LDL Cholesterol and Keto

#1

Greetings all!

I am new to this forum, so nice to meet you all:)

I started the ketogenic diet 1/1/20. I wasn’t overweight or unhealthy before I started. I was more trying it to see if I could get rid of brain fog and get more energy and wanted to see if I could also cut out sugar. I’m a 38 year old male in good shape. I have been wildly impressed with the results. Not only am I more fit than I’ve ever been, but my brain feels activated like never before and overall I just feel great. Also worth note is I’ve completely cut out alcohol. I’d love to keep going on this diet as I really like the way I look and feel on it.

That being said, I just had my bloodwork done a couple days ago and my LDL cholesterol came back quite high (see my results below):
LDL Calculated (NR)
Your Value
180 mg/dL
Standard Range
50 - 129 mg/dL

HDL
Your Value
41 mg/dL|
Standard Range40 - 60 mg/dL|

Cholesterol
Your Value
240 mg/dL|
Standard Range120 - 200 mg/dL|

Non HDL Cholesterol
Your Value199 mg/dL|
Standard Range <=130 mg/dL|

VLDL Calculated
Your Value19 mg/dl|
Standard Range10 - 31 mg/dl|

I gotta be honest, I’m a little spooked at my results and my cholesterol being so high. I realize times have changed and science has changed its opinions a bit on cholesterol. I hear lots of people saying cholesterol got a bad wrap and is not the culprit for heart issues/CVD anymore etc. But I just don’t know who do believe anymore. All the cardiologists and doctors I know still say high cholesterol is bad and if you’re cholesterol is high you should go on a statin and blah blah blah. I know I definitely don’t want to go on a statin as a healthy and thriving 38 year old athletic guy.

Anywho, I was hoping some of you veteran keto folks could shed some light on this topic and help me make some sense of all this.

I really appreciate the feedback and insight.

Have a great night:)

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2
(Ron) #3

This should answer all your LDL Cholesterol questions.

And Welcome!

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #4

I’m 71 years old and only two years into a low carb lifestyle.
As long as I’ve been looking at my lipid panel, I have always had ’ high ’ cholesterol according to the standards, and have refused statins.

You can get a lot of good info from the references given above, but basically calculated LDL is meaningless. If you want some good info, get an NMR lipid panel, which will tell you about particle size.

Staying low carb should boost your HDL, and lower your triglycerides. That is what you want to see.

FWIW, I had a a Coronary Calcium test about a year ago, and my score was ’ 0 '…

Why a Coronary Calcium Score Test Is So Empowering

P.S.
I also like this article about cholesterol.

Cholesterol Is Good for You

(Scott) #5

Statins, there is a reason they call them “memory thieves”.

#6

Your numbers aren’t bad at all! You just started keto, you’re not fat adapted yet, and burning more fat as fuel than you probably have in a long time. OF COURSE your numbers are going to be up! Don’t waste your time with cholesterol tests for a couple more months. Even IF this was a couple months from now those numbers wouldn’t bother me. However I would start supplementing some good Omega’s or something to get that HDL up!

(charlie3) #7

I did plenty of research before deciding that low carb would be my approach. I’ve dedicated and consistant and backed that up with a lot of activity/exercise. One of the consequences is a great tr/hdl ratio and a stratospherically high ldl. If heathy living were so lethal natural selection sorted that out long ago.

#8

What are your triglycerides? That number is more important than the LDLs and total. You’d want the ratio of triglycerides to HDL (typically) below 2,0 but above 3.0 is often seen as really problematic.