Rethinking 'Normal': My Menopause Cholesterol Journey
- Maria
- May 1
- 3 min read
Like many of us, I've always taken pride in my healthy lifestyle—watching what I eat, staying active, doing all the 'right' things. So when my cholesterol levels started climbing during menopause, I became frustrated.
You know that feeling when something just doesn't add up? That's where my journey began. I dove headfirst into making even more changes—embracing a plant-based diet (which I've grown to love!), taking daily apple cider vinegar (some studies suggest that ACV may help with cholesterol levels), adding psyllium husk powder (a daily dose of 10 grams of psyllium husk can lower harmful LDL cholesterol) to my daily routine. I was determined to bring those numbers down. But here's the plot twist: my cholesterol went even higher!
Have you ever had that moment when frustration turns into curiosity? That's what happened to me. Instead of fighting harder against my body, I started listening to it. And what I discovered changed everything.
The most liberating moment came during a zoom call with my naturopath. Instead of immediately suggesting more dietary restrictions or supplements, she smiled when I told her about all my efforts. "Those experiments weren't failures," she said. "They were proof that your body is doing exactly what it needs to do."
She introduced me to the book "The Great Cholesterol Myth," and suddenly, pieces started falling into place. Just like our bodies need hormones, minerals, and vitamins, they need cholesterol too—especially during menopause when our estrogen levels are declining. It's not a flaw in the system; it's the system working as designed.
What I learned next transformed my understanding completely. During menopause, our cholesterol levels naturally increase by 10-15% as our estrogen declines. But here's what most doctors don't tell you: this rise isn't necessarily harmful. In fact, our bodies actually need this cholesterol during the menopausal transition.
The real game-changer in my journey was discovering particle testing. Standard cholesterol tests—the ones most doctors run—are like looking at a crowd from a helicopter. You can count how many people are there, but you can't tell who's who. Particle testing, on the other hand, is like getting a ground-level view of that same crowd. It shows you the size and number of your cholesterol particles, which turns out to be far more important than the total number alone.
When I did my particle test, it revealed something: despite my "high" overall cholesterol number, my particles were largely the bigger, fluffier kind—the type that's actually less likely to cause problems. This detailed analysis showed that my cardiovascular health was actually in great shape, despite what the standard numbers suggested.
Here's what makes this so important: many women are being prescribed statins or told to drastically change their diets based on a single number that doesn't tell the whole story. It's like judging a book by not just its cover, but by only looking at one corner of its cover. Recent research shows that standard cholesterol testing alone may not be the best predictor of heart health.
It's like I finally understood that chasing a cholesterol number is as futile as chasing a number on the scale. Both tell such a small part of our health story, yet we give them so much power over how we feel about ourselves.
Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is trust our intuition and question the standard narrative. Those "normal" ranges we're given? They might not be so normal for a woman going through menopause. Just like we wouldn't expect our hormones to stay the same throughout our lives, why should we expect our cholesterol to?
While conventional medicine has its place, it sometimes misses the nuances of women's health, especially during menopause. That simple cholesterol number? It's just one small piece of a much larger puzzle. Consider asking about particle testing—it might tell a completely different story about your health.
This journey taught me something profound about self-advocacy. It's not just about speaking up in the doctor's office. It's about listening to that quiet voice inside that says "there must be more to this story" and having the courage to look deeper.
To every woman out there seeing changes in her body that don't make sense according to the conventional wisdom: your journey matters. Your questions are valid. And sometimes, what we think is our body working against us is actually our body working exactly as it should.
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While I'm not a medical professional, I am a woman in menopause who's passionate about understanding our bodies and finding answers. Like you, I'm navigating this transformative phase of life, asking questions, and sharing what I've learned along the way. My journey has taught me that there's power in sharing our stories and seeking deeper understanding beyond conventional wisdom.
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