Hi Friends,
I just got back my recent blood work and thought I'd share the results. I was interested to see what they'd be like since I have been on the paleo diet for about 6 months. Until 1 mo. ago I was still eating a little rice, potato chips, eating out too much, etc., so I haven't been STRICT paleo for long. Of course, I was worried about the blood lipids since I am now eating far more meat and eggs than ever before.
fasting blood sugar - 73 (range is 60-99 but it is lower the more fit one is; it was 89 three years ago when I had my last test).
total cholesterol - 201 (ideal is under 200, but I think this is the lowest mine has ever been!; 3 years ago it was 209).
triglycerides (serum fats) - 71 (ideal is less than 150)
good HDL cholesterol - 77 (want over 60 since it is heart-protective)
bad HDL cholesterol - 110 (want less than 100, but mine has always run higher than this normally - it was 118 three years ago)
Vitamin D level - 44 (normal 16-56). Interesting because I eat NO dairy products and had taken no vitamin D supplements yet. (I just started them after the blood test for bone reasons). I guess the sun I get on my every-other-day run is adequate- I use sunblock on my face but not my arms/legs.
Hematocrit (anemia test) - 42.4% It has never been this high before - I guess it's all that iron.
Not bad for a 60-something old lady, eh? I think that the LDL may come down as I stick more strictly to the diet. Especially from the increased omega 3 fats I am eating and the less desirable fats I have stopped eating now that the potato chips have been banished!
But isn't it amazing???? The fact that about half of my calories at each meal come from animal protein (the other half from veggies/fruits/nuts). At least I now know that eating this way is NOT unhealthy for me. Just the opposite - my values are improving! It is proof to me that my genes DO need the paleo diet. SIGH.
Has anyone else had bloodwork since switching to the paleo diet? I'd love to hear about it.
Love,
Polly
My Latest Lab Tests (on the Paleo Diet)
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
My Latest Lab Tests (on the Paleo Diet)
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Not bad indeed. Those are excellent results. I'll bet your doctor didn't have any criticism.
It would be interesting to see the results of a workup for Karen, (Moremuscle), since she's been on the paleo diet for much longer, I believe. She doesn't stop in here very often anymore, though, since she started training for marathons. She probably wouldn't slow down long enough for someone to get a blood sample, anyway. LOL.
Love,
Tex
It would be interesting to see the results of a workup for Karen, (Moremuscle), since she's been on the paleo diet for much longer, I believe. She doesn't stop in here very often anymore, though, since she started training for marathons. She probably wouldn't slow down long enough for someone to get a blood sample, anyway. LOL.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
You're probably right about Karen 
Polly-
Looks good! You know I think the medical community in general tries to place too much responsibility on diet, when in fact I feel many factors are genetic - the cholesterol issue for example....I think family history is much more of a risk factor than how many eggs or how much red meat one consumes!!
Now the current "hot topic" is type II diabetes - and I think convincing people to consume artificial sweeteners is not a good idea - I think moderating consumption of natural sweeteners (cane sugar and honey) should be encouraged instead...
Don't even get me started on Olestra! If people just eat a variety of non-processed foods, regardless of the food pyramid (oh the horror - all of us are not consuming enough whole grains!) they will have generally good health. Oh yeah - and exercise is critical as well....
I'm dashing out the door - hope this is remotely coherent - but I'm glad your results validate that your diet is obviously working well, and not harming your health in any way!
Yay!
Mary
Looks good! You know I think the medical community in general tries to place too much responsibility on diet, when in fact I feel many factors are genetic - the cholesterol issue for example....I think family history is much more of a risk factor than how many eggs or how much red meat one consumes!!
Now the current "hot topic" is type II diabetes - and I think convincing people to consume artificial sweeteners is not a good idea - I think moderating consumption of natural sweeteners (cane sugar and honey) should be encouraged instead...
Don't even get me started on Olestra! If people just eat a variety of non-processed foods, regardless of the food pyramid (oh the horror - all of us are not consuming enough whole grains!) they will have generally good health. Oh yeah - and exercise is critical as well....
I'm dashing out the door - hope this is remotely coherent - but I'm glad your results validate that your diet is obviously working well, and not harming your health in any way!
Yay!
Mary
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Hi Polly,
You might enjoy reading the Eades book, The Protein Power Diet. It's primarily a weight loss book, but a large portion of it is devoted to how they've studied the effects of the diet on blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and health in general. The people they helped in their clinic (thousands) have documented normalization of their cholesterols - which is the most controversial part of the diet, since eating meat with it's fats and all should have made these people's blood cholesterpol shoot through the roof!
Anyway, you've proved it . . good job.
Love, Marsha
You might enjoy reading the Eades book, The Protein Power Diet. It's primarily a weight loss book, but a large portion of it is devoted to how they've studied the effects of the diet on blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and health in general. The people they helped in their clinic (thousands) have documented normalization of their cholesterols - which is the most controversial part of the diet, since eating meat with it's fats and all should have made these people's blood cholesterpol shoot through the roof!
Anyway, you've proved it . . good job.
Love, Marsha
People have even lowered their cholesterol on the Atkins diet. I wasn't sure I believed it until my son-in-law went on the diet and he had REALLY high cholesterol. His dropped about 100 points after he'd been on the diet for a while.
Love, Shirley
Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
-- Winston Churchill
Hi All!
Yes, the increasing examples of lowering cholesterol with meat/fat are amazing! It just shows you how little the "experts" who write all that fiction about grains and dairy being good for you and meat and eggs being bad know about diet/nutrition. I am coming to believe that the problem with Americans' diet (60% obese now and still climbing) is primarily the steady diet of refined flour, corn syrup/refined sugar, and butter or "bad" fats (made into cakes, cookies, donuts, bread, rolls, Twinkies, you name it). None of this was eaten by our paleo ancestors - and there is no nutritional value in eating this way. All it does is promote the metabolic syndrome, obesity, and eventual serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease.
Shirley, I wish I could take credit for will power, but the truth is that I have finally learned that unless I eat this way, I will be sick. It's taken a long time for this to sink in, LOL! But maybe I am lucky that my genes rebelled and gave me MC - otherwise I would be eating much more junk I think.
CAMary, I couldn't agree more with all that you said. Olestra - YUK.
Wayne, my internist used the same word, "excellent" when he emailed me the results. And you will appreciate this - he also said (jokingly) that he knew better than to offer me Lipitor to try and get that elevated LDL cholesterol down quicker! Actually, although 100 is considered to be "normal" (and mine was 110), he said some recent studies indicate that getting the LDL value down to 65 might be ideal. Of course, this is a doc who RUNS the 5 miles to work and home again every day, so he is really into prevention! BTW, he gives every patient not only his home phone number but also his cell phone number because he wants to be called first for any problem, no matter how small.
Marsha - I do need to get that Eades' book. They are on the cover of Cordain's book on the paleo diet as recommending it.
Love,
Polly
Yes, the increasing examples of lowering cholesterol with meat/fat are amazing! It just shows you how little the "experts" who write all that fiction about grains and dairy being good for you and meat and eggs being bad know about diet/nutrition. I am coming to believe that the problem with Americans' diet (60% obese now and still climbing) is primarily the steady diet of refined flour, corn syrup/refined sugar, and butter or "bad" fats (made into cakes, cookies, donuts, bread, rolls, Twinkies, you name it). None of this was eaten by our paleo ancestors - and there is no nutritional value in eating this way. All it does is promote the metabolic syndrome, obesity, and eventual serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease.
Shirley, I wish I could take credit for will power, but the truth is that I have finally learned that unless I eat this way, I will be sick. It's taken a long time for this to sink in, LOL! But maybe I am lucky that my genes rebelled and gave me MC - otherwise I would be eating much more junk I think.
CAMary, I couldn't agree more with all that you said. Olestra - YUK.
Wayne, my internist used the same word, "excellent" when he emailed me the results. And you will appreciate this - he also said (jokingly) that he knew better than to offer me Lipitor to try and get that elevated LDL cholesterol down quicker! Actually, although 100 is considered to be "normal" (and mine was 110), he said some recent studies indicate that getting the LDL value down to 65 might be ideal. Of course, this is a doc who RUNS the 5 miles to work and home again every day, so he is really into prevention! BTW, he gives every patient not only his home phone number but also his cell phone number because he wants to be called first for any problem, no matter how small.
Marsha - I do need to get that Eades' book. They are on the cover of Cordain's book on the paleo diet as recommending it.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Wow!. A doc who gives out his or her home phone and cell numbers in this day and age is really amazing. He obviously truly cares for his patients. I can remember when it used to be a common practice, (not the cell phone number, of course, since there weren't any), at least in small towns, but that was almost 50 years ago.
Love,
Wayne
Love,
Wayne
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Hi Polly!!!
I'm not checking in very regularly, and I realize I'm missing out on some good conversations. Anyway, I just checked out a book that I think you might find really interesting. It's about an unrelated, yet strangely helpful book called "The Ketogenic Diet, a Treatment for Epilepsy" by John Freeman, MD.
I'm sure you've run across this diet, because of it's use for children with otherwise uncontrolable seizures. Anyway, I know eating paleo doesn't mean inducing ketosis, but this book, in the course of explaining ketosis, (and the extreme low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet) gives a lot of technical information about what's really in common foods. For instance, it recommends products like sugar-free and lactose free multivitamins (Poly-Vi-Sol or Unicap-M), and carb-free calcium (Rugby's or Calcimix). If they are carb-free, then they are dextrose & maltodextrin & sorbitol free, which means they're free of the corn products lots of us have problems with. Interesting, huh?
So, I wanted to ask you . . since you've gone paleo, you've noticed a significant improvement over your previous diet? What exactly did you have to drop to make your old diet comform to the paleo diet? Is there anything that you previously didn't eat that now you do? And I'm sorry if this was covered in previous posts. . . .
Love, Marsha
I'm not checking in very regularly, and I realize I'm missing out on some good conversations. Anyway, I just checked out a book that I think you might find really interesting. It's about an unrelated, yet strangely helpful book called "The Ketogenic Diet, a Treatment for Epilepsy" by John Freeman, MD.
I'm sure you've run across this diet, because of it's use for children with otherwise uncontrolable seizures. Anyway, I know eating paleo doesn't mean inducing ketosis, but this book, in the course of explaining ketosis, (and the extreme low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet) gives a lot of technical information about what's really in common foods. For instance, it recommends products like sugar-free and lactose free multivitamins (Poly-Vi-Sol or Unicap-M), and carb-free calcium (Rugby's or Calcimix). If they are carb-free, then they are dextrose & maltodextrin & sorbitol free, which means they're free of the corn products lots of us have problems with. Interesting, huh?
So, I wanted to ask you . . since you've gone paleo, you've noticed a significant improvement over your previous diet? What exactly did you have to drop to make your old diet comform to the paleo diet? Is there anything that you previously didn't eat that now you do? And I'm sorry if this was covered in previous posts. . . .
Love, Marsha
Mornin!
Ahhhhh, I have a few moments of peace and quiet. Hubby and dog are on the trail and son is still in bed.
Actually, Marsha, I know Dr. Freeman and years ago worked in some of his clinics. And I have taken care of kiddies in the hospital who were put on the ketogenic diet for uncontrollable seizures. But I have not read the book. I'll check it out because I love books that have technical info about what is in foods. I agree about the vitamins and have been buying Freeda vitamins online. They are free of everything I need to avoid - the only inert ingredients are cellulose and calcium stearate.
You asked what I did to make my old diet conform to the paleo diet. Basically, I made some further eliminations - rice (the only grain I was still eating), and legumes (green beans, dry beans, peanuts - I had already eliminated soy). And I cut out all processed foods that I was still eating, like potato chips made with sunflower oil and Virgil's root beer. Finally, I have mostly cut out salt (because it causes excess excretion of calcium from the kidneys). I still eat root veggies, including white potatoes and drink dry red wine several times a week with dinner.
With regard to what I eat now that I didn't used to.........interesting question. I have never before eaten as many fruits/veggies/nuts as I do now. In fact, far more than when I was a vegetarian for 12 years (before MC). I have discovered some wonderful greens that I never used to eat, like red-leaf kale, dinosaur kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and rainbow chard. And root veggies, like parsnips, rutabagas, turnips. I have fallen in love with figs, medjool dates, and am enjoying so many different varieties of apples and berries now.
I also try to eat at least 2-3 servings of fish a week (mostly salmon or tuna) for the omega 3s. I eat more eggs but try to limit to 6-8 per week, although more actually may be OK. And, of course, the biggie is meat. It is still hard for me to eat meat/fowl because I am an animal lover and also worry about the eco-cost of eating animal flesh. But I now eat red meat, pork, chicken, turkey, bison, etc. There's just no arguing with GENES - LOL!
I have changed the vitamins I am taking. I used to take a multi-vitamin but recently discontinued it in view of some of the lastest thinking. Plus, I am getting far more than the RDA of most vitamins with the paleo diet - there is a page in Cordain's book on the Paleo Diet that calculates it for one day, and it AMAZED me! Of course, the only vitamin you don't get on the strict paleo diet is vitamin D. I have been getting mine from sunlight, but again, based on recent findings, decided to supplement vitamin D3 at 400 I.U. My doc suggested 800 I.U., which I am still undecided about. And I recently began supplementing with some calcium - right now I am taking 500 mg extra (I think I am getting plenty from the dark leafy greens and figs, etc.). BTW, Freeda makes a "mini-caltrate" calcium citrate with 125 mg of active calcium per tablet. And the tablets are SMALL - no bigger than a Tylenol!
Whew! Didn't mean to write a book. I'd love to hear about your diet now - what have you added/subtracted?
Love,
Polly
Ahhhhh, I have a few moments of peace and quiet. Hubby and dog are on the trail and son is still in bed.
Actually, Marsha, I know Dr. Freeman and years ago worked in some of his clinics. And I have taken care of kiddies in the hospital who were put on the ketogenic diet for uncontrollable seizures. But I have not read the book. I'll check it out because I love books that have technical info about what is in foods. I agree about the vitamins and have been buying Freeda vitamins online. They are free of everything I need to avoid - the only inert ingredients are cellulose and calcium stearate.
You asked what I did to make my old diet conform to the paleo diet. Basically, I made some further eliminations - rice (the only grain I was still eating), and legumes (green beans, dry beans, peanuts - I had already eliminated soy). And I cut out all processed foods that I was still eating, like potato chips made with sunflower oil and Virgil's root beer. Finally, I have mostly cut out salt (because it causes excess excretion of calcium from the kidneys). I still eat root veggies, including white potatoes and drink dry red wine several times a week with dinner.
With regard to what I eat now that I didn't used to.........interesting question. I have never before eaten as many fruits/veggies/nuts as I do now. In fact, far more than when I was a vegetarian for 12 years (before MC). I have discovered some wonderful greens that I never used to eat, like red-leaf kale, dinosaur kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and rainbow chard. And root veggies, like parsnips, rutabagas, turnips. I have fallen in love with figs, medjool dates, and am enjoying so many different varieties of apples and berries now.
I also try to eat at least 2-3 servings of fish a week (mostly salmon or tuna) for the omega 3s. I eat more eggs but try to limit to 6-8 per week, although more actually may be OK. And, of course, the biggie is meat. It is still hard for me to eat meat/fowl because I am an animal lover and also worry about the eco-cost of eating animal flesh. But I now eat red meat, pork, chicken, turkey, bison, etc. There's just no arguing with GENES - LOL!
I have changed the vitamins I am taking. I used to take a multi-vitamin but recently discontinued it in view of some of the lastest thinking. Plus, I am getting far more than the RDA of most vitamins with the paleo diet - there is a page in Cordain's book on the Paleo Diet that calculates it for one day, and it AMAZED me! Of course, the only vitamin you don't get on the strict paleo diet is vitamin D. I have been getting mine from sunlight, but again, based on recent findings, decided to supplement vitamin D3 at 400 I.U. My doc suggested 800 I.U., which I am still undecided about. And I recently began supplementing with some calcium - right now I am taking 500 mg extra (I think I am getting plenty from the dark leafy greens and figs, etc.). BTW, Freeda makes a "mini-caltrate" calcium citrate with 125 mg of active calcium per tablet. And the tablets are SMALL - no bigger than a Tylenol!
Whew! Didn't mean to write a book. I'd love to hear about your diet now - what have you added/subtracted?
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
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Dear Polly, I just wrote you a huge reply, and sent it, and apparently I had timed out, or something, but you didn't get it. I am so discouraged.
Anyway, when I pick myself up off the floor, I'll write again, I haven't got the will right now to do it all over.
By the way, our diets are identical now, almost to the ingredient. Do you eat pork? Because I have a really good German pork chop recipe you might like.
Grey's Anatomy - totally addicted. Have you seen the teasers for this weeks show? Shocking. Not surprizing, though.
Love, Marsha
Anyway, when I pick myself up off the floor, I'll write again, I haven't got the will right now to do it all over.
By the way, our diets are identical now, almost to the ingredient. Do you eat pork? Because I have a really good German pork chop recipe you might like.
Grey's Anatomy - totally addicted. Have you seen the teasers for this weeks show? Shocking. Not surprizing, though.
Love, Marsha
Hi Marsha,
Soory about your post. That has happened to me before too. Very discouraging. I wonder if there is some limit to the length of posts? Several times I "lost" long posts, so I know how you feel. Perhaps it is a good idea to send several consecutive posts (one after the other) to make sure all the thoughts get thru? I really am interested to hear about your similar diet, so please don't give up.
Love,
Polly
Soory about your post. That has happened to me before too. Very discouraging. I wonder if there is some limit to the length of posts? Several times I "lost" long posts, so I know how you feel. Perhaps it is a good idea to send several consecutive posts (one after the other) to make sure all the thoughts get thru? I really am interested to hear about your similar diet, so please don't give up.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.