Omega Fatty acid deficiency / Fat malabsorption / high cholesterol?

[Replenished]

Hi ladies and gents, I had a fatty acids blood test and it's suggesting i'm low in pretty much all Omega's, despite my diet not being low in fatty acids. Also on the other hand I have high cholesterol that never seems to lower no matter what I eat or how much I reduce calories.

I've suspected for some time there may be a liver, pancreas, gallbladder type issue going on but I'm unsure exactly what or how to resolve it. The condition Cholestasis, sounds like a plausible match to my symptoms and supposedly this can also cause high cholesterol via some mechanism? I've been taking bile salts but my cholesterol remains high.

I plan to start taking in more omega 3's but other than that I'm confused about what appears to be some sort of fat absorption/metabolizing issue.

Anyone have any ideas on this? I've attached my fatty acid blood results.

 

[Booble]

How's your thyroid?
That can contribute to high cholesterol.

 

[Replenished]

How's your thyroid?
That can contribute to high cholesterol.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm not sure thyroid issues would explain the completely low fatty acids though. My thyroid has always been 'normal/in range' with the high cholesterol, until last week when my TSH did come back as slightly high on my most recent blood test and I'm experimenting with Thyroid medication to see if it might help. But I also did the same and went on to thyroid medication for some time a year or so ago under the suspicion I might be slightly hypothyroid despite normal blood results. It didn't seem to help lower the cholesterol but I will certainly keep trying that route. I think there's something going on with the liver, pancreas or gallbladder though.

 

[Booble]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm not sure thyroid issues would explain the completely low fatty acids though. My thyroid has always been 'normal/in range' with the high cholesterol, until last week when my TSH did come back as slightly high on my most recent blood test and I'm experimenting with Thyroid medication to see if it might help. But I also did the same and went on to thyroid medication for some time a year or so ago under the suspicion I might be slightly hypothyroid despite normal blood results. It didn't seem to help lower the cholesterol but I will certainly keep trying that route. I think there's something going on with the liver, pancreas or gallbladder though.

Interesting. What makes you think that the high cholesterol is related to the low fatty acids?

 

[Eastman]

Lecithin has been shown to lower cholesterol.

Influence of Soy Lecithin Administration on Hypercholesterolemia

In animals, lecithin has been shown to increase bile flow.

The role of dietary choline in the beneficial effects of lecithin on the secretion of biliary lipids in rats

If you are interested in taking lecithin, do be aware though that some people think lecithin leads to increased TMAO production and cardiovascular disease risk.

 

[CSMLSM]

Hi ladies and gents, I had a fatty acids blood test and it's suggesting i'm low in pretty much all Omega's, despite my diet not being low in fatty acids. Also on the other hand I have high cholesterol that never seems to lower no matter what I eat or how much I reduce calories.

I've suspected for some time there may be a liver, pancreas, gallbladder type issue going on but I'm unsure exactly what or how to resolve it. The condition Cholestasis, sounds like a plausible match to my symptoms and supposedly this can also cause high cholesterol via some mechanism? I've been taking bile salts but my cholesterol remains high.

I plan to start taking in more omega 3's but other than that I'm confused about what appears to be some sort of fat absorption/metabolizing issue.

Anyone have any ideas on this? I've attached my fatty acid blood results.

View attachment 47931

Hi I comment from a point of only just knowing this sort of test is available and I have not done any research but, this all would depend on what you have recently eaten. Fasting for the test will give a vastly different result than if you had had a meal in the previous 30 minutes to 3-4 hours before it. The time between eating and the test will make a difference.
On the other hand alot of processes use these fats as substrates and you may be using them up faster being stuck in a metabolic/immune state as energy metabolism is colsely related to immune state and will shift between sugars (glucose, carbs etc) and fats as the immune cells are triggered from resting states to active states and vice versa.
Having ME/CFS means dealing with an immune state that is dysfunctional, you could say its stuck doing something wrong. Stuck in the wrong metabolic state.
Your results could be a reflection of this.

 

[Replenished]

Interesting. What makes you think that the high cholesterol is related to the low fatty acids?

I don't know if they are linked. Just seems a contradiction that I have high blood cholesterol/lipids (fat) and low blood fatty acids (fat)? Maybe they aren't linked at all, I'm not aware of the chemistry of this issue but I do know lack of bile flow and cholestasis on the one hand cause poor fat absorption and on the other causes high cholesterol. Which could explain both of the high cholesterol and low fatty acids.

"Serum cholesterol is elevated in cholestasis because its metabolic degradation and excretion are impaired. Bile is the normal excretory pathway for cholesterol, and with reduced bile formation, cholesterol is retained."

 

[CSMLSM]

I don't know if they are linked. Just seems a contradiction that I have high blood cholesterol/lipids (fat) and low blood fatty acids (fat)? Maybe they aren't linked at all, I'm not aware of the chemistry of this issue but I do know lack of bile flow and cholestasis on the one hand cause poor fat absorption and on the other causes high cholesterol. Which could explain both of the high cholesterol and low fatty acids.

"Serum cholesterol is elevated in cholestasis because its metabolic degradation and excretion are impaired. Bile is the normal excretory pathway for cholesterol, and with reduced bile formation, cholesterol is retained."

Stress affects lipid metabolism-
We have ME/CFS and I personally think high cholesterol is a product of an over excited HPA axis messing with energy metabolism. Being in flight or fight just cares about energy now not balance, efficiency and cleaning up after itself. Maybe get cortisol testing if your curious but thats not simple to do right from what I can remember. Glucocorticoid receptors can become desensitised like insulin receptors in diabetes to insulin causing even more dysfunction.
Do you suffer bad sleep issues by any chance, such as insomina but are desperate for sleep and have no energy when you wake but do later when you should be winding down.
Maybe overactive HPA axis with adrenal insufficiency and desensitised Glucocorticoid receptors in people with longer term ME/CFS and this leads to certain disease states such as high cholesterol.

 

[Booble]

Stress affects lipid metabolism-
We have ME/CFS and I personally think high cholesterol is a product of an over excited HPA axis messing with energy metabolism. Being in flight or fight just cares about energy now not balance, efficiency and cleaning up after itself. Maybe get cortisol testing if your curious but thats not simple to do right from what I can remember. Glucocorticoid receptors can become desensitised like insulin receptors in diabetes to insulin causing even more dysfunction.
Do you suffer bad sleep issues by any chance, such as insomina but are desperate for sleep and have no energy when you wake but do later when you should be winding down.
Maybe overactive HPA axis with adrenal insufficiency and desensitised Glucocorticoid receptors in people with longer term ME/CFS and this leads to certain disease states such as high cholesterol.

Wow, you just described me. And I have inexplicable high cholesterol as well.
I've tried to stop worrying about after reading a study where high cholesterol in women actually correlated with lower cardiac events and mortality.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

And I have inexplicable high cholesterol as well.

mine is high too...(not sure if its incredible as I have no data really)....my parents have the high cholesterol genetics, I get all the list: blood sugar, cholesterol, heart crap.

I ate eggs and butter. The whole time they told us not to. Lecithin in the egg yolk....

 

[vision blue]

There are still 3 posts in this thread i need to read so maybe has already been said, plus i need to dig out my own results to remind myself of my thinking back then so tentatively only at the moment, i dont think im seeing what youre seeing

First thing i noted is your saturated fat level is very high. Did i read that wrong? If not, woukdnt that explain/be consistent with the high cholersoral?

You say alot is low but most of these fata that are listed are rare ie most are low in them.

Looks like you already have ample onega 3s (HLA and EPA) , so not sure why increasing onega 3 would help unless yku meant you wanted to change the type

Inwill llokmagain but the only red flag im seeing is the high saturated fat. So either you are eating too much cheese or meat or butter or cream (or palm?) for your body type and need to cut way down or if you say youre a vegan then theres some probelem with your fat storage etc

Will look again Am in a hurry now. In meqntime, which test company did you usr? I disnt look to see look if its name was there

 

[CSMLSM]

Wow, you just described me. And I have inexplicable high cholesterol as well.
I've tried to stop worrying about after reading a study where high cholesterol in women actually correlated with lower cardiac events and mortality.

I personally had an improvement in my cholesterol when supplementing with intramuscular B12 (had severe deficiency). As I kept an eye on my test results over time the LDL went down and HDL went up. This may just be me so I am not suggesting you supplement but maybe it might be a good idea to get tested. B12 is needed for the metabolism of fats and people with ME/CFS tend to become deficient eventually with all the bowel disruption and diet issues and body dysfunction in my opinion.
Saturated fat is not bad, high cholesterol is. Saturated fat does not find its way into your arteries from your gut. The metabolic imbalance causes the deposits in the arteries and elsewhere. Lipids (fats) go through a complicated process to be metabolised and goes through the cycle of use but small amount left over so then that has to be metabolised and usually this process clears up anything not used, say with HDL (helps clear unused lipids in this process). When this process breaks down the unused lipids find themselves deposited in arteries ect.

I found using Dragonfly CBD sublingually helped with my sleep pattern, sleep quality and energy available. I was taking the drops every 1-4 hours at first (have kind of different regime now with more things). I use Dragonfly CBD Cannabidiol Oil 1000mg 10ml | CBD | Boots it is made to pharmacy med level with real testing and you get what you pay for unlike so many, actually sold in Harrods UK (good enough for rich buggers ). Do not have to worry about it having THC above the minimum allowed by law. It was why I was able to come off of antidepressants and worked way better.

Stress and depression in my opinion help cause high cholesteral as these states mess with lipid and energy metabolism balance between sugars and fats as well as affecting production of things involved in the process of metabolism.

 

[vision blue]

Does anyone else agree with my i interpretation of the test report that the main result is too high saturated fat ( and that may go along with high cholestero) And the results further show there is onega 3 and 6 absolutel levels are not low with the low markers youvsee just liw for rare fatty acids. (But i didnt have timecto remind myself tge different types of onega 3, which sour e produces which (eg flax va fish) and if you have the optimal omega 3 breakdown abd afe successfully converting. Look forward to hearing what the source of the saturated fat might be.