HDL vs LDL - What are the Differences?

Extremely Discounted Pricing on Thomas' Real Salt Bundle:

Cholesterol and Heart Disease: Should You Worry About High LDL Levels?:

Ketogenic Dieting May Increase Your Cholesterol: Don’t Panic:

Butter & Saturated Fat Benefits | Is Butter is Bad for You?:

Special Thanks to my team and Nicholas Norwitz - Oxford Ketone PhD Researcher and Harvard Med Student - for working diligently on research as well!

Is High LDL Cholesterol Total NONSENSE? - Thomas DeLauer

There's two reasons why your cholesterol is high. One of them is because you're probably burning fat and right now you probably think I'm crazy for saying that, but I have tons of scientific literature and I have legitimate science to lay in front of you, so you know that this truly could be the case.

The second reason is that your insulin might be high, or your blood sugar might be high, and it's affecting your cholesterol. One thing that is not affecting your cholesterol in a negative way, is being on a lower carb, high fat diet, because that's definitely not where the science links. We're going to break this all down.

First things first. Cholesterol. Cholesterol is vital. It is made by the liver. Only 15% of our total cholesterol in our body comes from our diet. The rest is all made by the liver. 85% made within our bodies. Guess what? If we consume more dietary cholesterol, our liver produces less, and vice versa, because our body's always trying to keep a balance of cholesterol.

Cholesterol is not the problem. In fact, just that you know, cholesterol is responsible for so many things that keep you lean and healthy. Cholesterol builds vitamin D, cholesterol builds testosterone, estrogen, all these other hormones, and it also builds our cellular membranes. It is very, very vital.

LDL and HDL are not good or bad. HDL, which is known as the good cholesterol and LDL, which is known as the bad cholesterol, aren't even cholesterols. Say that again. They're not cholesterols.

They are carriers of cholesterol, but they also carry other things. HDL, which is the good cholesterol is said to be good because it carries cholesterol back to the liver to get processed. LDL, or bad cholesterol, is bad because it delivers cholesterol from the liver to other cells that need cholesterol.

Think of it like this, and Dr. Dave Feldman actually broke this down really well in some of his other videos. Basically we have the boat. That is the lipoprotein, whether HDL or LDL.

That's the boat. Triglycerides are the passengers. The precious cargo. The ultimate goal, what we are carrying. Cholesterol is like a life jacket. It's just there. It's important, you need that life jacket, but it's not the actual critical cargo. It's the triglycerides that are the critical cargo here. Then does that really answer the question of LDL being bad or not?

What happens is when LDL reacts sugar in the bloodstream, a process called glycation occurs. Glycation is where the cholesterol and the sugar come together and turn into a harder, denser lipoprotein.

Normally this LDL carries cholesterol and triglycerides and it floats down its little river through the ocean and it docks at the cell. Nice and easily it docks and it lets off it's simple cholesterol and it lets off its triglycerides. If that boat reacts with sugar, glycation occurs and it becomes oxidized.

That changes the form of the boat. Now the boat is kind of demented and it can't dock anymore. What happens is you end up with a bunch of LDL floating around because it has nowhere to go because no dock will accept it.

Most primary care physicians are just looking at a standard lipid profile. There's good news. If you do just get a standard lipid profile, you can do a little bit of your own investigating.

Here's what you do. If your HDL cholesterol is normal, within a decent range, that's good. Then if your triglycerides are low, you're in a good place. If your HB A1C is reasonable, like less than 5.6, A1C is your tailing measurement of your blood sugar over like 90 days.

That's the simplest way. If all your other numbers are in check, your A1C, your sugar, your HDL, and your triglycerides, if those are all in check, I wouldn't be too concerned with the LDL being high because chances are it's the nice fluffy LDL that is doing its job. If those other numbers are off, you might have some cause for concern and you need to talk to your doctor.

Nicholas Norwitz - Oxford Ketone PhD Researcher and Harvard Med Student:

[drewandrews]

I am a scientist and work at the Laboratory. I do all those tests you talking about. You are expending a latest reserch and I do understand your information. You are leading a new light into our limited knowledge. Thank you for your awesome work. I love your effort and knowledge.
Have a blessed day!

[kathiwyldeck]

This is the best and clearest explanation of cholesterol, LDL and HDL that I've ever heard. Thanks, Thomas, for making this important topic easy to understand.

[optimizewithscience]

I am a researcher and to my shame, I have to admit that for years, I believed that cholesterol is bad because of all the "propaganda" online. Eventually, I decided to use my research skills also for my health and started to look deeper into the scientific research. That's when I realized that the whole cholesterol story was bullshit.

I transitioned to a low-carb diet and feel better than ever before!

[tbrown]

My LDL was 171, my HDL was 60, my triglycerides were low, and my glucose was 104....i'm 35 years old, 5'11, maybe 140lbs, very lean, I work out 4 times a week, and intermittent fast most days...and my doctor told me to quit eating red meat and dairy. I feel great. If this video is true, and i think it is, she does not know what she's talking about. I've never been fat a day in my life...I eat very low sugar, and don't drink or smoke. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that they've been wrong about cholesterol for the last 60 years but that appears to be the case..

[njbright]

Thank you. Blood tests showed my Triglycerides dropped since going low carb, but LDL raised to "dangerous levels." HDL fine. Blood sugars fine. Doc suggested Statins. I said no thanks and glad I did after watching this when I got home!

[hotv]

I need to show this to my doc! I had normal numbers on everything except high LDL and she gave me a long lecture about eating healthier foods even though I lead a ketogenic and fasting lifestyle. Smh.

[christineb]

I love how you explain things as Albert Einstein once said "if you cant explain something to a six year old then you dont understand it yourself" you never try to hide behind big words, of course you use them but you always make sure your audience understands in the end and I truly appreciate that

[erollf]

MY DOCTOR WANTED TO PUT ME ON STATINS IN APRIL. I had been on a ketogenic lifestyle since in January. I started increased omega 3 and now my cholesterol is awesome without taking any more drugs. Have lost 90 lbs total.

[William]

Basically, as long as you strip carbs/sugar from your diet you don't have to worry about HDL, LDL, Tri-g, and cholesterol.

[dahliak]

Of the thousands of videos on YouTube on this topic, this video is the absolute best! Good job. Glad I found you

[bobthejanitor]

Finally, somebody is saying the right things about cholesterol. A few weeks ago, I actually told a doctor he was an idiot because he told me I needed to lower my LDL after I lost 85 lb on a moderate ketogenic diet even though my other numbers were perfect. Thanks, TD!

[CarnivoreAnesthetist]

Nicely done! I’m a PhD in health Science Physiology. Also, a practicing Anesthetist. I’ve never heard it explained that well !

[Bankai]

Just wanted to say thank you Thomas from the bottom of my heart. I had a full endocrine crash 5 months ago and thanks to your video, Bergs, Fungs I am slowly able to regain my health. You're godsent, never simplify these vids. Some of us really need that deep solid information. Can't thank you enough!

[craighagedorn]

Such a great, informative breakdown. As a healthy, fit guy under 40 with high cholesterol, this explains a lot. THANK YOU!

[gotwood]

God bless this man for his great content, animations, and easy enough to understand explanations, which are helping tens of thousands of people around the world.

[harryviking]

After going near zero carb diet, my LDL shot up!! My doctor wanted to give me statins and I tried to explain the reason for the elevated doctors have no idea about cholesterol!

[lijie]

For years I would get random chest pains. They would just come and go. I had my heart scanned completely and nothing was found. 0% blockages and still chest pains. I later found out I had nonalcoholic fatty liver after a liver ultrasound. I started a liver cleanse, keto, low carb/sugar, and intermittent fasting. No more chest pains. I lost 16 pounds without working out.

[denitam]

I had a nutritionist give me this information 10 years ago and when I tried to tell people about it they thought I was crazy. I stayed the course of my nutritionist and didn't worry about what the blood tests said (required to be eligible for health insurance at my place of work) and I feel great, don't look my age and am not on any medication. I'm so happy to see you give this info now, hopefully more people will change their mindset.

[reddirtfit]

Thanks for leaving in the blooper. We all need to laugh more, also healthy 😀

[ericwuerl]

My LDL is 250ish but advanced lipid panel shows mostly large particles and low small particles. triglycerides from 150 down to 71. Very low HDL but climbing with every lab was like 24 now is about 36. Blood pressure normalized A1C down from 6.1 to 5.4. I thank keto and now carnivore diets for making me amazing. From 350 pounds to 208