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Thursday, July 20, 2006

VAP Results Back, Cholesterol Numbers Intact

In light of everything I learned about my so-called cholesterol problems that I thought I was having before reading this book, it kinda makes the test results from my VAP test I had done in April that I promised to share with you a little melodramatic now.

Even still, here are my long-awaited VAP test results:

Total Cholesterol - 275
Total LDL - 203
Total HDL - 57
Total VLDL - 14
Triglycerides - 49
LDL-R(Real)-C - 183
Lo(a) Cholesterol - 16.0
Real LDL Size Pattern - A/B
HDL-2 Large - 13
HDL-3 Small - 44
VLDL-3 Small - 8

So there you have it, the results from my April 2006 VAP test. Some people would look at that 275 total cholesterol number and freak out. That would be so shortsighted based on everything I've learned about cholesterol. My HDL is fantastic as are my triglycerides and VLDL. The average particle size of my cholesterol is medium to large, which is the good kind.

Let me be very clear: I AM NOT AT ALL WORRIED ABOUT MY CHOLESTEROL NUMBERS! Not one freakin' bit. Sure, the VAP test analysis said, "Due to the presence of several risk factors, considering lowering LDL-C goal." Okay, fine. But if that means taking a nightmare-causing statin drug, then NO THANK YOU!

Why would I do this when my triglyceride/HDL ratio is a microscopic 0.83?! All this worrying about cholesterol problems is actually worse for you than the cholesterol will EVER be! I think they WANT you to worry about it so your cholesterol keeps getting worse and worse. Shoot me for being conspiratorial like that, but it makes you wonder sometimes.

I'm coming up on the end of the four months my doctor gave me to lower my cholesterol without the use of the "s" word. He's probably not gonna be real happy about me ripping up the three cholesterol-lowering prescriptions he wrote for me to take that I threw away in the trash can in May! LOL! But I'm happy about my decision to eat even better than I was and refuse to be suckered into popping pills just to artificially lower my cholesterol. NOT ME, NOT ANYMORE!

This VAP test blood was drawn nearly three months ago. I would bet my cholesterol numbers are even better now than they were then. I may just have to have another test done here in the very near future to see. Until then, I KNOW I'm eating right and exercising as I should. My stress management could use some work after a massage therapist told me how tight my neck was during a visit the other day. Maybe I can work on that area of my life to help keep my cholesterol numbers in check.

THANK YOU to everyone who has expressed an interest in how my cholesterol is doing. I am pleased with my numbers and want to encourage others of you who are livin' la vida low-carb to not dwell so heavily on this. If you are following the low-carb plan as you should, then you have almost NOTHING to worry about. Keep an eye on that HDL number and the triglycerides number to see if you are low-carbin' the way you should or not. Those numbers won't lie to you! :D

3 Comments:

Blogger Science4u1959 said...

Bravo, Jimmy!

7/20/2006 9:34 PM  
Blogger Amy Dungan said...

Glad to hear your numbers are so good Jimmy! As you said, most people would freak at the chol. number, but then we know it's really not anything to worry about. My husband used to have a doctor who was pro-lowcarb and he was always more concerned with the triglycerides than anything. DH's trigs were over 400 when he started lcing. The dr said he was a heart attack waiting to happen. A few months after lcing his trigs were down to 167 and he was feeling better than he'd felt in years!

Keep up the great work and congrats on not giving in to the med pushing doctors. I know most drs mean well, but they just don't get it.

7/20/2006 9:42 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Dr. Eades ("Protein Power") says cholesterol is healthiest between 160 and 220. Above 220 and you're at higher risk of dying from heart attack; below 160 and you die from other things. I'll go with what they say since they are medical doctors who advocate the low-carb approach.

My cholesterol shot up 48 point and is now at 214. I am taking action NOW to deal with it by cutting back on eggs and eating flax meal every day (it helped my mom get her cholesterol down).

The physician's assitant said she wasn't worried about the 214 number because my HDL is 82 and she said she's never seen it so high. But my LDL has gone up 40 points in the last year from 84 to 124 (with 130 being the high end of normal). That's not right. So I'm being proactive.

The clinic I go to sent out a low-fat diet for me to follow. I literally laughed out loud when I saw that. They tell me I have to follow this low-fat diet and call it a "therapeutic lifestyle change." LOL

All my ratios (I looked up all this on the Protein Power forum) are excellent.

Does high cholesterol run int your family? Are you eating many frankenfoods? Maybe it's all that diet soda?

Here's all my test results:

http://stumblingtobethlehem.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-latest-cholesterol-numbers.html


I also had a glucose tolerance test with good results.

7/21/2006 7:41 PM  

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