February is Heart Month

Can we talk about cholesterol?

I’m going to start with a confession: I thought I was doing “pretty good.”

I move a lot. I teach movement for a living. I eat like a normal health-aware person—not perfect, not chaotic. And yet, I recently learned something about my own labs that stopped me in my tracks:

My Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) was high.

And what made that extra annoying? ApoB isn’t routinely tested in standard cholesterol panels. So if I hadn’t looked deeper, I would’ve stayed in the dark thinking I had the whole picture.

First, a quick correction (because I initially misunderstood this too)

ApoB is not “high-density cholesterol.” HDL is the high-density one.

ApoB is a marker found on particles like LDL and VLDL—the particles that are more likely to contribute to plaque buildup in arteries.

So: ApoB isn’t “one more cholesterol number.” It’s a different way of measuring risk.

and why it matters

Here’s the clean explanation

• LDL-C tells you how much cholesterol is being carried inside particles.

• ApoB tells you how many of those particles you have.

Why do we care about the number of particles? Because plaque risk increases with the number of “atherogenic” particles traveling in your bloodstream—more traffic, more opportunity for trouble.

This is why you can have a “not terrible” LDL-C on paper… and still have a higher risk profile if ApoB is elevated.

Translation: your standard lipid panel can look “fine-ish” and still miss something important.

The takeaway

I’m not sharing this because I’m spiraling. I’m sharing it because it’s a perfect example of what happens to a lot of us:

We assume “no news is good news” because a test wasn’t ordered.
But sometimes the test wasn’t ordered because it’s just not standard yet.

So instead of fear, I’m choosing ownership:

• get the data,
• interpret it in context,
• make reasonable changes,
• retest.

That’s the plan

I was 65 before anyone tested my Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)—and it’s not because I wasn’t paying attention. It’s because ApoB isn’t routinely included in standard lipid panels.

If you’re the kind of person who feels calmer with data (hi, it’s me), there are a few legit ways to order more comprehensive labs without waiting for a doctor’s visit. These services are not all the same, so here’s the simplest way I know to compare them.

Direct-to-consumer Lab Testing Side by Side

Membership and A la Carte

Function Health is structured around at least two tests per year, while Superpower includes one annual 100+ biomarker draw (and you can add more testing if you want tighter tracking).These services both require an annual membership.

Life Extension offers a pay-per-test option. When you purchase the test/panel online, it includes a physician order and lab requisition to take to a Labcorp draw site. Results typically post to your online account in about 5–7 business days (depending on the test).

For Heart Month labs, they offer options like ApoB, Lp(a), and an Apo A-1 + ApoB ratio test.

Click below for more info on each option

Thanks for being part of my extended circle. I’m off social media these days, so this newsletter is my main way of sharing what I’m learning (and what I think might help). You can sign up for my Monday morning motivational texts or catch up on past resource newsletters below.

Until next month—remember: small changes count, consistency wins, and you’re not behind.