Cholesterol, Blood Sugar and Thyroid – Oh my!

I had some blood tests in addition to my my bone density scan. The coolest one, in my opinion, is my cholesterol test, followed by blood glucose and then thyroid.

Cholesterol

My 2009 cholesterol numbers are here: Victory – Cholesterol. While those 2009 numbers were good, they aren’t as good as the 2011 numbers:

                                    My score        Healthy Range

Total                           202                 100 - 199

Triglycerides             96                    0 – 149

HDL                            92                    >39

VLDL                          19                    5 – 40

LDL                             91                    0 - 99

My MD, who is wonderfully patient and giving of her time, spent about a half hour discussing my blood test and bone density results. She said that my cholesterol scores are awesome and I shouldn’t change a thing. My total score appears to be high because my HDL, which is linked to protecting against heart disease, is so high.

Another doc pointed out is that my VLDL is low. You can read more about VLDL here: What is VLDL cholesterol? Can it be harmful?, but to summarize, the higher your VLDL the greater your risk of heart attack. This doc said that based upon my cholesterol scores, my LDL particle size (you want big particles that don’t bind to your blood vessel walls) is expected to be large, further reducing the likelihood of a coronary problem. This Johns Hopkins article explains more about LDL particle size: The New Blood Lipid Tests -- Sizing Up LDL Cholesterol.

The great thing about these docs is that they do not follow conventional wisdom when it comes to food. They know that I eat a very non-conventional diet of animal fat, coconut oil, and full fat dairy, I avoid grain like crazy, and I cook my own food, and they both support my continuing to break from conventional food theology.

My Oriental medicine doc said in 2009 that my cholesterol scores were low and he would expect them to come up as I continue to regain health and vitality, and clearly he was right.

Blood Glucose

My blood was drawn shortly after eating lunch, so you would expect my glucose level to be inflated. I scored a healthy 91. Yay! Diabetes runs strongly in my family, with blindness and loss of limb a frequent occurrence.

Thyroid

Thyroid tested normal too, which is great given that my father lost his thyroid to cancer.

If your blood test results aren’t quite where you want them, you can almost certainly influence them. Give up processed food as a start and see what happens. If that doesn’t get you where you want to be, try giving up grains and sugar, except maybe small amounts of raw honey). And don’t be afraid of fat! Butter, raw cheese, coconut oil, you name it. Good fat is good for you!

Vibrant health is within your reach and should be expected. Eat well and live well. It really can be that easy.

Comments

[Testing Centers]

Well, your blood test indeed shows great improvement in your cholesterol levels.
My grandma, father and I have always had high levels of cholesterol (even-though I'm vegetarian and do not eat a lot of harming fats), but my Dr explained to me that when you look at your cholesterol numbers you should always keep in mind that if the higher number is your HDL, then you're good and healthy :)

[Laura Combs]

Perhaps your family has a food allergy that messes up their cholesterol, which is what my family's husband has. Check out this post:

http://movingstronglyforward.typepad.com/moving_strongly_forward/2011/09/cholesterol-victory-for-ryan-and-must-listen-cholesterol-information.html