The man showed up at a hospital in Tampa with yellow eruptions on his palms, soles, and elbows. When the doctors examined the eruptions, they were shocked to see that it was cholesterol. Then, they heard what the man had been eating.

Eight months prior, the man had switched to a high-fat, carnivorous diet. His daily intake included six to nine pounds of cheese, large amounts of butter, and fatty hamburgers. While he claimed the diet helped him shed weight and feel more energetic, it came at a significant cost to his health. As it turns out, his body was feeling the consequences.

Too much cholesterol

His cholesterol level exceeded 1,000 mg/dL — over five times over the recommended level, which is under 200 mg/dL. For comparison, 240 mg/dL is considered ‘high’. The man’s previous cholesterol, before starting the diet, was under 300 mg/dL.

His cholesterol level was so high that he started building deposits of cholesterol under his skin. This process is technically called xanthelasma and it’s rare, but not unheard of. Xanthelasma typically affects 1% of women and 0.3% of men, but recurrence is common. 40% of the patients experience recurrence after the surgical removal of the deposits.

The cholesterol deposits usually appear under the eyelids. The deposits are not typically harmful nor painful, but they are an indication of very high cholesterol levels. Normally, excess cholesterol gets cleared out of the body; but if the process is impaired, your body can simply stuff the cholesterol in with cells and leave them in deposits. Oftentimes, xanthelasma appears because of thyroid problems, but it can also be triggered solely by high levels of cholesterol.

Managing cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in the cells of your body and in certain foods. It plays a vital role in producing hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help digest food. Your liver naturally produces all the cholesterol your body needs, but additional cholesterol comes from dietary sources like meat, cheese, and butter.

Cholesterol travels through the bloodstream in two main forms: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad cholesterol,” which can build up in arteries and lead to heart disease, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good cholesterol,” which helps remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream. In this case, the man’s body had way too much bad cholesterol.

The man was in no pain due to the xanthelasma, but doctors were understandably concerned about it. However, the authors don’t provide any information on what happened to the man after the diagnosis. Instead, they focus only on how the high-cholesterol diet led to this conditions and the diagnosis itself.

This case serves as a stark reminder of the impact diet has on health. While unconventional diets can have short-term benefits for some individuals, they may pose significant risks if not carefully monitored.