Cholesterol levels - advice please

[zand]

Serum triglyceride levels 2.9 mmol/L [0.3 - 1.8]
Serum cholesterol level 3.7 mmol/L
Serum lipid levels
Serum HDL cholesterol level 0.91 mmol/L
Serum non high density lipoprotein cholesterol level 2.79 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 4.1 mmol/mmol
Serum LDL cholesterol level 1.47 mmol/L

These are the results of a male family member aged 52. I'd appreciate your comments and advice please as I'm not that good with understanding results and even worse at explaining them to someone else.

Any advice or insight into any of the figures would be helpful. Which figures need improvement and what can he do to help himself?

Thanks

 

[satindoll]

Hi @zand suggest you try putting his numbers in this calculator, its the one I use when I get my results and it will tell you which if any need work, what it can't do is tell you what you need to do I'm afraid you need someone more knowledgeable than me for that. good luck
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

 

[zand]

Thanks @satindoll.

OK so the following came up when I put those figures in...

Your Total Cholesterol of 3.70 is DESIRABLE
Your LDL of 1.45 is OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 0.91 is HIGH RISK

Your Triglyceride level of 2.91 is HIGH RISK

RATIOS:

Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 4.07 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) GOOD
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.628 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 7.320 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) VERY HIGH RISK

 

[zand]

Now, I have already told him that I felt his trigs were too high and that I reduced mine by following LCHF. I am aware though that men and women's cholesterol levels can react differently and I would hate to mislead him and send him down the wrong route. Sat fats have helped me reduce my cholesterol levels but I have read some posts from men on here that suggest it doesn't work like that for them. I'm pretty sure he has been on (and is still on) statins, and that would presumably explain the relatively low HDL and LDL as compared to the trigs. I have never taken statins. Is it usual for the trigs to be so high with such low LDL and HDL?

 

[andcol]

the important ratio is trig/hdl which is 3.2 and needs to be under 0.8 (2 if in mg/dl) and the lower the better. His trigs are massively high and HDL very low. Does he has some level of insulin resistance/pre-d?

 

[andcol]

he is in an extremely poor place and squashing his hdl down probably puts him in a worse place. He needs to take dietary action now to help himself

 

[SunnyExpat]

What's his diet like?
And his bmi?

 

[zand]

he is in an extremely poor place and squashing his hdl down probably puts him in a worse place. He needs to take dietary action now to help himself

So... I know reducing carbs is sensible. What about fats? As I said I'm fine with all fats so can't really advise him out of my own experience as I'm not a guy.

 

[zand]

Does he has some level of insulin resistance/pre-d?

ummmm...possibly, he is a bit overweight.

 

[zand]

What's his diet like?
And his bmi?

His diet could be better. I reckon he probably drinks more beer than he should. Not sure of his BMI, possibly at the lower end of the 30-35 range?

 

[andcol]

i would suggest you talk to him about reducing his carbs for a few months

 

[SunnyExpat]

There are a lot of carbs and cals in beer.
BMI is overweight/obese, so that would suggest eating more than is needed at the moment.

I found overeating puts my trigs up, as I process the extra calories and store them as fat, and the trigs are part of the mechanism.

Depending on his diet, simply knocking off the beer a bit, and taking out the processed carbs would be a good step. Changing the beer to a low carb one, would help that as well. I wouldn't change/up the fat, as it looks like less is better, so if he replaces one set of calories with another, he may not benefit. (Although I do better on non saturated fats, so it could be worth a nudge that way initially, as it's the sort of catch all option, if you're one of the ones saturated fats do affect.)
Exercise was helpful to me as well.

 

[zand]

Thank you @SunnyExpat That's a really useful post. I know you and I differ on our responses to various fats, but I think your diet would probably help this guy more than my own diet which is full of saturated fats.

 

[andcol]

There are a lot of carbs and cals in beer.
BMI is overweight/obese, so that would suggest eating more than is needed at the moment.

I found overeating puts my trigs up, as I process the extra calories and store them as fat, and the trigs are part of the mechanism.

Depending on his diet, simply knocking off the beer a bit, and taking out the processed carbs would be a good step. Changing the beer to a low carb one, would help that as well. I wouldn't change/up the fat, as it looks like less is better, so if he replaces one set of calories with another, he may not benefit. (Although I do better on non saturated fats, so it could be worth a nudge that way initially, as it's the sort of catch all option, if you're one of the ones saturated fats do affect.)
Exercise was helpful to me as well.

I agree with this - cut the beer and any obvious sugar to start with and dont replace the calories. His trigs are being driven up by the carbs and also the alcohol substantially which will be increasing any IR and you get into the spiral.

 

[zand]

I agree with this - cut the beer and any obvious sugar to start with and dont replace the calories. His trigs are being driven up by the carbs and also the alcohol substantially which will be increasing any IR and you get into the spiral.

thanks so much. Now to break the news ....

 

[zand]

What's his diet like?
And his bmi?

Just tried to work out his BMI - 32.7

 

[SunnyExpat]

Just tried to work out his BMI - 32.7

moderately obese.

Definately sounds like the beer and the snacks, and the junk food need to go I'm afraid.
It was suggested switching to wine, or shorts and diet mixers, but that didn't work for me, as I drink those in the same volumes, rather than the same number of rounds!

 

[zand]

moderately obese.

Definately sounds like the beer and the snacks, and the junk food need to go I'm afraid.
It was suggested switching to wine, or shorts and diet mixers, but that didn't work for me, as I drink those in the same volumes, rather than the same number of rounds!

lol yep me too

 

[donnellysdogs]

@zand

My hubby as you prob remember had levels totally round the wrong way on sat fat. And put on 40 atorvastatin.

The statins lowered his HDL even more.

As we changed to avocados, Olive oil etc his wrong way round levels started to reverse.

His HDL dropped even more. Spoke to GP and he agreed for hubby to stop the statins as LDL and trigs had improved.

All his figures are round the right way now and his HDL although not high has improved significantly.

His trigs remain under 1.6.

His GP happy for him to carry
In with med diet.

He does sometimes have a cake at work if others have birthdays etc but he doesn't have sandwichs or crisps and jyst his walnuts and 2 sq dark choc now.
He not drunk beer for 20 years. He does cycle 6 miles each day now.

Cutting out **** was relatively easy as he had me supporting him and although he makes all the food in our house previously I talked a lot and showed him what his levels meant and what could be done. He did the hard but though of cutting the **** at work.. It may be a struggle for some guys to keep to...

 

[zand]

@donnellysdogs Thanks so much for posting. That's very encouraging.

Yes I did remember that your hubby was one of the ones who didn't do well on sat fat. It doesn't affect me in that way so that's why I needed help because I have no personal experience to use on this one. If I remember correctly atorvastatin is the same statin that this guy is taking too. I'll try to sound enthusiastic about avocados and olive oil and the Mediterranean diet when I speak to him next. It has to be worth a try. Thank you.