Interpreting blood test results on LCHF

Dr. Paul Mason talks about what cholesterol results means for people on LCHF. Here is a quick summary

• Cholesterol is transport via Chylomicron, VLDL, IDL, LDL and HDL.
• Chylomicrons are sort lived and appears when we ingest food.
• LDL starts as VLDL, then to IDL and lastly to LDL as they off load their triglyceride cargo.
• When LDL is exposed to glucose, it can become glycated and then oxidised. Each damaging steps makes LDL fractionally smaller, i.e. small dense LDL.  This oxidative process has been shown to be significantly accelerated if we have an access of omega 6 fats (aka mostly from vegetable seeds oils)
• In a standard blood test, VLDL and LDL values are estimated; IDL are ignored. Only HDL is actually measured. 
• For lipid sub-fraction test, you want to achieve a pattern A LDL and avoid pattern B LDL as it means you have damaged LDL in your blood.
• Triglyceride levels of < 0.5 mmol/L (40 mg/dl) = Pattern A. Levels > 2 (180) = Pattern B
• HDL level  > 1.6 (65) = pattern A. Level < 0.3 (25) = pattern B
• TRI/HDL level < 0.8 (1.8) = pattern A. Level > 1.8 (4.2) = pattern B
• In interpreting blood test, first look at triglyeride, then HDL and then TRI/HDL. If at least 1 of the levels is good, its a good indication of pattern A LDL. 
• Increasing the amount of calories which increases insulin also increases LDL receptors in the liver, which is why the Feldman protocol using high carbs to lower LDL works. In the reverse. LDL receptors reduce when fasting, which explains why you may have high LDL count if you are doing long fasting before blood test.

Lowering carb intake to control insulin to achieve weight lost

In the video, Dr Paul Mason talks about treating obesity with low carb from a doctor’s perspective. Here is a quick summary

• High Insulin is associated with obesity and carbohydrates intake is associated with high insulin response. So to control weight, we need to control carbohydrate intake.
• In order for triglyceride to enter fat cells it needs LPL to break it up to glycerol and fatty acids. LPL is stimulated by insulin. Insulin also activates the GLUT4 transporter in the cells to allow glucose to enter the cells. The glycerol and fatty acids are combined again into triglyceride, the storage form of fat. Insulin also turns off HSL which enables fat metabolism.
• Skin tags, dark pigmentation of the skin and at the fingers and acne is commonly associated with insulin resistance.
• Table sugar is mostly 50% glucose + fructose. Free flowing sugars in the blood stream can bind to protein to form glycated products and oxidise to AGE (advance glycated end products). Fructose does this 7 times more effectively than glucose.
• Agave syrup is 75% fructose.
• Low carb diet is good for weight lost because it lowers insulin response.