Do you know what yours is and what the numbers mean? (I dont)

(Yes I just went to the Doc's.....)


My HDL is 50, and my LDL is 135.

128 I believe.  I don't worry about it actually.  I am 40 y.o. and eat pretty damn healthy.

Sgatr15

Both of mine were in their low 30s last year. Nobody (including the doctor) had even heard  of them being so low.

-Foxxz

256 or something like that, Im a skinny guy though

Quoted: Both of mine were in their low 30s last year. Nobody (including the doctor) had even heard  of them being so low. -Foxxz

what is your diet like?  what do/dont you like to eat?

158

Don't know the breakdown.

im only 24, i could care less......... for now

Quoted: 256 or something like that, Im a skinny guy though

256 is pretty high.  Especially if your skinny.

You should track:

Overall CHL
Good CHL
Bad CHL
Triglycerides

My overall is around 170
Good is 40ish
Bad is 130ish
Triglycerides flucuate but hang in the mid/high 200's.

/tracks these things
//first MI and Angioplasty at 32
//second MI at 33
//second Angioplasty...oh hey look at all that..nevermind...quintuple bypass at 36

Quoted: Quoted: Both of mine were in their low 30s last year. Nobody (including the doctor) had even heard  of them being so low. -Foxxz what is your diet like?  what do/dont you like to eat?

About the only thing I've done consistently over the past years is breakfast. Most of the time I eat cereal in whole milk with a cup of juice (OJ usually). I do this just because I like a cold breakfast and its fast. The cereals I usually stick to, Cheereos, korn flakes, raisin bran, pops, honeycomb, golden grams, and chex (usually not the sweet cereals though). Other then that all my other meals are normal. I don't eat alot of eggs either although I like them any way but raw

I used to rollerblade a fair amount but haven't and wasn't doing it too much at the time of the test. I am 24 right now. Test was probably a year or two ago.

I THINK I read whole grains or fiber was really good for lowering cholesterol, that combined with the cereal could explain it. Couldn't say for sure. I think the doc told me I didn't want to go much under 30. He wasn't worried, so I have indulged a little more in eggs and some foods.

-Foxxz

It means you need to switch to MINI-PANCAKES!!  

Quoted: Do you know what yours is and what the numbers mean? (I dont) (Yes I just went to the Doc's.....) My HDL is 50, and my LDL is 135.

Quoted: Quoted: what is your diet like?  what do/dont you like to eat? About the only thing I've done consistently over the past years is breakfast. Most of the time I eat cereal in whole milk with a cup of juice (OJ usually). I do this just because I like a cold breakfast and its fast. The cereals I usually stick to, Cheereos, korn flakes, raisin bran, pops, honeycomb, golden grams, and chex (usually not the sweet cereals though). Other then that all my other meals are normal. I don't eat alot of eggs either although I like them any way but raw I used to rollerblade a fair amount but haven't and wasn't doing it too much at the time of the test. I am 24 right now. Test was probably a year or two ago. I THINK I read whole grains or fiber was really good for lowering cholesterol, that combined with the cereal could explain it. Couldn't say for sure. I think the doc told me I didn't want to go much under 30. He wasn't worried, so I have indulged a little more in eggs and some foods. -Foxxz

go figure...you listed every food that I dispise
I hate cereal. (because I cant drink milk).  And anything else that contains whole grains...just tastes bad to me.

Guess I gotta change to eating dry cereal

My last cholesterol was 153.  Before that I was 126.

It is very dependant on diet.  When I don't eat right and excercise, that's when it's 150 or higher.  When I eat right, it is low.  I had one that was around 80 before.  My mom, a vegetarian, has had her in the 70s.

I'm going to get a complete lipid profile done before the year is out.  If I donate blood 4 or more times in a calender year, the blood bank will do the lipid profile for free.  


Quick cholesterol overview - you want total cholesterol under 200.   Lower is better.

Then, there is LDL and HDL.  They stand for low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein.  The way to remember them is LDL is LEAST desirable and HDL is HIGHLY desirable.  

Maybe I'm strange, but I treat the cholesterol thing like a game and want to see how low I can go.

go figure...you listed every food that I dispise I hate cereal. (because I cant drink milk). And anything else that contains whole grains...just tastes bad to me. Guess I gotta change to eating dry cereal

Doh! Sorry for your luck!

-Foxxz

FWIW I had let myself become overweight and unfit and did something about it a couple years ago. My cholesterol was pushing 300 at its worst. I can't remember the breakdown but it wasn't good. Oddly enough about 6 months, or 40 some pounds or so into my strict diet my triglycerides actually went up! It amazed me, and my neighbor (I'm a med tech, she is a nurse) because I had been eating so healthy for so long. We surmized it was my own body fat.

When I reached my goal wt, 60 lbs later my cholesterol was below 200 but my LDL was still  a little over 120. I had been growing my own basil and went on a pesto making binge, which involved eating more olive oil. I had also been snacking on nuts. My other fat consumption went down. My lipid profile after that was even better!

Then I got lazy and started eating in the hospital cafeteria. A lipid profile after that showed climbing cholesterol. I got with the program again and, including things like omega 3 oils and flaxseed in my food and had another good lipid profile.

I read about benecol and smart spread margarines. They include some plant stuff that's supposed to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise the good (HDL). I got some and I'll be danged if it didn't work! My HDL was almost 80 on my last lipid profile! I already eat a very healthy diet but it's still hard to keep my lipid profile good. Since I work in a lab I can check mine regularly, it helps me see what is working and what doesn't. The super low fat diet did not work for me, go figure. I think it was because the little bit of fat I ingested was not the good kind, I had read something somewhere about a balence between the omega 3 6 and 9 oils but I can't remember the details. Adding fat does add calories so I take that into account.

I did all this by changing my diet and adding a few supplements and exercizing. I try to avoid bad fatty foods as much as possible but I eat quite a bit of fish, nuts, oatmeat, peanut butter, and the smart spread stuff. I've just added lecithin as well, we'll see how that turns out.

My doctor wanted to put me on statins when it was bad. He also stated the obvious, that I was overweight, but I did not get offended  It took an old bicycle injury to make me change my ways though.

My total cholesterol is still over 160 but my HDL and LDL are good so I am happy. A lot of doctors seem to want to put people on pills that have already low cholesterols. Those things inhibit coenzyme CQ10 synthesis which seems to induce heart disease, and is also responsible for the muscle pain that some people experiance.  I've read a few things about how now they have found that the statins are actually worse for you if you have diabetes, in other words they make the heard disease worse, not better.

It was hard sticking to my diet but now it's like second nature. Bad food actually doesn't taste good to me anymore! Because it's not super low in fat, and is balenced I think it's easier to stick to. For instance, I frequently have oatmeal with a banana and peanut butter in it and since I love bananas and peanut butter I dont' crave junk food, the oatmeal IS my junk food. Except it has some flax seed in it plus the PB which is "good" fat. I eat a lot of fruit which seems to have satisfied my sweet tooth. About once a week I have a cheeseburger and french fries or a rare steak.

205 and 37 about four months ago.

Down and up from 4 years ago.  No drugs, just diet changes.

Quoted: Do you know what yours is and what the numbers mean? (I dont) (Yes I just went to the Doc's.....) My HDL is 50, and my LDL is 135.

Oh, to answer the question, HDL is high density lipoprotien and is the good stuff. Different labs might have slightly different normal ranges. I think our lab wants it to be above 70.

The LDL is low density lipoprotien and is the bad stuff. In most labs this is calculated from your total cholestol, hdl, and triglycerides. Some labs actually measure it directly, it's kind of a special test. I think 100-120 is borderline high in our lab.

THen there are formulas to determine your "risk factor". LIke your HDL/CHOL ratio. Labs will pick a formula and determine a normal range. All you really have to know is how yours measures up according to the lab that performed the test. There are slight variations from lab to lab so you shouldn't take numbers from one lab and stick them into the formula from another lab.

There is also a VLDL, or very low density lipoprotien. It's a calcualted test as well, normal ranges are given for each lab.

It's important to note that you have to take everything into consideration when determining a persons "heart risk". A high total cholesterol (within reason) may not be bad if the HDL is also high.

THere are also other tests that have become more meaningful in determining a persons risk like CRP and homocyctein levels but I'm not sure if they are popular yet. They are all related kind of. The CRP is a c reactive protien and is indicative of an inflamation process going on. Since it is now thought that heart disease comes about from an inflamation of the vessel walls, causing all kinds of nasty things like plaque to happen, this has become a new cardiac marker test. It can also indicate an infectioin somewhere and is frequently performed on newborn babies.

Since smoking causes inflamation and other negative changes in the blood vessels it is easy to see how it contributes to heart disease. I always hear smokers say "well you have to die of something" like lung cancer is the only thing smoking causes and like you just drop over and die. Actually lung cancer isn't as prevelant as heart disease, arterialsclerosis, and other quality of life factors smokers suffer from.

Hope this helps.

Quoted: My last cholesterol was 153.  Before that I was 126. It is very dependant on diet.  When I don't eat right and excercise, that's when it's 150 or higher.  When I eat right, it is low.  I had one that was around 80 before.  My mom, a vegetarian, has had her in the 70s. I'm going to get a complete lipid profile done before the year is out.  If I donate blood 4 or more times in a calender year, the blood bank will do the lipid profile for free.   Quick cholesterol overview - you want total cholesterol under 200.   Lower is better. Then, there is LDL and HDL.  They stand for low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein.  The way to remember them is LDL is LEAST desirable and HDL is HIGHLY desirable.   Maybe I'm strange, but I treat the cholesterol thing like a game and want to see how low I can go.

I kind of do the same thing but your body secretes it's own cholesterol as well, it's used in producing many hormones, so there is a lower limit to reach. The proportion of HDL and LDL is important also. I was really surprized when my ratios changed when I ate that margarine, I read about it on the clarence bass website.

I am also trying grapeseed veganaise. I'm not a vegatarian but I enjoy eating some of the same foods non the less. I was looking for smart spread mayo at the heath food store, I couldn't find any but some folks pointed out the "veganaise", which is mayonaise made with canola oil and no eggs. They kept going on and on about how delicous it was. I was skeptical but it was on sale so I got some. THEY WERE RIGHT!!!  It's actually better than real mayo!! It doens't come in fat free and I don't think it comes in lite so you have to consider the calories. The grapeseed stuff is supposed to support healthy lipid rations (raise HDL and lower LDL) so I"m giving that a shot as well.

They also suggested some peppercorn tofurky which believe it or not was pretty good! Like I said, I'm not a vegatarian but I don't see the point of not eating something just because the vegans like it! I think I am healthier though because there is some meat in my diet, I just limit my fatty red meat and try to eat more fish. I also like wild game.

HDL - 46
LDL - 100
Triglycerides - 150

I don't have exact figures (forgot), but I know my cholesterol is 150, HDL/LDL ratio good, and triglycerides excellent.

Lipitor + Zetia made it all possible.