SPIKE in TOTAL mg/dL in one year from 171 mg/dL to 218 mg/dL

[peterspaul]

SPIKE in TOTAL  mg/dL  in one year from  171 mg/dL to  218 mg/dL
I had cut out as much cheese and red meat as possible. Was spike caused by peanut butter?
Please advise NEXT STEP ; how and where to test.
Thank yo

[Sara_MHModerator]

Hello and welcome to the forum.  Thank you for the question.  What were your other numbers?  The Total Cholesterol number is number that is comprised of your LDL (bad) cholesterol and your HDL (good) cholesterol.  Altering either of those two components and you can change your Total number.  LDL is changed typically through diet while HDL is related to exercise.  You can increase your HDL (the higher the number, the better) by daily exercise (if your doctor has cleared you for exercise).  Some people do not respond to their own measures to control cholesterol and they will need to take medication to control it.  At this point, you are elevated but not far from the goal of under 200.  Here's a guide to cholesterol.  https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/guide/understanding-numbers  

In regards to peanut butter, while it is high in fat often, it is the 'good' kind of fat that we need.  Here is some information regarding peanut butter https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/peanut-butter-cholesterol#peanut-butter-and-cholesterol.  The American Heart Association deems peanut butter healthy for your heart.  This should not be impacting you negatively in terms of your cholesterol numbers.  

Please let us know what else we can help you with.  Would you like ideas of how to naturally decrease cholesterol?

[peterspaul]

thank you very much. If i could only reciprocate. Here are details of the numbers.  thank you
March  2019  TOTAL  171 mg/dL   HDL 69   LDL  88
March 2020   TOTAL  218 mg/dL   HDL 66   LDL 123                                                                  
After seeing my 2019 results i wanted to try harder and or lower.
I watched everything i ate. How and why the SPIKE? To FIGURE OUT what to do?

[Sara_MHModerator]

Hello,  that's frustrating, isn't it?  I'm sorry you had the spike even with your efforts.  Did you also exercise?  The HDL part will bring down your total number level.  It counterbalances your LDL.  

For some, unfortunately, this is genetic.  Would you be willing to take prescription medication such as a statin to lower it?