So high cholesterol runs in my family. Trying to get a handle on it while trying to build muscle and get in better shape, but I've found that a lot of the higer protein foods/suplements also tend to run pretty high in cholesterol. Any tips out there to minimize this while maintaining a decent macro spread?

This is kinda long but here is my passionate view on the topic..........

The myth of high cholesterol and heart disease is the issue here. If your family has hypercholesteremia, a genetic disorder that affects familes and is not very common, then you do need to watch your dietary intake of cholesterol. This disorder creates a non-functioning feedback loop where the liver still continues to produce large amounts of cholesterol even though there is a lot coming in from the diet. Cholesterol is essential for life and health and you will die without it - this is why your liver produces 70% of what you need each day. LDL and HDL are NOT cholesterol but lipo-proteins that transport vital cholesterol to the cells (LDL) and excess/unused cholesterol back to the liver (HDL). Cholesterol is also essential for health of the brain and nervous system and all your key hormones are built with it and saturated fats.

If you are talking about the standard bullshit of needing cholesterol under 200 and LDL under 120, then you have bought into the fraud that is the Lipid Hypothesis. If this is the case, I would not be worrying about cholesterol levels. What you need to focus on is your Triglyceride levels and your blood sugar levels. These are the true causes of heart disease not cholesterol. If your triglycerides are high (this is the true measure of fat in your blood) and your blood sugar is high, you need to reduce the amount of simple and processed carbs in your diet.

High triglycerides and high blood sugar inflame the lining of your arteries and oxidize LDL cholesterol. This chain of events causes tears in the lining of the arterial walls (endothelium) which the body tries to repair with a combination of immune cells, platelets, and cholesterol. All cell walls are built with cholesterol which is why it is vital to life. The combination of oxidized cholesterol, immune cells, and platelets creates arterial plaques which push the artery wall out and eventually block it. The whole cause of this is high triglycerides and blood sugar not cholesterol. This is why it is called the "Lipid Hypothesis" because in 60 years they have never been able to prove that fats and cholesterol truly cause heart disease in and of themselves. They use this pseudo-science to sell you expensive and dangerous Statin drugs to the tune of 30 Billion each year.

Now I am not a doctor but I don't follow what government agencies and other "health" experts recommend when it comes to basic nutrition as there is no money it in it for them. Doctors are not trained in nutrition anymore and rather focus on disease states and the required medicines and dosages needed versus treating the root cause. Medical guidelines are 20% science and 80% "bought" by Big Pharma, Big Food, and Big Insurance to maximize their profits. Therefore, take my statements above as one person's view on cholesterol and potential health issues. I have been eating a high fat, moderate protein and carb diet for many years and my blood lipids are fine. The key is that I eat no processed foods, no sugary drinks, no simple sugars, and only wholesome nutritous foods. That in the end is all you need to worry about when calculating your macros :-)

John

Wow, thanks for all the great info! I just had a lipid test done, which is what prompted this inquiry. This is the basic picture of my results...seems to generally fit the picture you described

Cholesterol - high risk according to the printout

HDL is good

Triglycerides - borderline high

LDL Cholesterol - barely over the top edge of borderline high range

Blood glucose is good

Cholesterol to HDL ratio is 6.1...doesn't say if that is good or bad

apparently I need to do more research into this, lol

What is more important is your HDL to Triglyceride ratio. You want this to be low - 1:1 is best. HDL in the 50's or 60's and triglycerides under 100 - or preferably in the 50-60 range is best. At that point, LDL and Total Cholesterol are meaningless and need not be worried about. Total cholesterol is a bullshit number because it is your LDL + VDL + HDL + 1/5 of your triglycerides. Therefore, if your HDL is high and your LDL is high but your triglycerides are low you could be still "flagged" as high risk.

If you want to raise your HDL, you need to eat more saturated fat - but it must be healthy saturated fat from olive oil, coconut oil, oily fish, egg yolks. This is 100% counter to what most medical "experts" recommend because they still demonize saturated fat. If you keep your blood sugar low and your triglycerides low, adding in some extra saturated fat will not harm you.

John