healthy eater and exerciser, so what now?

[vivbr]

I have go the message about healthy cholesterol a 100 times over, I'm aware of the importance of cholesterol for the body, also about healthy eating and exercise; I do them both by the way. I went on the diet high protein, calorie counting even though it's fastidious, will a loss of 2 kg in 5 weeks, I'm not really satisfied. I'm overweight by 6 kg; but where do I go from here? High cholesterol (7,2) and on Levothyroxine (82,5 mg) I'm more or less off gluten and lactose (full cream bowl of milk with cereal in morning and cheese, no or very little bread/week). I've ordered the famous book on Thyroid treatment scandal "The great cholesterl con" so will study it closely; however as I said earlier to another person when you see a well respected Endocrinologist who tells you with much annoyance to get on to statins with no more delay for your own good then you must take that into consideration. People, doctors and good sense tells me that statins are not good for me, especially after all the cramp I had on Tahor, so now that I've stopped it I have to find a solution other than what I'm already doing: healthy eating and exercise; (never eat processed food and haven't done for years) llittle gluten and lactose (except for the bowl of milk and cheese), eating high protein and lots of vegs and fruit..... so where to now?

[polly3]

Completely gluten free and dairy free. What do your blood test results say. I know when I was on a low dose of levo my cholesterol went up, there is a connection. If you have your blood test results post them up and someone will help interpret them for you. Your dose of thyroxine is a small dose.

[Clutter]

Vivbr, if you are intolerant to gluten and lactose it's not enough to reduce intake you need to avoid them completely all of the time. If you don't have intolerance or sensitivity you can eat as much or as little as you like.

2kg weight loss in 5 weeks is very good. Don't give up hope of dropping the other 4kg but don't expect it to be as rapid as the first 2kg.

Cholesterol can rise when thyroid levels are low. Optimising your thyroid dose will often reduce cholesterol. Post your recent results with the lab ref ranges in a new question and members will advise.

[greygoose]

If you are not optimally treated for hypo, low-calory diets and exercising can sabotage your effort to lose weight. You need optimal levels of T3 to lose weight, and to get those you need at least 2000 calories a day to be able to convert T4 to T3. Exercising uses up your calories. And not only that, it uses up your T3. and if you haven't got enough to start with, you're just going to become more hypo.

Calorie counting is artificial and not very helpful. One of the most important nutrients also has the most calories - fat.

Cholesterol in itself is not a problem - it does not cause heart attacks (I Don't know if that's the message you're referring to, or the opposite). The fact that it is high (although is it really? They keep lowering the range for no good reason.) is just a symptom that something else is wrong. I very much doubt if your dose of Levo is high enough for you, but we would need to see your test results to get a better idea.

Hugs, Grey

[Chancery]

Just a note to tell you The Great Cholesterol Con is NOT a book on the "Thyroid treatment scandal". It's about Cholesterol, heart disease and the real causes of heart disease. It discusses statins also. But there is no - ZERO - information on the thyroid. Hope you are not about to be terribly disappointed!

P.S. It's a great book, regardless, and if you are having statins recommended to you, you will find it a very useful read, so not a waste of money if you have got it wrong!

[vivbr in reply to Chancery]

No of course, my mistake, when I've read it I'll know!