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Is a strict LCHF diet with unlimited amounts of saturated fat bad for cholesterol levels?
Tommy Runesson has had his blood lipid levels checked four times, including just recently, during his four years on an ultra-strict LCHF diet. The major part of his 200 lb-weight loss (!) occurred before his first blood test, and we don’t know what the numbers were before his weight loss.
The numbers look great. We’re not seeing the significantly elevated total-cholesterol number that a small percentage of individuals show on a strict LCHF diet.
I’d say Runesson’s numbers represent the typical result of a long-term strict LCHF: a normal total cholesterol and LDL, excellent HDL and triglycerides, and a very nice apo-B/apo-A1 ratio. This is what I typically see in most patients that I follow.
Runesson’s results also contradict the strange idea that an LCHF diet may produce good lipid numbers because of ongoing weight loss, but that they would suddenly turn disastrous when weight stabilizes, for some obscure reason. This idea has been put forward by some LCHF skeptics. As far as I know there’s no science to support this idea.
In any case: Runesson has been eating an extremely strict LCHF diet for four years, and has maintained stable weight for the last 2.5 years. And his cholesterol profile is far better than most people’s.
Eat Low Carb High Fat: Cholesterol after 4 years on LCHF
PS: I’m planning another cholesterol checkup myself this fall, after 7 years on an LCHF diet.
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