My cholesterol numbers page

[abbyful]

I don't have a really in-depth look, just what they do at our health basics check at work. They don't even give us our LDL and triglycerides anymore.

But here's my numbers from today:

2012 - trying to follow primal better
Total cholesterol: 249 (I'm pregnant, I've read that total cholesterol tends to jump up during pregnancy)
HDL: 72
Glucose: 65 (fasting)
Blood pressure: 99/53

And previous years:

2011 - started dabbling in primal and eating less grain
Total cholesterol: 151
HDL: 70
Glucose: 79 (not fasting)
Blood pressure: 96/68

2010
Total cholesterol: 130
HDL: 51
LDL: 61
Triglycerides: 93
Glucose: 66 (fasting)
Blood pressure: 98/70

2009 - eating SAD version of "healthy" (lots of whole grains, low fat)
Total cholesterol: 114
HDL: 45
LDL: 53
Triglycerides: 77
Glucose: 68 (fasting)
Blood pressure: 102/60

[Kakes]

I have a deep fascination right now with cholesterol.
I can't believe they stopped giving you the trig readings! Crazy people.
Your number changes aren't typical of what we usually see on here (though your current #s kind of are- and are pretty good as far as I can tell without trigs). But your old numbers are insanely low! Wow! I'm gonna guess that your new higher numbers are actually much more healthy than your old. Why? Because from what I've read, when your TC is under 160, you are at way higher risk for cancers, AI diseases and all sorts of other deadly stuff. Your current HDL looks great!

[PrimalClay]

Kakes,
My total Cholesterol last year was 121 and this year is 135 (HDL went up and LDL dropped) . I eat an insane amount of fat. How exactly does one go about rasing their cholesterol?

Also I am not sure if you listen the the Paleo Solution podcast (The Robb Wolf one) but I wrote in and asked him about these higher cancer / suicide / depression / violence studies linked with low cholesterol and he actually addressed it on the 5/1/12 podcast and seemed to rip those studies to shreds.

[Kakes]

Kakes,
My total Cholesterol last year was 121 and this year is 135 (HDL went up and LDL dropped) . I eat an insane amount of fat. How exactly does one go about rasing their cholesterol?

Also I am not sure if you listen the the Paleo Solution podcast (The Robb Wolf one) but I wrote in and asked him about these higher cancer / suicide / depression / violence studies linked with low cholesterol and he actually addressed it on the 5/1/12 podcast and seemed to rip those studies to shreds.

I'm going to have to listen in on that podcast Clay! Like I said, I'm merely fascinated and still learning so much. If you feel good and feel like you are progressing, you are probably headed in the right direction anyway!
I know my HDL is quite high (80), with very low trigs. My LDL I believe is still evening out (I've only been primal for 4 months) and is kinda high, but I'm not worried about it at all. As far as raising your cholesterol goes, it looks like you are slowly doing that (based on your results from year to year). I'd say just lots of eggs and clean sat fat. You've been primal long enough and had such awesome results that I'd feel silly trying to give you advice!

[PrimalClay]

Hah I can always use advice :-) I was just curious as you about Cholesterol in general as it seems to be such an unseen and often time over looked gauge of health. Even when I was over 300 pounds my cholesterol was still in the 120s. I think some people genetically have just lower cholesterol as their normal operating parameters.

What I have learned is that many times the people in those studies have other issues that are causing their low cholesterol so while their cholesterol is under 160 it is due to an illness or more serious underlying health problems and their increased risk all the bad things mentioned is directly related to their overall state of health and not just their low cholesterol levels.

I read the Paleo Solution around 6 months after reading The Primal Blueprint (because I figure it never hurts to learn) and it mentions that our ancestors, modern primates, and new born babies are in the 120 to 140 cholesterol range.

If I do happen to fall over dead from having a low overall cholesterol level I will let you know :-)

BTW I think my cholesterol went up 14 points (HDL (good) up 20 and LDL (bad) down 6) because I pop those 1000 mg Fish oil capsules like they were candy. I usually have 5 or 6 a day (2 right before each meal) along with 1 or 2 Cod liver oil pills. My body must think I am an eskimo by now.