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Lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) level. - The Switch

I got a health check-up to understand what's happening in my body. Then while most of the numbers by check were very good, there was one bad value. That is the value of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), so-called "bad cholesterol". The number was exceptionally high for me. And it's bad for the health.

This article is about explaining my hypothesis of why, and the plan of how to improve and lower the value of LDL. First I just want to say this situation is a good thing. Because this is just a part of the scientific process to know the truth. A part of the continuous experiment by using my body.

I used the book, The Switch by James W. Clement[1] again. I wrote the summary in the past blog.[2] It's really a nice book.

Theory

Chapter 5

Here are the related contents in the book.

According to Chapter 5 Epiepic Children and World-Class Cyclists - Ketosis and Autophagy

The reason, however, is that many people go about the diet wrong and think that it allows them to snack on bacon and other processed meats daily or eat as much saturated fat as their heart desires. Because ketogenic diets favor fat in the diet, you need to be careful about which kind of fat you take in (more unsaturated fats from olive oil, avocados, and certain nuts; less bad fats from cheese, butter, dairy products, and meat).

...

All people come to the proverbial table with a different set of risk factors. I, for example, inherited several genetic variants that link high total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the so-called bad cholesterol) levels to saturated dietary fat intake. One month on coconut oil (which is high in saturated fat) made my total cholesterol level double and substantially raised my bad cholesterol level. Since ketogenesis is brought about my limiting your carbohydrate level until your cells switch to burning fat, it doesn't matter what type of dietary fat you choose to substitute for those calories.

The author experienced high LDL cholesterol. And some kind of dietary fat caused.

In my case, I quickly got off the coconut oil and decided to substitute some polyunsaturated fatty acids and a lot more monounsaturated fatty acids (discussed in depth in chapter 7) for the missing calories. Within a month my total cholesterol levels had not only returned to my preketo levels but had reduced by another 50 percent (the best I'd ever seen).

The author changed the dietary fats from saturated to unsaturated fatty acids. Especially he took more monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) than polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Then he improved his total and LDL cholesterol levels.

Chapter 7

According to Chapter 7 Walnuts and Corn-Fed Cows - Fat Fundamentals

Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature and are naturally found in animal meats and whole dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, and cream. Some saturated fats are also found in plant foods such as tropical oils (coconuts or palm) and nuts. They are the only fatty acids that raise total blood cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol).

The key is less saturated fats.

Studies show that eating foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) improves blood cholesterol levels.[3]

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MUFAs include olive and canola oil, as well as avocados and the oil derived from them. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are found mostly in plant-based foods and oils, as well as in oils from fatty fish such as salmon, herring, halibut, and marine algae. Evidence shows that eating foods rich in PUFAs also improves blood cholesterol levels and may help decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.[4][5]

According to the Chapter 7 - Omega-3 versus Omega-6 Fatty Acids

Picture: Omega-6 Versus Omega-3 Content In Various Foods

Image credit: The Switch - James W. Clement Image credit: The Switch - James W. Clement

In the pictures, the red markers are good foods, and the blue markers are bad ones to improve LDL levels. It seems that the list in the pictures is sorted by Omega-6/Omerga-3 ratio (N6/N3 ratio)(smaller is better).

My thoughts

The key to lower the LDL cholesterol level is to change the dietary fats from saturated to saturated fatty acids and especially eat more monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) than polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Possible reasons for my high LDL levels are maybe that I was eating a high amount of the following foods including fats.

  • Beef steaks: 160g around 3 or 4 times in a week. Especially Ryb eye streak, medium rare or medium.
  • Pork belly: 150~200g around 2 or 3 times.
  • Grass-fed butter: Around 50~100g mostly daily.
  • Nuts: pistachio, almonds, macadamia nuts: 50~150g daily.

In the pictures above, I marked blue colors for the foods I was eating. Grass-fed beef is healthier than grain-fed beef. But it still has high saturated fats, and the Omega-6/Omerga-3 ratio is still high. So, I will am starting to experiment to eat foods marked as red color with omega-3, low saturated fat, and low N6/N3 ratio. And I don't eat the foods above nuts. I still eat nuts less and only specific ones. The author recommends only macadamia nuts. Because not eating meat at all and milk products are helpful to compare the results of LDL by a few factors. I will keep this new diet style for the next 1 or 2 months, then I will get the same health check-up again. And I will see how the numbers will be changed. I also think I need to check my SNPs by direct genome-consuming service, an expensive one to know many SNPs.

Here is the list of the red colors foods in the pictures, and the H6/N3 radio.

  • Tuna, canned in water, light, 1 can (165 g) - 0.03
  • Shrimp, cooked, 16 large, 3 oz. (85 g) - 0.06
  • Salmon, sockeye, dry-heat cooked, 3 oz. (85 g) - 0.08
  • Broccoli rabe, cooked, 3 oz. (85 g) - 0.15
  • Spinach, raw, 2 cups (60 g) - 0.19
  • Flaxseed, whole seeds, 1 tbsp (10g) - 0.26
  • Salmon, Atlantic, farmed, dry-heat cooked, 3 oz. (85 g) - 0.29
  • Romaine, 2 cups (85 g) - 0.42
  • Broccoli, cooked, 1/2 cup (78 g) - 0.43
  • Kidney beans, cooked, 1 cup (177 g) - 0.63
  • Kale, cooked, 1/2 cup (65 g) - 0.78

But the problem is big sea fishes like tuna include metal in their body, which is bad. So, I eat tuna rarely. The Great Plains Laboratory offers some tests to check metals in your body. The salmon is okay.

References

  • [1] https://jameswclement.com/
  • [2] https://junaruga.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/08/20/220250
  • [3] Kris-Etherton PM, Pearson TA, Wan Y, Hargrove RL, Moriarty K, Fishell V, Etherton TD. High-monounsaturated fatty acid diets lower both plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Dec;70(6):1009-15. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/70.6.1009. PMID: 10584045. PubMed
  • [4] Fernandez ML, West KL. Mechanisms by which dietary fatty acids modulate plasma lipids. J Nutr. 2005 Sep;135(9):2075-8. doi: 10.1093/jn/135.9.2075. PMID: 16140878. PubMed
  • [5] Coelho OGL, da Silva BP, Rocha DMUP, Lopes LL, Alfenas RCG. Polyunsaturated fatty acids and type 2 diabetes: Impact on the glycemic control mechanism. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017 Nov 22;57(17):3614-3619. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2015.1130016. PMID: 26853892. PubMed
  • [6] https://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/select-a-test