Long health update from a guy who doesn't eat vegetables! 🥩
Next month I celebrate 13 years of eating a low carb, high fat & protein diet. Started with a paleo diet, and switched to carnivore over 5 years ago.
Went from 260->180lbs. Currently 205lbs thanks to strength training. Working on gaining more muscle mass! 💪
For peace of mind, I requested a fractionated lipid panel and a coronary calcium CT scan. The panel not only gives a breakdown of cholesterol, but also measures particle size. The CT scan looks for calcium deposits in the heart's arteries.
First, my lipid panel results (fasted 12 hours):
HDL: 64
Triglycerides: 47
LDL: 223
LDL Pattern: A (large & buoyant - good news!)
Total cholesterol: 302
302 total! 223 LDL! I'm a walking heart attack! 😂
Dr immediately prescribed statins. No talk about diet & lifestyle, only a call from the pharmacy saying my prescription is ready. Uh, ok?
I've never smoked, I don't consume alcohol or caffeine, and I exercise daily, including weight training 4-5x per week. I don't do "diet cheat days" either. I'm very strict about how I eat.
I've had many lipid panels done since changing my diet, and they always look like this. So I wasn't panicked, but I still felt anxious waiting for my CT scan appointment. I'm always questioning my beliefs. What if I've been wrong all these years and my heart is a mess?
Good news - I scored a ZERO! 🎉
So I celebrated like any carnivore would - with 2 ribeyes Apologies for the lack of pics - I ate the steaks too quickly. 😅
I had the same, statins prescription 9 years ago. I wasn’t interested. I know myself. Absolutely fine. Each to their own. I trust how i feel, not medical advice obviously.
So high cholesterol but clean heart arteries 🤙
I guess they are not directly correlated..
Wow, a carnivore veteran! If I would've had an altered CAC score, I would've blamed my previous lifestyle, then continued on with carnivore.
Is High Cholesterol actually harmful or is it a PsyOp?
Long story short, it's basically a PsyOp. Almost all the studies that say it's bad are observational studies. There's no good hard scientific evidence that proves it's bad, as a matter of fact, it seems that actually having low cholesterol in your older age increases all cause mortality.
Very nice. Thanks for sharing, this is good motivation.
I am working on reducing my carb intake. I'm not sure if I will go keto because I love vegetables. I have been hearing so many great things about keto/carnivore for several years, but have not given them a serious try. I am thin/athletic and don't gain weight unless I'm gaining muscle no matter how bad my diet is. I think I have used this as an excuse to continue eating poorly (addiction probably plays a roll too). Maybe I could gain weight by increasing fat and protein consumption and hitting the weights again (stopped after injuring my knee in December)
My experience is very much the same Carnivore 5+ years now. High LDL, zero CAC score. I had to travel to another state to consult with a cardiologist who understands keto and carnivore and did not immediately foam at the mouth about my cholesterol scores.
Sounds similar to my recent experience I wrote about. Meet with cardiologist recently and he said he's not concerned because I have no family history of heart disease.
I am getting one new blood test that he says can predict the risk of my arteries getting inflamed.
That's great to hear!
What blood test are you having done?
I forget the name. Something about testing endothelial inflammation. Should get results next week.
Have you ever had a thyroid panel done? What about hormones like prolactin, cortisol, and male androgens? Curious what those are
I have and the panel comes back normal
I have family history or hypothyroidism & Hashimoto's Disease, so I'm fortunate there!
Blood pressure?
My BP is always in the normal range
The science is changing on this but with the obvious people pushing back because there isn't money involved with the change.
Check this guy out, they did a study on lean mass hyper responders I believe is what they call them. Basically people with a lean mass body type when they go low card their ldl goes up.
Did an interesting study comparing oreos to statins.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTZUJSEulehPtF_ytFiU_A
what age do you think you’ll live to? and more importantly, what age do you think you’ll LIVE to?
Lipid panel is irrelevant.(Apart from the marketing of statins)
What matters is whether the lipids are oxidised or not. If you eat seed oils they be oxidised and cause damage to your arteries .
I stopped eating seed oils in 2011!
👏 Only just discovered seed-oils as being inflammatory myself. Feeling better. 😊
Good for you! In 2011 my medical school cardiology professor convinced me to stop eating butter and start eating vegetable spreads made of seed oil. Wasn’t till 2017 when I finally quit seed oils.
Your first two scores are great but I would find the LDL score concerning.
How do a your cholesterol count?
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