Cholesterol - A Primer (Attempt 2)

My new doc wanted me on the Mediterranean Diet also, Jesse. That was because my numbers were very high. I tried it for a while, then wound up backsliding into SAD territory. About a month ago I decided I'd had enough, so now I'm back to TPB, even doing a Whole 30. I just checked my ratios using the last round of cholesterol numbers I had, and despite how "upsetting" the numbers were to my previous doc (who had even mentioned medication), I squarely hit the ideal for all the ratios. So thpthpthpthp to SAD and even to the Mediterranean Diet -- although in terms of 80/20, I'd happily have the Mediterranean Diet fall into the 20. :)

Very enlightening. Thank you!

May be they get better because they run out of money, just saying.

Thought this should be added here [url]http://chriskresser.com/the-most-important-thing-you-probably-dont-know-about-cholestero[/url][

I need your help, these are my results:
total: 237.2
HDL:53.1
LDL:171.5
VLDL:11.9
trig:59.7

i.ve been primal for more than a year, but my mom is scared as hell!
Also what can you say about this?

serum sodium:134.9 mEq/L normal[136-145]
folic acid:18.4 ng/ml normal[3-17]

isn't this somehow wrong? i just put these two cause they are out of limits so im worried too. i also had high choline in a brain MRI or somthing like that.
thanks and sorry to bother you

Hi

I've been a lurker for ages and just registered to discuss my recent lip panel results. I've been basically primal for a year or two, and my numbers are what you would expect - High HDL, low Triglycerides, and High LDL. My Doc is freaking out.

I was inspired and impressed with all the information on these pages, especially about the "Iranian Equation" If I calculate my LDL with that, it drops 33 points! Seems almost too good to be true!

I want to talk to my Dr. about this, but need some stronger sources than an online forum. I googled the Iranian Equation, and it seems to be discussed only within the primal/paleo worlds... nothing else online, and nothing in PubMed.

Is it for real? Where did it come from? It sounds like it makes sense, but I'd like to see some research to back it up.

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing all your stories, and thanks for any responses to this.

Cheers

Hi Da9nd2ri3dge

Your post got cut, but my guess is that you were re-posting Griff's original (and wonderful) primer. I've read that (as well as the 34 pages that follow it !) and was really impressed with it. Thanks for keeping the conversation going, but it doesn't address my question.

Griff explains the Iranian Equation in detail, but he doesn't identify the research that substantiates his statements. The rest of the info in his primer looks sound (given what I know of the primary research), so I assume the part about the Iranian Equation is, too. I just want to track back to find the studies on which it's based.

I've done a bit more research and can't find anything called the "Iranian Equation" but there are quite a few articles discussing different formulas for calculating LDL. The thing is that they all seem to indicate that the Freidewald equation is only inaccurate for people with very HIGH triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia), not very low ones.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-density_lipoprotein#Estimation_of_LDL_particles_via_cholesterol_content[/url]

[url]http://www.livestrong.com/article/143195-ldl-calculated-mean/[/url]

[url]http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Which_cholesterol_test_should_you_get.htm[/url]

The articles above are more readable and conversational, the ones below are more technical, but the point is explained in the abstract

[url]http://www.lipidworld.com/content/5/1/8[/url]

[url]http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1476-511X-9-52.pdf[/url]

[url]http://www.lipidworld.com/content/9/1/52[/url]


Anybody else have thoughts on this?

Found it!

Here is the Iranian study.... it seems to be a small voice in the wilderness. It's pretty well documented that high TG's invalidate the Freidewald formula (estimates vary between over 200 and over 400). But low TG's don't seem to have been evaluated as much.

[url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426324]The impact of low serum triglyceride on LDL-ch... [Arch Iran Med. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI[/url]

Ok - this post explains a lot. One question: is it possible to have too much HDL?

My recent cholesterol results were as follows:
Total Cholesterol - 239
LDL - 127
HDL - 101
Triglycerides - 60
VLDL - 12
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.4

Total cholesterol is up 30 points from last time I had it done in 2009 - HDL rose 20 points, LDL rose 14, and triglycerides went down by 25. So I think this is a good trend - but I can't find anywhere in my research if it's possible to have HDL that's too high. Anyone know?

[QUOTE=KT79;1026739]Ok - this post explains a lot. One question: is it possible to have too much HDL?[/QUOTE]

I'm no doctor, so take my response with a tablespoon of coconut oil, but...I don't think so. Higher HDL, I believe, is a Very Good Thing. (My former doc said that along with my LDL being too high, my HDL was also too high. And my tris were too low for the doc. That's part of why I left that practice.)