There is an incredible amount of confusion surrounding cholesterol, mostly because of the incredible amount of bad/old/incomplete science around which many major medical associations base their recommendations.
To put it simply, using "cholesterol" as an indicator for anything is a completely oversimplified view originating in the 50s, when we didn't know enough molecular biology to know better. We've since moved on to breaking out LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol. However, as it turns out even that is too simplistic. There are further sub-classifications of LDL, such as large fluffy LDL and small dense LDL. If subclasifying LDL - Low-Density Lipoprotein - as "small and dense" seems counterintuitive, I agree. I feel like it's a result of the order in which we learned about all the forms of cholesterol, and a reflection of how complex the system is, and perhaps how much more we have left to fully understand it. As it turns out, so many of the perils of what we thought was caused by "high cholesterol", and then "high LDL/bad cholesterol" seem to be most strongly correlated with the small/dense LDL pattern. The irony is, we've been measuring everything but the main culprits, gaining an incomplete picture of what's actually going on, then ended up with wildly ineffective or harmful dietary recommendations as a result. A low fat high carb diet may reduce your cholesterol, but it can wreak havoc in so many other ways.
Bottom line is, eating a low carb, high fat diet increases all of your cholesterol (subject to individual variation), but seems to exert favorable effects on the overall ratio of the individual particles, which may be the important thing. If you're really interested in what's going on with your cholesterol, ask for a LDL particle size test, then you may be able to draw some more meaningful inferences. [1]
To me, it's a good hint that if every physical and mental aspect of your body improved on a diet, it's unlikely a bad thing. Best to discuss these things with your doctor though. Diet science is still a frustratingly murky field, so it's pretty hard to navigate right now. If you want to understand why, I highly recommend Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
To put it simply, using "cholesterol" as an indicator for anything is a completely oversimplified view originating in the 50s, when we didn't know enough molecular biology to know better. We've since moved on to breaking out LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol. However, as it turns out even that is too simplistic. There are further sub-classifications of LDL, such as large fluffy LDL and small dense LDL. If subclasifying LDL - Low-Density Lipoprotein - as "small and dense" seems counterintuitive, I agree. I feel like it's a result of the order in which we learned about all the forms of cholesterol, and a reflection of how complex the system is, and perhaps how much more we have left to fully understand it. As it turns out, so many of the perils of what we thought was caused by "high cholesterol", and then "high LDL/bad cholesterol" seem to be most strongly correlated with the small/dense LDL pattern. The irony is, we've been measuring everything but the main culprits, gaining an incomplete picture of what's actually going on, then ended up with wildly ineffective or harmful dietary recommendations as a result. A low fat high carb diet may reduce your cholesterol, but it can wreak havoc in so many other ways.
Bottom line is, eating a low carb, high fat diet increases all of your cholesterol (subject to individual variation), but seems to exert favorable effects on the overall ratio of the individual particles, which may be the important thing. If you're really interested in what's going on with your cholesterol, ask for a LDL particle size test, then you may be able to draw some more meaningful inferences. [1]
To me, it's a good hint that if every physical and mental aspect of your body improved on a diet, it's unlikely a bad thing. Best to discuss these things with your doctor though. Diet science is still a frustratingly murky field, so it's pretty hard to navigate right now. If you want to understand why, I highly recommend Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
[1] http://education.questdiagnostics.com/faq/FAQ134