The Nutrition Science thread

[Name Redacted]

Total Cholesterol: 305
HDL: 57
LDL: 233
TriG: 75
.

Here's the recommended healthy range just for reference:

Cholesterol,
Total 100 - 199 mg/dL
Triglycerides Level 0 - 149 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol >39 mg/dL
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 5 - 40 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol 0 - 99 mg/dL

[Danno]

Are those fasted numbers?

yes

[zion zig zag]

Total Cholesterol: 305
HDL: 57
LDL: 233
TriG: 75

These other numbers I am not familiar with, but in the test results it said
A1C: 5.5%
There were 2 glucose numbers, not sure what they are.
Estimated avg glucose: 111
Glucose: 100

I am going to get a coronary calcium scan soon.

I recently had an active friend, my age, die of a sudden heart attack, so I am also going to schedule a coronary calcium scan to see where I'm at. My dad just had quad bipass surgery after his score came back near 1000.

I feel pretty lucky about my numbers seeing as my dad had terrible cholesterol problems. My diet isn't great, I eat pretty much whatever I want when it presents itself. When I take the time to track macros I find that I eat more fat and protein and less carbs than "recommended."

Total cholesterol: 183
HDL: 73
LDL: 91
Triglycerides: 93

[Dantheman]

TC >300 is definitely something I would take seriously.

A1C is glycated hemoglobin, expressed as a % of your total hemoglobin. Generally anything under 6 is considered good. Fasting glucose of 100 is technically on the bubble for pre-diabetes, but not uncommon on a VLC diet due to reasons I don't have time to get into right now and I wouldn't be too concerned.

Hyperglycemia exacerbates CVD risk from hypercholesterolemia because excess glucose damages your arterial lining and your body patches the damage with cholesterol "scabs" that then turn into calcified plaques. So, just having high cholesterol is less serious than the typical person who has both problems. But, still, you'd have a hard time finding any doctor, even ones that are all-in on keto/VLC, who will say TC >300 is nothing to worry about.

[Danno]

Thanks. Not ignoring it. Going to see what the score is on the coronary calcium test, and also hopefully get the LDL down without the use of a statin.

[Danno]

Got the coronary calcium test and my score was a big fat zero. So I'm not going to worry about my cholesterol for now, and not taking a statin. Feeling pretty good about where I am overall with my nutrition.

[ötzi]

Danno do you know your C-RP number? I've become more and more convinced over the years that inflammation is the key. It can arise from a lot of sources so it's both reflective of problems and in turn causative of, or at least related to, other problems, like the glucose/hyperglycemia link DTM mentioned above.

edit: mine's been very low, like vanishingly low, and I literally just opened an email with lab test results done this week for my physical next week but apparently they forgot to do it this time or something, I'm a little bummed.

[Rideski]

I’ll share for anyone it might help that I was having some gut distress. Played around with quitting certain foods. Seems stupid now, but didn’t occur to me at first it might have been the coffee. I wasn’t really drinking that much potency, 5 scoops in a pot. But I was sipping it all day long. Usually from wake up till noon or 2 whenever it was gone. If you think of two large Starbucks, 5 scoops isn’t really all that much. Some people laugh and say it’s a lot but I think there’s more in the coffee shop drinks. Anyway, quit the coffee and things got better overnight. Switched to tea which I’ve always liked anyway. I generally have one green and one chai daily. It’s been a few weeks now cold turkey, I’ll try a cup in another week or so and see what’s up. Currently miss coffee pretty bad but it’s worth the happy stomach.

[Name Redacted]

I’ll share for anyone it might help that I was having some gut distress. Played around with quitting certain foods. Seems stupid now, but didn’t occur to me at first it might have been the coffee. I wasn’t really drinking that much potency, 5 scoops in a pot. But I was sipping it all day long. Usually from wake up till noon or 2 whenever it was gone. If you think of two large Starbucks, 5 scoops isn’t really all that much. Some people laugh and say it’s a lot but I think there’s more in the coffee shop drinks. Anyway, quit the coffee and things got better overnight. Switched to tea which I’ve always liked anyway. I generally have one green and one chai daily. It’s been a few weeks now cold turkey, I’ll try a cup in another week or so and see what’s up. Currently miss coffee pretty bad but it’s worth the happy stomach.

Try cold brew, you can heat it up. Less acidity. Green tea is pretty acidic too, always gave me a harder time than coffee. That's assuming that the acidity was your problem anyway.

[Rideski]

I’m not sure yet if it was the acid that was the problem or not. But I’ll try cold brew, have heard good things about it anyway.

[bodywhomper]

I’ve always heard to watch out for the brown acid.

Green tea’s been treating me bad lately. Macha is the worst. Usually, gagging reflex and often upset stomach. 15-20 years ago, I had green tea often, like between a cup or a small pot every day.

[Danno]

Danno do you know your C-RP number? I've become more and more convinced over the years that inflammation is the key. It can arise from a lot of sources so it's both reflective of problems and in turn causative of, or at least related to, other problems, like the glucose/hyperglycemia link DTM mentioned above.

edit: mine's been very low, like vanishingly low, and I literally just opened an email with lab test results done this week for my physical next week but apparently they forgot to do it this time or something, I'm a little bummed.

I have no idea what that is.

But I do know that one of the things the keto diet is supposed to do is reduce inflammation, and one of the philosophies is that inflammation is the key, just like you said.

[ötzi]

C-RP is c-reactive protein and the test for it is basically a measure of the general level of inflammation in the body. It's actually the high-sensitivity c-rp test that's indicative or predictive of cardiac issues. Here's just the first google result but it's a credible source: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/abq4481

I'm not a doctor or a scientist but I've read a lot about it and I would say that it's probably worth your while to study up on it a bit and to have some idea of where you stand. High cholesterol is way more of an issue in conjunction with lots of inflammation in the body, basically.

[old goat]

anecdotal experience from a lifetime in healthcare: Do everything right...die anyway ; )

Amen. It's amusing (not really) when someone with some awful disease blames themselves for the disease because they must have done something wrong. (The awful corollary is when someone has cancer for example and it spreads and people say that person is dying because they didn't have a positive attitude or didn't fight hard enough. No, it's because the cancer cells are multiplying faster than positive attitude can kill them.)

[XXX-er]

I stopped eating too much and adding sugar to food

lost 15lbs, a1c dropped by a couple points, good cholesterol went up bad cholesteral went down

[Danno]

C-RP is c-reactive protein and the test for it is basically a measure of the general level of inflammation in the body. It's actually the high-sensitivity c-rp test that's indicative or predictive of cardiac issues. Here's just the first google result but it's a credible source: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/abq4481

I'm not a doctor or a scientist but I've read a lot about it and I would say that it's probably worth your while to study up on it a bit and to have some idea of where you stand. High cholesterol is way more of an issue in conjunction with lots of inflammation in the body, basically.

That makes sense. And that last sentence is the whole reason the keto community is not so concerned with high cholesterol, because with greatly reduced inflammation from following the diet, the cholesterol numbers aren't very significant.

[highangle]

I’ve always heard to watch out for the brown acid.

Green tea’s been treating me bad lately. Macha is the worst. Usually, gagging reflex and often upset stomach. 15-20 years ago, I had green tea often, like between a cup or a small pot every day.

Black or orange tea in the morning makes me puke, with very little warning. I like the taste just fine, it just makes me puke.
I can handle it ok in the afternoon, but not before I've eaten. Green tea is not so bad, but the longer it steeps, the more likely I'll have a problem with it.

[Dantheman]

Got the coronary calcium test and my score was a big fat zero. So I'm not going to worry about my cholesterol for now, and not taking a statin. Feeling pretty good about where I am overall with my nutrition.

Great news!

That makes sense. And that last sentence is the whole reason the keto community is not so concerned with high cholesterol, because with greatly reduced inflammation from following the diet, the cholesterol numbers aren't very significant.

While I don't disagree with this, keto is hardly the only diet that reduces systemic inflammation.

[Danno]

While I don't disagree with this, keto is hardly the only diet that reduces systemic inflammation.

didn't mean to imply that it was, it's just the one that I'm on!

[muted]

Anyone do potassium supplements? I've been realizing lately that potassium deficiency has probably plagued me for decades. Cramps, fatigue, irregular heart beat, etc.

Based on the large amount of daily intake of potassium recommended, and how hard it is to reach that max without everything I eat revolving around how much potassium is in it, I'm thinking of starting easy and taking a 1000mg supplement daily. Everywhere online says be cautious on potassium supplements, but by my math with this supplement I'm still 1000-2000mg short every day. Anyone want to sanity-check me or have experience with low potassium and what did you do about it?


I'll ask to get my levels checked by a doc soon, yes, I know.

[Dantheman]

I don't have any experience with taking K supplements and you should talk to a doc, but as long as you take reasonable amounts, aren't taking ACE inhibitors or a few other meds that raise serum K levels, and have normal kidney function there's basically zero risk.

[Dantheman]

Anyone taking NR or NMN? I finished listening to David Sinclair's Lifespan yesterday and being on the cusp of 40 I'm definitely intrigued. Robust human studies are lacking but the animal data is pretty conclusive. At the very least it seems quite safe (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03421-7). The biggest risk seems to be financial as the stuff isn't cheap, though it's not terribly expensive either and pretty cheap compared to the cost of chronic age-related disease.

[muted]

I don't have any experience with taking K supplements and you should talk to a doc, but as long as you take reasonable amounts, aren't taking ACE inhibitors or a few other meds that raise serum K levels, and have normal kidney function there's basically zero risk.

Forgot to thank you for this: thank you. I now know why they say be cautious and to consult a doc, as it may be a bad idea to do these supplements if you are on certain meds and a doc would know better. I ain't on any meds though. And I have noticed much less cramping since taking potassium supplements and drinking OJ every morning.

[Dantheman]

Cool. I should try it. I eat a lot of potatoes and produce so I always figured I get plenty of potassium, but I have been having cramping issues for a while.

[Dantheman]

Unpacking the science behind the shape of Pringles: https://amp.interestingengineering.c...lic-paraboloid

Eating more meat increased longevity in the Japanese: https://www.economist.com/graphic-de...ng-their-diets

In Russian adults over 65 there's a U-shaped association between the total cholesterol and all-cause mortality, with minimum mortality occurring at cholesterol concentrations between 209-278 mg/dL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...01746?via=ihub