get a V.A.P. test to see a COMPLETE breakdown of your cholesterol count/size vit d, insulin, Creactive protein, a1c and many more. Ask your provider for it...its has over 20 values and is the most comprehensive test on the market.

Six years ago, I was diagnosed with a hormone imbalance, and three years ago, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I've been getting regular bloodwork for the past four years, and this round was the first after going paleo. My doctor was THRILLED. In the past, these numbers have been out of control with bad diet, tons of medications... Now, I'm down to two meds, and have all of these numbers in range for the first time in YEARS.

By the way, I'm a 22 year old girl.

Cholesterol, total: 188; HDL: 71; Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.6; LDL Chol, Calculated: 103; Triglycerides: 72;

Some other cool numbers:

Fasting glucose: 69; Insulin, serum: <2;

Here's the biggie: Testosterone, TOT: 23! (this number was once over 90. A healthy range for women is 2-45 ng/dL)

This, after less than a month of paleo. I'm actually excited for the next round of bloodwork in three months :)

Hi guys, I have just gotten a blood-test done.

I have been following some sort of the Paleo diet since December 2010. I say some sort of because in times I ate beans and lentils as I was travelling. I always ate lots of monosaturated and saturated fats during this half year and a lot of eggs and meat. For the last 2 months I've been following a closer Paleo-diet (no beans, dairy included, full fat) with lots of saturated fats and fewer carbs. Ocassionaly I ate pre-soaked lentils and quinoa and sweet potatoes. I ate like 2-3 fruits a day. I take no supplements.

I'm quite skinny (always been) and estimate body fat under 10%. I've just turned 22 and I'm a male.

Here are some more details to the way I have been eating and habits:

-no supplements -sleep is irregular but I almost always sleep between 8- 9 hours. no naps. habits not too much workout. ride my bike for about 15-20 km per week. doing sprints maybe every 10 days. im quite active though moving about. no stress ever. meditation daily. adequate sunlight.

usual breakfasts:

-3-4 eggs scrambled in 1-2 rich tablespoons of butter or coconut butter. with eggs either 2 tomatoes (fried), or 1 banana (fried with eggs) sometimes i put some olive oil over it after cooking that would be 2 -3 tablespoons +1 apple

usually eat in the later morning when im really hungry.

lunch:

sometimes I eat 300grams of quark (is like a really rich yoguhrt: for 100grams there is 10g protein, carbs 3.5g (3g in sugar), fat 8 g (saturated are 5g thereof) i eat the quark with 1 banana and a quarter cup berries. (rarely i eat this for breakfast)

salad with 1 avocado, lettuce, peppers, 2 eggs, broccoli, cucumber, wild salmon lots and lots of olive oil with vinegar

usually don't eat big lunch

dinners:

meat every day. around 250 grams of various kinds. mostly beef and pork and chicken (various parts) no offal because i cannot get it. also no liver. fish: wild salmon around 250 grams or pollock at least twice per weak. cooked in 2 tablespoons of butter

serve with broccoli raw, tomatoes cooked, onions with it, garlic, or spinach around 200grams of vegetable with it

or i eat sweet potatoes (orange kind) with it. about 2 big ones. i make fries with it and fry it in butter. sometimes lentils with it (the red ones, i soak them for 15 hours) about half a cup or quinoa half a cup

snacks:

i snack a lot during the day (when i eat a small lunch) mostly on fruits: apple, pears, plums, banana (i don't eat more than 1 per day) sometimes carrots but not really often, or yoghurt as stated above, almonds, shrimps sometimes proscuitto di parma as a snack

i drink about 2 liters of water a day. drink nothing else except alcohol sometimes.. mostly red wine occasional beers.

-my source of carbs would be vegetables, bananas, sweet potatoes, quinoa, lentils (in this order)

-test was done about 5 hours after I ate 4 eggs with 250grams of shrimp in two full tablespoon of butter for breakfast. i was not hungry when the test was done.

-i haven't eaten liver or anyother offal.

all foods are organic.

Here are my lab results, please comment on it!

It's in German but I believe it should be understandable as the names are quite similar. Somebody offered these conversions for the US:

Total 3.29 mmol/l = 127 mg/dl

Triglyceride 0.48 mmol/l = 42.5 mg/dl

HDL - 1.02 mmol/l = 39.4 mg/dl

LDL - 2.05 mmol/l = 79.3 mg/dl

My most recent:

Fasting Glucose: 88 mg/dL
Total Cholesterol: 257 mg/dL
HDL: 103 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 38 mg/dL

35-year-old male.

Doctor says: "Your total cholesterol is a bit high, but your HDL is great, so don't worry about it."

I don't. :)

You might want to use the alternative formula to calculate your HDL since your triglycerides are under 100. It would give you an LDL of 152 instead of 177.

While on a paleo diet, I dropped 40 points on my total cholesterol by doing nothing else but supplementing magnesium. I was quite surprised.

My cholesterol has always been "good" FWIW, but I worried that my HDL was too low. My doctor has never really cared about it being low though.

8/25/10 just before going Paleo:

This was from a free work health screen, not super involved, just fasting bloodwork.

Fasting glucose: 82

Total cholesterol: 156

Triglycerides: "less than 45" (which I think means it didn't show up on their test)

HDL: 52

LDL: 104

12/18/2010 4 months Paleo

Fasting glucose: 90

Total cholesterol: 144

Triglycerides: 26

HDL: 63

LDL: 76

So, yay! I guess. I was just really glad to see the HDL go up. I had read some studies that low HDL was sometimes linked with depression because it helps your brain use seratonin. I had done everything I could find to raise it. I think it was finally the extra fat that pushed it up.

Consider age range and gender as well. LDL levels have some correlation with heart disease in male populations under 50 years of age. But low LDL levels are also heavily correlated with higher cancer rates. And if you are older or female, correlation between LDL and heart disease is nebulous at best. In the elderly, low cholesterol and cholesterol that goes down is correlated with increased mortality. In all populations it is correlated with more cancer. Low cholesterol is also correlated with being in prison, commiting suicide, feeling depressed, slower reaction time, and poor memory. Remember that the brain needs good levels of cholesterol to function properly. LDL is also now believed to be an important put of proper immune system function.

Also, make sure they do a direct measure test on your LDL. Most tests are 'calculated' and are inaccurate. ALso, I have read on one of the paleo blogs that for many people just starting paleo, LDL tends to go up at first, but then go back down within about a year. Certainly an interesting concept if true.

Worrying about cholesterol is in some part, going to be mean you are buying into the lipid heart hypothesis that suggests that LDL actually causes heart disease. Whereas an increasing number of scientists are starting to feel that while it can be mildly correlated with heart disease in some populations, it may not in fact be causal at all but more of a symptom of other issues like inflammation. If so, then lowering cholesterol will do little or nothing to actually help with the problem. Similar to how turning off your alarm clock will not stop the sun from rising.

It could be that eating healthy allows your body to make more of what it needs to deal with other problems. Cholesterol may in fact be a weapon against problems like cancer. In fact, no study that I know of has ever actually found a correlation between plaque build up and cholesterol levels. I have read several studies that have tried. If cholesterol was really important and causal in the development of plaque, then there should be a strong correlation! Plus there is always the grand question of why plaque only tends to build up in heavily used areas of large arteries. Why does it not build up in veins and smaller arteries? Clearly, the simple old fashioned idea of cholesterol being a sludge that accumulates like oil on the side of a pipe cannot be correct considering these issues and many others.

Here's my previous lipid panel, back when I was eating the conventional "healthy" diet:

Total Cholesterol 154

Triglyceride 40

HDL 70

LDL (Calculated) 76

Here are my results after 6 months of eating ~85% paleo:

Total Cholesterol 247

Triglyceride 31

HDL 106

LDL (Calculated) 135

I'm a 36-year-old male.

Total cholesterol 7,1 mmol/L /// 277 mg/dL

LDL 5.1 mmol/L /// 199 mg/dL

HDL 1.4 mmol/L /// 54 mg/dL

Trig 0.8 mmol/L /// 71 mg/dL

Vit D 61.3 ng/ml*

*Lab note: Increased vitamin D level is due to overdosis :D (Ref range goes only from 20-60).

4-6 months Paleo or so.

39 Year Old Male, ~10% BF, 185 lbs

3/2008 Pre-Paleo/Primal TOTAL: 166 LDL: 103 HDL: 44 TRIG: 116 Ratios Total/HDL: 3.77 TRIG/HDL 2.64 LDL/HDL 2.34

11/2009 After just a few months 100% Primal TOTAL: 176 LDL: 78 (Iranian Calc) HDL: 67 TRIG: 55 Ratios Total/HDL: 2.63 TRIG/HDL 0.82 LDL/HDL 1.16 Notes: Very happy with my ratios, the increase in HDL and drop in Trigs

10/2010 Over a year of 100% Paleo TOTAL: 274 LDL: 118 (Iranian Calc) HDL: 110 TRIG: 47 Ratios Total/HDL: 2.49 TRIG/HDL 0.43 LDL/HDL 1.07 Notes: Excellent ratios, LDL a bit on the high side, some concern about insurance company dropping discounts (they want total <200)

11/2010 VAP TEST A WEEK FOLLOWING PREVIOUS TEST TOTAL: 295 LDL: 163 MEASURED HDL: 97 TRIG: 66 Ratios Total/HDL: 3.04 TRIG/HDL 0.68 LDL/HDL 1.68 Notes: Still decent ratios, but concerned that these are going in the wrong direction. However, my VLDL is excellent and my LDL is the "good" kind. Should I concern myself with these??

Anyone have any thoughts or comments on this? Should I be worried about the direction? In the past year I've done two Whole30's, increased my fat intake from Pork, Grass-Fed meat, Fish, Coconut. Dropped alcohol, dairy, and nuts almost completely. I feel great but I am a bit surprised with the Lipid direction... What gives?

39 year old male.

Total cholesterol 7.8mmol

HDL 1.7mmol

LDL 5.4mmol

Tri 0.7mmol

BG 5.5mmol

Vitd 123

The doctor was alarmed at the cholesterol numbers, but then plugged my numbers into some software she had on her PC. And said "Oh, you only have a 1% chance of a heart problem in the next five years, see you later."

Been paleo since April last year, after being diagnosed with Hashimotos. I'm now just about off the thyroid meds having gotten my thyroid antibodies down from >250 to 45.

Blood sugar is still higher than I would like, still working on that...

25 year old male.

-->Total cholesterol- 220 [normal 110-199] down from 239 pre paleo

-->HDL- 29 [normal >40]

-->LDL- 159 [normal <160] pre-paleo 149

-->Triglyceride- 161 [normal 40-250]

-->Vitamin D- 31 [normal 20-100]

Glucose: 97 (normal range = 70 to 100)

Should I be concerned about my raise in LDL or glucose level?

I didn't test prior to going paleo, but got blood work done last week, and will check back again in 6 months. I havent talked to my doc, but I'm a little confused because one section on the results said "Lipid Panel:" Total- 180 Trig- 53 HDL- 96 VLDL- 11 LDL Calc- 73

But the VAP section said (among other things): LDL- 89 HDL- 94 VLDL- 13 Total- 196 Trig- 60 HDL2- 27 HDL3- 67 VLDL3- 8

For kicks, my glucose is 71, VitB12 is 466, folate 11.4, Vitamin D is 43.1. As for the lipid panel, I'm guessing I should go with the VAP results, but I guess it looks pretty good either way. Any thoughts are more than welcome- I'm new to this bloodwork stuff!

OK< this just in. My first ever cholesterol test. Kinda freakin' out, even though maybe I shouldn't.

Comments?

Cholesterol 319 mg/dL H Triglyceride 81 mg/dL
HDL Chol 109 > 39 mg/dL
LDL Direct 192 mg/dL
FASTING STATUS NON-FASTING

17 year old female

Total cholesterol- 217 HDL- 104 LDL- 94

Should i be concerned that my Total is high even though my HDL is really high and my ldl is low?

Hi, call me Mom_4. I'm a 30 year old African American woman, my weight 132 height 5'4". The year of 06/23/2010 Lab test
Test name:(Fasting) Lipid panel -Reference range: - Total cholesterol 150 125-200mg/dl
- HDL cholesterol 34L (out of range) > 46 mg/dl - Triglycerides 116 <150 mg/dl - LDL- cholesterol 93 <130 mg/dl (calc)

• Vitamin D, 25 OH, total 17L

The year of 07/07/11
Test name: (Fasting) Lipid panel -Reference range: - Total cholesterol 155 125-200mg/dl - HDL cholesterol 31L (out of range) > 46 mg/dl - Triglycerides 115 <150 mg/dl - LDL- cholesterol 101 <130 mg/dl (calc)

53 year old female.
4/14/05 after years on a low fat high whole grain diet. All values mg/dl Total cholesterol-155 triglycerides 76 HDL 88 LDL 52

5/6/11

After five years of low carb, the final year paleo, and the last four months PHD. Total Cholesterol-193 triglyceride-49 HDL- 100 LDL Direct-72 VLDL-21

Not much change for me after five years of DRAMATICALLY increasing saturated fat, and eating an average of 14 eggs per week.

Total cholesterol- 180

LDL- 77

HDL- 103

Triglyceride- 35

25y/o M. He said keep doing whatever I'm doing. I'm young and I work out a lot so my bloodwork would probably be pretty good on a SAD too but it's hard to imagine it any better.

Since you asked for it:

CHOLESTEROL 506 High mg/d

CHOLESTEROL.IN HDL 30 Low mg/dL

CHOLESTEROL.IN LDL 450 High

TRIGLYCERIDE 131 mg/dL

THYROTROPIN 1.070 uIU/mL

Free Test 318.5

30 y/o male

A1C-5.3 C reactive protein <.10 fasting glucose 94 LDL 130 HDL 38 Total Cholesterol 188 Triglycerides 70 Sub class info HDL -2 most protective 6 L HDL-3 less protective 32 VLDL -3 13

Type B small dense LDL

My labs about 8 months ago were as follows cholesterol 170 HDL 41 Non HDL cholesterol 129 Triglycerides 51 LDL 119 fasting glucose was 79

Now I am confused, I am on paleo my fasting blood glucose was higher now than before, now i do cheat from time to time but I am wondering what can cause my elevated blood sugar? Anyone have any ideas. My cheat is usually a diet soda, I know its bad but i am going to quit it completely to see if that does anything to my numbers.