Is low cholesterol bad or good?

I wish I liked oatmeal. I eat a bowl of heart healthy cereal, no fat milk with a banana or strawberries.
Garlic is suppose to be good for you too on the cholestrol thing. I'm gonna get off these pills when I lose enough weight. They have prodded and poked me everywhere and my liver is good, kidneys, oxygen level, and all the stuff they check you for. I think all my trouble was diet and weight.

 

While Putt gave you some good numbers, I have the same problem as you and have been treated by my doctor. I have always had low cholesterol numbers - 110 as a total. My doctor was concerned when he saw my HDL (good cholesterol) was only 9. The lab he uses gives a scorecard that says HDL of 30 and above is normal. He also talked about the ratio of HDL and LDL (bad cholesterol) with the guideline being HDL should be 1/3 or more of your LDL count. Mine was way off.

There are some foods that can raise HDL - walnuts and seaweed are two I remember. However, I have been on large does of Niacin for about two years (1000 mg per day) and my HDL has been as high as 27 and my ratio is nearly normal. The niacin comes as a prescription for Niaspan with is a timed released version of niacin.

As I understand it, HDL is supposed to help your arteries to stay flexible thereby avoiding hardening of the arteries which can lead to a stroke.