Low Carbohydrate Diets And Cholesterol Lowering

The issue between low carbohydrate diets and cholesterol and triglycerides lowering

When you start taking a lot of foods rich in carbohydrates, several unpleasant phenomenons will happen in your body. First of all, you will deliver enough glucose for your organism. This is good.

However, after some time, your body will not need any more carbohydrates. Our body is really “smart” and that’s why it figures out really smart way to keep these carbohydrates.

The carbs, which can not be utilized by the organism at the moment of their arrival, are stored as triglycerides. Through a series of biochemical transformations the carbohydrates are turned into triglycerides.

The triglycerides promote the formation of atheromatous plaques. The triglycerides are placed in the fat cells and that’s why you will gain some weight in your abdominal area.

Low carbohydrate diets, called LCD, contribute to the reduction of the levels of triglycerides. The correlation is relatively simple.

You reduce the intake of carbohydrates and that’s why fewer carbohydrates will be transformed in triglycerides. Diets low on carbohydrates reduces the levels of the triglycerides in the body.

What's behind the link between low carbohydrate diets and cholesterol?

On the other hand, the connection between carbohydrates and cholesterol is not that simple. Numerous studies have been carried out to examine the relation between LDL and LCD.

In some cases, there weren’t any changes in the levels of LDL, which is called “bad” cholesterol. In some other occasions, the levels of the LDL were higher compared to the initial levels.

Last but not least, in some other cases, the levels of LDL were dramatically decreased because of the application of LCD.

One thing is certain. If you continue to eat foods, which are low on carbohydrates for a very long time, you will have low levels of LDL. However, this period is not yet estimated.

HDL levels correlate with the intake of carbohydrates. HDL is said to be the “good” cholesterol because it protects your heart against cardio-vascular complications.

The reduced intake of carbohydrates and especially LCD, increase the levels of HDL (which is good). The LCD makes the cells utilize the cholesterol and triglycerides, which is in them.

HDL transports the excess cholesterol from these cells to the liver. Since LCD makes the cells utilize their own cholesterol and triglycerides, the body needs more HDL, which will transport the excess materials to the liver.

Science word on the connection between low carbohydrate diets and cholesterol

Many clinical trails have been carried out to estimate the relationship between the low carbohydrate diets and cholesterol. Similar studies were carried out in the U.S, Europe and China.

The sole purpose of these clinical trials was to prove the connection between the low carbohydrate diets and the cholesterol reduction.

The number of participants in these studies was large, proving the reliability of these statistical data. About 50% of the patient had their cholesterol numbers reduced by 15%. This will happen on the third trimester. The LDL cholesterol levels will be reduced by 12% at least; while the HDL cholesterol levels will be increased up to 10%.

In some clinical trials, where people with elevated cholesterol numbers participated in the study, the LDL levels were decreased by 25% and the HDL levels were increased by 15%. LCDs are proven to reduce the total cholesterol levels by 20%-30% (depends on the patient’s initial values).

If the patient has really high levels of total cholesterol, then the results are going to be spectacular.