Dear Mark: What Does High HDL Mean? and Is Exercise Good or Useless for Weight Loss?
Today’s edition of Dear Mark is a relatively brief two-parter, but it’s a good one. First, I answer a question about HDL. Is higher good? Is higher (sometimes) bad? How does a person make sense of all the seemingly conflicting information? Then I explain how two statements about exercise and weight loss can be simultaneously correct and apparently contradictory. Is weight loss effective or useless for weight loss, or what? Let’s go: I’m not sure I understand the HDL one. So higher HDL could lead to cardiovascular issues, but higher HDL is a byproduct of a healthy lifestyle? I think I’m missing something. Does anyone understand this to explain it? Allow me to provide more details. Higher HDL is complicated, and before we can interpret its health implications we must understand the many roles it plays in immune and cardiovascular health. HDL reduces and neutralizes oxidative, inflammatory agents that damage LDL particles and lead to atherosclerotic lesions in our arteries. They