High HDL or low HDL?

[f1jim]

Almost everyone following a McDougall type diet sees their HDL drop along with LDL. It scares some that have read high HDL is very important to cardiovascular health. Our nutritional gurus like DRS. McDougall, Ornish, Esselstyn, Pickney, and others say that the drop in HDL is perfectly normal. We don't need high HDL if we are following a diet low in dietary cholesterol. Here is a study that explains it's really about how efficient your HDL is not how high it is that matters. This validates the work of our fine doctors in a more technical way:

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=648737

f1jim

[stirFry]

That's really cool. I never worried about that too much though...

"The function of the HDL was an even better predictor of the thickness of the carotid wall than the HDL level itself"

I wonder if they will develop a test to test this instead of just HDL levels.

[donaldpete]

I stopped taking Crestor and Tricor when I adopted the McDougall diet. My doctor says that while my total choesterol is in the good range even without medication, he is concerned about the lowering of my HDL. What is an acceptable range for HDL when doing the "Starch Solution" diet?

[stirFry]

The ratio between HDL and LDL is what's important. Since we have lower LDL's it's okay to have lower HDL because there isn't as much LDL to clear out. I'm not sure what the healthy ratio is though.

[blondie]

I don't think the ratio matters much as long as your total cholesterol is 150 or below.

[somnolent]

That is interesting, f1jim. Too bad they do not offer that test commercially.

[BeanBubby]

Very, very interesting article. Thank you for posting that!

[kkrichar]

Well, I've never worried about how well my HDL performed. Something I can add to my list of concerns now. I just assumed if I didn't consume any dietary cholesterol and had a low fat diet there wouldn't be any unwanted cholesterol in my system for the HDL to get rid of. I know my body naturally produces cholesterol but is it unwanted? How can someone know if their HDL is functioning well?

[TominTN]

I think the point is that we don't need to worry about it.

[asmith]

Is it just me, or does all this conflicting information out there just take you over the top sometimes? I've read Dr. McDougall and Dr. Esselstyn who both say not to be concerned about the HDL, but I went to People's Pharmacy the other day to get a reading and my total was 134 and my HDL was <15. Evidently their system does not register a number for HDL if it is under 15, and it also didn't give me a reading for LDL, because it is calculated using the HDL reading and the total. (I found out the other day that the LDL in most of the tests we take for cholesterol is not actual, but calculated.)

[f1jim]

Your numbers look excellent to me! I'm one of those strong believers that total cholesterol is the important number. If you are bugged by the low HDL, and reading Dr. McDougalls take on it, bump it up with exercise. But since the HDL is important to carry away oxidized LDL, and your number is low to begin with, higher HDL is not necessary. In any given population you will see near zero incidents of heart disease with a TC that low.
f1jim

[asmith]

Thanks James! That's reassuring. Your story, also, is very encouraging. It took me too long, like it appears so many others, to realize I couldn't do the Dr. McDougall program haphazardly. I have gotten total cholesterol readings of 167 and 155 in between some of these 134 and 137 readings, but hope I can figure out how to keep it under 150. I would say I've been diligently McDougalling for about two months now, and am feeling some better, but feel like I still want and need to feel better. Did it take some time to really feel like you were well on your way? Thank you for your reply!

[f1jim]

My biggest complaint was angina that limited my ability to walk. I was unable to walk more than a handful of steps without encountering pain. That started to wane over the course of several a couple of months. I haven't had any angina in a couple years. My mother, with advanced heart disease suffered from a lack of breath soon after any physical movement. It got better after her bypass but has returned again soon after.
f1jim

[flabingo]

I have raised my HDL from 42 to 51 with regular exercise. Combined with my LDL of 89, I have a ratio of under 3.0.
The blood report says that i have "half risk" .
My information suggests that HDL can be a genetic curse or blessing, which can be dealt with by behavior- exercise and diet. At this time there is no approved pill for increasing HDl. In fact recently a major drug company abandoned a program to produce a pill to increase HDL. I choose to believe that heart health is 80% behavior and 20% genetic, as suggested by Campbell, McDougal, Esselstyn, etc. I remember meeting Jack LaLanne, who had a big Veggie/fruit cocktail each morning and plenty of vodka at night. Seemed to work well for him. But I don't recommend the vodka.
Humana pays for my gym 100% because they have figured out that it helps their bottom line if I am healthy. What a concept!!!