Elizabeth Miller wrote:

>In a message dated 11/30/02 7:11:09 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:
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>>BUT, my cholesterol went up 25% under a very low carb diet.
>>It is not the whole story.
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>Did all the cholesterol subfractions (LDL, HDL, VLDL) go up? My cholesterol
>also went up but the increase was all due to an increase in HDL. Also what
>happened to the ratio of LDL/HDL -- this is probably more important than raw
>numbers.
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>

Jumping in late on this discussion... In my own case, about five months
on a low-carb, high-fat, paleo diet caused a modest rise in HDL and a
substantial rise in LDL, so that the LDL:HDL ratio got significantly
worse.  I don't have the numbers handy, but as I recall, my total
cholesterol went from 226 to 302; HDL went from 32 to about 40; and LDL
went from whatever it had been to 240.  TG, however, dropped from about
300 to 96.  So the TG:HDL ratio did improve a lot.  At the time, we
discussed this a bit on this list, and Ray Audette suggested an even
more radical cut in carbs and an increase in fat, a diet of just fatty
meats and leafy greens.  I did this for a few weeks and got re-tested.
 This time total cholesterol was 320; all of the increase was LDL.

I think it is well established (a Nobel Prize was awarded for this) that
certain saturated fatty acids downregulate hepatic LDL receptors,
slowing reuptake of LDL by the liver.  This is a known mechanism by
which (certain) saturated fats increase LDL.  What should happen,
however, is that over time the liver should compensate by producing less
LDL.  But it seems that it doesn't always work that way.

In subsequent years, my total cholesterol has drifted down somewhat,
however at around 275.  My HDL has drifted up to about 48.

Todd Moody
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