You were Right-They were Wrong

Here is an e-mail I just received today that I want to share with everyone...

Dr. Jim,

You are going to love this story!

Last August, I had my blood tested and was shocked to hear the results.

August

Non-HDL 178

TRI 104

LDL 157

HDL 54

Total Chol 232

I insisted the lab must have made a mistake. For most of my adult life, I have eaten a no pig, no cow, low sodium, low fat, no caffeine diet. I exercise regularly and look very fit. Most people cannot believe I am in my 50s. My Doctor told me that high cholesterol is often an inherited trait and there might not be much I can do about it. In fact, I was already pretty much following the diet he would recommend. I could try to cut back on the eggs and cheese, but there was "probably not much more that could be done with my diet at this point." We would do the test again in 6 months, but I should be prepared for a future that included statins. Did I mention I hate to take drugs? Well I do.

Purely coincidentally, my husband had been listening to you on a local health radio program in Dallas at about the same time. He told me about it, so I started surfing the internet until I found you. As a person with a math and science background, I was swayed by your detailed explanations and immediately changed to a low carb diet. I confess I still do no pig, no cow, but I added more fat - mostly nuts & cheese.

After the switch, I mentioned to one of my sisters that I was doing the low carb thing to get my cholesterol down. She quickly cut me off and proclaimed there was nothing I could do, because it really is "all hereditary". (As an aside... I don't make it a habit to take medical advice from a lawyer even if we do have the same parents that both had high cholesterol.)

Well I just had my blood retested for the first time since going low-carb. Here are the results compared to my August numbers. (I know you won't be surprised.)

August 2011 Feb. 2012

Non-HDL 178 121

TRI 104 41

LDL 157 113

HDL 54 58

Total 232 179

My doctor called me amazed. He really didn't think results like that could be achieved by changing your diet. He confessed that before getting the result, he had warned my husband that I was likely to be disappointed. So he implored me to tell him what I had done to achieve these results. I told him that I just did what Dr. Carlson recommends. I cut out the gratuitous carbs and ate more fats and eggs. I shifted my fruits and vegetables from mostly fruits to mostly vegetables and I try to make sure my carbs are the high fiber kind.

I suggested he put his prescription pad away and start handing out your book.

Thanks for putting it all out there on the web for us.

m.j.