High Cholesterol: how do you control it?

@callalloo, My biggest lifestyle change by far has been losing weight. I've been tagged as a pre-diabetic for more than 20 years with a family history of diabetes. My weight had always ranged from a high of 330 in my mid 50s to an average of 260 to 290 in my 60s. Weight Watchers helped some but it really came down to making a decision that I had to change some bad habits. So I found a great health blog by @LeeAase where I learned about intermittent fasting and graduated to limiting my intake of carbohydrates. More info on his blog here - https://www.social-media-university-global.org/my-health-journey/

You might find the following discussion helpful -- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/

@johnbishop Hi John,

I'm just wondering if intermittent fasting has caused a lowering in your cholesterol numbers. Have the lipids been checked since you started the fasting program?

I do know that weight loss can be a factor in lowering lipids (as well as blood pressure and so many other things), so I'm guessing with the weight loss you've experienced from fasting that you've probably improved those numbers?

Hi Teresa, I haven't checked my numbers but I'm sure they are much better as I always watch my BMI on my bluetooth scale. When I started my BMI was 31.1 and now it's 27.9.

Here's a clinical study that was done -- Impact of Intermittent Fasting on Lipid Profile–A Quasi-Randomized Clinical Trial: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2020.596787/full

Hi Teresa, I haven't checked my numbers but I'm sure they are much better as I always watch my BMI on my bluetooth scale. When I started my BMI was 31.1 and now it's 27.9.

Here's a clinical study that was done -- Impact of Intermittent Fasting on Lipid Profile–A Quasi-Randomized Clinical Trial: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2020.596787/full

John
That is an impressive change in your BMI, congratulations on that success. I've always had concerns about fasting beyond a 12 hour time period. It would seem that wouldn't be good for the digestive tract in that it would be empty for long periods of time. Have there been any studies or problems found with the digestive tract with long term fasting that you know about?

@johnbishop Hi John I'm impressed also with your BMI .I'm going to ask my cardiologist about going on this IF it may be beneficial for me now .Was it hard to get started?

Here are a few articles on the subject that give a little more insight... Why I chose to do the intermittent fasting and low carb health fat eating is weight loss plus improving my blood labs to get me out of the pre-diabetic diagnosis. I figured if it can reverse type 2 diabetes it can certainly help me improve my health 🙃

-- Intermittent fasting and gut microbiota: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6924599/
-- What science says about intermittent fasting and the gut microbiome:
https://insight.microba.com/blog/what-science-says-about-intermittent-fasting-and-the-gut-microbiome/
-- 9 Potential Intermittent Fasting Side Effects: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-side-effects
-- Dr Jay Wortman Diabetes Remission is Surprisingly Simple!

Hi @lioness, It was surprisely easy once I got started doing it for a few days. Gradually I became less and less hungry and now normally eat one or two meals a day with some snacks but try to make them healthy when I do snack. You might find the following discussion on the topic helpful -- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/

Hi @lioness, It was surprisely easy once I got started doing it for a few days. Gradually I became less and less hungry and now normally eat one or two meals a day with some snacks but try to make them healthy when I do snack. You might find the following discussion on the topic helpful -- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/