Your LDL looks fine. Your ApoB doesn’t.
You can have a “normal” cholesterol panel and a quietly high number of the particles that actually build plaque. That number is ApoB — and it matters more than LDL, especially for APOE4 carriers. This free Playbook shows you your real targets, the levers in order from food to medicine, and how I cut my own ApoB from 115 to 70 without a statin.
Get your ApoB down: the one number that protects your heart and your brain
ApoB-not-LDL · your APOE4 targets · food, fiber & exercise · the statin / ezetimibe / PCSK9 decision.
Cholesterol is the cargo. ApoB is the truck count.
LDL measures how much cholesterol rides in your blood. But it is the number of particles, not the cholesterol inside them, that gets stuck in your artery wall and starts a plaque. Almost every plaque-building particle carries exactly one ApoB. Count the trucks, not the cargo.
Same LDL, different risk
Two people with an identical LDL can carry a very different number of particles. When LDL and ApoB disagree, your risk follows ApoB — and low triglycerides can hide a high particle count. Mine did.
Your gene runs your lipids higher
APOE4 clears LDL particles more slowly, so carriers tend to run higher ApoB. In our own members, two-copy carriers average a higher ApoB than one-copy carriers — exactly as the research predicts.
One panel. Two different stories.
One number. A clear plan to move it.
Every claim is PubMed-cited, and the charts use real anonymized data from hundreds of APOE4 carriers in the Phoenix community.
ApoB, not LDL
Why one number beats the whole cholesterol panel, and why low triglycerides can fool you.
Heart and brain
Why lowering ApoB protects two organs at once, and the APOE4 lipid gradient in our own data.
Your real targets
The APOE4-optimal numbers, Lp(a) tested once, and why lower-for-longer beats lower-later.
The levers, in order
Diet, fiber, and exercise first — with how far each one actually moves your number.
The medication decision
Statin vs ezetimibe vs PCSK9 vs bempedoic acid — in plain English, with the brain-safety answer.
Your 90-day plan
Measure, pull a few levers, re-test — the simplest way to watch your number fall.
The question every carrier asks — answered honestly.
A review of 36 studies found statin users had no increase in dementia or Alzheimer’s risk, and if anything a lower rate. The Playbook walks every option, including the non-statin path I used, so you and your doctor can choose with the evidence in front of you.
Why I built this
“When I got my own results, my ApoB was 115 — well above where an APOE4 brain wants it. I cut it to 70 without a statin, using food, fiber, exercise, and a non-statin medicine. This is the playbook I wish someone had handed me, and I’m giving it to you free.”
The first time you watch your own ApoB drop, the fear becomes a project — and the project starts working.
Knowing your ApoB is 10% of the battle.
The real question is what moves it. Inside Phoenix, you don’t guess alone — you see what actually lowered ApoB for carriers who share your genetics, and track yours against APOE4-aware ranges over time.
Bloodwork that speaks APOE4
Upload your labs and see your ApoB and full panel against APOE4-aware targets, not generic “normal,” with trends tracked automatically.
See what moved the number
Link your diet, fiber, exercise, and medication changes to real ApoB movement — so you stop guessing.
Structured experiments
Baseline, intervene, retest at 90 days — so you know what worked instead of changing five things at once.
People who get it
Hundreds of APOE4 carriers sharing protocols and results — about a third are healthcare professionals.
Stop guessing. Get your ApoB down.
Enter your email and we’ll send the APOE4 Lipid Playbook straight to your inbox — plus the research and member experiments we publish each week.
This guide is educational and not medical advice. The “APOE4-optimal” targets are interpretive extrapolations from research, not established clinical guidelines. Lipid medications have benefits and risks specific to you. Always discuss your individual targets and treatment with your healthcare provider.