Hi everyone. I've been low carbing off an on for years but in the past it was just about looking good. I knew carbs = get fat.

But now that I have read a slew of new books and learning how dangerous high blood sugar is etc I am now committed for life for good health. I also found out my blood sugar was going higher than it should so now I'm even more motivated to stay low carb.

So anyway, I'm 49 and I just got my lipid panel done for the very first time and I'm not sure what to make of it. I have been seriously low carbing for 4 months now. I have been reading this board for a year- lurking.

My numbers are this:
total cholesterol: 250
HDL 67
LDL 166
Triglycerides 85

YIKES! I don't know much about how to interpret these numbers but I do know your HDL should be a lot higher than your LDL.

How do you think I managed to do that? And is triglycerides 85 good or bad I don't know anything about what the number should be.

Unfortunately the lab test did not test for big fluffy LDL vs dense LDL, the nurse at my doctors office had never even heard of this distinction (I asked).

What am I to make of these numbers?

Thank You all in advance.

ps that's kind of scary that us lay people know more about the 2 different kinds of LDL than doctors and nurses.

Actually, these look pretty normal. What makes you think that the HDL number should be a lot higher than the LDL number? That would not typical at all.

Oh really? I thought a rather high LDL could be mitigated by having a higher HDL.

I thought it was always good if your HDL was higher than LDL.

But I'm new at this I guess I will have research more tonight.

Don't know how long you've been low carbing this time but trigs should come down with low carb and HDL should go up.

This is a good interview to listen to to work out what you really need to worry about in terms of cholesterol.

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/...ters-most/16019

good luck

Thanks. I just read some stuff about HDL and LDL. (and will listen to your link) .

The real puzzler for me now is how can LDL be so high when my numbers for triglycerides and HDL are so normal/kind of good.

It just seems like if I was healthy, they would all correlate. From what I understand (so far) triglycerides are really bad. But my tri numbers are great, then why would LDL be so high in relation to my other numbers.

Any ideas? I wonder what makes LDL.

I have been seriously low carbing for 4 months.

Your HDL is already higher than what is considered good. HDL isn't likely ever to be higher than LDL, though. HDL may go up more as you continue on your plan, and maybe not. But, it is at a good level now.

LDL doesn't mean much of and by itself. Particle size and count are what are considered meaningful, but a regular test won't tell you that - a regular test simply estimates the amount of cholesterol being carried by LDL particles. If you want to know something meaningful about your low density lipoproteins, you can have an NMR test.

Your triglycerides are also quite good already, especially since they are below 100. Below 150 is typically considered okay. Below 100 is quite good.

Correlation with LDL isn't all that typical. A regular lipid test estimates the amount of cholesterol carried by low density lipoproteins. This doesn't necessarily say anything about particle size or count. However, triglyceride to HDL ratio below 2 is often indicative of large, fluffy LDL particles. Your ratio is 1.2, which is great.

LDL is simply a lipoprotein, like other lipoproteins, necessary to move substances such as cholesterol and fats in the blood from place to place. Cholesterol, for example, is not water soluble, so cannot move around in the blood on its own. Lipoproteins, such as LDL and HDL, are used to move it around in the blood to places such as cells which need the substances they are carrying.

Whew, thanks I appreciate it.

If you stick with low carb long enough you might see your HDL get up into the 80's and beyond. I think mine was 85 last time I tested. First time I got it tested it wasn't all that great. Maybe in the 40's.