HDL is going down

[raghucp]

Hi,
Five months back my doctor told me that my HDL is too low. Here are the readings:

HLD: 24
LDL: 85
Totoal Cholesttol: 139
Tryglycerides: 152
CHOL/HDL ratio: 5.8

Then I changed my life style by using olive oil, exercising daily and reduce fats. Today I have gone for lipid tests again. Here are the readings:

HLD: 21
LDL: 65
Totoal Cholesttol: 124
Tryglycerides: 192
CHOL/HDL ratio: 5.9


I am surprised with the results. Why HDL is going down?
This time I was fasting for 8 hours only. Is this the reason?

Please suggest me how I can increase my HDL.

Thanks,
Raghu

[lczeledoc]

The best way to increase your HDL is to consume more Sat Fat. ALso, resistance training exercise will help. Your trigs. are kind of high for someone following a LC diet. How much ECCs are you consuming? What is your diet?

[LisaS]

since this is your first post here - we know nothing about you. Are you following Protein Power? For how long? How strictly?

that aside:

high trigs can drive down your HDL too -
the heartscan blog always has something to say about what to do to raise hdl - here is a recent entry (http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/hdl-for-dummies.html)

[dvdmon]

I would echo LisaS. Your readings aren't very consistant with a low-carb approach, which normally has much lower triglicerides. Sounds like you are instead doing low-fat? Are you sure you have the right forum? Please tell us a little bit more about what you are eating in terms of your macronutrient levels (protein grams vs carb grams vs fat grams). Thanks.

[raghucp]

Hi Lisas and dvdmon,

Thanks a lot for your quick response. Recently I herad about PP and I want to follow PP. I have been following a low fat diet . Does low-fat diet helps in inreasing HDL count?.
Let me go through PP book and get back to you on what is my macronutrient levels (protein grams vs carb grams vs fat grams). I want to follow PP, pls adivise me.

[LisaS]

. I have been following a low fat diet . Does low-fat diet helps in inreasing HDL count?.
. not as far as I know.

weight loss can help if you have weight to lose.
for fat consumption, most of what I read tends to advise on higher fat rather than lower fat.
read the heart scan blog.

[dvdmon]

Low-fat diets usually DECREASE HDL, and wouldn't your own results echo this pattern? If you want to follow PP, the best first step is to simply read the book. Once you are done, if you have specific questions, you can always ask here.

[maxlharris]

Good ways to raise HDL:
Eat more sat fat. Eat more monounsaturated fat. Beef is good for both. Nice Ribeye. *drooling growl sound like Homer Simpson here*
Lift weights. Heavy weights.

I suspect that 8 weeks on PP will drop your triglycerides to under 100. Might raise your HDL a little. Might drop your LDL a little. Ratios will get better.

Definitely, read one of the books. PPLP has more information about cholesterol. Maybe the same info, but written better.

[Dodger]

As others have said, the best way to increase HDL is to increase the consumption of saturated fats. Exercise also helps.