“How bad is 46 HDL for a woman?”
I'm 40 years old female. I quit smoking 2 weeks ago with the patch. Im 5'3" 135lbs. I started jogging & eating mainly plant-based about 2 months ago. I went for my yearly exam. My blood work results have me scared. Everything I saw online says major heart disease risk factor for low HDL. I also had some other numbers that were off. I won't see my doctor until next week. I was just wondering if I could get some input.
Female | 40 years old
Complaint duration: 1
Medications: N/a
Conditions: N/a
3 Answers
FamilyPractitionerFamilyPractitioner
HDL of 46 is very good.
Hello,
The HDL of 46 is low and this permits atherosclerosis to evolve in mid-life years. HDL is a carrier of cholesterol from plasma and from blood vessel walls back into the liver where it is metabolized. Thus, HDL serves in a positive protective way. You have an opportunity to make it better. Your new chapter of living with smoking cessation and exercise and diet change
and aiming for weight reduction are all proven to benefit HDL plasma levels; your HDL will rise over time and the increased number of HDL carriers will scavenge bad cholesterol and move bad cholesterol back to the liver for metabolism. Diet is very important: more vegetarian foods: foods of color: reds, greens, purples, blues, orange make a positive difference; eliminating saturated animal fats also make a huge positive difference: eating very lean animal protein is healthy; fish oil and vegetable oils are healthy; fish oil can make a positive difference to HDL; omega-3 in particular; olive oil is beneficial; cumin oil is beneficial; astaxanthin is beneficial; and data are showing that vitamin K2 makes a huge beneficial impact on atherosclerosis; this can be added in capsule form.
Rex
The HDL of 46 is low and this permits atherosclerosis to evolve in mid-life years. HDL is a carrier of cholesterol from plasma and from blood vessel walls back into the liver where it is metabolized. Thus, HDL serves in a positive protective way. You have an opportunity to make it better. Your new chapter of living with smoking cessation and exercise and diet change
and aiming for weight reduction are all proven to benefit HDL plasma levels; your HDL will rise over time and the increased number of HDL carriers will scavenge bad cholesterol and move bad cholesterol back to the liver for metabolism. Diet is very important: more vegetarian foods: foods of color: reds, greens, purples, blues, orange make a positive difference; eliminating saturated animal fats also make a huge positive difference: eating very lean animal protein is healthy; fish oil and vegetable oils are healthy; fish oil can make a positive difference to HDL; omega-3 in particular; olive oil is beneficial; cumin oil is beneficial; astaxanthin is beneficial; and data are showing that vitamin K2 makes a huge beneficial impact on atherosclerosis; this can be added in capsule form.
Rex
Of all the things you mentioned, smoking is by far the biggest risk factor. I congratulate you on your decision to stop smoking! Keep up the healthy choices!
