Life Insurance testing standards and Primal Diet page

[m matrka]

I am a male 54 years old in the process of trying to re apply for term life insurance. I currently have a term policy that I've had for just shy of ten years and I will need to get a new one by next March. In the process of applying I am typically given an at home testing consisting of EKG, blood pressure, pulse, urine, and drawn blood.
I am in pretty good shape and mostly have been my entire life as I enjoy physical activities.
I started Primal eating last August 2010.
In applying for insurance your score rating by the numbers from tests determines the amount of the premium. For example, I was told that I should be considered in great physical shape and the premium would be X. I got my test numbers back and all of my readings were great except cholesterol. The total was 341 with my good HDL reading of 105. The ratio number still was in the normal range. All my other vitals were what looked as really good, blood pressure 102/60, pulse 55 and I am usually very nervous for these things.
The insurance company came back and said that i am a higher risk because of my cholesterol reading despite the rest of the information and my premium rating more than doubled!!
I am curious if anybody else has had this problem and if there is anything you can do about it?

[Maleficarum]

i would suggest shopping around for another insurance company. they are being dumb if they are ignoring all of your positive health metrics in favor of a "high-normal" reading.

[RitaRose]

Sounds like a combination of the company still using CW "normal" as the 'healthy" standard, and also trying to find a justification for a higher rate.

Yeah, you might want to shop around a bit.

[Alex Good]

1) Swipe some blood from a sickly vegan for the cholesterol test. The veg head need not survive.
2) Swap the samples.
3) Since "you" have no cholesterol, you will have the lowest premium possible.

And I'm feeling slightly aggessive right now, so I'd say you could deal with your insurance company by doing this.

[peril]

No insurance company will ignore your cholesterol, no matter how mistaken they may be. It is a cost of being healthy in a screwed up world

[Setabas]

I'll be honest, I really don't understand the diet/cholesterol relationship. Some people eat paleo/primal and their totals come down, others it goes up.

In trying to clarify your situation, did your totals go up when you began eating primally? If so, what was it before? How strict are you with your eating?

I recently had the same type of exam for my insurance carrier (I'm 40). I'd eaten 100% primaly clean for about 45 days before the test and they said that my results were in the top 1% for 40 year olds.

[loafingcactus]

Didn't they weigh you too?

[Conner P.]

Inform them about the difference between type A and type B LDL and make them run a VAP test to find out. If they refuse, shop around.

[randomcow]

*bump*

I'm about to have this problem too. I got 315 total cholesterol on the company health check, but I'm thinking there might be a way to temporarily reduce it by, say, eating mainly vegetables and some lean cuts of meat in the two weeks prior to the test. Any thoughts/experience? As much as it pains me I'd probably even consider eating grains for a few weeks if it could save me ~$200 a month off my premiums.

I am limited in my options for insurance as I am working overseas and looking to join a global insurance company. From what I have seen so far they all consider "cholesterol" as a factor.

RC

[Timthetaco]

Nothing drives down LDL cholesterol faster than a diet of mainly carbohydrates low in saturated fat. Oatmeal is the darling of cholesterol-fearing housewives everywhere.