Lipid panel

(Steve Stephenson) #1

From my latest “lipid panel” my Triglyceride / HDL ratio is now 0.7385 (48/65), where the goal is one or less. The lower the Trig/HDL ratio the more probable that the LDL particles are of the large fluffy kind that aren’t harmful (too big to get into artery walls). My previous two lipid panels gave ratios of 1.3 and 1.74 (oldest), so the trend is very good. Eating saturated fat drives the HDL up and the Triglycerides down. Kudos for KETO !!!

9 Months on Keto Lipid Panel
(Jacquie) #2

@sks23cu I enjoyed reading your story on the Dietdoctor website. Glad you have joined us here at KF! :slight_smile:

(Jo Lo) #3

Great numbers! Excellent work!

(Richard Morris) #4

Congrats - great result.

Tho I’m not sure once you get under 2 that lower is definitely better for Trigs/HDL in mg/dl.

(Steve Stephenson) #5

From Cholesterol Clarity by Jimmy Moore and Dr Eric C. Westman:

““I always look at the triglycerides first. And if they are under 100 and closer to 50, then I’m happy with that. More than anything, I look at the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio with an optimal goal to be as close to 1 or lower.” –Cassie Bjork”

(Jo Lo) #6

My trigs/HDL are 44/67, down from 106/75 in 2015 and 99/58 in 2008. I do a lot of endurance exercise.
Drastically lower trigs is after 1.5 years pushing LCHF/Keto.
Dr Ted N. liked it, said the lower the better for trigs.
Male, 60, 193 lbs, 5’10"

(Steve Stephenson) #7

=0.6567
Excellent!

(Steve Stephenson) #8

4/17/2017 Lipid Panel Graphs (below) show increasing HDL and decreasing: Chol/HDL, Cholesterol Total, LDL, Non-HDL, Triglycerides, and VLDL. All goodness!

Also Trig/HDL=36/71=0.507<<1: Excellent!

4/17/2017 T2DM measures:
Hemoglobin A1C 5.1% (Normal), and
Glucose 95 mg/dL (Std Range 70-100);
compare to 4/15/2014 A1C of 6.9% (>6.5 is full blown diabetes).

Excellent Lipid and T2DM measures are direct results of Ketogenic Diet/Lifestyle!! Kudos for Keto!!

[All of above sent as email message to: PCP who had me on statins (I unilaterally stopped taking them Nov 2015) and wants to do it again, cardiologist (stress test on 4/21/2017), endocrinologist (in diabetes department), and oncologist. Also, lately I’ve been zero-carbing; i.e., ~ Stefansson diet.]

image.png700×1225 45.3 KB

TIM NOAKES found NOT GUILTY
(Steve Stephenson) #9

6/15/2017 blood tests:

When I unilaterally stopped taking Simvastatin at the end of November 2015 my lipids jumped in the wrong direction. But since then my body has adapted to my ketogenic diet and exercise lifestyle with all my lipids significantly trending in the right direction (see graphs).

Indeed, the current probability I’d have a CV event is very low as evidenced by my extremely low triglycerides and high HDL (Trig / HDL = 32/79 = 0.41 < < 1.0 !!!). Also a recent stress-echo test showed no coronary artery blockages nor hints of them.

Keep calm and keto on,
-Steve

@DaveKeto do you have a theory as to why my lipid measures are getting better? I do standard fasting prior to tests and have been following keto, and lately zero carb, lifestyle.

(Dave) #10

The first obvious question I’d ask is: are you tracking your food closely?

This is relevant in that many who “relax” about cholesterol often eat more fat than they would’ve before coming up to their blood test and this would mean lower cholesterol scores due to the Inversion Pattern.

Thus, I’d be curious if you find you are eating more (relatively) compared to your prior diet…

(Steve Stephenson) #11

No. I used to use Carb Counter, but then switched my diet to zero carb (no plant foods except fatty fruits and their oils = olive, avacado, coconut) and have been adding tallow to my moderate protein (grass fed / finished beef) and coconut oil to my coffee. (Wups; + 1-2 handfuls of mixed salted nuts from Costco.) I’m trying to eat to satiety. My oncologist is worried about 10 lb weight loss since last chemo end of July 2016, so I agreed to hold weight at 150+ by eating more fat while increasing exercise to add muscle mass at expense of body fat (DEXA: 5/12/17, 150.4 lbs, 25.6% fat; next scan 11/17/17).

So I guess I have been increasing my fat consumption, but not on any 3 day schedule and not in anticipation of my blood tests.

Is it possible that if I persist I’ll change my lipid set points? I certainly want to continue to drive my trig/hdl ratio ever lower.

(Steve Stephenson) #12

I found a web site that supports @richard’s statement and explains the difference in units:
https://www.docsopinion.com/2014/07/17/triglyceride-hdl-ratio/

(Steve Stephenson) #13

From yesterday’s blood tests:
Trig / HDL = 34/81 = 0.41975,
Fasting blood glucose = 113 =~ 5.6% A1C.

Ate a bit too much protein!

#14

Good job Steve!!

Thanks for sharing your progress numbers!

Keep it up! :grinning:

(Steve Stephenson) #15

My Nov 2017 Lipids plugged into @DaveKeto’s new calculator show very low heart attack risk:

–==== CholesterolCode.com Report v0.8 ====–
Total Cholesterol: 354 mg/dL = 9.15 mmol/L
LDL Cholesterol: 264 mg/dL = 6.83 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol: 78 mg/dL = 2.02 mmol/L
Triglycerides: 58 mg/dL = 0.65 mmol/L

–CHOLESTEROL REMNANTS–
Remnant Cholesterol: 12 mg/dL = 0.31 mmol/L >>> Lowest Risk Quintile
Remnant Chol to HDL: 0.15 >>> Lowest Risk Quintile

Go to https://tinyurl.com/y8hokam2 for more on Cholesterol Remnants

–ATHEROGENIC INDEX OF PLASMA (AIP)–
AIP: -0.492 >>> Lowest Risk Third
Go to https://tinyurl.com/ycccmmnx for more on Atherogenic Index of Plasma

–CONVENTIONAL MARKERS AND RATIOS–
Friedewald LDL-C: 264 | Iranian LDL-C: 219
Total/HDL Ratio: 4.54
TG/HDL Ratio in mg/dL: 0.74 | in mmol/L: 0.32

(Steve Stephenson) #16

And here’s my Feb 21, 2018 Lipids:
–==== CholesterolCode.com/Report v0.8 ====–
Total Cholesterol: 334 mg/dL 8.64 mmol/L
LDL Cholesterol: 236 mg/dL 6.1 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol: 87 mg/dL 2.25 mmol/L
Triglycerides: 53 mg/dL 0.6 mmol/L

–CHOLESTEROL REMNANTS–
Remnant Cholesterol: 11 mg/dL = 0.28 mmol/L >>> Lowest Risk Quintile
Remnant Chol to HDL: 0.13 >>> Lowest Risk Quintile
Go to https://tinyurl.com/y8hokam2 for more on Cholesterol Remnants

–ATHEROGENIC INDEX OF PLASMA (AIP)–
AIP: -0.574 >>> Lowest Risk Third
Go to https://tinyurl.com/ycccmmnx for more on Atherogenic Index of Plasma

–CONVENTIONAL MARKERS AND RATIOS–
Friedewald LDL-C: 236 | Iranian LDL-C: 191
Total/HDL Ratio: 3.84
TG/HDL Ratio in mg/dL: 0.61 | in mmol/L: 0.27
[Goals: << 2.5 in mg/dL | << 1 in mmol/L;
which means LDL particles are big, fluffy, and not dangerous.]

=====

For 3.5 days prior to test I increased fat by adding 2-3 tbsp each of tallow and heavy cream to my 6-8 coffees/day, then fasted for 12 hours before test. As normally I ate ~1.5 lb ribeye steak and 3 eggs fried in 2 tbsp chicken fat.

#17

Nice Job Steve! :grinning:

Thanks for sharing!

When I look at your last two tests and your comment on the last one- Were you trying to increase “energy” with the hope of seeing a drop in total or ldl cholesterol? I’m curious.

Your Tg and HDL are so good already!

(Steve Stephenson) #18

I was trying to tap into @DaveKeto’s findings on 3-day inversion pattern (eat lots of fat during 3 days before fast) and preventing trig spike (fast for 12 hours before blood draw). See his web page http://cholesterolcode.com/. It seemed to have worked even with my modest increased fat intake.

(Steve Stephenson) #19

Using @DaveKeto 's calculator and my Lahey Clinic lipid panels I generated these interesting trend lines:

sksLipidRatioTrends

Interesting that TG/HDL and RC/HDL both indicate low risk.

sksLipidTrends

LDL rise 4/2015 to 10/2016:

  • transitioned from LCHF to keto diet 8/2015,
  • unilaterally stopped taking Simvastatin on 11/26/2015, and
  • had chemo treatments Summer 2016 (w/some steroids);

LDL rise 7/2017 to 11/2017:

  • started carnivory (ZC = zero carbs = no foods from plants).

Trig spike 1/2018 b/c I didn’t fast. I also may not have fasted >12 hrs on other dates where TG/HDL > 1.0.

I may also still be healing from external radiation treatments Winter 2011. And hormone treatments started Fall 2011 and continues to this day (so both my prostate specific antigen and testosterone levels are very low).