profile (between “good and bad” cholesterol subtypes) is dependent upon both genetics and diet. Most people improve their cholesterol profile with a low-carb/high-fat diet but there are a small minority who do better on a low-carb/low-fat diet but regardless, high-carb diets (especially those high in fructose) are generally very conducive to CVD. That is because high-carb diets promote high triglycerides by the liver which in turn produces the small dense (“bad” VLDL) lipoproteins to transport them through the blood system.
So, unless you get the more detailed lipid test, focus on the HDL and triglyceride values and shoot for values of both HDL and triglycerides balanced around 60 or alternatively HDL values as high as possible and triglycerides values as low as possible.
RE: no weight loss on low-carb ... possible explanations.
1) You really are not doing low-carb. Some think plenty of nuts and fruits are ok on low-carb ... the carbs add up real fast with fruit and nut consumption.
2) Some use sugar substitutes when doing low-carb (stevia, sugar alcohols, etc.) ... but in order to lose weight, one needs to suppress insulin. The brain senses sweetness from sugar substitutes and produces a shot of insulin in anticipation of carbs even if no carbs are consumed. Alcohol (beer, wine, grain alcohol) does the same thing.
3) You may be eating too much fats while doing insufficient exercise. Fats contain calories and a deficit must occur to lose weight.
4) You may not be eating enough fats while doing to much exercise. Stressing the body without enough calories and too much exercise can lead the body to decrease metabolism in an effort to survive what it thinks is starvation. The body (through hormones) strongly resists changes to fat storage whether trying to gain or lose fat. You need to trick the body into reducing body fat without believing you are in starvation mode. This can be done by changing your diet/exercise routine periodically. If you go into a fat loss stall, ramp down on exercise and increase fat intake a little (perhaps even up intake of clean carbs like yams or white rice ... but no more than for one or two days), and then go back to "lower" fat intake and/or increased exercise to create caloric deficit. Just cycle back and forth and lose the fat in a step-wise fashion, gradually but steady in the right direction. Try to avoid long-duration steady-state exercise (aerobics for more than 1 hour session on daily basis) and focus on "moderate" (casual not speed-) walking 20 to 40 minutes "every" day; do weight training (bodyweight, resistance bands, or old-fashioned iron) once a week; do high-intensity-interval training once a week (google HIIT).
5) Finally, you could have thyroid issues ... see an endochrinologist.