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Marker · Ranges for learning, not a diagnosis

LDL cholesterol

Also called LDL-C, calculated LDL.

The cholesterol carried inside LDL particles. It is often worked out by formula from a standard cholesterol panel.

Read this first

  • Coach, not doctor. Aaron Cuha is a coach, not a doctor. No medical credential is claimed for him, or for these pages. A number on a blood test is something to talk over with a doctor, not something to diagnose yourself with. Nothing here is a prescription, a plan to follow, or a reason to start or stop a medicine. Educational use only. This database summarizes published research and is not medical advice. Where a dose appears it is a record of what a trial or clinic ran, or what people describe doing, with its source attached. Nothing here is a recommendation for personal use.
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Why a longevity audience asks

It is the number most people already have. It is not the same as the particle count (ApoB) or particle size (pattern B).

How a coach reads it

Your doctor's target depends on your risk. A formula-based LDL can be wrong when triglycerides (another blood fat) are very high. Non-HDL cholesterol and ApoB fix some of that. This is not a diagnosis.

Units on this page: mg/dL

When it is low

On medicine, low LDL is often the point. Off medicine, very low numbers still deserve a doctor's look if they are new.

When it is high

A reason to talk about diet, weight and medicines. A review that pooled studies found psyllium fiber lowers LDL a little when added to a diet. That is a blood test number. Nobody tested whether psyllium prevents heart attacks.

Easy ways to misread it

  • The usual LDL formula (Friedewald) fails when triglycerides are high.
  • LDL can look fine when ApoB is not.

What to ask your doctor

Ask whether the LDL was worked out by formula or measured directly, and whether ApoB should be added.

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Sources on this page