confused about Gundry diet

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Jan18
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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Jan18 wrote:I would be interested on your thoughts about the Blue Zones.
I’ve not read that book or studied Blue Zone populations, so I really can’t comment too much. Certainly diet has a lot to do with their longevity, but so do many other factors that they likely have in common:

Jan18 wrote:the conclusion the author of the Blue Zones book came to was that what the various zones had in common were "greens and beans." Yet Gundry has outlawed beans. In fact, I am a bit perplexed about lectins, overall.

I think saying that “greens and beans” are the key to longevity is an oversimplification, as would saying all lectins are bad and everyone should stay away from them. Again, everything in context.



Hi TheresaB,
I didn't mean to suggest "greens and beans" or diet alone was the key to the Blue Zones longevity. Sorry for the confusion. I realize the different aspects (that you list) which all have been reported to increase longevity. It's not just diet, nor just one thing. The Blue Zones book mentions many of the other aspects, too, that we have come to associate with longevity, which you listed. It doesn't focus solely on diet. :)

My confusion was on the beans, which Gundry seemed to outlaw. I questioned it, since it was one of the two foods the Blue Zones diets had in common. Reason told me it would be fine to eat legumes in moderation and as long as there were no gut issues or my blood markers weren't out of line, I'd be able to determine their place in my diet. But I kept getting sidetracked with my impression that Gundry damned legumes to Hades! Guess I needed to do another read of his book.

That explained, I want to thank you for that stellar summary (I printed it out!) There is a lot of information to keep straight with this protocol. A single reading of the material (Gundry and Bredesen) does not suffice and in fact, I've gone back to the books so many times to memorize and to refresh. And I still get things mixed up. (And I do see changes in my cognition when it comes to remembering things -- scary! So I am trying my best to follow the protocol and have been taking piano lessons to "grow" brain cells!)

But your summary is concise on the main points and your comments, the voice of reason. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the time you took to write that and for the quoted excerpts from Gundry's interview.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Barbara
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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TheresaB wrote:I would be interested on your thoughts about the Blue Zones.
Providing an addendum to your question regarding Blue Zones. I still haven’t read the Blue Zones book, but I just read chapter 3 of Dr Gundry’s book, The Longevity Paradox where he discusses Blue Zones. He said the populations of Blue Zones have wildly different diets. What they all have in common isn’t what they eat, but what they don’t eat. And he said what they don’t eat is a lot of animal protein.
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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Been following Gundrys advice from that video pretty closely for over a year. Just had first blood work done in a while and TC way up along with some supporting markers like LDL. Weirdly I had two tests in the space of one week and one showed TG of 76 and the other 113. Other numbers more consistent. Going to try cutting out the 50ml+daily Olive oil and see how things fair....
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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bexnews wrote:Been following Gundrys advice from that video pretty closely for over a year. Just had first blood work done in a while and TC way up along with some supporting markers like LDL. Weirdly I had two tests in the space of one week and one showed TG of 76 and the other 113. Other numbers more consistent. Going to try cutting out the 50ml+daily Olive oil and see how things fair....
Well, if it's any consolation, I'm a patient of Dr Gundry and he's never paid attention to my high Total Cholesterol (TC is pretty much a worthless, obsolete marker anyway) nor has he ever said anything about my high LDL (ApoE4s tend to run high in LDL and it can be argued whether high LDL really is bad).

I'm curious, what is your rationale for cutting out the olive oil? Olive oil is such a polyphenol rich source of monounsaturated fats, what do you propose to replace it with?
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

Post by bexnews »

TheresaB wrote:
bexnews wrote:Been following Gundrys advice from that video pretty closely for over a year. Just had first blood work done in a while and TC way up along with some supporting markers like LDL. Weirdly I had two tests in the space of one week and one showed TG of 76 and the other 113. Other numbers more consistent. Going to try cutting out the 50ml+daily Olive oil and see how things fair....
Well, if it's any consolation, I'm a patient of Dr Gundry and he's never paid attention to my high Total Cholesterol (TC is pretty much a worthless, obsolete marker anyway) nor has he ever said anything about my high LDL (ApoE4s tend to run high in LDL and it can be argued whether high LDL really is bad).

I'm curious, what is your rationale for cutting out the olive oil? Olive oil is such a polyphenol rich source of monounsaturated fats, what do you propose to replace it with?
It might be worth me starting a separate thread.... I am not sure what would push up my numbers so much.

Im a 41yo male. I had been eating primal/paleo for some years, 3 meals/day, and then in 2016 my TC/LDL/HDL/Tri and APOb/a1 was 189/129/47/105/.82. These two tests in August of this year come after eating per Gundry's suggestions for the last 2 years from his 2016 AHS talk, as well as using the supplements recommended. I have been taking a shot of 50ml of olive oil daily to my green smoothies (usually very little fruit if any) - cuz Gundry said he and his wife go thru about 1L a week (so I thought to aim for half that). My 2 recent blood tests show 248/177/58 and Tris on one test are 113 and on the other 76. Didn't provide APOb/a1 ratios. On the one hand I know many ignore these lipids tests but I do have some family history of CV issues and the jump from prior kind of concerns me.

Today I usually only eat two meals a day: the smoothie late morning (with the EVOO) and an early dinner - where EVOO used in cooking. So the dinners are very similar to how they were when I was more strictly paleo for me. Now a little lighter on the animal protein, no more dairy. So the only other major dietary factor I can think of is the extra olive oil? I am not sure how far back the lipids panel is really affected? I had done a triathlon ~3 weeks prior and up to that had done some mild carb loading which is out of my norm - sweet potatoes and UCAN. That was only for about 3 weeks leading up to the triahtlon though....
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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bexnews wrote:Im a 41yo male. I had been eating primal/paleo for some years, 3 meals/day, and then in 2016 my TC/LDL/HDL/Tri and APOb/a1 was 189/129/47/105/.82. These two tests in August of this year come after eating per Gundry's suggestions for the last 2 years from his 2016 AHS talk, as well as using the supplements recommended. I have been taking a shot of 50ml of olive oil daily to my green smoothies (usually very little fruit if any) - cuz Gundry said he and his wife go thru about 1L a week (so I thought to aim for half that). My 2 recent blood tests show 248/177/58 and Tris on one test are 113 and on the other 76. Didn't provide APOb/a1 ratios. On the one hand I know many ignore these lipids tests but I do have some family history of CV issues and the jump from prior kind of concerns me.
If you’re a male ApoE4 with family history of CVD, seems you should be concerned with markers of insulin sensitivity (remember what the Primer says about glycemic control trumping lipids every time) there’s a strong connection between hyperinsulinemia and CVD. (Do you ever remember seeing that NY Times article from 2016, "How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat".) Seems you should also be concerned with markers of inflammation, especially as a triathlete. Are you monitoring those also? Don’t think that as a triathlete because you work out a lot and aren’t overweight that you can’t have blood sugar/insulin issues going on, absolutely not true.

As an ApoE4 patient of Dr Gundry, he looks at cardiac troponin-I to make sure I’m not over exercising, insulin sensitivity (HbA1c, glucose, insulin), inflammation, hormones, organ function (thyroid, liver, kidneys) and for lipids he emphasizes oxidized LDL (oxLDL), HDL to Triglyceride ratio, and, to a lesser extent, APO B / Apo A-1 ratio. And for cardiac health, he conducts a PULS test, http://pulstest.com/patients

I too have cardiovascular health issues in my family and found getting a CAC scan to be educational, https://thefatemperor.com/2016-9-27-sho ... rt-attack/
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

Post by bexnews »

TheresaB wrote:
bexnews wrote:Im a 41yo male. I had been eating primal/paleo for some years, 3 meals/day, and then in 2016 my TC/LDL/HDL/Tri and APOb/a1 was 189/129/47/105/.82. These two tests in August of this year come after eating per Gundry's suggestions for the last 2 years from his 2016 AHS talk, as well as using the supplements recommended. I have been taking a shot of 50ml of olive oil daily to my green smoothies (usually very little fruit if any) - cuz Gundry said he and his wife go thru about 1L a week (so I thought to aim for half that). My 2 recent blood tests show 248/177/58 and Tris on one test are 113 and on the other 76. Didn't provide APOb/a1 ratios. On the one hand I know many ignore these lipids tests but I do have some family history of CV issues and the jump from prior kind of concerns me.
If you’re a male ApoE4 with family history of CVD, seems you should be concerned with markers of insulin sensitivity (remember what the Primer says about glycemic control trumping lipids every time) there’s a strong connection between hyperinsulinemia and CVD. (Do you ever remember seeing that NY Times article from 2016, "How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat".) Seems you should also be concerned with markers of inflammation, especially as a triathlete. Are you monitoring those also? Don’t think that as a triathlete because you work out a lot and aren’t overweight that you can’t have blood sugar/insulin issues going on, absolutely not true.

As an ApoE4 patient of Dr Gundry, he looks at cardiac troponin-I to make sure I’m not over exercising, insulin sensitivity (HbA1c, glucose, insulin), inflammation, hormones, organ function (thyroid, liver, kidneys) and for lipids he emphasizes oxidized LDL (oxLDL), HDL to Triglyceride ratio, and, to a lesser extent, APO B / Apo A-1 ratio. And for cardiac health, he conducts a PULS test, http://pulstest.com/patients

I too have cardiovascular health issues in my family and found getting a CAC scan to be educational, https://thefatemperor.com/2016-9-27-sho ... rt-attack/
Thanks, I will check out these resources. Yes, I am looking at my blood sugars and every time I do, they seem to be good. My recent HbA1c was measured on one of these as 4.6 and 4.8 on the tests. I agree, I need to have more testing done, and was planning on it. These were tests connected to some life insurance so were limited in scope but was an opportunity to see my status, and I really did not expect my cholesterol levels to be up like that, so it came as a bit of a shock. May be less of a concern. I will need to research more and talk to my doctor about. She seems to have an open mind and is not quick to jump to pills as a quick fix.... and the triathlon was a one-time bucket list type thing, I am far from a chronic cardio person! Prefer HIT and strength training etc.
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Re: confused about Gundry diet

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bexnews wrote:Weirdly I had two tests in the space of one week and one showed TG of 76 and the other 113. Other numbers more consistent.
I wouldn't worry too much about the triglycerides, unless they steadily trend up over time.

"Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides vary considerably from day to day. From one measurement to the next, cholesterol levels can vary by about 10%, and triglyceride levels can vary by up to 25%." - Merc Manual

If your LDL-P is high, consider looking for some underlying inflammation or infection. My new doc is convinced that treating my low-level inflammation (likely viral in nature) will bring LDL-P down. I think Julie has had the same LDL-P lowering effect by targeting chronic inflammation.
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