Lifting for About 2 Yrs Now, Did Blood Work and Cholesterol was High! Nervous

Nutrition
1

typically i eat fine, but these are the numbers
total cholesterol is 235, it should be under 200
HDL is 40.
LDL is high they said, 177
TRIGLYCERIDES is 76

how freaking bad are these numbers? since i started lifting i have increased my red meat intake by ALOT.

trying to avoid medicine at all costs. as my diet is not bad since i try to eat healthy and lift, he said to add more cardio after the sessions too. and il probably cut out all red meat for now.
anyone have any input and advice on this, im trying to avoid medication at all cost cus once ur on its for life.

2

According to who?

Total cholesterol becomes a little meaningless when you are maxing out HDL like that. Mine is 80, and drives my total number high.

3

Do you have a strong family history of heart disease or type 2 diabetes?
Have you been shown to have blockages, or a high calcium score?
Are you very over-fat? (need to lose 20% of body weight or more)

If you answered no to these, then your numbers may very well be ideal. Lowering your cholesterol might not even be good for you.

(How much red meat and what are your sources?)

4

Total Cholesterol

This number doesn’t mean much.

Total Cholesterol = HDL 40 + LDL 177 + (Triglycerides 76/5)

Football Game Analogy

Total Cholesterol is similar to “Time of Possession” in a football game. You add up the amount of time each team had the ball and you end up with 60 minutes.

The amount of points scored is more important than the “Time Of Possession”.

That means there are other number that are more important than you Total Cholesterol number.

LDL

LDL has been vilified as the evil number. You LDL number is high.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad.

The determinate factor of if you LDL is good or bad is the percentage of your Sub Particle LDL.

Particle A LDL

If you have a large percentage of Particle A LDL, that good.

Particle B LDL

If you have a large percentage of Particle B, that bad.

Particle Size Test

Physicians can have your LDL Particle Size tested. However, they never do nor do that educate you about it. There a variety of reason that they don’t; none or are good reasons.

With that said, there is an anecdotal method, based on your present numbers that can tell you about your LDL Particle Size. However, we first need to look at your other numbers.

HDL

It okay. Higher is better.

Triglycerides

Your Triglyceride number is great.

Triglycerides are driven by high carbohydrate intake; evidently, you carbohydrate intake is fairly low.

Triglyceride:HDL Ratio

One of the most dominate factors in determining your cardiovascular health is this ratio.

Good: 2.0 or less is very good; indicating you have more good Particle A LDL.

Bad: 4.0 or higher is bad; indicating you have more bad Particle B LDL

Your Ratio.

Your Triglycerides 76 divided by HDL 40 = 1.9…very good.

Remnant Cholesterol

This is another factor that determines your cardiovascular health; few physician know about it.

Remnant Cholesterol = Total Cholesterol - (LDL 177 + HDL 40).

Based on the formula, your Remnant Cholesterol is: 18

A reading of 20 or less is good.

What;s Driving Your LDL Number

Saturated Fat increases LDL. Ironically, Saturated Fat also increases your HDL.

Based on your Triglycerides:HDL Ratio and your Remnant Cholesterol Numbers, you’re fine.

However, if you want to decrease your LDL Number…

  1. Decrease your Saturated Fat Intake.

  2. Replace your Saturated Fat Intake with Monounsaturated Fats, Omega 9’s: Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, Avocados, Nuts (fairly high to high in Monounsaturated Fats, depend on the nut), etc.

Cardio

Cardio is very effective at increasing your HDL.

However, it is not going to do much to decrease your LDL; your LDL is 75% of your Total Cholesterol, something to remember.

T3hPwnisher

HDL: 80. His HDL is being close to off the grid. It is a great reading.

Based on his number, I’d suspect that his cardio is driving the number; probably High Intensity Interval Training.

Mertdawg

Based on the answer to his questions…

“If you answered no to these, then your numbers may very well be ideal. Lowering your cholesterol might not even be good for you.”

Most Physician

The majority of physicians, for some reason, are up today on how to correctly interpret a Blood Lipid Panel.

Kenny Croxdale

1 Like
5

By the way, HDLs in excess of about 60 show no added benefits and may show worse prognosis. Very low LDL may also be a sign of chronic infection since LDL tends to get depleted by an activated immune system.

1 Like
6

Agree. That is what I was attempting to convey in my response.

8

Excess HDL

Interesting.

  1. What would entail it showing a worse prognosis? What would they be?

  2. Do you have any research article that I can read on that?

I’ve seen some information on LDL being an issue.

Kenny Croxdale

9

thank you so much for all this info, makes me feel alot better, as a 23 year old who is moderately fit, i dont wanna go on medication. you think just keep doing what im doing right now as a diet or shuld i make some changes?

10

i [quote=“T3hPwnisher, post:2, topic:251869”]
Total cholesterol becomes a little meaningless when you are maxing out HDL like that. Mine is 80, and drives my total number high.
[/quote]
yea i understand that. you think maxing out at 40 is to much of a fine line? i shuld deff increase it right

11

Why do you want your HDL even higher than 40?

12

(for example)

A primary point I would make is that blood lipids may usually be more a sign of health status than a cause of health status.

13

thanks! great read

14

cus the doc told me 40 is borderline healthy, an lower then 40 is unhealthy, he told me to increase the HDL and decrease the LDL lol

15

cus my doctor said thats borderline good, any less then 40 is bad and that i shuld increase it a lil, im not sure, is that not true?