Betaine and LDL

(Delbert Carr) #1

Hello everyone,
Its me again here to ask a question in order to get the answer spoon fed to me instead of doing the research my self… :laughing: sorry :disappointed:. Anyway I have seen conflicting information about if LDL is bad or not and the low carb/carnivore increases LDL. I have also started taking a betaine supplement and I really love it but there appears to be some research that it also increases LDL. I guess my question is around what the best research says cause I’m pretty sure I’m going to need it when I get my next blood test and my Dr loses her mind!

(Bob M) #2

Low carb/carnivore initially seems to make LDL go up, but then after that, it can depend on how heavy you are. Thinner, fitter people tend to have higher LDL increases, and heavier, less fit have lower LDL increases. Over 10+ years, mine went up, then went down for many years (below 100 in US units), and is now going up again. But I’m also slowly getting thinner.

I don’t know anything about betaine.

If you want to know your actual risk, about the best thing you could do is get a coronary arterial calcification (CAC) scan done. In the US, you can find one for around $100 if you look hard enough. This tells you how much calcification you have in your arteries. While no metric is perfect, if you get a score of zero, you have low risk.

There’s a better test, CIMT, which tells both calcified and non-calcified plaque, but it’s harder to get, and more expensive.

#3

LDL as a whole is required for life, so no. It’s going to go up if you eat more fat, and it’s supposed to. sdLDL is what can clog you up and do damage.

The USDA removed Cholesterol as a nutrient concern a decade ago, that should be enough…

Betaine, assuming we’re talking Betaine HCL, is literally stomach acid. Don’t see how that would have any effect on LDL.

If your doctor is doing standard calculated lipid panels and not NMR’s, then that’s her problem. Those are useless and literally tells you nothing. Let her lose her mind, not your problem. If you want to see what kind of shape you’re actually in, with accurate numbers, then get an NMR yourself.

(Delbert Carr) #4

trimethylglycine TMG

#5

Gotcha, different thing, I’ve always hated that name problem with the two. TMG is great for a list of reasons, never heard of it touching cholesterol levels though. I take 1.5g TMG every day, plus what’s already in my preworkout. I always knew about the athletic stuff, don’t even remember the reasons (the new ones) but I was listening to a Dave Asprey talking about why it’s one of his permanent supps and went on about why, that’s when I added it aside from what the preworkout gave me.

(B Creighton) #6

Don’t know about the best research, but I will tell you my experience. I’ve seen numerous people go on the carnivore diet and their LDL/cholesterol goes very high. I have never done the carnivore diet, but I do keto with things like a handful of berries in my morning yogurt and buttered cruciferous vegetables with my dinner. While doing keto last fall this way, I got tested and my LDL cholesterol was quite low. This is while I was supplementing with 500 mg of betaine most mornings - actually on my non OMAD days or 4 days per week. When not doing OMAD, I supplement every morning. So, anyway keto is not necessarily consistent with high LDL at all. Now, my triglycerides were slightly high at 200, but I know I was burning fat as my ketone level was 1. Other than that, everything was super healthy. My LDL:HDL ratio was 2. My blood pressure was low. My fasted insulin was low. My oxLDL was 49. If you are concerned about your LDL, I would try including some soluble fiber in the form of cruciferous vegetables, berries, etc.