Any side effects for having a total cholesterol under 100?
It is widely known among vegans, vegetarians, and people who adhere to plant based diets that a total cholesterol of less than 100 is common. My own cholesterol scores upon last checking were around 100 and some have levels lower than 100 but what are the consequences of this?
What seems to matter is the non-HDL cholesterol. Non-HDL cholesterol should be kept as low as possible which means the try triglycerides and the LDL are the kinds of cholesterol where lower is associated with proven clinical health benefits. In sub-clinical atherosclerosis it has been shown that you can reverse not just stop plaque build up when LDL is under 50. If your total cholesterol is under 100 then chances are your non-HDL cholesterol is very low and statistically heart disease is extremely rare (less than 1% chance) for those who have total cholesterol below 130-100. Total cholesterol above 150 puts the person at risk although at a slowed rate and the higher it goes the more the risk grows but specifically the measure is non-HDL as the most accurate for determining risk from cholesterol number.
Low cholesterol has been linked to depression in some people but in other people it's not. It really depends on if the risk of depression is greater to you than the risk of heart disease. It is important to note that infants are born with very low cholesterol compared to adults and the LDL cholesterol in an infant is typically below 50.
References
http://jacknorrisrd.com/low-cholesterol-part-1-stroke-and-depression/
Imperial College London. (2016, December 16). Lowering cholesterol to 'levels of a new-born baby' cuts heart attack risk. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 12, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161216114309.htm