I know my cholesterol numbers going back almost twenty years, over something like 15 tests. This is because that first test around 2007 showed my HDL was ridiculously low. So I took steps to modify it, and tested again (and again...) to see how it was progressing.

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l8rlump 5 days ago | parent [-]

How can you increase your HDL?

	▲	gcanyon 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		N=1, but: I read that carbs lower HDL, and I was eating a very carb-heavy diet. So over about two months I switched to an informal low-carb diet. e.g. I stopped drinking milk, I ate Carl's Jr. six-dollar burgers as lettuce wraps for lunch, and sometimes just roast beef and mayo. Over three months I lost something like 30 pounds, hitting a body fat percentage around 12% -- this wasn't the goal, but FWIW. My HDL before was 17, after those three months, 25. Then I added in various forms of exercise and got it up to about 55. I've since engaged in various diets, and levels of exercise -- although I've never gone back to the original diet where whole meals consisted of a quart of ovaltine. My HDL has never dropped below 40, nor been higher than 65.