Healthy diet - blood work results one year on - Oh!

[InMyShadow]

It's all genetics. Stop wasting your energy and go have a pizza and a sixpack. 

Haha you nailed it!

[partington]

12 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I don't understand the OP's cholesterol numbers at all, the sum of the parts (280) is greater than the total cholesterol level (229) and that doesn't even account for VLDL - it's a bad reading.

This is because the number you are adding for triglycerides is NOT cholesterol, it is, as stated, the measured plasma concentration of triglyceride, which is a lipid completely different and structurally unrelated to cholesterol.

 

The cholesterol measurements given don't add up to more than the total cholesterol.

 

VLDL usually carries about 10% of total plasma cholesterol but can be less especially if VLDL (the major component of which is triglyceride, not cholesterol) has been reduced by dietary modification as it has here. So these numbers are not discordant.

[BigT73]

Hey Simon, your diet is pretty much on cue its pretty close to paleo.  I would add different protiens to your diet chicken breast, eggs, pork loin.  Eat protien 3-4 times a day. Dairy can be a real catch 22 as alot of people are lactose intolerant without realising it.  Best time to drink milk is before bed as its a slow releasing protien.  There is a new study on fruit where the culprit in sugar is fructose which is not found in most fruits.   Fruit does have all your vitamins and anti oxidants.  I would totally cut out carbs in the form of wheat, rice, corn potatoes. Only drink water and avoid tinned foods mainly from high sodium contents.  Your biggest problem is the wine which has loads sugar,  you could go on the wagon till your next blood test.   

 

This is my current diet,  I train cardio / running in morning, with a heavy weight session in the arvo no issues for energy.  

[partington]

12 minutes ago, BigT73 said:

There is a new study on fruit where the culprit in sugar is fructose which is not found in most fruits.   

ARRRGH. Fructose is found in ALL fruits. The name "fructose" means fruit sugar. Where on earth did you get this misinformation from?

[Letseng]

45 minutes ago, partington said:

ARRRGH. Fructose is found in ALL fruits. The name "fructose" means fruit sugar. Where on earth did you get this misinformation from?

Some fruit has high fructose content, some has low fructose. Veggies also contain fructose. Lettuce e.g. has high levels. Plenty of charts on the internet.

[cookieqw]

just another health nut, if doing what you do makes you happy carry on, if doing what you do does'nt make you happy you're xxxked 

happy = healthy   get on with being happy.

[oslooskar]

Whether you're having prostate problems or not you should be eating a small handful of raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds every other day. 

[InMyShadow]

Everything above can be found in high quality multivitamins.
Take one a day and enjoy your pasta

[BigT73]

8 hours ago, partington said:

ARRRGH. Fructose is found in ALL fruits. The name "fructose" means fruit sugar. Where on earth did you get this misinformation from?

Your correct i worded it a bit wrong,  here is the study as of late 2017.

"Many people now believe that because added sugars are bad, the same must apply to fruits, which also contain fructose. However... this is completely wrong, because fructose is only harmful in large amounts and it is almost impossible to overeat fructose by eating fruit.Jun 20, 2017"

 

[Laza 45]

On 4/1/2018 at 7:12 PM, simon43 said:

 

 

 

 

Xylophone, sorry but I don't understand that statement, what do you mean by 'that diet accounts for very little of it'?

Interesting about Beta sitosterol. iHerb doesn't ship to Myanmar, so I'd have to get this sent to Thailand. What's the typical delivery time to Thailand? I'd probably have to order and then pick up the parcel when I'm next in Bangkok - at Christmas.

 

 

 

 

It is true that your body makes most of your cholesterol.. it is helpful to eat a healthy diet and get exercise but very difficult to lower cholesterol this way if your DNA makes you prone to high cholesterol.  A note on PB.. the range mentioned above is good..  nothing to worry about there.  A person's BP varies through  the day for many reasons.  120/80 is very good... 

[phetphet]

Try eating porridge oats for breakfast, and sprinkling oat bran on your meals.

 

Contains soluble fibre which helps lower cholesterol.

[simon43]

Thanks for all the comments - impossible to reply to everyone.

Having considered everything, I feel that my diet is reasonably good, but probably needs 'tweaking' a little.

I currently eat a tin of mackerel every evening. I'm going to reduce this to about 3 times a week.

For the evenings when I don't eat fish, I will start to drink vegetablle smoothies, such as carrots and spinach (I can buy these in Naypyitaw), and buy a blender to make this food more to my liking (I read that spinach+banana is a tasty blend).

I think that my high LDL level maybe coming from saturated fats. I drink 2 small glasses of full-fat keffir milk every day, plus an organic egg 'flan'. I can make my keffir milk using soy milk instead.

Anyway, I'll make some small changes to my diet, and then have a new blood-works check towards the end of this year.

Regardless of the absolute values of my current results, I feel very healthy, fit and alert, and that is a great improvement on my general health state some years ago when I wasn't concerned about diet and fitness.

Finally, concerning the PSA, this doesn't worry me at all. I have had a digital check before, and my prostate is slightly enlarged. The small increase in PSA value since last year is absolutely no cause for concern. But it is sensible to check PSA every year, in case the value 'takes off'.

[InMyShadow]

Thanks for all the comments - impossible to reply to everyone.

Having considered everything, I feel that my diet is reasonably good, but probably needs 'tweaking' a little.

I currently eat a tin of mackerel every evening. I'm going to reduce this to about 3 times a week.

For the evenings when I don't eat fish, I will start to drink vegetablle smoothies, such as carrots and spinach (I can buy these in Naypyitaw), and buy a blender to make this food more to my liking (I read that spinach+banana is a tasty blend).

I think that my high LDL level maybe coming from saturated fats. I drink 2 small glasses of full-fat keffir milk every day, plus an organic egg 'flan'. I can make my keffir milk using soy milk instead.

Anyway, I'll make some small changes to my diet, and then have a new blood-works check towards the end of this year.

Regardless of the absolute values of my current results, I feel very healthy, fit and alert, and that is a great improvement on my general health state some years ago when I wasn't concerned about diet and fitness.

Finally, concerning the PSA, this doesn't worry me at all. I have had a digital check before, and my prostate is slightly enlarged. The small increase in PSA value since last year is absolutely no cause for concern. But it is sensible to check PSA every year, in case the value 'takes off'.

Having high levels of anything including blood pressure does not mean anything bad will happen.

Don't worry to much. Your smoothie thing won't last long. They never do

[simon43]

We are all gonna die , but if I had to follow the OP’s diet and exercise regime I would probably die very soon of boredom

Yes, I know what you mean. When I started this diet last year, I thought the same. But as I weaned myself off sugar-laden, processed foods, the fresh produce became more tasty, and became even more tasty when I felt the health benefits.

Now I prepare a healthy and tasty salad each morning to eat during my lunch break. I absolutely do not miss the processed 'crap' that fills the supermarket shelves.

[Mook1e]

 

There are contradictory studies, but through some additional research this rings true. The channel is quite good overall.

[JSixpack]

So, one of the reasons LDL-C is elevated on an LCHF diet may be that the Friedwald equation overestimates LDL-C when TG’s are low.

     --https://www.docsopinion.com/2017/01/02/ldl-cholesterol-overestimated-low-carb-high-fat-lchf-diet/

 

Another thing to consider is weight loss... in some individuals, losing weight can temporarily increase LDL cholesterol.

    --https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/low-carb-diets-and-cholesterol#section4

[FracturedRabbit]

We make keffir with coconut milk (plus about 20% ordinary milk to make the keffir happy). Very tasty.

[simon43]

FracturedRabbit, that sounds a good idea. Supplies of many things are limited/disrupted in Naypyitaw, but I know that I can buy coconut juice. I'll give this a go! (I know about letting the keffir grains recover in fresh milk).

[thaiguzzi]

Patently obvious.

Get back on the booze and cigarettes...

[jenny2017]

. Oily fish is good for you, but maybe I'm eating a little too much!

 

        I'd guess that this is your problem. 

[Lumbini]

What is fasting insulin , fasting glucose and HbA1c ? Fasting insulin the most important ?

 

 

 

 

[rak sa_ngop]

13 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

. Oily fish is good for you, but maybe I'm eating a little too much!

 

        I'd guess that this is your problem. 

The bigger the fish the higher up the food chain it is, and the higher the levels of mercury present in the fish.

 

I remember reading that body builders like to eat large amounts of tinned tuna because it is cheap protein. This can result in mercury poisoning although the effects apparently are reversible. Small amounts of big fish are OK.

[simon43]

I remember reading that body builders like to eat large amounts of tinned tuna because it is cheap protein

When I started to eat oily fish in my diet, Dr Google suggested to eat mackerel, because the mercury levels were lower than found in tuna. So I usually eat tinned mackerel.

My creatine level was slightly raised in my health check results. Again, according to Dr Google, this might be because I exercised quite hard the previous day (jogging plus HIT). So I'm not worried about this slightly raised level, and will it re-checked at Christmas.

The choice of muesli in Naypyitaw is very limited. I found a brand which is oats and nuts, without fruit or added sugar. It's maybe the best I can buy. There is also Kelloggs All-Bran Original, which could be an alternative.

[sqwakvfr]

My Lipid Panel is similar to Simon's.  I had my cholesterol levels tested twice in 6 weeks

                            (1st Test)                         (2nd Test)

Total                      248                                    216

HDL                          84                                      78

LDL                          152                                  127

Triglycerides            60                                     54

 

I'm 55, daily cardio and strength training and for the last 6 weeks a low fat diet(salads, tuna in water, oatmeal, egg whites, whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and soy milk).  My BMI is 22 and I drink a beer or two.   I do not smoke.  I have completely given up on eating Thai food.  I'm continuing with this program with an occasional cheat for the next several months and then retest.  

[kannot]

if its any help my Mothers  diet is  pretty grim, shes 90 still drives and is "all there" ,I plan to follow  in her footsteps.

My  blood pressure is 116/56 I eat crap all day although i do a lot of physical work im 54

My pulse is 46, yeah slow but it doesnt  cause me any problems, Ill probably live to be 100??

Edited April 4, 2018 by kannot

[Sheryl]

5 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

My Lipid Panel is similar to Simon's.  I had my cholesterol levels tested twice in 6 weeks

                            (1st Test)                         (2nd Test)

Total                      248                                    216

HDL                          84                                      78

LDL                          152                                  127

Triglycerides            60                                     54

 

I'm 55, daily cardio and strength training and for the last 6 weeks a low fat diet(salads, tuna in water, oatmeal, egg whites, whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and soy milk).  My BMI is 22 and I drink a beer or two.   I do not smoke.  I have completely given up on eating Thai food.  I'm continuing with this program with an occasional cheat for the next several months and then retest.  

Again: need to check if tyhat LDL is estimated or direct!!

 

many lipid panels estimate LDL rather than directly measure it. This is done using a formula which is inaccurate in people with low triglycerides.

[carlyai]

The bigger the fish the higher up the food chain it is, and the higher the levels of mercury present in the fish.
 
I remember reading that body builders like to eat large amounts of tinned tuna because it is cheap protein. This can result in mercury poisoning although the effects apparently are reversible. Small amounts of big fish are OK.

I lived in Bali for 6 years and regularly bought freshish fish mackerel etc from the fisherman's boats.
I'd heard about high mercury levels in surface fish of Indonesia so had a test for mercury when in Australia. No mercury problem.


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[InMyShadow]

Tinned sardines I think maybe the best choice but not really good value in Thailand. I've seen well priced fried little white bait at the markets but I just don't trust seafood in the sun

 

 

[Orton Rd]

Triglyceride result for me last week was 266 Dr advised cutting down on red meat, last time i had any was 1972! Maybe excercise would get it down and losing a bit of weight? 

 

[The manic]

On 4/2/2018 at 1:13 PM, DuiDui48 said:

 

Dietry cholesterol has no impact on your cholesterol  levels. Anyway cholestrol is the firefighter attacking inflammation. Do some research via Dr Mercola..And check which foods..especially fish can influence uric acid levels. Good luck and thanks for sharing. I lost 25 k over one year and followed a similar diet and exercise regime to you and had the opposite results..