Actually around 80% of the cholesterol in the body is manufactured by the liver and the cells, and relatively little comes directly from the diet. Furthermore, total cholesterol is now widely recognised as being a very poor indicator of heart disease risk.
Far more meaningful are the individual components (the lipid profile) of total cholesterol, especially the high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglyceride levels. The triglyceride/HDL ratio is perhaps the single most significant measure of heart disease risk. The lower the triglycerides and the higher the HDL, the better. A triglyceride/HDL ratio of 2 or less is a good target, 1.3 even better.
Insulin and glucose combine to raise triglycerides and lower HDL, which is why a low fat, high carbohydrate diet may actually increase heart disease risk. It is commonly reported that those on low carb diets have better lipid profiles and certainly much improved triglyceride/HDL ratios, even though high carb diets can produce lower total cholesterol.
Please don't thump me with the stupid stick, can that be further put into laymens ?
HDL (the so-called 'good' cholesterol) should be as high as possible, and this goes up with LCHF. Triglycerides are strongly associated with carb consumption and go down with LCHF. So low values of trigs divided by. HDL (and total cholesterol divided by HDL) are good. LDL doesn't mean much because it comprises both small dense particles (bad) and big fluffy ones (bad).
Read Malcolm Kendrick or Jimmy Moore if you want more background to this.
HDL (the so-called 'good' cholesterol) should be as high as possible, and this goes up with LCHF. Triglycerides are strongly associated with carb consumption and go down with LCHF. So low values of trigs divided by. HDL (and total cholesterol divided by HDL) are good. LDL doesn't mean much because it comprises both small dense particles (bad) and big fluffy ones (bad).
Read Malcolm Kendrick or Jimmy Moore if you want more background to this.
Important typo there Rod
Do any of you have experience of this?
I'm trying the LCHF diet and keeping my blood sugars low, but I have previously had highish cholesterol so I'm worried about that now too!
I have been on the LCHF or ketogenic diet for a year and have seen my cholesterol drop in that time - my diabetic nurse is now not pushing me to reduce cholesterol at all as the good cholesterol has gone up at the same time while the bad has dropped. I eat full fat milk, cheese, clotted cream etc and where I can get it (!) full fat natural yoghurt. I only eat low GI fruits and avoid high starch veg too. I snack on olives and nuts and pork scratchings and occasionally make 85% dark choc courgette brownies. We are all different but for me it was logical to cut out all high sources of carbs and I certainly need the fat to make the diet palatable plus you simply cannot absorb the vitamin and mineral content of green leafy veg unless you eat it with some kind of fat.
It can be confusing at first.It's all very confusing to me.
I am a slim 70 year old pre diabetic with high blood pressure, cholesterol was high last time taken by GP and heart valve disease.
Fit as a fiddle wouldn't know I had a health problem if my GP had not tested my blood and the gym had not told me I had high blood pressure.