I have been on atkins for about 2 months now. I had my cholesterol taken after one month of Atkins. Results are as follows:
Total Cholesterol 220
Triglicerides 104
HDL 59
ratio 3.7

dID NOT DO LDL ON THIS EXAM....

About 14 months ago my cholesterol was:

Total Cholesterol 205
Triglicerides 135
HDL 44
LDL 134
RATIO 4.7

I believe Atkins is working for me.....any comments?

It's really unusual to get blood work for cholesterol and not get the LDL reading. I'm wondering if they just forgot to tell you what it was?

The HDL and triglycerides are looking great. The cardiologist my wife saw said LDL was not diet so much as heredity.

Looks great to me.

Looks great. It seems like LDL must have stayed the same, as total cholesterol was raised only 15 points (and your HDL raised 15 points). Plus, triglycerides dropped which means LDL composition is more favorable now.

Good work

I can tell you what your LDL is.

LDL is not usually taken, as it is very time consuming and expensive. It is estimated by something called the Friedewald Equation which is as follows:

LDL = Total cholesterol - HDL - TG/5 (If measurements are in mmol/L, it is TG/2.2)
So, your LDL will be 220 - 59 - 104/5 which comes to 140.

Your figures are great - congratulations!

Rosebud

Rosebud-
Thanks so much for posting the formula. I knew LDL was calculated, but never saw the formula before.
I had some "advanced" testing this fall, and had my LDL molecule types and sizes measured. Very interesting, but also very expensive!
E

Hi again, I found this on a website by emedicine.com It's helpful about LDL/HDL levels.


Cholesterol (cont.)


What are LDL/HDL and total/HDL ratios?

The total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio (total/HDL) is a number that is helpful in predicting atherosclerosis. The number is obtained by dividing total cholesterol by HDL cholesterol. (High ratios indicate higher risks of heart attacks, low ratios indicate lower risk).

High total cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol increases the ratio, and is undesirable. Conversely, high HDL cholesterol and low total cholesterol lowers the ratio, and is desirable. An average ratio would be about 4.5. Ideally we want to be better than average if we can. Thus the best ratio would be 2 or 3 or less than 4.

Another ratio is LDL/HDL. The LDL/HDL ratio is actually a more pure ratio than total cholesterol/HDL. Because LDL is a measure of bad cholesterol and HDL is a measure of good cholesterol, whereas the total cholesterol is the sum of HDL, LDL, and the VLDL. Yes, adding up the HDL, LDL and VLDL makes up the total cholesterol measurement.


Even though total cholesterol/HDL ratio is not as accurate or pure as the LDL/HDL ratio, the former is more commonly obtained because the total cholesterol is easier and cheaper to obtain than the LDL cholesterol level.

Atkins people have a tendency to have very good HDL
and triglycerides and elevated LDL which puts total
cholesterol above the national average(215).The MRFIT
study clearly shows the importance of keeping total
cholesterol below 200 for long life.