Is total cholesterol under 100 healthy?

in #health7 years ago

Any side effects for having a total cholesterol under 100?

It is widely known among vegans, vegetarians, and people who adhere to plant based diets that a total cholesterol of less than 100 is common. My own cholesterol scores upon last checking were around 100 and some have levels lower than 100 but what are the consequences of this?

What seems to matter is the non-HDL cholesterol. Non-HDL cholesterol should be kept as low as possible which means the try triglycerides and the LDL are the kinds of cholesterol where lower is associated with proven clinical health benefits. In sub-clinical atherosclerosis it has been shown that you can reverse not just stop plaque build up when LDL is under 50. If your total cholesterol is under 100 then chances are your non-HDL cholesterol is very low and statistically heart disease is extremely rare (less than 1% chance) for those who have total cholesterol below 130-100. Total cholesterol above 150 puts the person at risk although at a slowed rate and the higher it goes the more the risk grows but specifically the measure is non-HDL as the most accurate for determining risk from cholesterol number.

Low cholesterol has been linked to depression in some people but in other people it's not. It really depends on if the risk of depression is greater to you than the risk of heart disease. It is important to note that infants are born with very low cholesterol compared to adults and the LDL cholesterol in an infant is typically below 50.

References

  1. http://jacknorrisrd.com/low-cholesterol-part-1-stroke-and-depression/

  2. Imperial College London. (2016, December 16). Lowering cholesterol to 'levels of a new-born baby' cuts heart attack risk. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 12, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161216114309.htm

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cholesterol molecules are crucial for the cells membrane...

Nice post, thanks for your post @dana-edwards

It's supposed to be the ratio that matters more than the actual numbers. My cholesterol is very low in both numbers and always has been. My ratio is also "too low". I was very ill and obese for many years and it was one of the things they checked a lot. I also have very low blood pressure, so they thought I was some kind of mutant to be so fat with none of the common test results.

Once I lost "half my size" by numerous lifestyle and food changes, all my numbers stayed in the good ranges and my health rebounded like crazy. None of my doctors thought my new-found healthy eating had anything to do with it and so I stopped going to see then and stopped taking all their rx meds.

Six years later - here I still am and pretty much healthy and happy even though I still have some chronic, genetic conditions.

My son is vegetarian and makes a huge effort to get his protein. Many vegan/vegetarians I come across in diet groups do not make this effort and so are weak and sickly with no energy after being on this diet for a long periods of time. I find a lot of those people eating pasta, fruit, soy, etc and not getting enough variety in their diets. It can be done but it's not easy. Add the poison in a lot of processed foods of all types and it's a minefield.

I'm on the AIP/Paleo plan which is for fighting autoimmune disease and is heavy in bone broth, organ meat and gelatin along with veggies. Low on fruit, sugar, and other carbs. It works for me and others with my chronic problems, but it is not for everyone.

My advice to anyone on any diet is to get yourself on a nutrition tracker for a week or a month and see what you are getting into your system. There are some things hard to come by if you don't eat meat, or won't eat certain veggies, but it can be done. In my example, I have to make sure to get enough vitamin C and I'm sure to do that daily. If I don't think about it, I won't get it.

I most definitely run into depressed vegans, but I had not connected it to the food. Very interesting and I will pay more attention in the future :)

I think all cholesterol is good, just need to watch intake of bad fats and sugar

Great! Fantastic

Wow!! Great post!! Keep posting such posts good luck!

I have always felt that the body is such an amazing machine. If we're eating right and exercising on a regular basis we're not going to need all the extra medications. Our bodies have the ability to heal naturally.

nice post, I do something of this kind too....