There is a lot of evidence that LDL is simply a marker of inflammation; and that inflammation is one of the main underlying mechanisms for CHD. The same is true for HDL, in terms of evidence out there, but to a lesser extent.

I look forward to the time where we will also have discussion more on the role of VLDL, which is the precursor of LDL. We see a lot written about LDL and HDL, with an emphasis on LDL, but little about VLDL.

There have been studies (see, e.g., link below) on how cholesterol particles evolved, and the grand-daddy of them all seems to be VLDL.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBP-4TYYNN1-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1150213867&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=92806536df06e7a2b2429f6bac3152c3

Another thing that I think we do way too little of is to study centenarians, as well as folks who reach their 90s in good health. Most research looks at short term effects of this or that dietary/lifestyle intervention, but it is really the long term effects that eventually matter.

When one looks at centenarians, one thing that you touched upon in your posting seems to rule – genetics. If you are a close relative of a centenarian, your chance of living beyond 100 years of age is many times higher than the average individual’s.

B Lamarche et al has done wonderful research about the value, protection and benefits of a preponderance of large LDL, as you stated. Some cardiologists have in fact voiced concern about how large LDL are created. There is no nutritional or scientific basis for this fear and phobia. Saturated fats, low carbs, omega-3 and ketones all work mechanistically to generate nice large fluffy protective large LDL which Richard and O Primitivo has posted on, e.g. populations like Korea, Belgium, and France have wonderful disease protection and longevity where the LDL are high and predominantly large LDL.

Crete is another population — they consume a high intake of fatty raw goat milk, goat/sheep cheese, grassfed beef/goat and pastured eggs.

ACCUMULATION OF CHOLESTEROL IN LARGE LDL PARTICLES IS ASSOCIATED WITH A REDUCED RISK OF ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE IN MEN
AC St-Pierre, B Cantin, GR Dagenais, J-P Després, B Lamarche
“CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a preferential accumulation of cholesterol in large LDL particles may be protective against the risk of IHD in men, even among those with elevated plasma LDL cholesterol concentrations.”
http://www.pulsus.com/ccc2003/abs/a880.htm

(Thanks Helen, commenter at Whole Health Source)

Of course, there’s also the issue of there being different LDL: small dense and big, and the former seems to be the most prone to oxidation. Saturated fat in the diet helps to shift the profile from atherogenic small dense to less harmful (or maybe beneficial) big.

I’ve heard that donating blood is effective for combating iron buildup. particularly in men (menstruation does it for women).

So is it beneficial to take old LDL off the road by donating blood every two months, thereby forcing the body to remake 12% of the blood components.

And as for the correlation between high LDL and CHD, what are the diets of those in the “studies” showing the supposed link? If they’re eating SAD or something close to it (and I doubt it would be any different because of the obsession about getting the “minimum” 150-200 g of carbs the body “needs” per day), then I’d bet they show a correlation between high LDL and CHD–but, I’d also bet that it’s the small, dense stuff (and the study participants likely had low HDL, high triglycerides, and probably some of the nasty Lp(a) as well for good measure).

Give me a big, bloody steak with butter and pile of veggies any day. I know my LDL are the large, fluffy kind, so I don’t stress too much over the number.