Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL & Triglicerides - someone explain?

[mortiferum]

Hope Im posting this in the right forum - did conside posting this question on the low carb / high fat diet sub forum but wasn't sure.

Could someone explain (or link me to a good and well explained relavent web page post).

I have done some very quick research on the subject and depending which sites I read a number of different calculations are used. Some just seem to look at Total Cholesterol and LDL levels, Others are looking at the Total Cholesterol /HDL ratio and HDL/LDL ratios etc.

Whats important here and what are the 'normal ranges' again various reference info I have from Drs state different ranges?

Confused and hoping for some clarity

Thank you

Morty
Total Cholesterol 5.88mmol/L
LDL 4.18mmol/L
HDL 1.35mmol/L
Triglycerides 0.8mmol/L

 

[jack412]

If you are going by conventional recommendations , your LDL is a touch high, <3.7 and total col should be <4 for a diabetic

 

[))Denise((]

I don't believe that cholesterol levels need to be fiddled with either by the use of statins or stanols. You need cholesterol, it is something that transports good things around your body. http://www.spacedoc.com/benefits_cholesterol

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi,

Some current thinking is that the triglycerides are the rogues as far as heart disease is concerned and that the "bad" cholesterol ie. the LDL isn't as bad as first thought. it is thought the ratio between triglycerides and the "good" cholesterol ie HDL is the important thing. This ratio should be below 2 in adults, 4 is high, and 6 is much too high. (Divide trigs by HDL)

The basic rules for diabetics are:

Total cholesterol should be below 4.0mmol/l
LDL should be less than 2.0mmol/l
HDL should be 1.0mmol/l in men and 1.2mmol/l in women
Triglyceride levels should be 1.7mmol/l or less.


Hope this helps.

 

[volorg]

Hi you don't say if you are male or female (assuming male?) or your age. Those things do matter. There are some great books around on this subject, the best I read being "The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It" by Malcom Kendrick. He recommends a cholesterol level above 6 for a woman over 60!

There are loads of resources on the web through google. Smashthefat.com is interesting with regards to the effects different diets have on cholesterol levels. Hit the video blog section for info on Sam's 21 day food trials.

Hope this is useful!