3/4 new here with high LDL after 3-months keto

[apoe4thebetter]

It’s been another 3 months, and I’ve got a quick update with more lab cholesterol results from January 7 that are encouraging. I don’t have NMR results because of a centrifuge error, but I do have the traditional -C numbers and new-for-me ApoB. The bottom line is that after 3 months of switching to the more bioavailable dihydroberberine and dropping the IR niacin, my cholesterol numbers appear to be stabilizing quite nicely. I also understand it can take the body this much time (months) to adjust to a low-carb/high-fat diet.

Thank you, NewRon, for the tip about spirulina. I’ve got that logged to try and was tempted to start a new experiment adding some spirulina now, but after some thought I’m going to sit tight for a few months and save that for if/when my current regimen starts to go off the rails or if I decide to optimize this space further.

Here’s a quick summary of the numbers:

TC/TG/HDL-C/LDL-C/LDL-P/Small LDL-P/LDL Size/HDL-P/ApoB

Jan 7: 175/41/55/112/na/na/na/na/93

Oct 5: 169/46/58/101/1144/255/21.0/29.5/na

July 27: 214/46/59/146/1699/269/21.3/28.7/na

June 16: 252/58/67/173/2042/577/21.4/32.9/na

I had ordered ApoB for the first time on Jan 7 since I had read that it is a better measure of potentially atherogenic lipoproteins (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31642874/), and at the lab I go to it’s actually cheaper than the full NMR panel. The lab's standard scale for ApoB lists <90 as desirable and 90-99 as borderline high. Therefore, I was quite encouraged when I got back 93 as an initial measurement. The lab gave me a free re-test because of the centrifuge error, so in about 3 months I’ll retest and hopefully have NMR and ApoB results to compare.

With my cholesterol doing better, I’m moving on to other markers. I had Dr. Bredesen’s first book and just got his second book, and I’m figuring out how to prioritize what next to look at. I had read elsewhere that my zinc supplementation of 50mg daily might be a bit high, so I had zinc and copper tested, and they came back at 125 and 101 respectively. Dr. B. recommends 90-110 for both with a goal of a 1:1 ratio, so I’m backing off the zinc supplementation a bit. I also had ferritin checked, and it came back at 38 which is in the normal range but on the low side. That is most likely because I’ve been a regular blood donor over the last 9 months to help the blood bank during these difficult times, and the slightly elevated zinc could be as factor as well. I see spirulina has some iron in it (along with lots of other good nutrients), so I’m certainly open to perhaps trying a spirulina experiment, but for now I’m content to just stick with the current regimen for a while.

Once again, thank you to those in the forum on this thread and others for all the great info!

[SusanJ]

Most packaged ones have all sorts of added junk that allows them to use very few nuts and thicken the product with things I don't want.

If you haven't tried them, Elmhurst makes commercial nut milks with just nuts and water. I used them until I cut nuts out of my diet completely. (More on that in a future post.)

I do have a well-loved Vitamix and will do some more experimenting.

Don't know how flax seeds would do in a Vitamix, but they might be an alternative for just splashing into coffee. I've used Good Karma flax milk, but it does contain gums.

It’s been another 3 months, and I’ve got a quick update with more lab cholesterol results from January 7 that are encouraging.

Congratulations on the improvements!

[apoe4thebetter]

Thanks, Susan! Also appreciate your thoughts on non-dairy for coffee--I'm going to try the flax seed.