Cholesterol question

tattykitty

Hi all, I've recently made some changes to my diet, cutting down on carbs and increasing fats. I've started a habit of having one or two teaspoons of peanut butter pretty much every day, because it stops me heading for the bread bin (and I love peanut butter). My worry is that could eating something like this every day, having previously not eaten it at all, increase my cholesterol levels?

A high fat diet seems to be advocated on these forums - have any of you had trouble with your cholesterol as a result?

danlen

First, a spoon or two of peanut butter (as long as its decent quality) is much better than consuming bread or other wheat products. If you could get some almond butter all the better.

However, I would make sure that the nut butter is treated like a nice treat that is contributing relaitively little to your overall diet, rather than it being a staple of it.

In relation to the cholesterol question, this is going to vary from person to person. If a person is switching from a really bad diet (full of processed foods, grains, and sugar) to something that emphasises whole foods (a la paleo) then they will usually see an improvement in their lipid profile, regardless of the fact they are now consuming a high-fat diet.

For others, if they are consuming a generally good diet already but just switch the emphasis from high CHO to high fat, they may see an increase in total cholesterol. However, if the food quality is good I would imagine this increase would be to a large extent from an increase in HDL.

My advice? Track your numbers, re-test after a while eating what way you choose. As long as the numbers are not skyrocketing, you're pretty good to go. If there are only small increases but you feel good then its all good.

In my opinion, food quality is FAR more important than specific macronutrient ratios.

tattykitty

Thanks Danlen. I've always eaten a low fat, high carb diet until recently, and I guess because my cholesterol has actually been very good up until now, I'm worried that I'm going to ruin it by changing my diet. I guess I won't know until I have my levels checked again.

Regarding the nut butter - may I ask why almond butter is better than peanut butter?

danlen

tattykitty wrote: »

Thanks Danlen. I've always eaten a low fat, high carb diet until recently, and I guess because my cholesterol has actually been very good up until now, I'm worried that I'm going to ruin it by changing my diet. I guess I won't know until I have my levels checked again.

Yeah just do it. There is a good chance that your lipid profile will even improve on a HF-LC diet, again provided the food quality is good. I suspect you will get an increase in HDL, which is great.

tattykitty wrote: »

Regarding the nut butter - may I ask why almond butter is better than peanut butter?

First, just to confirm, if you are having peanut butter make sure it isn't the usual commercial ones you find in the supermarket (i.e. the ones with sugar, palm oil, hydrogenated oils, etc.).

If you are talking about real peanut butter (i.e. 100% peanuts only, like the H&B one), I'd suggest AB over PB as almonds are nuts, peanuts are legumes. Therefore peanuts tend to have more anti-nutrients in them, like agglutin and aflotoxins. Also, the fat profile is slightly better for AB, although I'll admit not by much.

At the end of the day, if you are only having a small amount of peanut butter, it is the 100% version, and you really enjoy it, then by all means continue with it. If you find the almond butter just as good go with that.

tattykitty

danlen wrote: »

Yeah just do it. There is a good chance that your lipid profile will even improve on a HF-LC diet, again provided the food quality is good. I suspect you will get an increase in HDL, which is great.

I wonder, despite it being the "good cholesterol", can HDL be too high? My last reading was 3.80 overall (Triglycerides 0.40, HDL 1.69, LDL 1.9)...if the HDL goes up but the rest stays the same, is that safe/good?

danlen wrote: »

First, just to confirm, if you are having peanut butter make sure it isn't the usual commercial ones you find in the supermarket (i.e. the ones with sugar, palm oil, hydrogenated oils, etc.).

If you are talking about real peanut butter (i.e. 100% peanuts only, like the H&B one), I'd suggest AB over PB as almonds are nuts, peanuts are legumes. Therefore peanuts tend to have more anti-nutrients in them, like agglutin and aflotoxins. Also, the fat profile is slightly better for AB, although I'll admit not by much.

The peanut butter I use is this one. The brand makes almond butter too but it's very expensive, I think? What other brands that make 100% almond butter would you recommend?

danlen

tattykitty wrote: »

I wonder, despite it being the "good cholesterol", can HDL be too high? My last reading was 3.80 overall (Triglycerides 0.40, HDL 1.69, LDL 1.9)...if the HDL goes up but the rest stays the same, is that safe/good?

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor.

In my opinion, that looks like a low cholesterol level. An increase in your HDL would seem like a positive to me, and by no means would it be unsafe.

It is easy to get bogged down in biomarker numbers, just remember to only use them as a guide over a long period of time as to what is happening in your body. The guidelines to keep numbers under a specific value are sketchy imo, I would much prefer to just looks for noticable trends over time or massive jumps. And even then it may not be a problem.

As a rule of thumb, if you are eating quality food, being generally active, and feeling good, then there is no real need to worry about specific cholesterol numbers.

tattykitty wrote: »

The peanut butter I use is this one. The brand makes almond butter too but it's very expensive, I think? What other brands that make 100% almond butter would you recommend?

Yeah meridian can be expensive enough considering the size of the pot you get.

If you are going to continue to buy peanut butter, Holland & Barrett do a 1kg of 100% stuff for a reasonable price.

If going for almond butter, and you shop online, myprotein.com do a 1kg of almond butter, at least they did a while back, for I think about €12?? They also do peanut butter.

tattykitty

danlen wrote: »

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor.

In my opinion, that looks like a low cholesterol level. An increase in your HDL would seem like a positive to me, and by no means would it be unsafe.

It is easy to get bogged down in biomarker numbers, just remember to only use them as a guide over a long period of time as to what is happening in your body. The guidelines to keep numbers under a specific value are sketchy imo, I would much prefer to just looks for noticable trends over time or massive jumps. And even then it may not be a problem.

As a rule of thumb, if you are eating quality food, being generally active, and feeling good, then there is no real need to worry about specific cholesterol numbers.

True, it really is easy to get bogged down by the numbers. I guess I'm a little paranoid because high cholesterol runs in my family.

danlen wrote: »

Yeah meridian can be expensive enough considering the size of the pot you get.

If you are going to continue to buy peanut butter, Holland & Barrett do a 1kg of 100% stuff for a reasonable price.

If going for almond butter, and you shop online, myprotein.com do a 1kg of almond butter, at least they did a while back, for I think about €12?? They also do peanut butter.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into that. I've never tasted almond butter so I'll perhaps get a small pot first, before buying a whole kg of the stuff.

danlen

tattykitty wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into that. I've never tasted almond butter so I'll perhaps get a small pot first, before buying a whole kg of the stuff.

Oh forgot to mention you could make your own. Buy a packet of almonds and throw them in a blender/processor until you get the right consistency.

I don't do it myself as 1) I'm lazy and 2) I don't think there are massive savings to be made. But I do know others that do and they are happy with it.

Mellor

danlen wrote: »

I'd suggest AB over PB as almonds are nuts, peanuts are legumes Therefore peanuts tend to have more anti-nutrients in them, like agglutin and aflotoxins. Also, the fat profile is slightly better for AB, although I'll admit not by much..

That's something I hear a lot. I often wonder how if its significant or if peanuts just get a hard time because they common.
It's quite ironic really. Because apparently almonds aren't nuts either.

danlen

Mellor wrote: »

That's something I hear a lot. I often wonder how if its significant or if peanuts just get a hard time because they common.
It's quite ironic really. Because apparently almonds aren't nuts either.

Yeah, tbh the actual practical application of eating peanuts to real life results is questionable imo.

I think suggesting to most people to avoid them is a decent suggestion, not solely because they are legumes, but because a) most peanuts available to buy are heavily salted, roasted, and have MSG added, and b) they are very easy to overeat, probably for the reasons listed in a) (although so are other nuts too).

I'm open to correction on this but I think almonds are nuts tbh. However, I do know that cashews aren't technically nuts, and they certainly don't get the same rap as peanuts.

As I touched upon in a different post, if its 100% peanuts/PB and portions are controlled, and it is not a massive contributor to overall diet, then I don't see a massive problem. Eat away.

However, personally, for the reasons listed in my earlier post I prefer to take in some almond butter if I ever do want some nut butter. I also tend to increase my fish oil intake on days I eat a decent amount of nuts, just to balance out the n-6 from the nuts.

metamorphosis

Peanut butter is also pretty high in omega 6, just. Pity I can't put the on down!