The result is in...being a vegan doens't help me

As you may recall, I recently became a vegan for 2 months in hopes of dramatically lowering my blood cholesterol levels, specifically my LDL.

I talked with my doctor a few weeks ago and my LDL number (the key measurement) only fell 15% from 2.9 to 2.48. As it happens, I've been told on a few occasions that the average person's dietary intake only accounts for 15% of their blood cholesterol. Decreasing it by 15% may be coincidentally convenient, but I'd like to think that I was in pretty good control of my dietary intake of bad fats before I became vegan (with the 2.9 measurement in January). There is in my mind, only one other factor that is in my control that may have some say in my blood cholesterol levels - alcohol. During my vegan months, I kept my alcohol intake normal (well, "normal" for me). One reason was to control the variables, and the other one is that there is no clear indication that alcohol consumption negatively affects blood cholesterol. And in fact, there have been quite a few studies that suggest regular drinks of wine and beer can help - I like those studies.

This week I got the final numbers: LDL 2.48, HDL 1.37 (which didn't go up as much as I'd hoped), total: 4.46, triglycerides 1.34 and Risk ratio: 3.3. Pretty good for a normal person, not good enough for someone in a high risk category like me.

So the good news/bad news. Bad news: I can't reduce my blood cholesterol levels enough through diet, therefore I've increased my dose of Lipitor to 40mg/day (but still a moderate dose). The good news: I can enjoy meat and fish once again, and perhaps even better, I don't have to feel guilty or have to second guess - I now know being a vegan doesn't help with my particular condition. However keep in mind that besides my personal biggest health threat, high blood cholesterol, there may be many other health benefits of limiting animal protein based foods.

The experiment did teach me one thing, I don't need to eat meat. Put into more socially acceptable terms, I don't need to eat meat as often. I have enjoyed many vegetarian and vegan meals over the last few months and will continue with many of them, but I'll enjoy eating fish (especially sushi) once again and be able to eat some red meat guilt free on occasions too.

Bon appetit