Why did my HDL go DOWN???

[rickmav]

A couple months ago I returned to a PP way of eating after taking the last couple years off. After 60 days on PP I lost about 25 lbs, and got my blood work done to check on my lipid progress as compared to a year ago. These are the results:

Triglycerides: 173 (from 353)
Total Chol.: 153 (from 224)
HDL: 34 (from 46!!!!!!!)
LDL: 84 (from 107)
Chol/HDL Ratio: 4.5 (from 4.9)

I'm fairly pleased with the results, but was expecting HDL to go up a tad, not drop 26%. I cook everything with lots of olive oil, and never shy away from fats. I shoot for about 25g daily carbs, and probably average about 35g per day. I have not begun an exercise program yet.

My only guess is that it may be related to eating dinner late at night, as I don't get home from work till after 9pm.

Anyone have any ideas why my HDL is moving in the wrong direction?

Thanks.

-Rick

[Ottawa]

Mine dropped as well initially, and there was as a small jump in LDL.:eek:
It was only when I went for my three month that HDL was back to where I had been pre-PP and at one year on plan it was up from that and LDL had decresed significantly. It was only when I started exercising that HDL really took off.
Our numbers (and almost the whole rest of the world;) ) are different than the Imperial numbers used in the States, but ratios should be the same.

Where 6 is the top of the chart range in CHOL ratio I am at 5.8.

HDL is the "STP Oil Treatment" of the body. Nothing builds up HDL faster than exercise.

[Gaelen]

I'm fairly pleased with the results, but was expecting HDL to go up a tad, not drop 26%. I cook everything with lots of olive oil, and never shy away from fats. I shoot for about 25g daily carbs, and probably average about 35g per day. I have not begun an exercise program yet.

My only guess is that it may be related to eating dinner late at night, as I don't get home from work till after 9pm.

Anyone have any ideas why my HDL is moving in the wrong direction?


Well, I'm pretty sure you can rule out "eating dinner late at night." That has little or nothing to do with it, unless you eat and then immediately go to sleep. ;) I used to eat pretty late at night, too, but then was awake until at least four hours after eating.

However, regular weight-bearing exercise is one of the easiest ways to affect and increase your HDL. Weight lifting is fine and good...but walking and running are considered weight bearing exercise, and they work just as hard to boost HDL as weight lifting focused exercise.

[rickmav]

Thanks for the input. I've not exercised at all in several months (12hr work days tied to a desk). I used to walk fairly regularly both for exercise and to clear my head. I used to like weight training, as my body-type is suited to it. I can practically smell a barbell and then gain muscle mass. I haven't touched the weights in several years, and still have a lean body mass (?) of 185 lbs at 5'10".

So exercise is the key to HDL prod.? Have the Drs. Eades commented on this in a blog or one of the books? I guess I missed it. Definately worth giving it a shot. Perhaps I'll try the Slow Burn they advocate. I'm sure I can find 30 minutes a week for that. :rolleyes: Maybe. I hope.

[banshee]

A couple months ago I returned to a PP way of eating after taking the last couple years off. After 60 days on PP I lost about 25 lbs, and got my blood work done to check on my lipid progress as compared to a year ago.

OK, let me see if I'm reading this right. You had your lipids taken a year ago (while not doing PP). Then you had 10 more months of not doing PP, but you don't know what was happening to your lipid levels during that time. Then you went back on PP for two months, and had another lipid panel done, and your HDL is lower than it was a year ago.

How do you know that your HDL hadn't lowered further on the other diet and that PP hasn't increased your HDL from where it was 2 months ago?

I'm certainly not an expert on lipids, but it seems to me that you can't blame PP for your changes when the majority of your diet for the last year wasn't PP. I'd say give yourself longer, and definitely get back to exercising if you want to help the HDL increase more quickly. Also, while changes in triglycerides can be quick and dramatic, and can cause a dramatic change in total cholesterol, I'm not sure that changes in the other subtypes happen nearly as quickly. (Maybe they do, I just haven't seen any publications that talk about it.)

[rickmav]

It is true, I have no idea what my lipid profile looked like between the first test, and the PP diet start. I can only go by the fact that my diet/activity levels were unchanged for at least the last 2 years. I can only guess that the lipid panel was probably consistent with the prior results. At best, any conclusions I will draw are speculation. However, in the past 10 years of glancing at my lipid panels, my HDL has never moved much in either direction, no matter what I did diet/exercise-wise. Until this last test, that is.

I will begin an exercise program and check again in 60-90 days. I could use an outlet for my stress, anyway. Thanks!

[Ottawa]

Rick,
Hang in, post regularly and definitely let us know how it goes. Having a good doctor helps. One time I was at my current doctor's and he was reviewing my results and asked why I had stopped exercising. (I had a kidney stone for about a month prior to my blood testing.)
I asked how he knew I had let up on working out, since I had not seen him in a few months.

"Exercise is the primary driver behind HDL levels. Since your health seems the same, the primary cause for a any drop in HDL then is less exercise."

I look forward to seeing your results.

[Billie]

Rick like Randy said, stay close to us and welcome to the forums!

I had a friend who noticed a big decrease in her HDL when she just got results a week ago. She was quite concerned and her doctor wanted to put her on a drug to increase it, it went from a low 34 to a very low 21. She, although not consistent, had really increased her workouts at the gym, did primarily cardio but had incorporated a fair amount of resistance. She was really puzzled.

She determined that about 6 months ago she was placed on BP medicine and has gone through three different meds to try and get the right one for her. Looking up the contraindications for the drug, she discovered that the first BP medicine she was put on about 6 months ago and stayed in it for about 3 months, one of the big contraindicators was lowering of HDL.

She is determined to get the HDL in the right place and since she is my wayward gym partner, we have new momentum to get that resistance going and keep it consistent.

Although my HDL is not glowing because of resistance I have been able to bring it from a miserably 29 to at least in the minimum acceptable for women of 45. Still work to do!

By the way your other results have shown dramatic improvements, get moving and give it at least 6 months or so huh, it will improve!

[rickmav]

This is just what I need to hear to help me get in the basement & start pumping iron again. I'll post my results in a couple of months.

Thanks, everyone, for all your support!

[Newbirth]

I'm convinced that the main reason my HDL has skyrocketed over the past two years is that I have been exercising as much as possible. My HDL went from something like 45 to 82. :)

[cmcole]

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/20/cholesterol.html

Raising 'good' cholesterol may be better than lowering the 'bad'

Last Updated: Monday, November 20, 2006 | 5:34 PM ET

Raising "good" cholesterol may be more important than lowering "bad" cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

Some 60 per cent of high-risk patients who lower their LDL levels will still get heart disease. Some research suggests it's because their good cholesterol levels, called HDL or high-density lipoprotein, are too low.


"If we use drugs and then neglect lifestyle, especially starting early in life, we will still pay a very high price in terms of heart disease," Grundy said.

For older people with blockages in their arteries or veins who may not benefit much from lifestyle changes, the potential new treatments could add years to their lives by stopping and effectively reversing cardiovascular disease, he added.

The experimental drug is being developed by Pfizer, the company that now holds the patent on the best-selling statin, Lipitor. The patent is due to expire in 2010, however, and the company hopes to seek regulatory approval for its new HDL in the next two years, aiming to replace one blockbuster drug with another.