I have spent the last 10 weeks on a low carb high fat (LCHF) diet.
Blood results before (in brackets) and after:
Triglycerides 1.8 (3.1)
LDL 2.2 (6.2)
HDL 7.1 (1.7)
Total cholesterol 9.3 (7.9)
Total/HDL ratio 1.3 (4.6)
As you can see, just 10 weeks on this diet and my blood lipids have improved enormously.
But my GP is only interested in the total cholesterol and has hardly ever seen someone with 9.3.
What is needed is large scale research into HDL, LDL and the ratio Total/HDL.
Either HDL is good (as the NHS says) or it isn't. Can you have too much of it and if so why (there is one piece of research that suggests this but it's a small study)?
Stop worrying and keep eating