[josefresco]

I have an auto-immune disease. The medication prescribed has the side effect of making my "bad" LDL cholesterol skyrocket. I tried everything from diet, to exercise to bring it back down but nothing worked. I'm now on a Statin medication which solved the issue but I'm not thrilled about yet another medication.

Before my disease I ate like an average American (sugar, meat, dairy etc.) and my LDL cholesterol was high. I was diagnosed, changed my diet and my LDL dropped to healthy levels. Later I started a new medication (JAK inhibitor) and it jumped back up, but my diet did not change.

I read this article twice and have no idea how it applies to my situation.

[1_player]

I'm no doctor, so take what I'm about to say with a ton of salt. Your doctor might disapprove, but salt ain't so bad in reality.

High LDL or high cholesterol doesn't mean anything, per se. The HDL:LDL ratio is a little more important but not so much. Triglycerides and glucose levels are a much bigger indicator of health. Inflammation is the biggest indicator, but AFAIK we do not have ways to measure it directly.

HDL, LDL, cholesterol, triglycerides are fats, but are often not directly correlated with dietary fat. There is more and more evidence triglycerides increases as sugar and refined carbs increase in your diet. This is the biggest misconception in dietary history and we're 20 years away from science and doctors to integrate this new piece of information.