Vegan to Primal blood test results, would love to hear your thoughts! page

[palebluedots]

Hi folks, the hubby and I have been primal for the last ~5 months after about 13 years or so of being vegan/raw vegan. We have been very strict, no dairy, absolutely no grains of any kind (including no white rice), no potatoes, no corn, and recently we have not even been eating fruit.

So anyway, we just had blood tests done, and I think the results are interesting, especially as compared to our vegan days. Some of the numbers got worse, and some got better, and I'm trying to decipher what it all means. It's really easy to read the other posts where people advise not worrying about wacky cholesterol numbers and nod in agreement, but some of the changes in my numbers are worrisome. It's fascinating at the very least, and I'd love it if anyone wants to weigh in.

Without further ado:

Total cholesterol in January 2012 (as a vegan): 179
Total cholesterol today, Oct 2012 (primal): 251 -- ack!

Triglycerides in January 2012 (as a vegan): 87
Triglycerides today, Oct 2012 (primal): 71 -- i had expected it would be much better

HDL in January 2012 (as a vegan): 55
HDL today, Oct 2012 (primal): 46 -- how could that number go DOWN?!?

Calculated LDL in January 2012 (as a vegan): 107
Calculated LDL today, Oct 2012 (primal): 191 -- yikes!

My husband's numbers followed all the same trends mine did, except that his HDL went up where mine went down.

Any input/thoughts appreciated!

[primalrob]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread4723.html

that is the link to the cholesterol primer created by forum member Griff. it's packed with information, including why the total score may not be that important, a formula to get a more accurate picture of your cholesterol, and the good and bad about it all.

[palebluedots]

yes, yes, i've read Griff's cholesterol primer. i've worked the ratios he mentioned, and some were better as a vegan.

[primal_alex]

Did you eat enough fats?

The mistake people do is "oh, if I remove carbs I will get better, and if I do not add any fat I will be incredibly better".

The truth is:

No fat intake -> your body does not switch to the fat burning mode

In short, you will keep burning sugars, but as you are in a low carb diet, your metabolism is damn good at creating them using proteins.

Btw, what about the Protein-C reactive?


P.S. Of course, if you already added enough fats, sorry for this answer

[palebluedots]

I think I eat enough fats. I religiously track everything I eat, and I am at about 49.9% fat over a 3 month average. Do you think that's enough?

[bdilla]

I think I eat enough fats. I religiously track everything I eat, and I am at about 49.9% fat over a 3 month average. Do you think that's enough?

I think it's generally recommended that you do 60-70% fat. At this point I would try some "extreme" measures, something that will act a bit like a reset button. My suggestion is that you do an experiment with deep ketosis. (strictly under 50g carbs each day) with some intermittent fasting here and there. Make sure you are eating plenty of fats (but within a respectable caloric range) so that you are letting your body know it needs to prime its fat metabolism. I'd give this a shot for about a month or more and see what happens; you may be stuck in a sort of metabolic limbo, where your body is hanging between a glycolytic and a ketogenic metabolism.

[palebluedots]

interesting. I must admit, I'm a bit hesitant to add even more animal fat into my diet after seeing those numbers. I guess I could try adding more in the way of fat from nuts and avocado and high quality oils.

[peril]

Nuts may be the problem

[palebluedots]

i don't currently eat nuts. hardly ever. i'm just saying that if i decide i want more fat, i'd rather not do it in the form of additional animal fat.

[magicmerl]

Why not? Isn't the goal to increase your HDL? That's the only unexpected figure there.