Cholesterol and Magic Beans

Did you lose any weight? I mean, aside from the expected amount from
being inflated by lighter than air hydrogen, Hindenburg style...

"jaym1212" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1115765245.758857.58910
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Been fighting high cholesterol for several years. Found something that
lowered it drastically. A pound of beans a day!

6/04 11/04 3/05 5/05
----- ---- ---- ---- ----
Chol 252 278 291 159
HDL 81 71 93 33
LDL 161 197 187 105
TG 51 51 56 105
Ch/H 3.11 3.92 3.13 4.82
FBG 86 86 88
A1C 5.4 5.5 5.6
hsCRP na na <0.2

You're overfocusing on total cholesterol. While your LDL has dropped
from a risky level to an acceptable one, your HDL has dropped from a good
(-1 cardiovascular risk point) level to a bad (+1 CV risk point) one, and
your triglycerides, while still in the normal range, have doubled. Your
TG/HDL ratio, which is a rough measure of insulin resistance, has gone
from .62 (essentially no insulin resistance) to 3.18 (resistance
present). It looks like you've taken one step forward and two backward.

You need to have your current FBG and A1C checked, as well as your blood
pressure. It's quite possible that something other than your recent
dietary adjustments is causing this.

Quoted message said:

Did you lose any weight?

Yes, I went down from 122 to 118 lbs. However, I am not wanting to lose
weight and infact want to put on weight but only in the form of lean
muscles.

Quoted message said:

I mean, aside from the expected amount from being inflated
by lighter than air hydrogen, Hindenburg style...

🙂 1 lb (dry weight before cooking) of beans per day was an
experimental level. I couldn't physically eat anymore and sometimes
developed heartburn, especially if the beans were cooked with tomato
paste. Oddly, while my stomach felt like the Hindenburg, I did not feel
satiated. According to the label, 1 lb of beans provide 760 calories
and a whopping 208g of fiber. I'll be reducing the beans and adding
some EVOO. Maybe it will kill two birds with one stone.

Quoted message said:

You're overfocusing on total cholesterol ...
It looks like you've taken one step forward and two backward.

Yes, I am hoping less beans will raise the HDL but keep the total
reasonable.

Quoted message said:

It's quite possible that something other than your recent dietary

adjustments is causing this.

It is possible, however my diet is quite regimented and I keep a food
log to help isolate things.

Quoted message said:

You need to have your current FBG and A1C checked,
as well as your blood pressure.

After eating 1 lb of beans per day for about a month, BG was 79 and 80
according to OneTouch Ultra upon waking (lab measurements made 1hr
after waking are usually higher). Blood pressure is currently 110/70.

Could someone comment on my wish full theories based on what little I
know. According to some study, a gorilla's energy intake breaks down as
follows:
2.5% fat (I guess he doesn't use any OO)
24.3% protein
15.8% carbohydrate
57.3% SCFAs from colonic fermentation of fiber.

Is it possible the fiber in beans made my gut flora happy, which in
turn generated lots of SCFAs. This nourished the gut lining decreasing
the need for the liver to output as much cholesterol hence LDL fell
from 187 to 105. Since the liver was receiving a bunch of SCFAs instead
of carbs, it packaged them up as TG hence it shot up form 56 to 105.
Since the liver operated better on SCFAs than carbs (conjecture), its
own cholestrol requirements fell hence HDL went down from 93 to 33
(maybe alcohol raises HDL because the liver is asking for a little help
in the form of cholesterol). Anybody know the typical CHOL/HDL/LDL of
non-human primates?