Lean Mass Hyper-Responders: One-Year Data That Could Shift the Cholesterol Paradigm

The new Lean Mass Hyper-Responder (LMHR) study challenges everything we’ve been told about cholesterol. Despite LDL levels averaging 254 mg/dL, most metabolically healthy participants showed no plaque progression after one year. As someone who has followed a low-carb and animal-based lifestyle for nearly a decade, I know firsthand how unsettling “high cholesterol” numbers can be. Yet this study suggests context—insulin resistance, inflammation, existing plaque—may matter more than LDL alone. Could this finally mark the beginning of a shift in the old cholesterol paradigm?