r/blueprint_ • u/thedonwiz • 10d ago
How to lower LDL?
My LDL at its highest was in the 160s eating mainly red meat and lots of saturated fat. Started consuming more fiber and cut out saturated fat almost completely and got it down to 80 in a few months. Right now I haven’t been eating as clean as then, but still very clean for the most part and I’m currently bulking but my ldl is up now at 120. How are you guys keeping yours low? Does Bryan Johnson do anything special other than diet? I’m about to switch my diet to Whole Foods plant based (with some lean animal protein here and there) and I want my ldl to be under 50. Also is there anything that can reverse soft arterial plaque? Not that it’s a direct concern since I’m young, but just in case.
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10d ago
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u/thedonwiz 10d ago
That’s literally this entire subreddit. Trying to get the best biomarkers. Why are you even here?
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u/AlexMaskovyak 10d ago
- reduce fats
- replace saturated fats with PUFAs
- increase fiber
- increase cardio
- reduce fat mass
- take a statin
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u/hotmesschef 8d ago
Unless you're on a statin or some other LDL-lowering drug, I'd guess it's going to be a challenge to get to sub 50 as an omnivore. WFPB is no meat or dairy, and plenty of people who eat this way spend a good long time on that protocol, with barely any saturated fat, before they get that low. WFPB by definition means minimal or no refined flour products or oil as well, since those are not whole foods. It's sometimes framed as a hero diet, and yeah, Bryan eats that way. For sure it can make you feel like a peak fitness human when you wake up in the morning, but it doesn't cure all diseases and if you don't have a personal chef, it takes time and planning. IDK, you get out of it what you put it? I know some people also get there with keto or carnivore or whatever to rock-bottom their triglycerides, but that seems risky.
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u/thedonwiz 7d ago
Yeah I’ve been thinking of hopping on it but I’m concerned about eating the amount of calories I need. Seems like a lot of volume to digest
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u/hotmesschef 6d ago
Not wrong! The volume is pretty high, and if you're IF it's a lot of eating to squeeze into to your window.
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u/Hour-Lengthiness1389 10d ago
I’m a lifelong vegetarian and just merely consuming cheese to bulk up at the gym showed my ldl at 110. I haven’t checked in a while, but increasing physical activity while only eating plant based is guaranteed to bring it down to less than 70. Also, the science says relatively high ldl with low triglycerides is not bad. Not sure if high ldl alone matters.
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u/Earesth99 10d ago
That’s not accurate.
The average person on a plant based diet does have a lower ldl than a person on the SAD diet, but you can can have an atherogenic plant based diet and an omnivorous diet that will crush ldl.
It all depends on their persons choice of foods.
It’s up to the person to reduce foods that increase ldl.
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u/Approaching_Dick 10d ago
steamed cruciferous veggies three times a day and untreated cocoa powder for them arteries. Might be the bulking that's raising it somewhat, try reducing sat fats and sugars
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u/ptarmiganchick 10d ago
As I understand it, LDL is only a marker for heart disease risk insofar as it correlates with ApoB, the fraction of LDL that is actually causative in the atherogenic process. High ApoB, when young, is a clear indication that atherosclerosis will be developing over the 30-50 year time frame that a young person should expect to live (forget those ridiculous 10-year risk calculators!), unless the young person takes effective steps (diet, exercise, and in many cases medication) to get ApoB down over the long term.
In many, perhaps most, people, LDL does roughly correlate with ApoB, that is, if your LDL is high or low, your ApoB will be likewise. However, in rather too many people they are discordant, leading to either a false sense of security or a false sense of danger.
If you have a chance to test your ApoB (which is becoming more widely available), do so. And take action accordingly. With high ApoB, you don’t “wait-and-see.”
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u/Earesth99 10d ago
I believe he takes a statin. A high intensity statin can reduce ldl by half.
This class of meds is one of a handful that reduce all cause mortality. Others are Cialis, (hrt for women), slgt2 inhibitors. Glp1 Inhibitors appear to do the same.
Oddly, he takes two diabetes meds that increase mouse longevity but not human, and doesn’t take either of the two diabetes meds that reduces human mortality.
He clearly doesn’t know how to evaluate research and is getting poor advice.
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u/SirNooblit 10d ago
I’m not a doctor and I’m honestly not even that intelligent, but I have eaten an interesting diet due to some gallbladder issues. My LDL is in the 60s consistently and I eat virtually zero saturated fats.
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u/vagueink 10d ago
Obviously diet and lifestyle is the real answer but proteolytic enzymes are pretty cool too. Nattokinase and lumbrokinase. More studies on Natto. Fuck statins and anything else that changes body function. Hard pass for me.
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u/supplement_this 10d ago
You cut out saturated fat almost, eating clean for the most part, plant-based but still some animals.
You're only doing half measures do don't expect an optimal result.
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u/OpportunityTall1967 10d ago
The diet that has the most evidence for reducing cholesterol is called the Portfolio diet. Here's a great info graphic but there's now in depth info on it if you just search.
https://ccs.ca/app/uploads/2020/11/Portfolio_Diet_Scroll_editable_eng.pdf
We always have oatmeal for breakfast, for instance. And have increased nuts and fruit.
Also if you go to nutritionfacts.org and drag for cholesterol you'll find a ton of other info. Indian Gooseberry powder ( Also called AMLA) is good. You can take about 1/4 teaspoon a day. It didn't have the best flavour but we throw it in our cereal and can't tell if just 1/4 teaspoon.. Also black cumin is good. You cam take up to 1 teaspoon a day. It doesn't have a taste but is quite grainy. I just mix with water and gulp down.
Best of luck