I am 34 and just had my Cholesteral tested for the first time in recent memory. In January after reading Taubes book, I went on a low carb diet and have lost over 15 pounds. I exercise regularly and consider myself to be a healthy. NO family history of heart disease but both parents have high Cholesteral.
Here are my numbers. Total: 304
Triglyceride: 72
HDL: 73
LDL (direct measure): 214
They also tested Glucose and that was a heathy 83.
My LDL seems sky high but my HDL and Trigylcerides are good. I suggested to my doctor that we do a more comprehnsive test so we could see VLDL and get a direct measure of my LDL. He does not seem receptive. So far we have only e-mailed but I have an appointment next week. My guess is that he will want to put me on statins which I see as a last resort.
I am confused as to what these numbers really mean for a risk and I think that it is probably hard to know without knowing VLDL and whether the LDL is the fluffy or dense kind. I am willing to try and make changes in my diet to see if that lowers LDL (I probably eat 10 to 12 eggs a week on average).
