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The Lobster Question

What cholesterol actually does, and why a high number is worth reading, not just lowering.

PhotoThe lobster image from your Instagram post, or a lobster on your table

When I was in high school, they told me I had high cholesterol and warned me not to eat too much lobster. Really? Who did they think I was, ordering lobster daily?

But it opened up a bigger question for me: why does cholesterol get such a bad rap?

You can't live without it

Cholesterol is in every single cell membrane in your body. It's the raw material for your sex hormones, cortisol and vitamin D, and it makes the bile that digests your fat. Your liver makes most of it itself, so what you eat is only part of the story.

“A high number can be a signal worth reading.”

The number, or the why

The conventional approach is mostly about the number. Your total and LDL cholesterol come back on a standard panel, and if LDL is high, the plan is to bring it down, often with a statin, plus advice to cut back on saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods (hello, lobster).

In functional medicine, we ask why. Cholesterol is a building block your body makes on purpose, so a high number can be a signal worth reading. Is it inflammation? Insulin resistance? A sluggish thyroid?

Questions worth asking

  • ApoB. Counts the particles that actually carry cholesterol, and is often a clearer risk marker than LDL alone.
  • Lp(a). Largely genetic. Worth testing once in your life.
  • Triglycerides and HDL. Read together, they say a lot about how your body handles sugar.
  • Fasting insulin and HbA1c. Early signs of insulin resistance.
  • hs-CRP. A marker of inflammation.
  • TSH. A sluggish thyroid can push cholesterol up.

Bring these to your doctor, and look at them together, not one number at a time.

And the lobster?

For most people, the cholesterol you eat moves the needle on your blood cholesterol far less than we were told; in 2015 the US dietary guidelines dropped their daily limit on it. Lobster is lean protein. So yes, order the lobster.

This is part of an ongoing series on the facts about our foundational foods. All of it comes into play in The Re-Set, my six-week program.

This is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before changing any medication.

Originally shared on Instagram, @thepractice_se.