Thursday
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Brandon and I recently had our blood lipid panels done out of sheer curiosity. The results astounded me! Here are my numbers:
Total Cholesterol: 171 mg/DL (physicians recommend total cholesterol below 200, but this number is subject to drug companies push for statins.)
High Density Lipoprotein: 71 mg/DL (above 50 is recommended)
“the good cholesterol” HDL actually removes cholesterol from the blood stream and carries it to the liver for processing. This good cholesterol goes up in response to a healthy diet and consistent exercise.
Total Chol/HDL Ratio: 2.4
Uric Acid: 3.1
The total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio (and uric acid levels) is a number that is helpful in predicting an individual’s risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. This number comes from dividing Total Cholesterol by HDL cholesterol. High uric acid levels (related to gout and arthritis) are actually caused by diets high fructose (sugar from fruit) and BEER! My numbers puts me in the “very low” (25th percentile) risk group.
Both LDL and HDL are critically important for heart health, and lifestyle is key to optimizing both levels. Although dietary changes can help lower LDL, exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are especially vital for raising HDL. In general, women tend to have higher HDL numbers than men, but postmenopausal women need to stay especially vigilant. After you’ve gone through menopause, good cholesterol decreases. If you smoke, you can raise your HDL significantly just by quitting.
My triglycerides were tested and turned out to be a very low 36 mg/DL.
Normal: less than 150 mg/dL.
Many people have high triglyceride levels due to being overweight/obese, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and/or a diet very high in refined carbohydrates (60 percent or more of calories). High triglycerides are a lifestyle-related risk factor; however, underlying diseases or genetic disorders can be the cause.
Rather than another prescription, the best pill for boosting HDL and lowering triglycerides: Health-Bent and CrossFit.
Our diet consists of healthy grass-fed/pasture raised meats, wild caught fish, free range chicken and free range eggs (from a nearby farm), raw grass-fed cheese, milk & butter. No low-fat diet here! Does this sound like what your physician would recommend for lowering cholesterol and reducing heart attack risk? I. Don’t. Think. So.
No wheat (especially processed wheat!), no corn whatsoever—including and especially high fructose corn syrup and agave nectar, virtually no sugar, unless it is naturally occurring in foods like fruits, but we still eat them sparingly.
We snack on hard boiled eggs, lunch/cured meats, canned and smoked fish, beef jerky, dark chocolate and nuts. We avoid vegetable oils like safflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and canola oils. NO TRANS FATS at all, ever! Salads are dressed in extra virgin olive, coconut, avocado and macadamia nut oil.
No sodas, fruit juices or much alcohol, but occasionally a beer or wine. We drink coffee, tea, water, and my new favorite beverage, all natural, nothing added coconut water or coconut juice.
Sound extreme? No, really it isn’t. And yes, we have been known to gorge on French fries once in a while.
Because of all the propaganda that’s out there about cholesterol and saturated fats, you may think that cholesterol itself and saturated fats are harmful substances that should be avoided at all costs. Many still do. In fact, though, quite the opposite is true. Cholesterol is an essential element in our bodies. It is found in all the cells of the body, particularly in the brain and nerve cells. As our cells go through the constant renewal process of dying, and news ones being made; cholesterol is a major building block from which our cell walls are made.
Cholesterol is also used to make a number of other important substances: hormones (including the sex hormones), bile acids and, in conjunction with sunlight on the skin, vitamin D 3.
