The FastDay Forum

Not sure which of delighted or disappointed to be.

In July 2011 I had blood tests. I asked for this as a precaution, and because I knew that I was overweight and eating badly and felt a bad result might shock me into action. Result was a letter telling me at 6.1 my total cholesterol was slight cause for concern, that it should be under 5, and enclosing a recommended low-cholesterol diet sheet, which I ignored.

September 2012 I started 5:2 and lost 30 pounds, to get to healthy BMI which I have now maintained for several months using a loose version of 5:2.

New blood test January 2014 was reported to me to be OK. I pressed for information on numbers and was told total 5.7, but HDL of 1.5 thus ratio of 3.8 which made it OK.

The test was on a Wednesday and my fast days are Monday/Friday so it wasn't immediately after a fast day.

So I guess I am delighted the results are OK rather than cause for concern. But I'm disappointed the drop is only from 6.1 to 5.7, still well above the recommendation of 5.

Any thoughts? My blood pressure has always been on the low side, and my blood sugar was apparently fine both times, though no figures were given. I'm late 50s, female.

Hi kentishlass,

My understanding of raised cholesterol levels is that if you are over 50, female and have no other health issues then a high cholesterol reading is nothing to worry about. I also fit this criteria and have a higher reading than you but neither my G.P. nor I are concerned. Try not to worry about it, just enjoy your life,

Ballerina x

[carorees]

Ballerina is right. Plus the good ratio of HDL to total cholesterol is good.

However, you should know that the evidence that cholesterol levels have any influence on heart disease risk is generally poor. This is because the whole cholesterol story is much much more complicated. Cholesterol being a fat does not dissolve in your bloodstream (water based) so it has to be carried along by proteins called lipoproteins. The lipoproteins with their cholesterol burden make up particles of different sizes and weights(low density lipoprotein [LDL], high density lipoprotein [HDL], very low density lipoprotein [VLDL], small dense LDL, light fluffy LDL to name but a few). The size and weight may or may not be related to how much cholesterol they are carrying. How each of these different types behaves in the body is not clear. It could be that it is not the total amount of, say, LDL that is important but the number of particles. We can't measure how many particles you have circulating easily, so the numbers you get from the tests may be completely meaningless. We do know, however, that cholesterol is a vital component of all our cells so we must have some circulating in the system or we'll be in trouble! Beyond that it is not really clear. Some people think that the circulating cholesterol is only a problem if you have inflammation in the arteries. Some people think that a diet high in carbohydrates causes this inflammation. In reality, no-one really knows.

Personally, like Ballerina, I think it's not really worth worrying about.

Thank you for that!

It's complicated isn't it!

As you suggest, I won't worry about it. Cheers!