I just had my first physical in 9 years last week...may have been a tad past due.

My overall cholesterol was 127, triglycerides were 38. Even though that (and that rest of my stats) looked pretty great, my HDL was only 43. Optimal level should be closer to 60 so I've read, and the doc didn't suggest anything because I was within the "normal" range, and it was more than 25% of my total.

Can I do anything to raise it more? I take 3-5 grams fish oil a day, and have for over 4 years now, anything else?

dont eat any simple carbs. eat only complex sources like brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoe. you can have fruits though. they are sugars, but digest pretty slowly. dont eat any trans fats, and limit your sat fat intake to whatever is in your meat.... dont eat any type of condiment or cheeses or anything like that that has sat. fat in it.

I just had my first physical in 9 years last week...may have been a tad past due.

My overall cholesterol was 127, triglycerides were 38. Even though that (and that rest of my stats) looked pretty great, my HDL was only 43. Optimal level should be closer to 60 so I've read, and the doc didn't suggest anything because I was within the "normal" range, and it was more than 25% of my total.

Can I do anything to raise it more? I take 3-5 grams fish oil a day, and have for over 4 years now, anything else?

exercise can increase high density lipoprotein, cardiovascular exercise. 30 mins 3-5 times a week should help with this.

dont eat any simple carbs. eat only complex sources like brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoe. you can have fruits though. they are sugars, but digest pretty slowly. dont eat any trans fats, and limit your sat fat intake to whatever is in your meat.... dont eat any type of condiment or cheeses or anything like that that has sat. fat in it.

and exercise!

Simple sugars impact triglyceride levels, not HDL, my triglycerides were only 38 (< 150 is normal). Fructose from fruits digests quickly, think oranges/orange juice for diabetics, but processed sugar/corn syrup does trigger higher circulating triglycerides. Good point on the condiments though, I've gotten lax with the BBQ sauce and the marinades!

Simple sugars impact triglyceride levels, not HDL, my triglycerides were only 38 (< 150 is normal). Fructose from fruits digests quickly, think oranges/orange juice for diabetics, but processed sugar/corn syrup does trigger higher circulating triglycerides. Good point on the condiments though, I've gotten lax with the BBQ sauce and the marinades!

different fruits digest at different rates. but most fruits are extremely low glycemic. apples, strawberries, blue berries, apricots, orages(with the white skin) all have lower glycemic loads than either oatmeal or whole wheat. and not only that....but fructose can only be utilized for glycogen by the liver. because of this, once liver glycogen is replenished with fructose, the body converts the remaining fructose into ffa's and sends them into the blood stream in that form of energy.

i actually prefer the nutra sea brand of fish oil, orange flavor. very high quality.

hdl and ldl are somewhat intertwined with hdl involved in cetripidal transport(tissue to liver) and ldl involved in transport from the liver to tissues, hence its bad cholesterol rap, when its a transporter not cholesterol. however, because ldl needs to be picked up by enterocytes or any peripheral tissues for that matter you cannot force the uptake. that is, when the cell has enough ldl it downregulates the receptor for the ldl(apo b 100) which basically keeps cholesterol in/on the transporter. that is the reason why taking or making too much ldl is bad, your body can only use so much and the excess is left in circulation to cause shit like atherosclerosis. Meanwhile, hdl is degraded by the liver and is involved in ldl turnover, so with lower hdl, ldl will be higher(they have and inverse correlation). you also have to take into account chylomicrons and VLDL.

some other things you might want to try are oranges/grapfruit as recent studies show its effectiveness for hdl increase, probably do to a flavone hence the green tea. also, viatmin b3 is known to increase hdl. i would suggest niacinamide insted of niacin to off set the flush feeling.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with very low cholesterol levels seem to be at increased risk of developing stomach cancer, Japanese researchers report.

Some studies have linked low cholesterol levels to higher death rates from cancer in general, Dr. Kouichi Asano, of Kyushu University, Fukuoka, and colleagues explain in the International Journal of Cancer. "With respect to gastric cancer, a limited number of studies suggest this inverse association, while others do not."

The researcher looked into this in a study involving some 2,600 residents of Hisayama, Japan, who were followed for 14 years.

Gastric cancers developed in 97 subjects. After accounting for age and gender, stomach cancer rates rose significantly with descending cholesterol level. For example, among subjects with the highest cholesterol levels, the gastric cancer rate was the equivalent of 2.1 cases per 1000 persons per year; among those with the lowest cholesterol, the rate was 3.9 per 1000 person-years.

"Our data suggest that patients with low serum cholesterol should consider regular gastro-intestinal examination for the prevention of gastric cancer," the investigators conclude.