Really low 'bad' cholesterol might actually be a sign your body is doing a great job cleaning it out — not something to worry about.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Clinical and pathophysiological evidence supporting the safety of extremely low LDL levels-The zero-LDL hypothesis.

Narrative Review

Human

2018 Mar-Apr

The study looks at people who naturally or through treatment have very low 'bad' cholesterol because their bodies clear it more efficiently, and finds this doesn’t cause harm—it might even mean their cholesterol system is working well.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Clinical and pathophysiological evidence supporting the safety of extremely low LDL levels-The zero-LDL hypothesis.

Score: 1

DOI: 10.1016/j.jacl.2017.12.018

Similar Assertions

Having really low 'bad' cholesterol thanks to how your body naturally processes it doesn’t seem to cause health problems, even over many years.

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Can someone be perfectly healthy even if their 'bad' cholesterol is super low—like 14 mg/dL?

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When you have too much 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) in your blood, it sticks to the walls of your arteries and builds up like gunk, making them narrow and stiff — which raises your chance of having a heart attack or stroke.

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Getting cholesterol extremely low doesn’t seem to make people more likely to get cancer, stroke, diabetes, liver problems, muscle issues, or cataracts — at least not in the time frame studied.

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Elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels directly promote atherosclerotic plaque formation, increasing the risk of cardiovascular events.

1

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