My story... what led me here...
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:27 pm
Hello,
This is my first post - let me say how wonderful it is to find this site.
I am a newly discovered 4/4
My story starts in late 2013 having been eating a mainly raw and vegan diet for a number of years, and running maybe 30 miles per week and lifting twice a week, my numbers were:
Cholesterol Total 190
HDL 59
TRIG 62
LDL 133
I know that these numbers by themselves are meaningless, but at the time I did not. My (naturophathic) doctor didn't see any reason for concern, we had a brief discussion about LDL being lower if possible, but that was it.
Shortly after these results I changed my diet from raw and vegan to Paleo, then ketogenic high saturated fat - Still running 30 miles per week but now not using carbs for fuel (this was amazingly convenient to be able to run 18-20 miles with no need to eat, and no more 'bonking' on that long run) - and I should add, I was feeling great and I dropped about 10lbs. Fasting ketones would range anywhere from 0.5-4.0 (occasionally I would see 5.0 and higher when I would forget to eat for a full day as hunger was something that vanished) A year of living this way and my labs looked markedly different:
Cholesterol Total 352
HDL 69
TRIG 59
LDL 294
HS CRP 0.2
Homocysteine 10.6
Glucose 78 (fasted)
A1c 5.1
My doctor recommended an NMR - results were:
LDL Particle Number 2921
LDL Small 293
LDL Medium 451
HDL Large 7849
LDL Pattern: A
LDL Peak Size 225.6
So this is where my doctor and I could not agree. She felt that my new diet was clearly not a good fit for me and that these numbers probably represented some degree of insulin resistance. At the time, I was under the impression that LDL in the absence of high carbs was probably not something to worry about, and that the large particle size was optimal (I'm not sure I still hold this belief or if my understanding of the research validates it any longer) - But anyway, I went with my doctors advice to bring more carbohydrate into my diet - I used oats and rice mainly - upping my daily intake from well below 40g per day to around 100g per day. The results were weight gain over the course of about 9 months - I went from 160lbs (I'm 5'9") to 190lbs - felt lethargic, cut back on running in preference for lifting weights (possibly gained about 3 or 4lbs of lean mass) caught a terrible cold which led to a persistent cough for about 3 months and has finally been diagnosed as asthma and allegies. The shocking lab results were taken in March 2015 - and as of March 2016 I was due to get another set completed - but I postponed because I felt terrible in myself and did not want to see good blood markers in case I would then be convinced to carrying on eating this way - so instead I went back to a ketogenic diet, still high in saturated fat - it's so easy to eat that way! - I've dropped about 15lbs since the beginning of March - I feel the urge to run again, but the asthma is still something I have to learn to deal with - but I have better energy, and on my super low carb days the asthma is almost non-existent - I know it is still there because a couple of days ago I ran for the first time since November last year - only a mile or so... relatively fast for me - it felt great to be running again! until I stopped, and the wheezing and difficulty breathing led to a scolding from my wife.
BUT, then about 2 weeks ago, I discovered that I am a 4/4 and boom! another rabbit hole opens up...
To this point, I know carbs don't agree with me - I've switched out SFA for MUFA and PUFA so I keep SFAs to under 20g per day... and I am now on a new journey of discovery. This site will be my starting point.
Well, that was a long welcome/intro... I hope to be able to contribute here!
This is my first post - let me say how wonderful it is to find this site.
I am a newly discovered 4/4
My story starts in late 2013 having been eating a mainly raw and vegan diet for a number of years, and running maybe 30 miles per week and lifting twice a week, my numbers were:
Cholesterol Total 190
HDL 59
TRIG 62
LDL 133
I know that these numbers by themselves are meaningless, but at the time I did not. My (naturophathic) doctor didn't see any reason for concern, we had a brief discussion about LDL being lower if possible, but that was it.
Shortly after these results I changed my diet from raw and vegan to Paleo, then ketogenic high saturated fat - Still running 30 miles per week but now not using carbs for fuel (this was amazingly convenient to be able to run 18-20 miles with no need to eat, and no more 'bonking' on that long run) - and I should add, I was feeling great and I dropped about 10lbs. Fasting ketones would range anywhere from 0.5-4.0 (occasionally I would see 5.0 and higher when I would forget to eat for a full day as hunger was something that vanished) A year of living this way and my labs looked markedly different:
Cholesterol Total 352
HDL 69
TRIG 59
LDL 294
HS CRP 0.2
Homocysteine 10.6
Glucose 78 (fasted)
A1c 5.1
My doctor recommended an NMR - results were:
LDL Particle Number 2921
LDL Small 293
LDL Medium 451
HDL Large 7849
LDL Pattern: A
LDL Peak Size 225.6
So this is where my doctor and I could not agree. She felt that my new diet was clearly not a good fit for me and that these numbers probably represented some degree of insulin resistance. At the time, I was under the impression that LDL in the absence of high carbs was probably not something to worry about, and that the large particle size was optimal (I'm not sure I still hold this belief or if my understanding of the research validates it any longer) - But anyway, I went with my doctors advice to bring more carbohydrate into my diet - I used oats and rice mainly - upping my daily intake from well below 40g per day to around 100g per day. The results were weight gain over the course of about 9 months - I went from 160lbs (I'm 5'9") to 190lbs - felt lethargic, cut back on running in preference for lifting weights (possibly gained about 3 or 4lbs of lean mass) caught a terrible cold which led to a persistent cough for about 3 months and has finally been diagnosed as asthma and allegies. The shocking lab results were taken in March 2015 - and as of March 2016 I was due to get another set completed - but I postponed because I felt terrible in myself and did not want to see good blood markers in case I would then be convinced to carrying on eating this way - so instead I went back to a ketogenic diet, still high in saturated fat - it's so easy to eat that way! - I've dropped about 15lbs since the beginning of March - I feel the urge to run again, but the asthma is still something I have to learn to deal with - but I have better energy, and on my super low carb days the asthma is almost non-existent - I know it is still there because a couple of days ago I ran for the first time since November last year - only a mile or so... relatively fast for me - it felt great to be running again! until I stopped, and the wheezing and difficulty breathing led to a scolding from my wife.
BUT, then about 2 weeks ago, I discovered that I am a 4/4 and boom! another rabbit hole opens up...
To this point, I know carbs don't agree with me - I've switched out SFA for MUFA and PUFA so I keep SFAs to under 20g per day... and I am now on a new journey of discovery. This site will be my starting point.
Well, that was a long welcome/intro... I hope to be able to contribute here!