Making Sense Out of Your Cholesterol Panel

Cholesterol testing is among the most common blood tests run in conventional healthcare, yet it is a perennial source of confusion and, to be honest, abuse by doctors who don’t appreciate the full implications of the values. It may surprise you to know that doctors focus on the least helpful values such as total or LDL cholesterol while often ignoring the two genuinely helpful values, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. HDL for instance is packed with useful insights into your health, as it is a reliable index of metabolic health. Low HDL, that I would define as less than 60 mg/dl, is a reflection of multiple health distortions such as insulin resistance, inflammation, excessive intra-abdominal fat, small LDL particles and VLDL that cause heart disease. 

You might also be surprised to learn that consuming fats only spikes triglyceride levels for a few hours, whereas the process of your liver converting carbohydrates to triglycerides can cause a much larger increase after six to eight hours or more. Discover the factors that can amplify this process, including insulin resistance, inflammation, excessive intra-abdominal fat, and even dysbiosis and small intestine bacterial overgrowth.

The road to cardiovascular health doesn't have to be paved with cholesterol. We'll reveal how VLDL particles and triglyceride levels are intricately linked, why it's essential to keep your triglycerides below 60 milligrams per deciliter, and how higher triglycerides can result in lower HDL levels. Discover how simple dietary changes can lead to lower triglycerides and higher HDL levels, and why measuring LDL particles using NMR lipoprotein analysis offers a more accurate picture than the commonly used LDL cholesterol. Join us as we dispel the myths around cholesterol and empower you to take control of your cardiovascular health.


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Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed