Hi everyone,

I started going low-carb in July 2011 and I lost 15lbs in the first 6 weeks and then stabilized at 180lb…I’m a 6’3” male, 35yo. I wasn’t overweight to begin with (always been a very active guy) but I am the leanest I have ever been now.

After 4 months of hearing from friends and relatives that I was getting myself a heart attack, destroy my kidneys and slaughter my liver, I went to get a VAP test last week and got my number back today.
A little background: I have a strong family history of heart disease, both my paternal grandparents died of MI and stroke, my dad developed type-2 diabetes 4 years ago. I always had low HDL (high 20s, low 30s) and high triglycerides (last reading in Nov 2010: 177 – but I had them around 200). My LDL has always been around 100.

Here are my numbers:

Total LDL-C: 116
Pattern A
HDL: 52
Triglycerides: 110

LpA: 5.0
ApoB100: 91
CRP: 0.54

Here are the not so good news:
VLDL-3: 18 (should be 10 or less)
IDL: 22 (should be 20 or less)
Homocysteine: 12.1 (should be 12.0 or less)

I know that IDL tends to be higher if there’s family history of diabetes, so it makes sense for me, but VLDL-3 goes hand-by-hand with triglycerides, so I’m surprised it’s high.
Homocysteine is almost alright. Good news is that I have very very little inflammation.

IMO, I see tremendous improvements, never had triglycerides so low (and they also tend to be hereditary, so I might struggle to get them in the 50s like most of low-carbers do) and never had HDL over 36.
Never taken a VAP before, but I am pretty sure I have always been LDL pattern B and I can only imagine what my VLDL-3 numbers were before.

I don’t take any omega-3 fish oil supplements, do you guys think they can help lower my trigs and VLDL-3? If so, which one do you recommend?

Thanks everyone!

Yeah, fish oil is supposed to help lower trigs. Dr. Davis has a lot of experience in this area. His blog is: http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/

Some people have high triglycerides genetically and can't ever get them into the 50's. How high are they normally?

Thanks Nancy,

yes, I think I am genetically that way.
They have always been between 175-225, but I always ate tons of carbs (I would literally eat tons of bread, crackers, and fruit).
I am glad they already went down to 110 after 4 months of low-carbing, just wondering if they could go down more...