I can’t find the answer to this question. I know LDL is generally ‘bad’ and HDL “good” but I was wondering which of these is used by the body to make hormones.
LDL and HDL are not cholesterol 
they are lipoproteins that carry cholesterol. There is just cholesterol .
the simple answer is hdl deposits cholesterol into steroidogenic tissue
So although the hormones are made from Cholesterol it doesn’t matter if LDL is low as far as hormone production is concerned as it is HDL that takes it to where it needs to be. I am understanding that right?
OP - Read this and then come back if you still need clarification:
[quote]relentless2120 wrote:
the simple answer is hdl deposits cholesterol into steroidogenic tissue[/quote]
I’m assuming this was sarcasm, wasn’t going to say anything until the OP commented on it.
seems like OP is wondering if high LDL levels → higher test levels and/or high HDL levels → higher test levels. Are you going to say something jehovasfitness?
My cholesterol tests came back with low LDL levels and somewhat low HDL levels, so I’m interested as well.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
seems like OP is wondering if high LDL levels → higher test levels and/or high HDL levels → higher test levels. Are you going to say something jehovasfitness?
My cholesterol tests came back with low LDL levels and somewhat low HDL levels, so I’m interested as well.[/quote]
I honestly don’t know. But, the thing is, HDL and LDL are not cholesterol, so my guess would be it’s the total that counts, but not to a large degree.
Meaning, I doubt having a cholesterol level of 230 compared to 170 (naturally, w/o statin use) is there wouldn’t be much a difference in terms of T levels. This is just my best guess though.
Personally, I think that total cholesterol levels are where they are at for a reason, and I wouldn’t go about trying to raise cholesterol in the attempt to optimize T levels. Instead, focus on eating a quality diet with exercise and good sleep (duh) and things will take care of themselves.
That said, if one were to take a statin and artificially decrease cholesterol, then yes that will likely have an effect on T levels, since the body wants to have a certain production of cholesterol, but it’s being impeded.
The only information i know is anadotal.My friend has a desent natural muscular psysique for an older man,but he has high cholesterol.The dr. rx him the drug Lipitor and he has lost substantial muscle mass.Cholesterol is a fat hormone that is metabolized into testosterone. all the best john
Thought to add that the idea of HDL being good cholesterol, and LDL being bad, has come under scrutiny. For example, the drug torcetrapib was thought to be a big up and coming new seller for Pfizer. Torcetrapib raises HDL cholesterol considerably. What happened in clinical trails though is the opposite of what was expected. Those taking torcetrapib had a much higher rate of death.
“Are CETP inhibitors kaput?”
http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/2007/11/are-cetp-inhibitors-kaput.html
&
Another well thought of cardiologist recently published a paper mentioning his doubts about the lipid theory of heart disease.
“Prominent cardiologist reveals some of the the flaws in conventional cholesterol wisdom”
From the article:
"Harlan Krumholz is a professor of medicine and cardiologist at the at Yale University School of Medicine. He recently co-authored an open letter which appeared in the journal circulation (pdf here). The letter was written to the Adult Treatment Panel ? a group of ?experts? charged with setting cholesterol guidelines for the American public. The panel is current considering this issue and is due to report later this year.
I suspect the panel, like a multitude of panels before it, will recommend that we keep strong downward pressure on our cholesterol numbers. But not all individuals in the medical and scientific community agree with this approach. One such dissenter is Professor Krumholz.
In this video below, Professor Krumholz does a good job, I think, of highlighting some of the major issues with current cholesterol policy. I advise you to watch the video but, for good measure, here?s a short summary of the salient points Professor Krumholz makes:…"
Yes, LDL is not bad choelsterol. As I said, choelsterol is just cholesterol.
LDL repairs cells, removes toxins/bacteria. There are sub-types of LDL that can be problematic such as the small-dense LDLb that are usually higher because people eat a poor diet (and not from eating too much sat. fat or cholesterol).
Even HDL being higher may not always be a good thing. A recent showed that increasing HDL through meds did not become beneficial as they thought it would be.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
[quote]relentless2120 wrote:
the simple answer is hdl deposits cholesterol into steroidogenic tissue[/quote]
I’m assuming this was sarcasm, wasn’t going to say anything until the OP commented on it.[/quote]
I thought the OP just wanted to know which one (HDL or LDL) carried the cholesterol to steroidogenic tissues and just had the nomenclature mixed up. I wasn’t being sarcastic. HDL deposits cholesterol in the adrenal glands and testes.
[quote]relentless2120 wrote:
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
[quote]relentless2120 wrote:
the simple answer is hdl deposits cholesterol into steroidogenic tissue[/quote]
I’m assuming this was sarcasm, wasn’t going to say anything until the OP commented on it.[/quote]
I thought the OP just wanted to know which one (HDL or LDL) carried the cholesterol to steroidogenic tissues and just had the nomenclature mixed up. I wasn’t being sarcastic. HDL deposits cholesterol in the adrenal glands and testes. [/quote]
Gotcha, apologies.
Thanks relentless2120 - exactly what I wanted to know. I am only getting to understand a little about how these things work. My LDL is out of range below but HDL well in range. I wasn’t sure if this affected hormone production in a negative way but sounds like I don’t need to be concerned.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
Yes, LDL is not bad choelsterol. As I said, choelsterol is just cholesterol.
LDL repairs cells, removes toxins/bacteria. There are sub-types of LDL that can be problematic such as the small-dense LDLb that are usually higher because people eat a poor diet (and not from eating too much sat. fat or cholesterol).
Even HDL being higher may not always be a good thing. A recent showed that increasing HDL through meds did not become beneficial as they thought it would be.
[/quote]
apparently a high simple carb (added sugar diet) intake leads to increase small-dense LDL which is the worse form of LDL. This is the biggest risk in high carb intake.
Dietary cholesterol is not stored as HDL or LDL. So a high fat or Sat. Fat intake which helps the body produce more Testosterone should not effect your LDL or HDL.
Of course I have no Scientific research to back me up…but I did have a shit load of coffee this morning.
[quote]calebsmitty wrote:
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
Yes, LDL is not bad choelsterol. As I said, choelsterol is just cholesterol.
LDL repairs cells, removes toxins/bacteria. There are sub-types of LDL that can be problematic such as the small-dense LDLb that are usually higher because people eat a poor diet (and not from eating too much sat. fat or cholesterol).
Even HDL being higher may not always be a good thing. A recent showed that increasing HDL through meds did not become beneficial as they thought it would be.
[/quote]
apparently a high simple carb (added sugar diet) intake leads to increase small-dense LDL which is the worse form of LDL. This is the biggest risk in high carb intake.
Dietary cholesterol is not stored as HDL or LDL. So a high fat or Sat. Fat intake which helps the body produce more Testosterone should not effect your LDL or HDL.[/quote]
Certain types of saturated fat can increase cholesterol, though not a bad thing.
lauric acid has a more favorable effect on TC/HDL than carbs or other fats, myristic and palmitic appear to have little effect on it
lol@ your coffee comment