cholesterol?

[Lukesgramma]

I've been 100% vegan and close to 100% raw for over 2 decades.

Imagine my surprise when I was screened for serum (total) cholesterol and it was 190! That seems very high to me. It's higher than many of the meat-eaters that I know.

The only thing I can figure is that either the screening was faulty, or maybe my HDL (the good cholesterol) is really, really high. Does anyone here have a very high HDL level?

I exercise regularly. I'm small (5'), 59, and weigh about 90 pounds. I eat a moderate quantity of nuts/seeds (1/4 to 1/2 cup per day), and sometimes maybe 1/4 to 1/2 avocado. I usually fast (water only) once a week. I eat a lot of fruit.

I made a doctor appointment for Thursday to find out my HDL/LDL/trigliceride levels.

Any comments or advice?

[sport]

Mine is high.
Over here you are put on drugs if you are over 5 and my last reading was 7.5. I would not be able to get life insurance unless I agreed to take the drugs. Luckily I do not want life insurance. I have not eaten meat for 36 years and have not had any dairy for 9 years. I am 112 lbs.
I think that it is my lack of exercise and I am trying to incorporate more exercise in to my day.

[sport]

Do you have any arthritis or anything that could cause inflammation in your body. I did consider that it was some sort on inflammation reaction.

[Revvell]

Any comments or advice?

Yes. Don't believe everything they tell you. Their tests have been known to be about 50% inaccurate. Take a second test.

I was told I was pregnant the day I was to get my tubes tied. This was in one of the most prestigest (sp) hospitals in the world. Well, they were wrong!

[lafsalot]

"I was told I was pregnant the day I was to get my tubes tied. This was in one of the most prestigest (sp) hospitals in the world. Well, they were wrong!"

Believe it or not, so was my father! A pregnancy test was not only included in his pre-operative lab work, but the results also indicated that he too was pregnant

[BGH]

I have read that these numbers are quite arbitrary. Who's to say what's high anyway. Besides many many studies have shown that high numbers are NOT a predictor of heart attack, or heart disease. Unless your LDL number are very high in comparision to the HDL I wouldn't worry.

You are not overweight, eat healthy, and feel good, no? At least half of all heart attack victims do NOT have high cholesterol. And many many of those with "high" never have any heart trouble. There is something else going on.

Mary Eng says somewhere in her writings (I think Weston Price stuff) that she overhead some researchers deciding on 300 as the upper limit for cholesterol just because they had to come up with a number - and they did.

We have all become so fearful of this that we live our lives according to numbers that are just pulled out of a hat.

[Revvell]

Believe it or not, so was my father! A pregnancy test was not only included in his pre-operative lab work, but the results also indicated that he too was pregnant

Was he? ;) I'm sure he was thrilled. I refused the tubal ligation. Thought they might give me a C-section instead.

[lafsalot]

Was he? ;) I'm sure he was thrilled. I refused the tubal ligation. Thought they might give me a C-section instead.

"thrilled" isn't exactly the word I would use to describe his first reaction.....more like fit to be tied, especially when they later charged him for the test. Of course he nipped that one in the bud.

[Revvell]

"thrilled" isn't exactly the word I would use to describe his first reaction.....more like fit to be tied, especially when they later charged him for the test. Of course he nipped that one in the bud.

I'd love to have seen that.

[Lukesgramma]

Hi Sport,
I don't have any arthritis, but I think some connection with inflammation is possible. I'm very food-sensitive and get swollen eyes, itchy skin, feel bad just from eating too many raw vegetables. Something's going on there it seems.

Are you in the UK? Do they have a different measurement system for cholesterol? I'm in the US and haven't seen numbers like 5 or 7.

I've been reading there's a condition called hyperalphalipoproteinemia (HALP). It refers to high HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), and it's a marker for longevity. I'm hoping that's what I have. (fingers crossed).

Or maybe I have congenitally high LDL (the bad cholesterol).

Or maybe it's just a mistake, and next, they'll tell me I'm pregnant like Revvell or lafsalot's father!

BGH, yes, I do feel good. That's the main thing I think, and I'll try to stay focused on that. :)

[RawKnitster]

190 doesn't seem high. Especially if the HDL is high. What are your HDL/LDL levels?.

Did you get a CRP test? That is specifically for rating the presence of inflammation/infection.

[Lukesgramma]

Hi Rawknitster.

I made an appointment to find out about HDL/LDL and triglycerides. I'm hoping that the 190 comes from a high HDL. Otherwise, 190 seems high to me, considering so many years vegan.

My understanding is that healthy LDL is considered below 100 in the US. Healthy HDL is considered 40 or above. If my LDL is below 100, then I must have a rather whopping HDL. That's what I'm hoping for.

On the other hand, if it turns out that my LDL is over 100, then a lot of my current beliefs about the effect of diet on cholesterol are not correct!

Thanks much for the suggestion about the CRP test. Never heard of that. I'll ask my doctor.

[RawKnitster]

Hi Rawknitster.

I made an appointment to find out about HDL/LDL and triglycerides. I'm hoping that the 190 comes from a high HDL. Otherwise, 190 seems high to me, considering so many years vegan.

My understanding is that healthy LDL is considered below 100 in the US. Healthy HDL is considered 40 or above. If my LDL is below 100, then I must have a rather whopping HDL. That's what I'm hoping for.

On the other hand, if it turns out that my LDL is over 100, then a lot of my current beliefs about the effect of diet on cholesterol are not correct!

Thanks much for the suggestion about the CRP test. Never heard of that. I'll ask my doctor.

LDL and HDL are not the only cholesterols included in the total. There is likely 10-20 points of other cholesterols in the mix, too.

I had blood tests done when I applied for a life insurance policy. The results were much more thorough than tests done by a Doctor. The score system used by the life insurance company included total cholesterol and ratios. My total was 181 (140-200 is considered desirable) My breakdown was LDL/99 and HDL/68. The chol./HDL ratio was 2.7 (less than 4.5 is desirable). The LDL/HDL ratio was 1.46 (desirable for women is less than 3). (To get the ratio divide the total by the HDL.)

Even with a total cholesterol of 181, I was in a very desirable range with my ratios. I got approved for the policy at an excellent rate. :)

You may find 190 is looking better than you thought. :) In any case, don't worry about it. Stress might increase your LDL level. ;) When do you get the next tests done?

[sport]

I found my last test results.
My total Cholesterol and LDL are elevated.
I had raised Alkaline Phosphatase (this is a bone blood test
I had raised ESR. It was 41 and normal is 20 to 25
I have slight osteoporosis in my spine and slight arthritis.
I read up on cholesterol and came to the conclusion that my other problems could be causing it.

[Lukesgramma]

Thank you Rawknitster and Sport for all the information!

I didn't know that there was more to the total than just the LDL and the HDL. My appointment is tomorrow. I guess at 59, it wouldn't hurt to look into these kinds of things.

Thanks for sharing your own information with me. It really helps me to understand these different tests.