http://www.labtestsonline.org/index.html

http://www.labtestsonline.org.uk/

Availability in the UK is often limited by accountants, I have to bribe the vampire to get a Full Lipid Panel containing useful information (trigs/HDL ratio is a marker of insulin resistance and also cardiovascular risk) they want to use the cheaper but pointless TChol. Doctor looks the other way as she gets the (usually excellent) results without getting blamed for wasting money

A Primal Type diet decimated my trigs (literally) and doubled HDL. This simply wouldn’t have showed in the TChol numbers.

Steve, VLDL is not necessarily “good” or “bad”. It’s a subfraction of total LDL. These are the lipoprotein moieties that carry both triglycerides and beneficial cholesterol to the cells. A high number can be associated with an increase in trigs, because as trigs increase (from high carb diets) liver has to make more moleccules to carry these trigs to the cells. VLDL are mostly triglycerides and a little cholesterol. When they drop off their triglycerides, they become LDL (mostly cholesterol). From there, the issue is whether they transform to the small, dense LDL (which are the main culprits in the oxidation/inflammation cause of CHD). Usually, anything that reduces triglycerides reduces VLDL and consequent LDL.

Unfortunately I do not have any “good” reads on this. I have looked, not hard, for entertaining and substantial compilations and they are not present.

What I have read is largely scientific journals. Doing a search on Pubmed.com for stress physiology and any aspect you are interested about should give you some good info.

Most of the information I have gathered requires sifting for the good stuff. I believe people pay for diplomas and certifications, but their education is up to them. As such, you too can educate yourself largely for free. All it takes is time.

A few other things to pay attention to:

Attention deficit: Stress increases sensory awareness at the expense of concentration. When the tiger is chasing you, you must be fully aware of your surroundings, but don’t need to learn long division. Reducing stress “quiets” the brain, meaning you are able to focus more time on one topic rather than the changes in surroundings.

Digestion: Digestive juices are reduced during stress. You don’t need to finish absorbing the food in your intestines. Your body is already getting energy from other, faster sources. That energy goes to your escape and survival short-term, not your long-term digestion. As such, we develop chronic bowel issues. Look up the relation between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and stress.

Cancer: Cancer is a two-fold mistake. One, damage to cell DNA inhibits the inherent ability in the cell to stop growing and destroy itself when the “time is up”. As such, it continuously grows and reproduces. This happens in our body quite regularly. Fortunately for some, the immune system has a back-up… certain immune cells “sense” this mistake and kill the cancerous areas before they can develop enough to be damaging. Stress reduces this ability of our immune system. Cancer takes a long time to kill us, relative to a tiger, and thus removal of it is placed on the back-burner. We put energy into escape and battle. “Alternative” medical means and “cancer miracles” are based on reducing stress. When you reduce stress, your body naturally puts more energy into fighting the cancer and thus, a “miracle”. That, or simple physiology.

Auto-immune disorders: The immune system is a series of checks and balances. A reduction in the energy placed into this, in a stressful situation, will allow greater mistakes. Auto-immune problems (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, etc.) are simply an unchecked mistake. Our immune system attacks normal cells and we do not check it back. In a healthy individual this mistake is quickly taken care of… stressed individuals: not so much.

NOTE: I am not saying we should not use medicine or the medical industry. They are fire-fighters, the Primal Blueprint is a general contractor. In extreme cases of neglect a house can catch fire. In that case, what will a carpenter do? In any other situation, a contractor is wanted. When building a maintaining a house, a contractor will ensure proper wirings so that the house is safe, and in essence fire-resistant. AFTER a fire, they must go in a fix it all up so it doesn’t happen again. When your house is on fire, call the fire dept. When you want to avoid or recover from a fire, call the contractor.

I hope this helps a little more.