Wall of text Warning TL:DR Consistently doing the (right) Paleo thing(s)… but blood lipids are terrible I’m 37 years old and I weigh about 240lbs (when I shifted my life to get really serious – and more importantly consistent – about Paleo, I was 35 and tipped the scales at 315lbs. I lost most of this weight ‘16 and have maintained over the course of the last year:‘17. I’d like to drop another 20 as a long term goal, but I think my body has become very comfortable here at 240. I’ve had the wonderful experience of having purge my closet of “fat” clothes and even newer clothes are looking a little baggy I practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu about 6 hours a week (and will earn my black belt in probably the next 6 months) and had multiple gold-medal competitive outcomes in 2017. I lift weights twice a week and today set new PRs in my deadlift and bench press.I walk the dogs another 2 to 4 hours of activity a week and try and sneak in a yoga class 2 to 3 times a week. I catalogue my weight loss and activity as evidence that I am reasonably active and healthy. I feel (physically) pretty great. But wait, that’s not all… I sleep better than I should with a nine-month-old in the house, (I certainly don’t have the insomnia that pestered me for so many years). As a 315lb SAD eater, I had GERD and probably undiagnosed IBS that meant I chewed tums all day long and pounded Alaska seltzer and pepto bismol… no longer an issue on paleo. If insulin is the master hormone, I feel as if I’ve nearly mastered it and I don’t ride the SAD blood sugar roller coaster- Over the last 120 days I have intermittently completed a fast of 16 hours or more 80 times (66%). I want to imagine I’m thriving and my health is robust. I want to believe that I have paleo choices to thank for this… Paleo is AWESOME, and not just for the smug satisfaction it offers to be able to list everything above.
BUT…
This morning the wind is out of my sails. I’ve just gotten blood lipid panel results back. I paid out-of-pocket for them because my physician has threatened to put me on statins for about 2 years. Despite the lifestyle health gains i’ve made in dropping weight and being active etc … 2 years of blood markers are not VALIDATING paleo in the way all the benefits I noted above are I was also was influenced to pursue Wellnessfx by listening to Rhonda Patrick on The Joe Rogan Podcast 1054 (and she’s been on multiple other episodes.) A fool as his money are soon parted I suppose – but I wanted to really get an understanding of what impact two good years of Paleo lifestyle has had on my good HDL and my “less bad” LDLs (the larger particle size ones) and on some of the inflammation biomarkers (like hs-CRP). The Results were unpleasant to review because there has been NO impact. I work in education so I understand the foibles of standardized testing… I’ve seen really, really bright students not get into the college they wanted because of an SAT score. I can’t help but feel like the blood lipid panel is the SAT score of cardiovascular health: Flawed, BUT it THE MEASUREMENT on which SO MUCH is based. (For instance: It’s not like life insurance underwriters are going to read this and say, “oh we can reduce this guy’s rates cuz he’s paleo.” As healthy as I imagine I am I do not pay a healthy person’s life insurance premiums)
My results: 249 total, 179 of that is LDL, only 51 HDL.
This leaves a ratio of 4.8 which is off the charts unhealthy. The small LDL measurement was 240 = dangerously high and I didn’t produce the Large LDL particle numbers I would have hoped would be a little bit of vindication. (Inflammation markers – the silver lining here- were great)
’s aren’t any different from lipid panels 6 and 12 months ago (thus the ongoing statin pressure from my PCP) I should note a significant change… that since January 1 of 2017 I’ve had zero tobacco/nicotine. I might have hoped to see a significant improvement in my numbers as a result of ditching my can-of-Copenhagen-a-day habit. But I would like MOST to see an improvement AND VALIDATION based on all of the paleo lifestyle habits i’ve worked so hard to adopt. I wonder if my lack of “progress” is because I have a genetic disposition toward high cholesterol and you can’t outrun your genes.
In so many ways Paleo is counterculture… I understand that I could just get a new physician. I don’t want to take statins but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the leap of faith I need to make to eschew the medical standards or to deny that my cholesterol is that big a deal when the measurements we have – flawed or not – are saying it’s not okay. She’s got a PhD but Ronda is not a doctor, not an MD. Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf didn’t go to medical school. I feel silly – given the lipid panel evidence – that I have so bought into these folks and their writings, and the lifestyle they advocate. But I also don’t feel silly… cuz I feel GREAT. The “standards” just aren’t bearing that out. Of course what gets recommended to people with high cholesterol is a pritikin style low-fat, high-carb diet. My I can’t wrap my that’s as a step I may need to take. According to the prevailing “wisdom,” how do you decrease your LDLs? count your calories, eat your Oatmeal every morning, and get your “healthy” grains- ugh!
I would liken something like Weight Watchers to the saddest part of the SAD. I’ve been on Weight Watchers I’ve had success reverses right away… not to mention it’s a miserable experience because insulin is running / ruining your life.
It’s a pretty easy line of cause and effect to see these results coming from the fact that I consume a lot of animal fat and a lot of saturated fat (coconut a big “offender”). If this animal fat is coming from unhealthy CAFO animals then it serves to reason that I am in a “you are what you eat situation.” I suppose eating unhealthy animals leaves me an unhealthy animal and as much of a budget concern it would be to try and eat grass-fed, pastured, hunted, open range, etc… maybe I can’t afford not to. I wonder if that a missing piece?
In all of this, what are my questions:
Has anyone experienced the awesome upswing(s) of paleo only to get similarly concerning test results back?
Do you imagine a full swap of protein sources is worth the investment? And will show a dynamic shift in 3,6,9 months?
Is there a paleo style that might fit a lower saturated fats model?
Is paleo, just not in tune with my high cholesterol genes?
Am I making much ado about nothing because the understanding of cholesterol is shifting? As noted my inflammation markers were a bright spot! To that end, how does one find a paleo friendly Dr?
Are there other tests I pursue to get a better picture?
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