Gout #4, Low Carbs, Diabetes, and Cholesterol

Some personal scientific evidence on effect of low carbs on cholesterol.

Fifteen years ago I was very overweight and “pre-diabetic”. I was also getting panic attacks, where I would feel extremely fearful and would have to get to the Chinese restaurant buffet as soon as possible to scoff down a big plate of noodles. I tried everything to lose weight, working out 4 times a week, even going vegetarian for a while, but nothing worked. Of course, I smoked cigarettes and drank Coke constantly, as well as enjoying more than a few cocktails.

Then someone I played racquetball with started to lose large amounts of weight every time I saw him. He even lent me the book, a complete revelation: Dr Atkins something or rather, and it explained so well the benefits of low carbohydrate eating. I went to paleolithicdiet.com and enjoyed reading about the hunter gatherers and how they never got diabetes (and gout, although at that stage gout wasn’t a problem for me), and many other wonderful things.

So I was booked in for a checkup at the Doctors, and decided to ask about Dr Atkins and my problems with panic attacks. On the panic attacks, I was told to stop drinking coffee and caffeine, almost useless advice but thank god it was back then as they might have prescribed some chemical lobotomy pills – anti-depressants and told me I had an invented disease with a long winded name. I was told that not eating carbohydrates was very dangerous and he talked of what happens to diabetics when they run out of sugar. So I made a deal with him. Test my blood now, and then in 3 months and see what happens? He reluctantly agreed. Actually, he was a good man, but he wasn’t really expecting any results, especially not a 30 pound weight loss.

The 3 months were really amazing. I felt powerful for the first time in life as weight just fell away. I loved to piss on the strip and turn it purple, evidence of Ketosis. Cravings reduced. It went to my head I have to say.

Anyway, Dr Atkins said in his writings that the total cholesterol reading wasn’t that important as the body needed cholesterol and it was silly to lower it so much. If you don’t get cholesterol in your diet, which is absorbed into the lymph system and processed before being dumped into the blood near the aorta, then the liver is forced to make it. Cholesterol appears to be a difficult molecule to manufacture, for the liver will make a lot of triglycerides and low density cholesterol (LDL). This is why losing weight using vegetarian diets may result in a dangerous blood lipid (cholesterol) profile. Dr Atkins was concerned that triglycerides were a danger that was being ignored; his research showed that low-carb eating would greatly change the ratios of triglycerides and HDL/LDL, which are much more important considerations than the overall level of cholesterol, with HDL being classified as “good” cholesterol.

Since, I was pre-diabetic, the Glyco A1C is included as a measure of long-term blood glucose/sugar levels (completely normal today). So here are the results of my two fasting blood tests.

Measurement	Pre-Atkins Diet (typical of the 4 years preceding)	Post-Atkins Diet	Units [range]
Glyco A1C	6.4	5.5	% [5.2-6.4]
Triglycerides	184	79	mg/dl [50-200]
HDL Cholesterol	32	52	mg/dl [35-79]
LDL Cholesterol	143	137	mg/dl [50-130]
Total	212	205	mg/dl
Cholesterol/HDL ratio	6.6	3.9	Ratio*

 *Males without coronary disease have a mean ratio of 5.1 (females without coronary disease have a mean ratio of 4.4). Notice the titles used by the medical profession: male and female are for cattle.

As you can see, I experienced everything that Dr Atkins’ research had shown. Huge reduction in Triglycerides and a Cholesterol to HDL ratio that was better than those without coronary disease. I confirmed Dr Atkins results in my sample of one, and for me, I knew that the attackers of Dr Atkins were simply liars. Liar, liar, bank account on fire!

My doctor, still obviously concerned and humming and haaing, then came out with the only statement that his training would allow “it’s because you lost so much weight”. Well, duh! The 95% reduction of carbohydrates from my diet had caused a few effects, like weight loss and improvement in my blood lipid profile among many other improvements. Where did he get his training in logic? But amazingly, when I tell people about the doctor’s comments, they side with the doctor and logic be damned. After all, they put their lives in the doctors hand and get their prostate taken out at the first sign of some numbers on a page they don’t understand (apparently 40/41 prostate removals are unecessary, though it’s probably 41/41).

Oh, and the panic attacks? Never thought of panic attacks in 15 years until today. It's like they never occurred -- probably the weight loss, ;-). Anyway, this was an important experience for me, and I could see the poor old doctor was shaken underneath his doctor’s face – why don’t you try this for yourself?