23 replies to this topic

[lorlyn99]

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue...I got the results from my blood counts yesterday and my cholestrol count went up. My triglyserides dropped which was good, but my LDL also dropped. I have been on JC for 8 mths now and lost 33 pounds. I have even been doing Zumba 3 times a week and I take fish oil daily. This was just very discouraging news. The last time I had my blood counts done was 6 mths ago when I first started JC and there was a drop. Has anyone else experienced this situation? I really has me thinking if this is the right thing for me and how healthy the food is. Since it is all prepackaged food and looking at the labels there are hydrogenated oils in the food, could this be the cause? When I go in for my appt this week I am going to ask my councelor..but I just wanted to see what others have experienced.

[Linwalker]

[quote name='lorlyn99' date='Jun 2 2011, 03:04 PM' post='625248']
Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue...I got the results from my blood counts yesterday and my cholestrol count went up. My triglyserides dropped which was good, but my LDL also dropped. I have been on JC for 8 mths now and lost 33 pounds. I have even been doing Zumba 3 times a week and I take fish oil daily. This was just very discouraging news. The last time I had my blood counts done was 6 mths ago when I first started JC and there was a drop. Has anyone else experienced this situation? I really has me thinking if this is the right thing for me and how healthy the food is. Since it is all prepackaged food and looking at the labels there are hydrogenated oils in the food, could this be the cause? When I go in for my appt this week I am going to ask my councelor..but I just wanted to see what others have experienced.
[/quote]

Ok, I just had full work up too and my cholesterol was up too..but my doctor said it wasn't up enough to worry and that everything else looked good.. I was going to mention this to my JCC this week too so if you find something out let me know as well.

[lorlyn99]

[quote name='Linwalker' date='Jun 2 2011, 04:04 PM' post='625297']
Ok, I just had full work up too and my cholesterol was up too..but my doctor said it wasn't up enough to worry and that everything else looked good.. I was going to mention this to my JCC this week too so if you find something out let me know as well.
[/quote]



Thanks for your reply, it is good to know other people are having the same issue. I will let you know what I find out.

[LadyLynda]

My cholesterol has always been fantastic (132) for years, but now my "good cholesterol" is very low, and my triglycerides are 268! Wow! Not sure WHAT is going on--I will have to run this by my doctor on my next visit, let him know what my main meals are (I tend to stick to the same meals I really like) and see if we can figure this out. Losing weight, feeling fantastic but now very worried about this new issue.

Geez, always something. LOL



If anyone finds out before I do, please post. (I do not drink alcohol, and I don't like sweets at all. These are two main things that cause triglycerides to rise. I have one JC triple chocolate cheesecake per week, the rest of the time I prefer cheese curls and the veggie chips). WTH??? Do I have to go back to being overweight to get my cholesterol numbers back in check!?! Frustrating...

[soon2beskinnybtch]

How scary! Please post anything that your doctors tell you... I would love to hear what they have to say. Thanks so much!

[soon2beskinnybtch]

Did you guys figure out why this happened?!?!

[LadyLynda]

Just bumping this up. I have a physical scheduled next week, new cholesterol test, the works. Will be interesting to see what my results are. I'm sure doctor will be very happy I'm down in weight, but let's see how my cholesterol and more important my triglycerides are doing--I'm very, very curious as I've always had fabulous numbers except the times I'm strictly on JC food. Hmmm...not willing to give it up, my weight loss has to be a big health benefit, but will see if Dr. has any ideas/recommendations as I'm not going to be happy if cholesterol is out of whack still. I'd like to get to the bottom of it, and will let ya'll know what I find out. I'm bringing in the boxes of my most eaten foods to see if he can get any idea from the labels what might be the culprit, for my system anyway.

[bethr]

I am so glad to hear someone else with this issue. I posted the following earlier this month:
------------
"At work we have a free annual health assessment, it is great because not only do you get important information concerning your health, but we get a significant savings on our health insurance for participating.

Anyway, I have been tracking the information since 2005 and today my numbers were the WORST they have ever been! I thought for sure my numbers would be good since I have been eating right for the past 8 weeks and exercising more that I have in years - but not so.

HDL: 39 - YIKES I have had numbers over 70 before, average for the past 5: 67 (Desirable =/>50)"
------------

I don't know what is going on, and my JCC didn't have much of answer wither after talking to HQ. I take fish oil daily as well and have increased my fiber. I haven't went to the doctor for a full blood workup, but based on the results from my wellness scan - I don't seem nearly as healthy. What gives JC?

[soon2beskinnybtch]

OH my gosh that is horrible. I am really eager to see how your physical goes and what your doctor says. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!

[Salamander]

Just a thought... Are you eating your additional fats (i.e. olives, margarine) that are on your meal plan?? A VERY low fat diet are can actually raise your levels, so be certain you are eating your additional fats that are included in your plan!

[soon2beskinnybtch]

So how did your physical go? What did your dr say?

I found a research article in which the researchers noted a transient increase in cholesterol during the weight loss of obese women on low calorie diets.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/53/6/1404.full.pdf

""In summary, we observed a dynamic process involving an
initial fall in serum cholesterol with dieting, then a rise as continued
weight loss induced a major reduction in adipose mass,
and finally a resolution of this diet-induced hypercholesterolemia
as weight loss was stopped by resumption of an eucaloric diet.""

While a majority of people notice a drop in cholesterol while losing weight, some do notice an increase. While the JC program is not as low calorie as the diets used in the study, know that some transient increase in cholesterol is possible while dieting.

""Although weight loss by either dieting or exercise was shown to reduce serum total cholesterol and raise high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, this is not a uniform response in all patient groups studied. A particularly intriguing variability in serum cholesterol is the rise seen when VLCDS arc taken for > 3 mo. In the course of other outpatient research, we observed that 88% of 44 adult patients experienced a diet-induced fall in cholesterol within 2 mo, 73% showed a late rise > 0.5 mmol/L, and 36% had serum cholesterol concentrations rise above predict values while they were still losing weight.""


Hope this helps.

[pattycakes52]

[quote name='TheDivineMissJ' date='Jul 8 2011, 06:31 PM' post='629649']
I found a research article in which the researchers noted a transient increase in cholesterol during the weight loss of obese women on low calorie diets.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/53/6/1404.full.pdf

""In summary, we observed a dynamic process involving an
initial fall in serum cholesterol with dieting, then a rise as continued
weight loss induced a major reduction in adipose mass,
and finally a resolution of this diet-induced hypercholesterolemia
as weight loss was stopped by resumption of an eucaloric diet.""

While a majority of people notice a drop in cholesterol while losing weight, some do notice an increase. While the JC program is not as low calorie as the diets used in the study, know that some transient increase in cholesterol is possible while dieting.

""Although weight loss by either dieting or exercise was shown to reduce serum total cholesterol and raise high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, this is not a uniform response in all patient groups studied. A particularly intriguing variability in serum cholesterol is the rise seen when VLCDS arc taken for > 3 mo. In the course of other outpatient research, we observed that 88% of 44 adult patients experienced a diet-induced fall in cholesterol within 2 mo, 73% showed a late rise > 0.5 mmol/L, and 36% had serum cholesterol concentrations rise above predict values while they were still losing weight.""
Hope this helps.
[/quote]


I do believe it's the Sodium levels in the JC food that can cause ones cholesterol to rise. Especially processed food like frozen dinners. A friend of mine told me that her mom used to buy her those lunchables for school all the time when she was younger. She ended up with high cholesterol at a very young age. The doctor told her it was the high sodium content in the lunchables that caused her cholesterol to rise. here is a good article on sodium http://bit.ly/q1ihcO

Thanks for your link, but I found no mention or any evidence in that article that demonstrates the relationship between sodium and cholesterol. I have pasted below findings from the DASH study from Johns Hopkins in which they found no relationship between dietary sodium levels and cholesterol. Indeed, Lunchables are high in sodium and fat, especially saturated fat. I would attribute elevated cholesterol levels in your friend more to the saturated fat more so than the sodium. Jenny Craig tries to keep the sodium content per day to 2-4 grams per day, depending on the meals chosen. The medical establishment makes a 2 gram sodium diet the norm in the diet for most patients. While I believe it is wise to maintain a low sodium diet, I can't agree that sodium is what is causing the rise in cholesterol in these individuals.

<h1 class="title">DASH diet low in sodium does not raise cholesterol levels</h1>Wed, 01 Oct 2003 21:15:00 | [url="http://www.theheart.org/viewAuthorBio.do?primaryKey=121375"]Julia Rommelfanger[/url] [url="http://www.theheart.org/displayItem.do?primaryKey=238811&type=ppt"][img]http://www.theheart.org/documents/sitestructure/resources/images/icons/icon_slide_inline.gif[/img] Download slides [/url] [b]Washington, DC [/b]- Decreasing the amount of sodium in one's diet to reduce blood pressure has no effect on blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, data from the [b]DASH-Sodium[/b] trial suggest. [b]Dr Lawrence Appel [/b](Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD) presented the results in 390 participants at the [b]American Heart Association[/b]'s[b] Blood Pressure Conference[/b].

The DASH-Sodium study, published in January 2001, has shown that a diet low in sodium (about 1.5 g/day) can significantly reduce blood pressure (BP). In fact, the lower the sodium intake was, the more blood pressure could be reduced, even among normotensives, as reported by [b]heart[i]wire[/i][/b]. However, several smaller studies have suggested that extreme sodium reductions to intakes of 20 to 30 mmol/day could have adverse effects on blood lipids.

Appel's team has therefore evaluated lipid data of 95% of the DASH-Sodium trial participants, who were randomized to either the DASH diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and low in fat and cholesterol, or a typical American diet. To assess the effect of sodium reductions on cholesterol and triglycerides, they changed sodium levels every 30 days, among three amounts per 2100 calories:

High: 3450 mg.

Intermediate: 2300 mg.

Low: 1150 mg.

Lipids were measured after each 30-day period.

[b]Effects of sodium levels on blood lipids in the DASH diet group[/b]

[b] Lipid (mg/dL)

[/b][b] High sodium*

[/b][b] Low sodium**

[/b][b] p

[/b] Total cholesterol

190.6
191.0
0.84
LDL

123.4
123.5
0.92
HDL

45.0
45.2
0.69
Triglycerides

109.1
111.9
0.37
*Mean urine Na excretion 143 mmol/day **Mean urine Na excretion 65 mmol/dayTo download table as a slide, click on slide logo below The researchers found no change in any of the lipid profiles in either diet with high vs intermediate or low sodium intakes. "Some people have claimed that harmful effects of sodium reduction on lipids might negate the beneficial effects on blood pressure," said Appel. "Our results are persuasive: sodium reduction to the recommended level or lower has no effects on lipids."

[anneek]

Hi - I went in for my yearly physical a couple of weeks ago. I was so excited because I have lost 50 lbs since last year and couldn't wait to see if I could get off blood pressure meds. As per my doc, I have been taking red yeast rice for cholestrol because it was a little high last year. The results of my bloodwork was that my cholestrol went up! I believe it was 217. However, the doctor told me that my good cholestrol was very high and the bad cholestrol was very low so he was very happy with the ratio. He said to keep taking the red yeast rice but he was happy with everything, He even gave me a hug and said how happy he was that JC was working for me. But odd - right?

[LadyLynda]

Okay...this is a long time coming, for anyone who was interested. LOL Sorry...my physical kept getting postponed for various reasons, mostly my doctor retired with no notice and I had a hard time finding someone I thought I could "click" with.

Anyway...briefly for those who didn't see original thread, I posted that since being on JC, my cholesterol was out of whack, mainly my triglycerides. So, finally, I had another in-depth test two weeks ago, and just came back from the doc after discussing results.

Good news: triglycerides were 62 (down from 297 or something like that). Overall cholesterol, 139. HDL/LDL in very high/low ranges respectively.

My doctor told me the triglyceride thing was probably the cause of something I had eaten the day/night before my blood test; I did not know triglycerides fluctuated with food intake. (I will look back to see if that blood test was done around my anniversary time when hubby and I did go out several times over a long weekend).

Long story short: JC was NOT the cause of any issues with my cholesterol! My doctor applauded my weight loss, asked me how I did it, and said SHE would look into it herself! She did say she does not advocate prepackaged foods for very, very long periods of time, but if the foods are supplemented with fruits, veggies and everything else we need, she gave it the thumbs-up! She told me to "keep up whatever it is you're doing, it's obviously working for you."

[CMECRZN]

Yay!!!! What good news that is!!!! I am looking forward to seeing how my numbers change as well because my numbers currently on the edge - total is just over 200.

[Madhouse]

Such good news! Congrats and so glad JC wasn't to blame!

[I Called Jenny]

My numbers came down enough that I'm no longer on Lipitor. So that's another side benefit of JC! Glad your numbers are so good too!

Phyllis

[termessi]

Hi girls!

I am glad that JC wasn't to blame. I've been following this thread. I go tomorrow for bloodwork and will find out on Friday at my dr visit. I got nervous while reading this thread and thought OH NO I don't want to quit JC!!!

My last numbers in November were 185 and I take 5 mg Crestor every other day. So I'm hoping I can get off the meds.

Wish me luck girls! I will post later on Friday.

Have a great rest of the week!

Terri