Having your blood taken at the lab is usually the easy part.
Understanding what your results mean and what to do about
them is much harder.
Doctor's seldom have the time to go thru the details of a cholesterol test with their
patients.
They often focus on a single value for total cholesterol to
simplify the results. This leaves patients feeling that they don’t really have a grasp of what the
numbers mean.
Your cholesterol test results provide four numbers that can
have an influence on your heart health.
Total CholesterolHDL the good cholesterolLDL the bad cholesterol
And Triglycerides.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
By themselves these numbers do not your predict heart risk.
Your cholesterol results need to be interpreted in the
context of your overall health, which includes factors like: your age, body mass index (BMI), smoking and exercise
levels.
Family history and the presence of other diseases
such as diabetes, high blood pressure are also important.
There are one easy to calculate ratio that can
predict your risk of heart disease, which I show you
towards the end of this video.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
Total Cholesterol
In general, values of below 8 mmol per litre or 300 mg per decilitre are acceptable and can usually managed by diet and exercise. This is not what
most doctors believe and many will start you on a lifetime treatment with a
statin drug in a heartbeat. The current guidelines suggest
that values of below 5.2 mmol per litre are desirable and values over 6.2 mmol/l
If you wish to learn more about cholesterol and the
billion dollar statin industry, a good place to start is the book by Dr Stephen Sinatra called the Great Cholesterol Myth.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
LDL Cholesterol
Usually called the Bad Cholesterol (which may not
be true)Lower LDL numbers are
better.
However the size of the LDL particles is important and can only be measured
by sophisticated tests.
Particle size is not reflected in a standard cholesterol
test.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
HDL Cholesterol
Higher values are thought to be protective.
Many studies have shown reduced levels of heart disease
in patients with higher HDL levels.
Increasing your HDL levels is a good idea and there are ways to increase HDL levels without
taking medication.
These include exercise, weight loss, taking more omega3, vitamin D supplementation, and stopping smoking and
eating less sugar.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
Triglycerides
Are used to transport excess carbohydrates
around the body.
In my experience high triglyceride levels are often related to the
excessive consumption of grains and sugars.
High triglyceride levels are predictive of
increased heart disease risk
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
Lastly and most importantlyHow do you use your cholesterol results to tell what sort of shape
your heart really is in?The evidence is quite clear that total
cholesterol is a poor predictor of heart disease.
Although various ratios of the 4 cholesterol numbers are used by doctors to predict risk of heart
disease in their patients, by far the most reliable is the triglyceride to
HDL ratio. It is easy to calculate.
Simply divide your triglyceride result by your HDL value.
This will give you a number between 1 and 10.
The lower your result, the lower your risk of developing heart disease.A result of 2 or less is considered
idealA result of 4 or over is high and over
6 is too high.
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
A study published in 2008 reports that a raised
Triglyceride to HDL ratio was the single most powerful predictor of
extensive coronary heart disease among all the variables examined.
The good news is that If your ratio is high, you can reduce it by lowering your
intake of sugars and grains, which will lower your
triglyceride levels. You can also increase your
HDL levels using the methods discuss earlier.
Take control of your health without resorting to a life sentence on statin drugs
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
DecarbDiet.com [email protected] (2014) Dr Howard Rybko
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