Cholesterol Hassle
 

Hi! My husband and I have been low carb/paleo/keto for eight years now. A few years ago, we attempted to get life insurance for him and he had to take the routine medical exam. Because of the diet, his total cholesterol level is very high. The insurance company refused to offer him coverage for medical issues, but only for injuries and accidents - at almost the same cost as it would have been for both. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know of any life insurance company(ies) that have updated their policies and realize that cholesterol level is mostly meaningless? Thanks for any help.

Yes, we who are low carb tend to have a different lipid profile than people who are eating the standard American diet (SAD). This does not mean we are unhealthy, it just means our lipid profiles reflect a healthy low carb individual. What many on this forum realize is that you can control the test results using the Feldman Protocol:

https://cholesterolcode.com/extreme...rop-experiment/

I'd read his approach to lowering cholesterol and LDL, and then call foul and request a new test due to "incorrect" results of the first. Not sure whether he simply got a standard cholesterol test where the LDL is estimated as opposed to an NMR Lipid Panel where the results are actually measured, but either way, Dave Feldman's website has the information required to keep lipids in the "healthy" range. Many have used this approach for the very same reason.

I use the Feldman Protocol so have no idea what my lipid readings would be without it. The previous year it was 239 (without Feldman intervention.) I still didn't get my total cholesterol under 200, but hit 209. It's possible I did something wrong.

Yup, tell them you've changed your diet and want a new test (all of which is true) and get the numbers how they want them.

They are actually getting a healthier specimen than they think. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I'm going to try that the next time my doc says I need the test. It's always high, but she stopped bugging me about it because I told her I have enough health worries & cholesterol is at the bottom of the list.

Because I have a cardiologist (due to a heart arrhythmia I developed in the past decade), when my high total cholesterol is brought up by my internist, I simply point out that all my cardiac ratios are superb, my HDL is a thing of beauty, my Trigs are low, and for the kicker - I have a genetic component that explains my high total cholesterol. I refuse to take statins.

There has to be an insurance company somewhere that would pay attention to more than one number - the total cholesterol?!

Wow hadn't ever even heard of this. Disgusting that this has to be the case. Looking forward to the day when the system changes instead. Maybe we'll get to that point someday, but it just seems that so far overwhelmingly most doctors and insurance companies are still in the dark. It will take a lot of people demanding they wake up for anything to change, and we are still early in the movement. At least, food producers and some restaurants are getting it, but these entrenched entities will take much longer.

We all need to be mad and start demanding that the status quo change. Good luck to us - it will be a slow process.

Yes, we are healthier - that's why I'm so surprised that they aren't getting the message yet. Of course, the health insurers want us "sick" to keep us on the drugs. We will be messing with their livelihood. I understand why health insurers do that, but the life insurers will be postponing payouts and collecting more premiums - you'd think they'd be thrilled at that kind of change. Why aren't there LCers who have started life insurance companies?

We live in Australia but quit paying for private health cover 10 or 15 years ago. The best investment in your health is a whole food diet, heavy on animal fat imho. Do you require health insurance? I am 60 yo. Lol. I might change my tune in 10 years...

Not having health insurance in the United States can cause a family to lose everything they own. Health Care is not a right here.

The way I think about it is that in countries where there is socialized medicine, they tax citizens 50% or more of their income to pay for it. They also must go to the doctor their socialized medecine sends them to. We here in the US can choose who we want to go to if we pay cash, or we go choose the health plan we want to buy and go to the doctors in that plan.
At 65, we in the US have medicare health coverage which is a government run program. Since we pay into social security out of our income and it's deducted out of each pay check by a small percentage, finally at 65 we start getting it back with Medicare health insurance and Social Security benefits.

also to add~ if someone is disabled before they reach 65, they can apply for Medicaid and Social Security Disability benefits.

The medicare I don't need as I am on my husband's work insurance. The medicare that will now deduct a significant amount from my social security payments because it costs to be on medicare part b etc.
I am not a fan.

The basic rate of income tax in the UK is 20%. National Insurance funds not just healthcare, but also the state pension. Yes, we cannot shop around for an enlightened doctor (but from what I read on here, it is not easy to find them even in the US) and the NHS has many faults, but at least I don't have to worry about the financial aspects of ill-health.

It might be possible to leverage a "catastrophe" health plan with paying out of pocket to a doctor of choice, but still a gamble. Because in the US, the health insurance company can pretty much do whatever it wants. If you should come up with an expensive and/or rare illness, they just shrug at you and dare you to make them pay with layers of appeals they are set up to do and you, the sick person, are not.

And ANY doctor is shackled by Standard of Care, which mandates pushing statins, putting in stents, even pushing cancer treatments with low chances of success. You can turn down treatments you find pointless or damaging, but you are still doing much of the legwork yourself.

It's been a year of me treating my autoimmune condition with diet and supplements because I read up on the research and decided they were all on the wrong track. But it's not like I saved any money: my insurance would pay most of the staggering cost of the drugs, but I would still be on the hook for hundreds of dollars a month. Now, I pay a high price for the good food and supplements which are crucial to me maintaining my health.

And none of it would help should I, heaven forbid, get hit by a bus. That is also when you need someone to pay for the staggering price of a serious injury; I don't know anyone who can do that. With insurance, you have a fighting chance to live and possibly have money again; without it, you get substandard care AND endless debt.

I think the way out is to demand better science in our medical care: we are incredibly good at trauma and horrible at chronic illness. The Virta-Health monthly cost sounds overpriced to us, who have done it ourselves; but it is much cheaper than making people sick and then treating them to no avail.

That is how we must think, because most people don't want to think about their health care. They want to show up and get fixed, like a car, and that's got to be dealt with, too.

[QUOTE=WereBear most people don't want to think about their health care. They want to show up and get fixed, like a car, and that's got to be dealt with, too.[/QUOTE]

Most people do want to show up and be fixed. Unfortunately it seems so many people cannot or do not want to take control of their own health through dietary intervention. They do not understand that it is even an option. It makes me really sad. I feel lucky. I figured it out, finally, after realizing that doctors simply didn't have any answers for me. Most people seems to still believe that doctor knows best. By realizing that in the case of many if not most of the chronic illnesses people develop doctors simply don't have the answers I have been able to reverse my bad health by doing my own research and adopting the methods I have found. I may pay extra for quality food but I save lots on all the pills most other people my age take daily.