Great stuff -- thanks for sharing. Allow me to chime in.

Results over time:

Oct 2009 Results (while taking 40 mg/d of prescribed statin for hypercholesterolemia, diagnosed about 15 yrs ago)

Total Cholesterol: 243 Triglycerides (basically, blood sugar): 278 HDL (so-called "good" cholesterol): 55 LDL ("bad" cholesterol): 132

April 2011 (shile still taking 40 mg of statin, but 3 months into CrossFit training and ~2 mos on paleo diet 80%+)

Ttl Cholesterol: 191 ("reference levels" indicate <200) Trig: 163 (ref. levels 0-149) HDL: 60 (ref. >39) LDL: 98 (ref. <100)

Nov 2011 (w/ 2 mos of NO statin -- just stopped taking it -- and 7 more months of CF training and paleo diet)

Ttl Cholesterol: 278 Trig: 86 (good improvement, but I've heard that 45 is optimal) HDL: 84 (this is great, imo) LDL: 177 (significant increase...?? fish oil?? eggs?? too much almond butter?) Vit D: 29.3 (ref. 32-100) Insulin: 3.5 (good, by ref. standards 2.6-24.9) Hemoglobin: 5.6 (on the high end of reference average -- 4.8-5.6)

Big takeaways to me are the big jump in "good" cholesterol level and that Vit D is still deficient! -- imagine what it was before I started taking it about a month ago! Also, first time I've ever seen my HDL:Triglyceride ratio close to 1:1, which I've heard is considered optimal.

So, as I read the results, my total cholesterol comes out "high" because of the LDL levels. What GP's don't go into is that, just like there's "good" and "bad" types of cholesterol, there are good and bad forms of the LDL type. In a nutshell, there's a "bad" form, that is like small, compact globs, and a "good" form that is puffy. I guess I need to look into the cost of having a particle density test done to determine my ratio of good:bad LDL. In other words, a person could actually have a high "total" cholesterol level, as measured by standard blood tests, but not be at risk, possibly.

Since going paleo, I have brought back a lot of things to my regular diet that I had been limiting severely for years -- such as eggs (yum!), red meat, and "good" fats. I've cut out all grain-based stuff (breads, wheats, pasta, aside from the occasional cheat -- like Thai spring rolls...and steamed white rice with Indian food...), cereals, oatmeal, granola -- all gone. As is all things soy, anything packaged (chips and other crappinabag) most dairy (still use cream in coffee and tea, and will pounce on cheese given the opportunity). Never had a real issue with sugar -- largely I think b/c I had the carb variety of the sweet tooth -- though I occasionally treat myself with Justin's Nut Butter. I've even dumped my beloved white potatoes in favor of sweet potatoes. And beans, another food love, are gone. On the exercise front, I religiously do CrossFit 4 nights/week. I've lost about 35 pounds (and 6 inches from my waist) since January -- and know that weight loss can often cause increase numbers, but most of the weight dropped early on, so I wonder if this is still a factor.

Bottomline is I'd like to be able to live happily sans any amount of statins. But I'd also like to know I'm not running around feeling like a 20 year old (I'll be 50 in Feb 2012) while inadvertently eating my way to disaster. I'd be grateful to hear any and all of your thoughts and feedback.

findlay - some definite similarities between us. But it's nice to see that lowering trigs can produce pattern A LDL even with only 41 HDL. Your TC/HDL ratio is almost identical to mine. Your diet is very similar to mine as well, as is your activity. I wouldn't be too concerned about your LDL, for several reasons. It's pattern A, you have low trigs, low VLDL, very low LP(a). Possibly whatever is keeping your HDL in the 40s range and your LDL in the high 100s range is the same as me. Seems like no matter what I try my HDL stays in the low 40s and LDL in high 100s.

I don't see a whole lot of concerns with your numbers... possibly just keep trying to solve the riddle of hampered HDL. Maybe together we can figure it out one day.