VLDL Cholesterol

Measured in mg/dL

A cholesterol-carrying particle usually estimated from your triglycerides. It's a minor part of the lipid panel and rarely acted on by itself.

What it is

VLDL on a standard lipid panel is almost never measured. It's usually estimated as your triglycerides divided by five — a rule of thumb built into the same long-standing formula labs use to calculate LDL. The estimate assumes VLDL particles carry cholesterol and triglyceride in a roughly fixed proportion, which holds reasonably well for most people at ordinary triglyceride levels and progressively less well as triglycerides climb. Because it's derived from one input, VLDL carries no information your triglyceride number doesn't already contain, and it moves in lockstep with it. It's usually more informative to look at triglycerides directly, and at non-HDL cholesterol, which captures every cholesterol-carrying particle in one figure.

Worth asking your clinician

Is my VLDL worth looking at on its own, or is it covered by my triglycerides and LDL?