I've been recommended for a high cholesterol test, and really just want to know why. I don't really care, but it just seems odd- y'know, as a vegan I consume no animal products, and I don't think that I've really ever knowingly consumed a tropical oil, or at least I haven't often. But they recommended me for the test because of heredity, and I was wondering why they thought that high cholesterol would still be an issue. Can anyone explain?
Besides the genetic reason it's just good practice to get a baseline on how your lipid levels are going! Hopefully you've got a doctor that is up on the latest 'news' (actually over 10 years old) that besides total levels it's just as important to maintain a good ratio of HDL/LDL levels! You could dig through my old answers for more info but here's my history (as an example) of why you need the info.
I come from a family that typically dies in mid-30's from Sudden Cardiac Death (I'm way past that age now). I've been veggie since pre-teens and my only animal intake is from occasional use of analogs with slight egg or dairy (and the rare cheese pizza). My total cholesterol level was under 100 total with an almost 1-1 ratio of HDL/LDL when I finally started having serious heart problems about 8 years ago. That's a typical ratio for my family but my total level was much lower than usual. After turning down all surgical options I got 'hooked up' with a cardiac nutritionist that changed my diet from a low fat diet to a (for me) much higher fat diet to get my HDL/LDL ratio to 5-1 and my heart problems are now not an issue.
I now cook with extra virgin Coconut oil as it *lowers* LDL (but won't change HDL)! My LDL level dropped from 49 to 30 once I started using it. I use Olive oil, Flax oil and eat Avocado's daily to raise my HDL levels from their previous 50 to 152 bringing my total level to 182. Almost double my previous level but *much* healthier!!!!
Does that help to explain why they want to know what your levels are? If you've still got questions either edit this one or email me!