Re: 3/4 new here with high LDL after 3-months keto
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:49 pm
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!
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!