I went in for a physical last week and so did the wife. I was at 259 and the wife 256. HDL 130 up 14 points from 3 years ago. My doctor wanted me to go on a cholesterol medication which I refused. To be honest since Covid hit and until April 8th of this year when I stop working stress is high at work and doing multiple jobs. Plus I don’t eat well because I live in my car and grab way too much fast food for lunch, breakfast is always oatmeal and a banana. Dinner is 98% of the time very sensible as in low or no cholesterol. Both my wife and I have committed ourselves to a low cholesterol diet. I guess to add fuel to the fire since I’m working and have no life my level of training hours per week have dropped to half of what it was before. My daughter who is a doctor agrees with me about diet, training more when I stop working and at that time my stress level will drop drastically. All other vitals are great.
With a very healthy diet and really good training hours, for over thirty years my cholesterol level was between 210 and 220. My doctors wanted to put me on Lipitor but I refused. Two or three years ago the cardiologist said ‘‘how about if you try the baby level?’’ He gave me 10 mg per day. I don’t feel anything and my cholesterol is now in the 170’s
Give it a try. If you have side effects, you can always stop the medication.
Full Disclosure: I work for the company the makes Lipitor - Generic now as atorvastatin
For starters,
You have a very HIGH HDL. This is your “good” cholesterol. I would be interested to see what your LDL is. Since triglycerides are inversely related to HDL your trigs will probably be very low. Data from one of the largest epidemiological studies, the Framingham Heart Study, showed that those who had a high HDL also had very low rates of CAD
The biggest thing IMO you want to look at is family history. Of all the risk factors, minus smoking, this one is the one you want to pay close attention to. Did your father have a heart attack or need a stent or CABG at a younger age ~ 40-55? Any Uncles or brothers? If not, and if you make an effort to eat healthier, I would say your risk is rather low. Especially since you lead an otherwise healthy lifestyle
Statins ie: Lipitor have a wealth of data showing they can reduce the risk of M.I /stroke/CAD. Since the advent of the first statin, Mevacor, back in the late 80-'s, morbidity and mortality from heart disease have been reduced. Statins do come with a risk of adverse events. The most notable being myalgia, which isn’t fun for an endurance athlete.
Have a long talk with your doctor and take a deeper look at your overall lipid panel And FWIW - low cholesterol diets are not nearly as important as a diet low in the saturated/hydrogenated fats and high in lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies and high fiber…you know, the stuff Mom told you to eat as a kid (-;
Not enough coffee earlier. My LDL’s are 130. HDL’ s 83. Had it bass ackwards. Also no one in my family has died from a heart attack except for my grandfather and he was obese.
Timely post. I had my blood work done Andy cholesterol is high, has been my whole life, but my doc isn’t that concerned because my ratio isn’t high risk. No one in my family has any heart issues and at 36 I do not want to start meds I might have to be on my entire life. Here are my numbers for comparison.
I’m really not all that different than the OP (OP, how old are you?). Little/no family history. I’m 61. The interesting thing is that my LDL seems to really bounce around, and therefore making my total bounce around. Seems weird to me. Prior to the pandemic my total was 146. 10 years ago it was 219. My HLD has stayed very constant. Although I am getting slower, my fitness, habits, weight, etc have been very consistent and stable. My MD has no concerns at all, but does think the bouncing around is unusual . . . several times redid tests just to confirm. Thoughts?
The “normal values” of cholesterol in this country are too high- plenty of people are still suffering with cardiovascular disease with “normal” lipid levels. Those norms were set when people were already consuming an unhealthy diet.
Cholesterol in your diet is different than “cholesterol” in your body. They are connected and a diet high in cholesterol is generally not good. Dietary cholesterol comes from animal sources which are also high in saturated fat - which is also not good for your numbers or CV risk. The blood levels are better describes as “lipids” and include the measurement of particles that contain/transport cholesterol, lipoproteins, and lipids in your body.
Advice:
My best for you all is to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet. A great book is Caldwell Esselstyn’s “Prevent and reverse heart disease.” A good documentary is “Forks over knives”. And a good website is “nutritionfacts.org.”
My favorite quote of his is “There are two types of cardiologists, vegans, and those that don’t that haven’t read the data.”
Disclaimer/Disclosure- I am a physician (surgeon), but not a cardiologist or a dietician. I am passionate about nutrition and health (and performance) and study the science as much as I am able.
Eat a lot of healthy vegetables and do strength, cardio training. If you don’t have much time to train, don’t go easy and hit it hard. I used to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, but they are all gone.
If you want a deep dive into cholesterol I HIGHLY suggest this podcast. It really explains what you should and shouldn’t be worries about.
I work in a cardiac lab and spend a lot of time talking to Doc’s about all things related to health and performance. A lot of them I ride with. I’ve learned one thing over the past few year is cholesterol by itself is kind of a nonsense measurement, and only paints a very small piece of the puzzle.
I have different experience, but certainly relevant
I swam at university and when I graduated spent a few years drinking like a maniac and overeating. Gained ~10kg and obviously a big loss of fitness. I do have a family history, but only in the non athletes who have a poor diet.
I left swimming shredded over a dozen years ago. Ate everything in site and drank inappropriately but did a ton of training.
~mid to late 2000s.
Total 185
HDL 61
LDL 95
TRI 143
VLDL 29
A few years of minimal workouts and poor diet + everyday alcohol ~late 2000s
Total 251
HDL 110
LDL 104
TRI 186
VLDL 37
~2010 within 3 months of quitting alcohol forever, cleaning up my diet, training seriously I was 74 kg.
Total 151
HDL 66
LDL 88
TRI 130
VLDL 21
12 years later I hover ~70 kgs, never drank again, eat well (but enjoy plenty of cakes and pies) and train under very knowledgeable guidance. It is essentially the same every year.
I am NOT a doctor so I do think certain people are naturally inclined to higher cholesterol no matter what they do, but from my experience and my family those with high quality lifestyle (diet and exercise, no excesssive drinking and no smoking) live until their 80s/90s. I have portion of my family who does not partake in exercise, many struggle with excess drinking and poor diets…almost all of them have died younger (50s/60s) and partly related to cardiac events.
And again this case might be fairly unique as I still consumed my swimming calories upon graduation and I struggled for a few years with drinking. I just think in general a quality diet and nicely built aerobic system is critical no matter who you are.
Not enough coffee earlier. My LDL’s are 130. HDL’ s 83. Had it bass ackwards. Also no one in my family has died from a heart attack except for my grandfather and he was obese.
Pretty sure according to the most recent guidelines, statins aren’t recommended for you.
Advice:
My best for you all is to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet. A great book is Caldwell Esselstyn’s “Prevent and reverse heart disease.” A good documentary is “Forks over knives”. And a good website is “nutritionfacts.org.”
My favorite quote of his is “There are two types of cardiologists, vegans, and those that don’t that haven’t read the data.”
this is highly cherry picked biased resources.
To OP… it seems your fix is easy. avoid the fast food (unless its chipotle?). Cholesterol is made from the fats you eat. Artificial transfats is a big influencer on whether your arteries get clogged, mostly found in fried foods even if it is “vegan”.
If you want a deep dive into cholesterol I HIGHLY suggest this podcast. It really explains what you should and shouldn’t be worries about.
I work in a cardiac lab and spend a lot of time talking to Doc’s about all things related to health and performance. A lot of them I ride with. I’ve learned one thing over the past few year is cholesterol by itself is kind of a nonsense measurement, and only paints a very small piece of the puzzle.
Curious if you or the other poster up who works in pharma knows is there truly a hereditary disposition to poor cholesterol numbers, or is this purely inherited and passed down through family lifestyle and diets.
From what I’ve heard, read and understand it depends on the type of cholesterol. Apo(b) and Lp(a) are types of cholesterol that are not commonly tested for. They are nearly 100% generically driven and you cannot really change them by lifestyle. I actually have a very high Lp(a) cholesterol despite being highly active, a life long endurance athlete, eating well, and all my other cholesterol numbers being very low. They also play a large roll in indicating cardiac risk factors. LDL and HDL are a bit of both. Genetics play a roll, but so does lifestyle. The podcast I linked does a really deep dive into all of this.
If you want a deep dive into cholesterol I HIGHLY suggest this podcast. It really explains what you should and shouldn’t be worries about.
I work in a cardiac lab and spend a lot of time talking to Doc’s about all things related to health and performance. A lot of them I ride with. I’ve learned one thing over the past few year is cholesterol by itself is kind of a nonsense measurement, and only paints a very small piece of the puzzle.
Curious if you or the other poster up who works in pharma knows is there truly a hereditary disposition to poor cholesterol numbers, or is this purely inherited and passed down through family lifestyle and diets.
It depends. There are genetic conditions called Familial Hypercholesterolemias. Probably for most it’s more lifestyle and less genetics.
From what I’ve heard, read and understand it depends on the type of cholesterol. Apo(b) and Lp(a) are types of cholesterol that are not commonly tested for. They are nearly 100% generically driven and you cannot really change them by lifestyle. I actually have a very high Lp(a) cholesterol despite being highly active, a life long endurance athlete, eating well, and all my other cholesterol numbers being very low. They also play a large roll in indicating cardiac risk factors. LDL and HDL are a bit of both. Genetics play a roll, but so does lifestyle. The podcast I linked does a really deep dive into all of this.
Thanks again. I have it queued up for my trainer ride as soon as I get the kid to sleep.
Unless I missed it, surprised no one has recommended you to get a cal scan. The numbers are one thing, but what is “actually” happening inside your body is a much better indicator of what steps are next for you. For example, you could be at a 20 or less, which would indicate you don’t have such sticky plaque at the moment. Or you could come up with a 300+ score, which would certainly light a fire under you and make this choice of yours quite apparent…
Any reason you haven’t gotten this simple and pretty cheap test yet??
I have naturally occurring high cholesterol, thanks Mom! Just had blood work done 2 months ago.
Total Cholesterol: 314
LDL: 131
HDL: 167
Tryg: 69
I also have had a Calcium scan and everything was fine. I am not on and never will go on statins.