Understand Your CHOLESTEROL PANEL & Metabolic Health Tests - The ULTIMATE Guide | Dr. Robert Lustig

A metabolic blood test and cholesterol panel can be confusing, so in this ultimate guide, our Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder Dr. Casey Means talks with Levels advisor and author of Metabolical, Dr. Robert Lustig, to give you advice on how to interpret your panels to better understand the status of your metabolic health.

Dr. Robert Lustig walks through what HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol mean, how fasting insulin tests relate to your cholesterol panel, how to improve your cholesterol numbers, and how to interpret ratios of your cholesterol numbers like the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio.

#metabolicHealth #cholesterolPanel #LDL #triglycerides #bloodPanel

📍 What Dr. Robert Lustig and Levels’ Dr. Casey Means discuss:

00:00 - Intro
02:17 - Understanding cholesterol
02:44 - The correlation between LDL and heart disease
05:12 - The connection between LDL and triglycerides
07:14 - Good cholesterol
16:48 - Measuring LDL
30:04 - Portal systems in the body
44:51 - The importance of liver function tests
54:05 - How to reduce liver fat

👋 WHO WE ARE:

Levels helps you see how food affects your health. With real-time, personalized data gathered through biosensors like continuous glucose monitors (CGM), you learn which diet and lifestyle choices improve your metabolic health so you can live a longer, fuller, healthier life.

🔗 LINKS:

[georgeyoung]

Chapter 9 of Metabolical taught me what I needed to know about my lipid panel. Total cholesterol 288, HDL 62, triglycerides 52. So I knew how to interpret the results. Dr told me I was a candidate for a statin and I told her I was a candidate for a new doctor

[rgbcolor]

Dr. Lustig saved my life ten years ago when I found his lecture "Sugar, the bitter truth". We downloaded the youtube video and played it on the big screen in the living room. After cutting out the sugar (all of it) my cholesterol fell by half, and while I didn't lose any weight, my blood pressure came down with the cholesterol. Back in November 2023 (three months ago), I read his book Metabolical, and since using the information in that book, I have EFFORTLESSLY lost 40 lbs in three months. I capitalize "effortlessly" because that's important. I'm not using super-human willpower to fight cravings or hunger. I don't count calories, I don't restrict my food intake, I just cut out the processed food and let the chips fall where they may to see what happens. What I learned from my experience is that the processed foods are why I was always hungry. Before following his information, I would get so hungry I couldn't concentrate on anything but the hunger. It was a physical hunger pain that wouldn't go away until I ate something. After his book, I don't even get hungry for at least 10 to 12 hours, and if I get even a little distracted by something, I'm likely to forget I was hungry for a few more hours. For the first time in my life a few days ago, I forgot (FORGOT!) to eat dinner.
I was shocked in the morning when my wife asked why I didn't reheat what she left for me in the fridge.

I have lost 40 lbs in three months and just had a blood test.. my liver tests AST and ALT are back in the green and falling, and my triglycerides dropped 40%. My knees no longer hurt, and I don't wake up every morning feeling like I'm hung over.

Thank you Dr. Lustig. If I had the opportunity I would shake your hand and thank you personally.

[e.a.miller]

Holy cow. What a brilliant educator. I’ve been in medicine 30 years and I’ve never had cholesterol explained like this. Thanks, this was the highlight of my day.

[devpubba]

I got fatty liver last year and thank to this video, Today I am fully recovered from the stage 2 fatty liver diease. 🎉🎉

[AA-nlbl]

Dr. Lustig is phenomenal. His ability to break down complex information is a gift to humanity.

[kklau]

As a medical doctor myself who had worked for twenty years, I honestly confess that a lot of what is mentioned in this video is not taught in medical school, and yes I gain so much new insight from this and surely I will read the book to learn more indepth in this topic. Thanks so much for all the valuable information.

[kaynenbrown]

You guys have no idea how much posting videos is helping people in the world. Thank you.

[sincocuerdas]

I got Fatty Liver last year. I immediately went to YouTube, found Dr. Ken Berry, immediately cut out ALL sugars and most carbs, went on Keto and felt better in the first week. 2 months later I had reversed my NAFLD. This podcast is on a different level of being informative, very thorough and detailed. I'm glad I found Dr. Casey and Dr. Lustig.

[TheImmortals]

This is the type of content we need in YouTube

[drsaravananr]

This is just too good. Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Pradip Jamnadas, Dr. Jason Fung and the likes are real geniuses. I have been a doctor for more than 2 decades now and never knew this side of medical science. Great brains sharing great info. Thank you so much.

[fdbassociatesllc]

This is one of the most important 57 minutes of content in all of the internet! High substance questions and answers that were all understandable to non-medical professionals. Congratulations for knocking it out of the park!! Thank you both!!

[ohanaomar]

Dr. Rob is from another planet. The way he explains what metabolic health is all about, is phenomenal. I must admit that medical school doctors should listen to what he advises on metabolic health. One of the most eye-opening interviews I have ever come across. Thank you Dr. Rob. You are the real doctor!

[jefcalomarde]

hi. im a filipino. i have eliminated sugar in my diet and super low carb in my diet. and im doing intermitent fasting for more than a year now. my diabetic has reverse and my triglycerides is 100. it really worked. i do exercise too. JUST DO IT.

[oowidev]

Robert Lustig should be US Surgeon General

[sevenrats]

I actually had heart attack 4 years ago and at the time I was doing the Paleo diet to lose weight. I had lost 30lbs a few years before on paleo but let myself slip and regain 30lbs. So I was back on the diet again and had lost 25 lbs. While riding my bike I had chest pain and long story short, had a heart attack, got a stent and survived the whole thing and now I'm fine. The funniest though is that on the cath lab table, my triglycerides were 70, my cholesterol was 125. My ldl was low, my hdl was high. I was the skinniest person in the room and I was the patient! The nutritionist who saw me saw my labs and couldn't believe that I had a heart attack. I told her that 3 months before they weren't the same. The reason is that when my weight was high my triglycerides were 250 and my cholesterol was 190. Every day that you live with your triglycerides up, being over weight, eating a sugary diet, you are doing damage.

[johnryden]

I’m a 58-year-old male, 5’ 11”. I weigh 175 pounds I’ve been eating 42 eggs per week or six per day for years. Every month I donate platelets at a local blood clinic they use for burn victims. (Not to be confused with plasma donation). This is a personal sacrifice of two hours I’m on this machine each month. (I feel like I’m doing something positive). The process is where they take blood, separate out the platelets and return the red blood cells and Plasma. Hanging above the machine is the bag that holds the collected platelets. My technician says you can tell a lot about someone’s diet by the color of their platelets. You can tell a lot about your blood chemistry by the color of your platelets. They are yellow in color. My technician loves my platelets, she says, mine are the most perfect she has ever seen. Mine are a clear golden yellow. Everyone else theirs are a milky yellow due to the triglycerides or suspended fats in their blood. (Platelets only have a 5 day shelf life and have to be constantly moving to prevent them from clotting). I’m in great shape for my age. I can do 100 push-ups. My dad lived to 90 on a similar diet.

[darthdurkelthewise]

It is quite scary that we as patients are having to influence and lead our primary care doctors on what tests we need and how to interpret our own results!
Rob has been the single biggest educator/resource for my health journey over the past 4 years. I’m a lot healthier and smarter as a result. Thank you sir.

[mystatinfreelife]

I had a Trigs/HDL ratio of 7.45 years ago when I was on statins. I changed my diet. Most recent calculation was 1.47 (not on statins.)

[Paolo_De_Leva]

_"Oh my gosh, this is so good. That was such a beautiful description of the pathways in the liver"_ (Dr. Casey Means @33:08)
You are right. Lustig's explanation was impressively magnificent. He is at the same time a top researcher and a top teacher. One of the best in the world. He deserves the Nobel prize.

[goodviewfromuphere]

Dr Lustig has many, many gifts as a medical practitioner, but his gifts of teaching and clarity make his knowledge and wisdom accessible.