Have you had high cholesterol – How successful have you been in lowering your numbers .

[BigStar]

5 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Your links do seem to be cherry picked to exclude the best authorities. They would be government, directly and indirectly and educational institutions.

What sources listed did you read? Well, none. ????

[ozimoron]

1 minute ago, BigStar said:

Exactly. And it was the US "research" and politicians that first created the consensus and put them in vogue.

Yes, decades ago.

 

1 minute ago, BigStar said:

 

The food industry contributions to research, and to politicians, were self-"mandated" to increase their own profits, as I've indicated earlier and you ignored. And they certainly did, with the resulting obesity epidemic. Would I pay for good health based on alternative research? And that research could simply be a reinterpretation of original shoddy research and false conclusions by the food industry studies. Gary Taubes, a journalist, did exactly that. Now there are a lot of new studies that you're unaware of. I prefer to be aware, thank you. It's paid off nicely.

They did not pay for a particular research outcome. If so, there'd be a lot of people in jail.

[ozimoron]

4 minutes ago, BigStar said:

What sources listed did you read? Well, none. ????

Literally thousands of articles about diet, many about keto, pre diabetes and insulin resistance. About three years ago a doctor told me I was insulin resistant and medical advice like that always triggers me to go research. I don't wander aimlessly through life clinging to to long held (mis) perceptions.

 

I also went to see nutritionists, dieticians, and had a barrage of tests done.

Edited December 18, 2022 by ozimoron

[BigStar]

13 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Yes, decades ago.

 

They did not pay for a particular research outcome. If so, there'd be a lot of people in jail.

Yep, and same thing today, as I noted above. Committee stacked with shills.

 

No, there'd companies raking in profits, lots of researchers comfortable in their tenured positions and consulting, and an obesity epidemic, obviously.

Edited December 18, 2022 by BigStar

[GreasyFingers]

1 minute ago, ozimoron said:

Literally thousands of articles about diet, many about keto, pre diabetes and insulin resistance. About three years ago a doctor told me I was insulin resistant and medical advice like that always triggers me to go research. I don't wander aimlessly through life clinging to to long held (mis) perceptions.

 

I also went to see nutritionists, dieticians, and had a barrage of tests done.

Still feeling healthy?

[ozimoron]

4 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Still feeling healthy?

I am. I believe I did kick the insulin resistance through diet changes, reducing alcohol and increasing exercise. Fitness is my main concern right now but there's always room for improvement. You might note the number of likes I have handed out in this thread.

Edited December 18, 2022 by ozimoron

[BigStar]

4 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Literally thousands of articles about diet, many about keto, pre diabetes and insulin resistance.

Yes, but now you've become an authority on health associated with alcohol consumption based on one flawed study. So you'd want to look at contrary sources SUCH AS those listed at the bottom of the article I cited. I mean, if you were really interested in becoming knowledgeable on the subject. Here, let me spoon feed:

 

American Diabetes Association: "Moderate Alcohol Consumption Lowers the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes."

Association for Psychological Science: "Moderate Doses of Alcohol Increase Social Bonding in Groups."

CDC: "Alcohol and Public Health."

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: "Soda and Other Beverages and the Risk of Kidney Stones."

The Fischer Center Foundation: "Moderate Drinking Can Reduce Alzheimer's Risk."

Frontiers in Psychiatry: "Exercise and alcohol consumption: what we know, what we need to know, and why it is important."

Harvard School of Public Health: "Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits."

National Institutes of Health: "Alcohol and Cognition in The Elderly," "Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in male subjects with alcohol dependence," "Effects of Dietary Components on Testosterone Metabolism via UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase," "Regular moderate intake of red wine is linked to a better women's sexual health."

NHS Choices: "Benefits of Love and Sex."

Mayo Clinic: "Kidney Stones."

 

8 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

I also went to see nutritionists, dieticians, and had a barrage of tests done.

Good thing you stayed in the mainstream. ????

[ozimoron]

3 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Yes, but now you've become an authority on health associated with alcohol consumption based on one flawed study. So you'd want to look at contrary sources SUCH AS those listed at the bottom of the article I cited. I mean, if you were really interested in becoming knowledgeable on the subject. Here, let me spoon feed:

 

American Diabetes Association: "Moderate Alcohol Consumption Lowers the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes."

Association for Psychological Science: "Moderate Doses of Alcohol Increase Social Bonding in Groups."

CDC: "Alcohol and Public Health."

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: "Soda and Other Beverages and the Risk of Kidney Stones."

The Fischer Center Foundation: "Moderate Drinking Can Reduce Alzheimer's Risk."

Frontiers in Psychiatry: "Exercise and alcohol consumption: what we know, what we need to know, and why it is important."

Harvard School of Public Health: "Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits."

National Institutes of Health: "Alcohol and Cognition in The Elderly," "Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in male subjects with alcohol dependence," "Effects of Dietary Components on Testosterone Metabolism via UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase," "Regular moderate intake of red wine is linked to a better women's sexual health."

NHS Choices: "Benefits of Love and Sex."

Mayo Clinic: "Kidney Stones."

 

Good thing you stayed in the mainstream. ????

I have made no comment that should suggest that I consider myself to be an authority. I have, as always, quoted what I think are expert opinions. You seem to be the one wanting to claim the mantle of authority on the subject. I have an open mind.

 

And you seem to be resorting to low level flames and we all know what that means when it comes to debating a topic. .

Edited December 18, 2022 by ozimoron

[BigStar]

1 minute ago, ozimoron said:

I have, as always, quoted what I think are expert opinions.

I'm only seeing one on that topic. Other expert opinions were dismissed or ignored, as an Authority would of course have license to do. ???? 

 

2 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

You seem to be the one wanting to claim the mantle of authority on the subject.

I looked at your study, found it rather silly, and referenced others that seem to have more credibility. I guess I can claim to have looked at more studies than you have, yes, and actually reasoned about them--yes. I started doing that kind of thing rather early in life, and I do think it helped me avoid the problems that you've had.

 

[jts-khorat]

55 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

So what are you now eating please?

As I said, I have stopped strict keto after a year, as it was not necessayr any more. I had lost my weight, my blood values have become much better, my sleep has improved, etc.

 

I am now eating a balanced diet of mainly vegetables and meat, with only small amounts of rice. I have reduced fruit intake to mainly berries from the garden, when they are in season (fructose can only be processed in the liver, so I do not eat too much fruit).

 

Every now and then I partake in cake, cookies, chocolate, etc (especially now around Christmas). I try to make sure to be more strict with my intermittent fasting afterwards, fasting a few hours extra for a day or two.

 

I really avoid fast food and ultra-processed food as good as I possibly can. Obviously no sugared drinks either.

 

All in all, I guess this is the normal diet that anybody should have, without excess and without too much restriction. I do not think I would be able to be healthy on this diet, though, without my body having been brought back into a state of appropriate healthiness.

Edited December 18, 2022 by jts-khorat
Typo

[save the frogs]

5 hours ago, BigStar said:

You can find a chart here: https://thegestationaldiabetic.com/glycemic-index-fruit/

 

Me, I have berries daily. Makro sells frozen 1 kg bags of them pretty cheaply.

 

 

Yes, I am aware of this line of reasoning. It has been made by many experts.

However, a small minority of folks, myself included, have rejected this in favor of the following reasoning:

Anyone who is reasonably metabolically healthy can tolerate high glycemic foods and associated spikes. 

Obviously, that doesn't include highly processed foods.

Therefore, I eat all fruits, regardless of their glycemic index.

If I die young, I'll let you know. 

P.S. The Japanese eat a lot of white rice, but still live long. But I don't eat rice. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by save the frogs

[rumak]

2 hours ago, BigStar said:

No, there'd companies raking in profits, lots of researchers comfortable in their tenured positions and consulting, and an obesity epidemic, obviously.

Its strange......... I don't listen to anything the government "experts" say or recommend.   If i do need to find some information I look on some hard to find sites (because , as twitter and facebook have revealed, the govt is active in censoring alternative views ) for facts that i believe in. 

As a result, in my 70's now,  weight is perfect,  and I am not on any pills to control blood pressure, heartburn, diabetes, stress,  depression, prostate problems, cholesterol levels  etc etc.

Nothing like an overweight person on medications telling me what to follow if i want to live.  Crazy

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by rumak

[ozimoron]

7 hours ago, BigStar said:

I'm only seeing one on that topic. Other expert opinions were dismissed or ignored, as an Authority would of course have license to do. ???? 

 

I looked at your study, found it rather silly, and referenced others that seem to have more credibility. I guess I can claim to have looked at more studies than you have, yes, and actually reasoned about them--yes. I started doing that kind of thing rather early in life, and I do think it helped me avoid the problems that you've had.

 

Pretty big claim there sunshine. Kudos if its true.

[Toolong]

21 hours ago, ozimoron said:

What does processed carbs mean? Is it bread, cakes? What about rice and potatoes?

Processed carbs are refined carbs after being having been processed and stripped of their nutrients, like white bread, pastries etc. 

Potatoes would have natural, unrefined carbs.

Personally, I'm trying a keto kind of diet at present, which just in general restricts all high carbs foods. In my case severely restricts! ????

 

 

 

[BigStar]

22 hours ago, save the frogs said:

Yes, I am aware of this line of reasoning. It has been made by many experts.

Who have the credentials, facts, and numbers to support that line of reasoning.

 

22 hours ago, save the frogs said:

However, a small minority of folks, myself included, have rejected this in favor of the following reasoning:

Anyone who is reasonably metabolically healthy can tolerate high glycemic foods and associated spikes. 

Who haven't the credentials, facts, and numbers but, as usual (cf. TAT: ANF), mere worthless opinion. All diabetics once agreed with you: you're actually in the vast majority without realizing it.???? I love this forum.

 

Could it be that you haven't a clue about your own insulin resistance thus far smugly accomplished? Yup. WOT?

 

A normal score on a fasting glucose test or even an HbA1c doesn’t actually confer a high degree of certainty. In fact, one can be insulin resistant years before tests finally reveal that the weakened pancreas can no longer deal with all the glucose.

 

Dr. Sarah Hallberg makes this very point at her TEDx talk here.

 

Insulin sensitivity varies at least 6-fold in apparently healthy individuals, with physical fitness and body fat both playing a role.

     --Insulin Resistance: the Link Between Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease

 

“Apparently healthy.” WOT???

 

Insulin resistance may be damaging health behind the scenes for years until it’s detected and mitigated. It’s implicated in more chronic diseases than just diabetes.

We’re talking

 

   - obesity
   - hypertension
   - dyslipidemia
   - renal failure
   - NAFLD
   - sleep apnea
   - certain cancers
   - atherosclerosis
   - cardiovascular disease
   - macular degeneration
   - cognitive decline

  - BPH and prostate cancer

 

All the stuff that it COINCIDENTALLY just happens so many of our posters started dealing with a decade earlier than they'd need to. When and why did those problems really start?

 

Anyone who is reasonably metabolically healthy can tolerate high glycemic foods and associated spikes. 

 

Hee. And then--attempt to regain metabolic health by chasing docs and taking meds.

 

It turns out that the level of sugar in an individual’s blood — especially in individuals who are considered healthy — fluctuates more than traditional means of monitoring, like the one-and-done finger-pr.i.ck method, would have us believe. Often, these fluctuations come in the form of “spikes,” or a rapid increase in the amount of sugar in the blood, after eating specific foods — most commonly, carbohydrates. . . .

 

The covert spikes . . . can contribute to cardiovascular disease risk and a person’s tendencies to develop insulin resistance, which is a common precursor to diabetes, he said.

 

Often people who are prediabetic have no idea they’re prediabetic. In fact, this is the case about 90 percent of the time. It’s a big deal, Snyder said, as about 70 percent of people who are prediabetic will eventually develop the disease.

     —Diabetic-level glucose spikes seen in healthy people: A study out of Stanford in which blood sugar levels were continuously monitored reveals that even people who think they’re “healthy” should pay attention to what they eat.

 

Conversely, up to 40% of the normal weight population have the exact same metabolic dysfunction that the obese do, they are just normal weight. And so they don’t even know they are sick, until it’s too late, because normal weight people get type-2 diabetes, they get hypertension, they get dyslipidemia, they get cardiovascular disease, they get cancer, they get dementia, etc, etc.

     —https://robertlustig.com/fructose2/

 

Interestingly, spikes are worse than overall higher insulin levels in diabetic patients.

 

Oscillating Glucose Is More Deleterious to Endothelial Function and Oxidative Stress Than Mean Glucose in Normal and Type 2 Diabetic Patients

 

The real minority (a very tiny minority) has decided it's better not to gamble and simply prevent problems in the first place based on science and just plain ol' common sense.

 

Especially when it's so easy.???? 

 

As P. D. Mangan said not long ago (I read his Twitter feed, among others):

 

How do you stay maximally insulin sensitive? Through the ways that we’ve discussed many times on this site:

 

• good body composition, i.e. a relatively high amount of muscle and low body fat

• resistance training; a single bout of resistance training improves insulin sensitivity

• low-carb, whole food diet

• intermittent fasting.

 

Oh, well.

 

 

22 hours ago, save the frogs said:

If I die young, I'll let you know. 

I find even old friends fail to do that. There I am messaging sometimes and sending the occasional email for a year or so w/o response and finally run across an obituary notice. Rude of them, come down to it. I think I'll end our friendship.

 

Yawn. Braggadocio doesn't in the least impress me. Funny, we had one middle-aged superannuated hotshot swaggering about beer and sex as the meaning in life only later to embark on a career of--low carb and fasting.???? Then he, ah, disappeared. 

 

22 hours ago, save the frogs said:

P.S. The Japanese eat a lot of white rice, but still live long. But I don't eat rice. 

Or do the other things they once did to encourage that long life. Whoops. You don't really have a point.  

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by BigStar

[BigStar]

15 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Pretty big claim there sunshine. Kudos if its true.

Posture as wish but do feel free to publish all your numbers and meds right here, sport. Not impressed with that hack pescatarian diet your intense, open-minded, objective research dug up. You recovered yet from all that soreness from your lifting 2.5 kg? 

Edited December 19, 2022 by BigStar

[BigStar]

23 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Oh look, a an alcohol industry website complaining about research threatening its industry. Nothing to see here. Your links do seem to be cherry picked to exclude the best authorities. They would be government, directly and indirectly and educational institutions.

 

We typically claim that studies disagreeing with the title of some article we googled up but didn't read, or read critically (the Health and Longevity by Googling Titles principle of ANF Poster Longevity Science), are cherry picked while cherry picking our own. If you'd read the article I posted, you'd see it refers to an upcoming study in the International Journal of Epidemiology, now published.

 

https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/50/6/1757/6375367

 

Which, in your disinterested pursuit of truth, you should have located for yourself and determined whether some government agency has approved it for you. 

 

However, Wald and Frost found that Millwood’s methods didn’t hold up to their hypothetical models — and that the presumed exponential risk associated with higher levels of drinking couldn’t be duplicated. . . .  Millwood’s approach “has a flaw in the analysis.”

 

I'm not sure whether your Millwood study was government approved? Reported by the BBC means nothing.

 

Most of these studies do no risk/reward analysis or find any causation, just a correlation--without satisfactorily explaining even the correlation. Meanwhile, plenty of other studies point to the benefits of a modest amount of alcohol and of red wine in particular. Many of those studies are "old," but you haven't refuted their findings yet. So, while we're waiting, I'll just go with those. 

 

You could also just do a simple "debunked" Google search like this if you really want objectivity on a topic:

 

https://www.google.com/search?pws=0&gl=us&q=Lancet+alcohol+study+debunked

Edited December 19, 2022 by BigStar

[BigStar]

On 12/17/2022 at 2:47 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I'm fit and healthy thanks no meds for cholesterol, BP and diabetes for me

Some of your fitness numbers are missing. RHR, BP, %fat, and VO2max.

 

David Sinclair

 

 

 

https://runbuzz.com/vo2-max-and-its-impact-on-your-running/

 

I'm at 13.5% bodyfat and 44 V02max (calculated). BP optimal, RHR athlete. I'm not an athlete.

[rumak]

2 hours ago, BigStar said:

'm at 13.5% bodyfat and 44 V02max (calculated). BP optimal, RHR athlete. I'm not an athlete.

I am BP optimal ...... RHR  61       i am 72 years old      but "doctors" tell me i am in serious risk because I have high cholesterol levels   !  LOL     I would like to see their BP and RHR 

[scubascuba3]

11 hours ago, BigStar said:

Some of your fitness numbers are missing. RHR, BP, %fat, and VO2max.

 

David Sinclair

 

 

 

https://runbuzz.com/vo2-max-and-its-impact-on-your-running/

 

I'm at 13.5% bodyfat and 44 V02max (calculated). BP optimal, RHR athlete. I'm not an athlete.

I'm not preoccupied with the numbers but RHR Athlete, VO2Max 51 calculated, BP optimal, body fat don't know, likely 14-17%. No meds needed not even dick pills like most people 555

 

 

[BigStar]

16 hours ago, rumak said:

I am BP optimal ...... RHR  61       i am 72 years old      but "doctors" tell me i am in serious risk because I have high cholesterol levels   !  LOL     I would like to see their BP and RHR 

 

Docs are notoriously overweight. Physical fitness should be required of doctors and politicians.

 

You doing good, @rumak. Reject the brainwashing.

 

[rumak]

51 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

Docs are notoriously overweight. Physical fitness should be required of doctors and politicians.

 

You doing good, @rumak. Reject the brainwashing.

 

haha   anyone who knows me....knows that there ain't no way to brainwash this man .  Unlike most people, very well represented on AN,  i use research, real life experience, and critical thinking to form an opinion.   And still , when see that it may not be correct ..... try to figure out and correct .

A LOT different than the warriors here that can only post MSM  "surveys" written by shills and can barely write more than  "rubbish",  and will die before changing their thinking.

[save the frogs]

On 12/19/2022 at 5:00 AM, BigStar said:

Could it be that you haven't a clue about your own insulin resistance thus far smugly accomplished? Yup. WOT?

you guys are far braver than me for getting your blood work checked and even posting the results on here.

 

i haven't gotten blood work for two reasons. one, i was really out of shape at one point (to put it euphemistically). now i'm in decent shape. so i'm confident that whatever changes i've made are moving me in the right direction.

 

also, even if my numbers were off, i wouldn't know what to do about it. i certainly wouldn't want to take statins. 

i'm trying my best to stay up to date on health information and making tweaks to my diet as i see fit. 

 

[nigelforbes]

4 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

you guys are far braver than me for getting your blood work checked and even posting the results on here.

 

i haven't gotten blood work for two reasons. one, i was really out of shape at one point (to put it euphemistically). now i'm in decent shape. so i'm confident that whatever changes i've made are moving me in the right direction.

 

also, even if my numbers were off, i wouldn't know what to do about it. i certainly wouldn't want to take statins. 

i'm trying my best to stay up to date on health information and making tweaks to my diet as i see fit. 

 

That's one way to do it but it may not be the best. I had my first health exam here in the 1990's, I was on assignment and had some free time and when I saw the ad. for Bumrungrad health exam, I thought to myself, I'll do that, I was actually kinda bored at that point also. 

 

That was my first complete health exam, I took the results back to the UK and the next time I saw my GP I gave them to him....he laughed, actually, he gave me the third degree, wanting to know what parts of my health I was concerned about that made me do the exam. I explained that I spend several hundred Pounds every year getting my car checked for problems, spending a hundred quid doing the same for my body didn't seem unreasonable! He didn't respond.

 

The cardiac treadmill stress test showed an abnormality which my UK GP shrugged off, "I don't understand the scale they've used, it makes no sense", he said (Thailand uses the US medical measurement system in test results). Three months later I was back in Bangkok and the results kept bugging me so I went back to Bumrungrad. The doctor there suggested an angiogram because he suspected a cardiac blockage, two days later I had the angiogram and found that two of my cardiac arteries were over 95% blocked...I was asymptomatic. A very long stent was inserted and I went back home where I once again saw my GP. He didn't have much to say when I told him about the stent but clearly I was at serious risk of a silent killer.

 

From that point on I've been a firm believer in having quantitative test done once a year, it doesn't cost much, it's painless and it could easily save your life.

[scubascuba3]

3 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

That's one way to do it but it may not be the best. I had my first health exam here in the 1990's, I was on assignment and had some free time and when I saw the ad. for Bumrungrad health exam, I thought to myself, I'll do that, I was actually kinda bored at that point also. 

 

That was my first complete health exam, I took the results back to the UK and the next time I saw my GP I gave them to him....he laughed, actually, he gave me the third degree, wanting to know what parts of my health I was concerned about that made me do the exam. I explained that I spend several hundred Pounds every year getting my car checked for problems, spending a hundred quid doing the same for my body didn't seem unreasonable! He didn't respond.

 

The cardiac treadmill stress test showed an abnormality which my UK GP shrugged off, "I don't understand the scale they've used, it makes no sense", he said (Thailand uses the US medical measurement system in test results). Three months later I was back in Bangkok and the results kept bugging me so I went back to Bumrungrad. The doctor there suggested an angiogram because he suspected a cardiac blockage, two days later I had the angiogram and found that two of my cardiac arteries were over 95% blocked...I was asymptomatic. A very long stent was inserted and I went back home where I once again saw my GP. He didn't have much to say when I told him about the stent but clearly I was at serious risk of a silent killer.

 

From that point on I've been a firm believer in having quantitative test done once a year, it doesn't cost much, it's painless and it could easily save your life.

The good thing about NHS is they won't refer you for unnecessary medical procedures, here they will for money, so 2nd and 3rd opinions may be necessary 

[Skallywag]

On 12/16/2022 at 12:48 PM, KhunLA said:

Only use for milk now, 1 bowl, instead of liter a day.

Yes, milk is for baby cows.  555  Know a guy who always talks about the dangers of alcohol yet drinks at least a liter of milk a day at 63 years old.  He looks very unhealthy IMO and has got a huge gut.

Really cereal and milk is just for kids, but realize I like it once in a while as well.  Have no problem with almond milk or pistachio milk as only use for coffee and some cereal or in Oatmeal a couple times a week.

Have been on simvastatin here in Thailand for a few years, want to switch to the rosuvastatin as my cholesterol is still 210.  

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

Yes, milk is for baby cows.  555  Know a guy who always talks about the dangers of alcohol yet drinks at least a liter of milk a day at 63 years old.  He looks very unhealthy IMO and has got a huge gut.

Really cereal and milk is just for kids, but realize I like it once in a while as well.  Have no problem with almond milk or pistachio milk as only use for coffee and some cereal or in Oatmeal a couple times a week.

Have been on simvastatin here in Thailand for a few years, want to switch to the rosuvastatin as my cholesterol is still 210.  

I've been reducing my dairy milk the last few years now just in tea and coffee, soy milk for cereals, milkshake and just drinking. Animal products are trending down

[jak2002003]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I've been reducing my dairy milk the last few years now just in tea and coffee, soy milk for cereals, milkshake and just drinking. Animal products are trending down

We stopped all dairy a few months ago.  Reason was not about health, but rather we were fed up throwing away expired milk, or going to the shop to find the skimmed milk was sold out. 

 

Figured we did not eat much dairy anyway, and good cheese is way overpriced here. 

 

No would never go back to it. Actually feel healthier. We use the soi milk in tea and coffee now.  

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

We stopped all dairy a few months ago.  Reason was not about health, but rather we were fed up throwing away expired milk, or going to the shop to find the skimmed milk was sold out. 

 

Figured we did not eat much dairy anyway, and good cheese is way overpriced here. 

 

No would never go back to it. Actually feel healthier. We use the soi milk in tea and coffee now.  

Good point, giving up cheese another win win

[BigStar]

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

you guys are far braver than me for getting your blood work checked and even posting the results on here.

Man up.

 

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

i haven't gotten blood work for two reasons. one, i was really out of shape at one point (to put it euphemistically). now i'm in decent shape. so i'm confident that whatever changes i've made are moving me in the right direction.

Moving you in the right direction, feeling OK, ain't good 'nuff. You still got no idea of your true condition. Your past makes it even more important to find out.

 

Mark Baker says it best in Gang Fit 2:

 

All the while make sure you keep healthy, because health is your supreme asset. If you’re ill your life is <deleted>. Most people don’t become ill for no reason; it’s the consequence of being a <deleted>, not caring about their physical condition or what they eat. Your life is <deleted> anyway because you’re going to die; but don’t accelerate the damn process!  Leave that to the morons who blame their genetics or hormones for their illnesses.

 

Make sure. Now ANF Poster Longevity Science, after thorough research, has arrived at a number of Ignorance Is Bliss, or What, Me Worry? Principles for avoiding health and longevity. However, it's mostly bravado in the face of laziness. Our believers in Genetics Voodoo or Fate do in fact get their checkups and are sure to take their meds, though they mostly don't like to talk about that or will even lie about it. Why don't they just let the Voodoo work as it's supposed to? Be a lot cheaper; leave more to the wife or gf.

 

At least you're consistent, though it's really not in your own self-interest. 

 

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

also, even if my numbers were off, i wouldn't know what to do about it.

Same as you'll do when, lacking intervention, the numbers catch up with you and you're in pain: follow a doc's advice, but at much greater cost.

 

However, docs tend to treat symptoms more than underlying causes. Most of our members are content to accept the early onset of chronic diseases, take their meds to suppress the symptoms, pay for all the extra medical care, and subconsciously hope they make it to 80 in their weakened conditions.

 

A minority of members here strongly believe in staying healthy (verified healthy) as long as possible, and so greatly increasing the probability of postponing morbidity to a much shorter period near The End.

 

Go get a comprehensive battery of tests. Blood work, not expensive at one of the labs often recommended here.

 

@backstreethas been doing the right thing, gathering the info needed and getting on top of things, belatedly. I suspect his genes are pretty good, but he's also not gone to extremes, evidently. So are those of a friend of mine who's thoroughly overindulged--as often recommended by our epicureans. I've joked that I'd like a transfusion. A normal guy in his overweight medicated condition would have gone to meet Elvis in his early 70s, very common. He's made it to 84 but now lies in a hospital bed, barely able to speak; he does recognize his family members.