Dr Ford Brewer - PrevMed This Single Study DESTROYED What We Thought About Keto And Cholesterol - Ford Brewer MD MPH (PrevMed Health)
Mar 5, 2026
Dave Feldman, an engineer-turned-researcher who studies cholesterol on low-carb and ketogenic diets. He recounts a surprising LDL spike on keto and the controversial Keto CTA trial. Short, punchy takes on differing CT analysis methods, anomalous AI results, and why multiple reads were needed to untangle plaque findings.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Dave Feldman Noticed High LDL But Better Metabolic Health
- Dave Feldman observed personal metabolic improvement on keto while his LDL skyrocketed, prompting his self-led research into LDL's meaning.
- His triglycerides fell, HDL rose, energy and leanness improved even as LDL increased dramatically.
Keto CTA Found No LDL ApoB Link To Plaque
- The Keto CTA (Plaque Begets Plaque, ApoB Does Not) found no association between LDL/ApoB and plaque presence across participants.
- Dave Feldman, Matt Budoff, and Adrian Sotomayor measured plaque with CTA scans one year apart in ketogenic dieters and saw this disconnect.
Baseline Plaque Predicts Future Plaque Growth
- Plaque progression clustered: participants with higher baseline plaque tended to add more plaque, while many with low baseline plaque did not.
- This pattern held across multiple analyses and suggests baseline plaque burden predicts future plaque growth more than LDL/ApoB.