Alan, God bless you.
I have had these same kinds of results as of last week and I was very concerned, doing research and trying to figure this all out.
Here are my results:
OLD CHOLESTEROL: (averaged over last 4 years)
Total Cholesterol roughly 165
LDL roughly 80
HDL roughly 63
Cholesterol/HDL ratio roughly 2.25
LDL/HDL roughly 1.2
Triglycerides roughly 70
NEW CHOLESTEROL (one month after starting Coconut Oil):
Total Cholesterol 220
LDL: 108 yikes
HDL: 96 VERY NICE
Cholesterol/HDL ratio 2.29
LDL/HDL 1.125
Triglycerides 80
At first, I freaked out. High cholesterol! Me!
Then, I ran the numbers. I saw that my Cholesterol/HDL ratio and my LDL/HDL ratio were practically unchanged. According to my understanding, HDL takes the saturated fat from the arteries to the liver and LDL takes the saturated fat from the liver to the arteries. So if both go up, it's a draw, and you haven't developed any further problems. (It's the fat that causes the problem, not the cholesterol. Cholesterol is a transport molecule.)
So - it seemed to me that the body was manufacturing more cholesterol to process the additional saturated fat, but the fat wasn't staying in my arteries any more than before. So I worried less.
Now, with Alan's post, I feel even better. My Triglycerides are 80 - still well below the optimal <135 range. If Alan is correct, then I am in even better shape than I thought.
Alan, can you please give me the source of your information about the triglycerides? I'd really like to get to the bottom of this.
One more point. People who have high LDL have a problem because the saturated fat they eat forms a solid plaque in the arteries and blocks the flow of blood to the heart.
That's because the fat they are eating is solid at body temperature. Fat like dairy fat, meat fat, and trans fats don't melt at body temperature.
The fat in coconut oil is a clear liquid, like vegetable oil, at 98.6. So let the LDL bring all the saturated fat it wants to my arteries. It's not going to get stuck there because it is as fluid as vegetable oil.
However, unlike vegetable oil, it doesn't go rancid at 98.6 either. That's why the statistics are that coconut oil generates less
Breast Cancer in animals than corn oil does. People who eat a lot of coconut oil in tropical societies don't get heart disease either.
Anyone who can point out errors in my thinking, please do so. This is cutting-edge material and I need to know whatever I can find about it. Today I found this:
Clin Biochem. 2004 Sep;37(9):830-5. Related Articles, Links
Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation.
Nevin KG, Rajamohan T.
Thank you all!
Nina Moliver
NinaLynn@bigfoot.com