Todd Moody wrote: > > Low-carb advocates say that the cause of elevated cholesterol is > insulin, which stimulates the liver to produce more cholesterol. > So if you reduce insulin you reduce cholesterol. This is true, > but not the whole truth. Another factor is that certain > saturated fats (palmitic and myristic acids, maybe others) have > the effect of downregulating hepatic LDL receptors, After starting low carb, Atkins style, my cholesterol rose some 25% to 250 total. It had been under 200 for a long time. I have no idea what the ratio of HDL/LDL was. I plan to have a checkup soon. So what factors specifically cause a rise in HDL cholesterol? What causes LDL cholesterol to rise? How does one improve the ratio?