Cholesterol

[Max243]

I have recently had a blood test (hba1c, blood count and cholesterol)
I have a telephone appt next week to discuss
I have been very low carb for four months so fingers crossed. I remain active
I got a generic test from GP surgery today saying I would benefit from lowering my cholesterol . No results given but I'm guessing my cholesterol has
My cheese and cream consumption may have gone up and fat in general. I'm not overweight and have lost weight by lowering carbs
Should I be concerned about cholesterol?
Thank you in advance

 

[lessci]

Did they give you a "headline" figure or a HDL/LDL trigs split? In my personal opinion the overall figure a lot of people get is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. The HDL/LDL figures can be a bit more useful - there are various calculators you can put them into. BUT and it's a big one there is still a lot of debate on Cholesterol, there's a very long and detailed chain on the forum the you can peruse at your ledger.

 

[Max243]

Thank you for reply. I just got generic text saying I would benefit from lowering cholesterol. So now I know what to expect at telephone appt
Please where are cholesterol chains you mentioned

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I have recently had a blood test (hba1c, blood count and cholesterol)
I have a telephone appt next week to discuss
I have been very low carb for four months so fingers crossed. I remain active
I got a generic test from GP surgery today saying I would benefit from lowering my cholesterol . No results given but I'm guessing my cholesterol has
My cheese and cream consumption may have gone up and fat in general. I'm not overweight and have lost weight by lowering carbs
Should I be concerned about cholesterol?
Thank you in advance

Most cholesterol in your bloodstream doesn't come from what you eat, your body produces it... And when you're losing weight, it goes up because it's transporting fats out to be burned off. Once you stop losing weight, your cholesterol is likely to come down again. So maybe give it a little more time until your weight stabilises?

 

[KennyA]

There's quite a bit of recent research on cholesterol levels, plus a revisiting in the BMJ of the original Minnesota Coronary Experiment that was originally used to justify recommending lowering cholesterol.

I'd suggest having a look at the 2019 paper from the American College of Cardiology in particular.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...tm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-arrow-188

Journal of the American College of Cardiology:
•Several foods relatively rich in SFAs, such as whole-fat dairy, dark chocolate, and unprocessed meat, are not associated with increased CVD or diabetes risk.
•There is no robust evidence that current population-wide arbitrary upper limits on saturated fat consumption in the United States will prevent CVD or reduce mortality.

Total cholesterol and all-cause mortality by sex and age: a prospective cohort study among 12.8 million adults - Scientific Reports

It is unclear whether associations between total cholesterol (TC) levels and all-cause mortality and the optimal TC ranges for lowest mortality vary by sex and age. 12,815,006 Korean adults underwent routine health examinations during 2001–2004, and were followed until 2013. During follow-up...

www.nature.com

No simple conclusion from this huge Korean study but - U-curve associations between TC levels and mortality were found in both men and women. The TC range associated with the lowest mortality was 210–249 mg/dL (5.4- 6.4mmol/l). When age was further considered, U-curve associations were observed regardless of sex or age, and the optimal TC range for survival was 210–249 mg/dL (5.4- 6.4mmol/l) for each age-sex group, except for men at 18–34 years (180–219 mg/dL or 4.6-5.6 mmol/l ) and for women at 18–34 years (160–199 mg/dL or 4.1-5.1 mmol/l) and at 35–44 years (180–219 mg/dL or 4.6-5.6 mmol/l)


Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73)

Objective To examine the traditional diet-heart hypothesis through recovery and analysis of previously unpublished data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment (MCE) and to put findings in the context of existing diet-heart randomized controlled trials through a systematic review and...

www.bmj.com


Conclusion: Available evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that replacement of saturated fat in the diet with linoleic acid effectively lowers serum cholesterol but does not support the hypothesis that this translates to a lower risk of death from coronary heart disease or all causes. Findings from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment add to growing evidence that incomplete publication has contributed to overestimation of the benefits of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid.

Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study

Many clinical guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention contain risk estimation charts/calculators. These have shown a tendency to overestimate risk, which indicates that there might be theoretical flaws in the algorithms. Total cholesterol ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov


Conclusion: ".....If our findings are generalizable, clinical and public health recommendations regarding the ‘dangers’ of cholesterol should be revised. This is especially true for women, for whom moderately elevated cholesterol (by current standards) may prove to be not only harmless but even beneficial."

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I would only accept going onto statins if you are told your results. You can find them if you are able to login to your surgery IT system. If you don't have access then ask for that. As others have said there are a lot of discussions about blood cholesterol on the web and on this forum. Certainly you should look at your various 'lipids' ratios as well as you tri-glycerides. Note that eating sat fat is no longer considered by many as a cause of rising cholesterol. The liver produces your cholesterol and the carbs you eat are a major cause.