Husband has been "prescribed" a low-fat, cholesterol-lowering diet...help!

[notamommayet]

Looking for some advice from those much more knowledgeable in TF than I. I've read both of Nina Planck's books and I have a basic overview of WAP and TF. So I don't believe that skim milk, egg whites, skinless chicken breasts, butter substitutes, etc. are good for you. However, my husband has had some abnormal levels of protein in his urine for awhile now and he went to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) yesterday who prescribed a "low-fat, cholesterol-lowering" diet and gave us a handout that made me want to scream. It's so totally opposite everything that I've come to believe is healthy.

My husband is a bit overweight (especially around the mid-section) and does have high cholesterol. Although he wants more testing done, the doctor believes his kidneys are "hyper-filtering" due to his excess weight and cholesterol and so he wants him to try and make some lifestyle changes to see if that helps lower the protein in his urine.

So...what would YOU feed your husband if he had these issues? We already do whole milk and have for a very long time...sometimes I buy organic. I've tried getting a grass-fed, non-homogenized whole milk but he won't drink it because he thinks it looks "gross". We don't skimp on butter or eggs and I buy pastured butter and eggs when I can find them...but more often it's typical butter and eggs. My point is, we don't eat "low-fat".

I know for a fact that he needs more vegetables (he doesn't like very many) and less processed grains (he LOVES cereal...the sugary, the better).

Thanks in advance!

[blueridgewoman]

Has he tried a low carb diet yet? I'd suggest giving that a go before trying a low fat one, really. And what was his cholesterol ratio? I have pretty high cholesterol but my ratio is like 2:1, so I'm comfortable with that.

My father has been on statin drugs and has been trying to maintain a low fat diet for several years. His cholesterol is a bit lower, but he's gained a lot of weight and he freely admits that since he began the medication, his mental sharpness has declined quite a bit.

[WuWei]

I'd get more Omega 3 fatty acids, fermented CLO. HVBO and vit D (sunshine). And food folate (not folic acid): beans, greens, legumes and liver.

Here is a thread about our research regarding dh's high homocysteine and cholesterol. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...n#post14586523

We eat 100% grass-fed beef weekly. Pastured eggs, including whole yolks every few days. Bone broths and green juice daily. We use pasture-raised pork and its fat for cooking. Organic chicken, light and dark meat, every week. Beans and legumes and salads about daily. Organ meats weekly. Coconut oil daily.

Dh takes fCLO and a vit D supplement. We also added 5-MTHF due to MTHFR gene polymorphisms and his high homocysteine.

Oh, and sauerkraut with meals. (and we avoid grains, unless non-wheat, or soaked) Add (soaked) walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts for the fatty acids. Also, consider 'black seed oil' (nigella sativa) daily.

And walk at least a mile a day.


Pat

P.S. I was a cardio-thorasic nurse in a prior life (before baby).

[WuWei]

Ok, and whole food probiotics are essential!!

for the protein issues, I'd focus on stomach acid (please tell me he doesn't take any antacids!) Zinc, sauerkraut and water kefir. And add a squeeze of lemon juice to water all day long.

Need to shift the body ph to more alkaline and digest those proteins more effectively. CHEW foods well and slowly, eat a forkful of naturally fermented sauerkraut with each meal.


Pat

[nicolelynn]

Yeah my DH was "prescribed" that as well at the ripe old age of 25. And he only is only very slightly overweight, simple because he had slightly high LDL. Exercise, fish oil and no junk food is far more helpful than a low fat/cholesterol diet.

Even if one does decide to do a lower fat and cholesterol diet (my digestion is better with less fat) you can still stick with TF foods and fat, just a bit less of those foods and a bit more veggies. No need to resort to margarine and egg whites.

[WuWei]

Study fails to link saturated fat, heart disease




Pat

[rhiandmoi]

Not everyone can eat a high fat TF style diet. I for one can't. I had my cholesterol tested for some work stuff a couple of years ago when I started eating a much higher "good" fat diet and my cholesterol skyrocketed. It was like I injected all that butter right into my veins. But I was eating a VERY large amount of fat, like a pound of butter a week - just me. Since reigning that in and now only eating a reasonable amount of fat, I am back to normal. I don't avoid fat, but I am not going out of my way to keep my fat intake up.

The first thing I would do is review portion sizes. You can eat fats if it is in a good proportion to what else you're eating. Probably add fruit and veg to meals to balance the protein and fat.

[californiajenn]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

Not everyone can eat a high fat TF style diet. I for one can't. I had my cholesterol tested for some work stuff a couple of years ago when I started eating a much higher "good" fat diet and my cholesterol skyrocketed. It was like I injected all that butter right into my veins. But I was eating a VERY large amount of fat, like a pound of butter a week - just me. Since reigning that in and now only eating a reasonable amount of fat, I am back to normal. I don't avoid fat, but I am not going out of my way to keep my fat intake up.

The first thing I would do is review portion sizes. You can eat fats if it is in a good proportion to what else you're eating. Probably add fruit and veg to meals to balance the protein and fat.

May I ask if the animals products you ate were pastured and if you cut sugars and grains?

I don't go out of my way to add more fat than I want. I try to listen to my body and eat. :-)

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by californiajenn

May I ask if the animals products you ate were pastured and if you cut sugars and grains?

I don't go out of my way to add more fat than I want. I try to listen to my body and eat. :-)

Mostly I do eat from really good sources, but I'm not super strict about it. But a pound of butter is still basically a pound of pure fat whether it is high in CLA or not. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

[notamommayet]

Originally Posted by WuWei

Ok, and whole food probiotics are essential!!

for the protein issues, I'd focus on stomach acid (please tell me he doesn't take any antacids!) Zinc, sauerkraut and water kefir. And add a squeeze of lemon juice to water all day long.

Need to shift the body ph to more alkaline and digest those proteins more effectively. CHEW foods well and slowly, eat a forkful of naturally fermented sauerkraut with each meal.


Pat

Thanks, everyone! Pat, my husband refuses to drink plain water. He only drinks juice, milk, or soda (mostly soda, unfortunately, and if I don't buy it, he just goes out and gets it). He's not totally on board with eating healthier...fyi. I just wanted to get some advice because I was so annoyed with the doctor's "prescription". Any suggestions for getting the lemon juice another way? When you say zinc, do you mean supplements? No, he doesn't take antacids...he doesn't have any heartburn issues.

Also, my mother-in-law is a nurse and doesn't know much about TF-style eating, unfortunately. She's old-school and totally of the "low-fat" camp. I know that she's going to think I'm not "taking care of him" if I keep making meals with butter, buying whole milk, etc. So I'm looking for some "talking points" and resources for "discussions" with her. Of course, the best would be if my husband actually starts eating better (not low-fat, but better) and we see positive changes, but that might take awhile as he's not very on-board with this whole thing. *sigh*

[user_name]

Though I realize you're asking about diet, I couldn't help but jump in here & offer some information from Body By Science, by John Little & Doug McGuff, MD:

"...high cholesterol levels are really a symptom, not a cause of cardiovascular disease. Not understanding this fact, a lot of people take medicine to try to lower their LDL cholesterol levels artificially. Attempting to control through medication the enzymes that produce elevated cholesterol is analogous to playing pool with a rope. The practical course is to treat the cause of the elevated cholesterol levels by correcting the underlying cellular inflammation, so that the stimulus to produce the LDL is weaker and the stimulus to produce the HDL is stronger. Those levels are basically indirect markers, or downstream effects, of your generalized inflammatory state, which is largely related to the amount of circulating glucose and insulin in the body.

Diet also plays a role here, of course. Eating a proper diet is a giant first step in correcting the whole metabolic syndrome. Consuming a hunter-gatherer type of diet that is relatively restricted in carbohydrates and exceedingly restricted in refined carbohydrates, which cause high spikes in glucose and insulin, can have a profound effect on all of these parameters. The effect derives from your favoring glucagon over insulin, but diet alone is not sufficient, because glucagon works on a nonamplifying mechanism, whereby one molecule of glucagon will affect one molecule of glucose.
The true remedy, is, once again, high-intensity exercise. Only it has a significant effect on insulin sensitivity, due to the amplification cascade it produces, which aggressively empties glycogen out of the muscles, creating a situation in which enhanced insulin sensitivity becomes a necessity. You have to work out at a level high enough to prompt the glycolytic cells to empty their stores of glycogen. You're not going to accomplish this by diet alone, by walking on a treadmill, or by a steady-state jog. That's because for any given level of glucose ingested, the amount of insulin that has to be secreted to resolve the situation is much, much lower."

Dr. McGuff has some great online articles you can check out here (click to see "Articles;" the more helpful ones with which to start might be these: "The Relationship Between Muscular, Cardiovascular, and Metabolic Adaptations: An Opinion," "Health Related Issues," and "Why Doctors Don't Understand Exercise")---
http://www.ultimate-exercise.com/articles.html

HTH & best wishes to your husband!

BTW, do you guys have a good source for grass-fed beef &/or bison? If not, check out what you can find b/c the differences are AMAZING!!

[WuWei]

Soda is not healthy. It is acidifying to the body, which increases inflammatory markers and strokes, heart-attacks, diabetes, etc.

Lemonade, lemon juice in smoothies?, lemon tea? Water kefir? An alternative is fermented vegetables. Just need a forkful with each meal. Naturally fermented sauerkraut, pickles, coleslaw.

Zinc is in pumpkin seeds, sorta challenging to get enough zinc if not intentional. So, a zinc supplement with meals or at least daily, perhaps?

Show her the research. Send it all along to her. Basically, the research indicates that vit D is the benefit, not lowering cholesterol or fats. Show her WAPF site regarding fats. http://www.westonaprice.org/Know-Your-Fats/

I'd focus on ADDing nutrients, bone broths, fCLO, fermented vegetables---any is better than none.

The worst is trans-fats, hydrogenated fats from processed, boxed commercial food and in fast food. Avoid that and you are 50% there! MIL and you could agree on that.

Also, adding anti-oxidants, http://www.worldshealthiestfoods.net...me=faq&dbid=42


Pat

[berry987]

I agree with the low-carb suggestion. Drop the sugary cereals and all carbs except vegetables and see how he does after 1 month. If he's lost weight and dropped some cholesterol you'll know you're on the right path.

Sorry - I just read your second post. From that, it seems like soda and junk are definitely the issue here. Bring some articles/books to your husband. "Good Calories, Bad Calories" is dense, but explains it all. There are also shorter articles and books that say the same thing. Convince your DH to at least try dropping the bad carbs/sugar for a month and ignore your MIL. You can always show her the books, too. But even if she thinks you're not taking care of him, you are, and that's what matters.

[WuWei]

Someone just suggested adding a splash of ACV to hot water with a bit of honey or agave as a tart drink. It is very alkalizing and beneficial.


Pat

[Llyra]

Omega-3s?

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by WuWei

Someone just suggested adding a splash of ACV to hot water with a bit of honey or agave as a tart drink. It is very alkalizing and beneficial.


Pat

I think this information is incorrect. ACV is acid. Therefore it is acidfying. Anything tart is acidic.

For alkalizing I do daily wheat grass and lots of veg, and cut back on meat and dairy.

http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/supp...lifoodlist.pdf

[WuWei]

Despite being an acidic solution, some proponents of apple cider vinegar believe it has an alkalinizing effect on the body, which is why one to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in water is recommended as a daily health tonic.

Apple cider vinegar is an exception: unlike almost every other vinegar, it has an alkaline ash and improves pH by making the body less acidic. Apparently, apple cider vinegar, because of its calcium and potassium mineral content leaves an alkaline residue once it is burned even though the original liquid is an acid.

I understand this is a controversial topic.

My understanding is that distilled vinegar is acidifying. Naturally fermented ACV is alkalizing.
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/..._to_balance_ph
http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html
http://www.essense-of-life.com/moreinfo/foodcharts.htm
http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benef...e-balance.html


Pat

[NoTiGG]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

Not everyone can eat a high fat TF style diet. I for one can't. I had my cholesterol tested for some work stuff a couple of years ago when I started eating a much higher "good" fat diet and my cholesterol skyrocketed. It was like I injected all that butter right into my veins. But I was eating a VERY large amount of fat, like a pound of butter a week - just me. Since reigning that in and now only eating a reasonable amount of fat, I am back to normal. I don't avoid fat, but I am not going out of my way to keep my fat intake up.

The first thing I would do is review portion sizes. You can eat fats if it is in a good proportion to what else you're eating. Probably add fruit and veg to meals to balance the protein and fat.

I sent this article to my dad the other day http://digg.com/d31MnQO

"Men who switch from a low-saturated-fat diet to one high in saturated fat experience an increase in total blood LDL cholesterol, as expected. But the change is mostly the result of a spike in the concentration of large LDL particles, not small. In other words, saturated fat consumption typically boosts the number of particles that Krauss has shown to be harmless."

Basically getting your cholesterol tested is pointless unless you can also test the particle density as well.

[mamaofthree]

my dad's cholesterol was up and the doctor wanted to put him on meds. he had a heart scan that showed he had no plaque build up at all. i think that we see a number and want to treat and don't always look at the whole picture.

as for your dh, he needs to be on board to make any sort of diet change. i would say cut out all the sweets and soda and eat more whole foods. but he has to want to do that.

h

[geekgolightly]

Originally Posted by NoTiGG

I sent this article to my dad the other day http://digg.com/d31MnQO

"Men who switch from a low-saturated-fat diet to one high in saturated fat experience an increase in total blood LDL cholesterol, as expected. But the change is mostly the result of a spike in the concentration of large LDL particles, not small. In other words, saturated fat consumption typically boosts the number of particles that Krauss has shown to be harmless."

Basically getting your cholesterol tested is pointless unless you can also test the particle density as well.

ITA. Also, VLDL is a by-product of fructose metabolism, not of consumption of fats.