Blow your HDL through the roof

The HDL cholesterol value is one of the four values on any conventional lipid/cholesterol panel, along with total cholesterol, triglycerides, and calculated LDL cholesterol (what I call “fictitious” LDL because of its incredible inaccuracy when compared to superior measures). The HDL cholesterol value has some unique characteristics not shared by the others, however, and can serve as an index of overall health. Very high HDL values, for instance, are associated with extreme longevity. Centenarians typically have values of 90 mg/dl or higher. Higher HDLs are also associated with less risk for diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and dementia. Conversely, low values for HDL cholesterol can suggest that some bad things are going on in health. When I was in my 30s, I made the mistake of eating an ultra low-fat vegetarian diet. I only ate vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains, while avoiding all meats, fats and oils. After several months of my vegetarian lifestyle, my cholesterol panel showed an HDL of 27 mg/dl and triglycerides of 350 mg/dl, while my blood sugars were in the diabetic range (161 mg/dl fasting–very high).  As I came to understand diet and converted to a high-fat diet minus all grains and added sugars, my HDL increased to 94 mg/dl, triglycerides dropped to 47 mg/dl. (NMR lipoprotein analysis also showed zero small LDL particles, something I did not assess 25 years ago when I had the awful HDL/triglycerides, but small LDL back then...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle fish oil HDL longevity omega-3 saturated fat vitamin D Source Type: blogs