Research
Hormonal
Extremely high HDL cholesterol levels (e.g., >116 mg/dL in men, >135 mg/dL in women) are associated with increased all-cause mortality.
While increasing HDL through exercise and diet is generally beneficial, aim for moderate levels. Extremely high HDL levels (above 116 mg/dL for men and 135 mg/dL for women) may not provide additional cardiovascular benefits and could be associated with higher mortality risk.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Madsen et al. (2017) showed that an extreme high concentration of HDL cholesterol was associated with all-cause mortality in both men and women. The authors shown that men with HDL cholesterol of 2.5–2.99 mmol/L (97–115 mg/dL) increased 1.36 (95% CI: 1.09–1.70) all-cause mortality and HDL cholesterol ≥ 3.0 mmol/L (116 mg/dL) were associated with a significant increase of 2.06 (1.44–2.95).
Why this rating
Cites a specific observational study; mechanism is not fully elucidated.
Source
Reverse Cholesterol Transport: Molecular Mechanisms and the Non-medical Approach to Enhance HDL Cholesterol
Leandro R. Marques et al. · Frontiers in Physiology · 2018
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2018.00526
narrative_reviewCited 171×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Regular aerobic exercise increases HDL cholesterol levels and enhances Reverse Cholesterol Transport (RCT) efficiency by upregulating key receptors (ABCA1, ABCG1, SR-B1) and enzymes (LCAT, CETP).Good
- Dietary strategies that replace carbohydrates with saturated fats (e.g., cheese, meat, butter) or include monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats (e.g., olive oil) can increase HDL cholesterol levels.Good
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