tirascorner on Nostr: I'm sharing this story with permission. 55-year-old male (eats mainly fatty meat, ...
I'm sharing this story with permission.
55-year-old male (eats mainly fatty meat, eggs and dairy - yes, if you know anything about the carnivore diet, you will know this is a very healthy way of eating) gets a medical done for work. Comes back very high cholesterol. His doctor wanted to put him on statins. His work needed sign-off from his doctor to continue to work. He knew his doctor wouldn't sign off on this!
Now, if you have read The Great Cholesterol Myth by Bowden and Sinatra, you would know that you need to work out the triglyceride to HDL ratio. If that is under 2, then you have nothing to worry about. Note that both measurements have to be in mg/dL (use this here omnicalculator.com/health/cholest…), and then trigs divided by HDL gives you the ratio! His works out to 2.25. Perhaps a little high, possibly due to him having spent the previous week eating a fair amount of carbs (way more than usual due to travelling).
I encouraged him to go see a low-carb doctor, as generally, they are clued up about cholesterol. He found one, who himself used the same ratio and said he was low risk, but said the only way to get his work off his back was to go for a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan.
Well, guess what his CAC score was. Zero! And his original (idiot) doctor wanted to put him on statins!
By the way, yes statins lower cholesterol, but low cholesterol does not mean low risk!
For those who think he is still at risk because of high LDL, see here tctmd.com/news/zero-cac-…
I highly recommend reading The Great Cholesterol Myth if you haven't already. You will find a link on my website (link in bio).
55-year-old male (eats mainly fatty meat, eggs and dairy - yes, if you know anything about the carnivore diet, you will know this is a very healthy way of eating) gets a medical done for work. Comes back very high cholesterol. His doctor wanted to put him on statins. His work needed sign-off from his doctor to continue to work. He knew his doctor wouldn't sign off on this!
Now, if you have read The Great Cholesterol Myth by Bowden and Sinatra, you would know that you need to work out the triglyceride to HDL ratio. If that is under 2, then you have nothing to worry about. Note that both measurements have to be in mg/dL (use this here omnicalculator.com/health/cholest…), and then trigs divided by HDL gives you the ratio! His works out to 2.25. Perhaps a little high, possibly due to him having spent the previous week eating a fair amount of carbs (way more than usual due to travelling).
I encouraged him to go see a low-carb doctor, as generally, they are clued up about cholesterol. He found one, who himself used the same ratio and said he was low risk, but said the only way to get his work off his back was to go for a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan.
Well, guess what his CAC score was. Zero! And his original (idiot) doctor wanted to put him on statins!
By the way, yes statins lower cholesterol, but low cholesterol does not mean low risk!
For those who think he is still at risk because of high LDL, see here tctmd.com/news/zero-cac-…
I highly recommend reading The Great Cholesterol Myth if you haven't already. You will find a link on my website (link in bio).