If you’ve ever wondered why we’re always told to eat in moderation, this recent case study of a man in Florida provides a perfect example. The man’s doctors detail how his “carnivore diet” led him to get such high levels of cholesterol that it literally started seeping out of his body.
Cardiologists at Tampa General Hospital described the strange case in a paper published Wednesday in JAMA Cardiology. According to the report, the man visited doctors weeks after he began to develop painless, but very noticeable “yellowish nodules” emerging from his hands and elbows. As it turned out, his issue was an unusual but known complication of having high blood cholesterol, which had likely been caused by the man’s diet chock full of meat, cheese, and lots of butter.
About eight months before his symptoms appeared, the man, in his 40s, had switched to a so-called carnivore diet. The diet, he told the doctors, required him to consume high amounts of fat. He accomplished this by regularly eating six to nine pounds of cheese, copious sticks of butter, and daily hamburgers stuffed with even more fat. Remarkably, the man reported losing weight, increased energy, and improved mental clarity after he started the diet. But unfortunately, there were some obvious negative consequences.
The doctors found that his blood cholesterol level exceeded 1,000 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), well above the usual range. For context, healthy blood cholesterol is supposed to be less than 200 mg/dL, while high cholesterol starts at over 240 mg/dL. Based on that whooper of a result and his physical symptoms, the doctors diagnosed the man with a rare but known condition known as xanthelasma.
Xanthelasmas are deposits of cholesterol that build up under the skin. Normally, excess cholesterol and other fats in our blood are cleared away by white blood cells called macrophages. But when this process is impaired, these macrophages turn into “foam cells” that are overly stuffed with cholesterol; it’s these cells that form the deposits that eventually erupt from the skin.
While there are other medical conditions that cause xanthelasma to appear, such as certain thyroid problems, about half of these cases are tied to high blood cholesterol. The man’s case was particularly unusual, as these deposits typically form around the eyelids—likely because the blood vessels in that area weaken over time due to constant blinking. But xanthelasmas can theoretically happen anywhere on our body. The condition is fairly rare: research has estimated about 1% of women and 0.3% of men contract xanthelasma.
Gross as they might look, xanthelasmas are harmless and can be removed through surgery or other cosmetic procedures. High blood cholesterol, on the other hand, is known to raise the risk of future cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke. The doctors don’t detail what happened to their patient after their diagnosis, but they do emphasize the need for people to avoid high blood cholesterol.
“This case highlights the impact of dietary patterns on lipid levels and the importance of managing hypercholesterolemia to prevent complications,” they wrote.
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