91 day ADF, NMR lipoprofile and sdLDL particle count

(Michael) #1

Purpose of Experiment
To attempt to lower my A1C from 5.9 mmol/L to 5.4 mmol/L and then also, in accordance with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUY_SDhxf4k by Dr. Paul Mason, to lower my sd-LDL by a factor of approximately 3. Also wishing to improve insulin resistance and promote autophagy for removing superfluous skin attained from losing 55 pounds in the previous 18 months. Decided to do alternate day fasting by eating T, Th, Sat, Sun and fast M, W, F such that I would get three fasts of between 30 and 40 hours per week.

History
Had A1C of 10.3 on May 27, 2021. Had 12 years of severe IBS-D. Started implementing fasting and low carb/carnivore to resolve these issues.
Starting Information for Experiment on September 1st, 2022
52y Male. 168 cm (5’ 6”) and 62.6 kg (138 lbs). A1C of 5.9.

Assay result target range
LDL-P >3500** nmol/L low < 1000, Moderate 1000-1299, Boderline 1300-1599, High 1600-2000, Very High >2000
LDL-C 339 mg/dL Optimal < 100, moderate 100-130, Boderline 130-159, High 160-189, Very High > 189
HDL-C 41 mg/dL > 39
Trig 147 mg/dL < 150
Total Cholesteral 409 mg/dL 100 - 199
HDL-P (total) 27.7 micromol/L >= 30.5
Small LDL-P 1775 nmol/L <= 527
LDL Size 21.5 nm Pattern A 20.6-23.0, Pattern B 19-20.5
LP-IR 54 <= 45 to be under 50% population by percentile

** using the particle size and small LDL, calculations for LDL-P put it most likely at 7728 nmol/L as the average of between 4807 nmol/L and 10650 nmol/L

September 2022
Fasted 12 of 30 days, ate 18 days at an average caloric intake of 3315 cal on eating days giving 1989 cal as average daily intake for the month. Starting weight was 138 lbs, end of month weight was 131 lbs. I generally ate TRE between 1 pm and 9 pm. As an example of what I ate, on Sept 29th I ate 3687.5 calories consisting of 262.5 g of protein, 286.3 g of fat and 15.2 g of net carbs. This came from the following: 2 oz beef liver, 3 oz veal thymus, 4 oz beef heart, 2 oz snails, 5 oz salmon, 2 oz chicken liver, 5 oz pork belly, 2 eggs, 6 oz Jarlsberg cheese, 13 oz beef ribeye and 2 oz 100% dark chocolate.

October 2022
Fasted 13 of 31 days, ate 18 days at an average caloric intake of 3748 cal or a daily average intake for the month of 2176 calories. Starting weight was 131 lbs ending weight was 126 lbs. I generally ate TRE between 11 am and 9 pm. As an example of what I ate, on Oct 29th I ate 4086 calories consisting of 351.3 g of protein, 292.2 g of fat and 12.9 g of net carbs. This came from the following: 1 oz beef liver, 3 oz veal thymus, 6 oz beef heart, 2 oz sheep testicles, 1 oz bone marrow, 2 oz sheep spleen, 1 oz mussels, 2 oz snails, 6 oz salmon, 1.5 oz sardines, 1.5 oz chicken liver, 2 oz pork belly, 10 oz Jarlsberg cheese, 16 oz beef ribeye.

November 2022
Fasted 13 of 30 days, ate 17 days at an average caloric intake of 4217 cal or a daily average intake for the month of 2389 calories. Starting weight was 126 lbs ending weight was 129 lbs. I generally ate TRE between 9 am and 9 pm. As an example of what I ate on my largest ingestion day, was on Nov 26th I ate 5483 calories consisting of 368.6 g of protein, 432.8 g of fat and 28.5 g of net carbs. This came from the following: 1 oz beef liver, 3 oz veal thymus, 6 oz beef heart, 2 oz bone marrow, 1 oz mussels, 3 oz snails, 1 oz chicken liver, 5.75 oz pork belly, 10 oz Jarlsberg cheese, 4 eggs, 11 oz beef ribeye, 11 oz beef sirloin and 5.25 oz 100% dark chocolate.
I ate daily from Dec 1st until Dec 4th at around 4000 cal and took a second round of blood tests on the morning of Dec 5. My weight has levelled off at 131 lbs. Here are the results

Results:
59.4 kg (131 lbs). A1C of 5.5.
NMR-Lipoprofile on Dec 5, 2022

Assay result target range
LDL-P 2800 nmol/L low < 1000, Moderate 1000-1299, Boderline 1300-1599, High 1600-2000, Very High >2000
LDL-C 328 mg/dL Optimal < 100, moderate 100-130, Boderline 130-159, High 160-189, Very High > 189
HDL-C 79 mg/dL > 39
Trig 150 mg/dL < 150
Total Cholesteral 436 mg/dL 100 - 199
HDL-P (total) 43.2 micromol/L >= 30.5
Small LDL-P 500 nmol/L <= 527
LDL Size 22.1 nm Pattern A 20.6-23.0, Pattern B 19-20.5
LP-IR 25 <= 27 to be LOW

Discussion:
My HDL doubled in content and greatly increased in number. While my LDL-C remained almost unchanged, my LDL particle numbers dropped significantly, and probably by a factor of 3 based on previous calculations. In addition, the sd-LDL-P more than reduced by a factor of three. This is a tremendous improvement along with the corresponding A1C drop of 0.4. This matches the expectations almost exactly and provided a new calculation for lipid insulin resistance at under 25 or in the LOW category. My doctor was ecstatic and noted that I am strongly pattern A LDL and he considers my CVD risk to be very low despite the extremely high LDL. If not for my high trigs from diabetes I might have qualified as a Lean Mass Hyper-Responder ala Dave Feldman.

I also got the following other blood tests done at the same time as the NMR. A standard lipid profile as well as vitamin B1, B2, B9 and 25Hydroxy, insulin, C-peptide, zinc, iron, TIBC, Transferrin Saturation, Ceruloplasmin, HS-CRP and ESR which were all within the normal range provided by the lab.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Wow! “Optimal” is under 100 now? I remember when LDL of 150 was considered perfectly normal. At least in the recent test your triglyceride/HDL is now 1.89, which is excellent. Even people who believe that cholesterol actually causes cardiovascular disease have to admit that a ratio that low means very low cardiovascular risk. And it wouldn’t be surprising if an NMR came back as Pattern A (low risk); a ratio like that practically guarantees it.

(Bob M) #3

Are you lean? Do you drink coffee? If you drink coffee, you could be one of those people who are affected by coffee to raise trigs.

(Michael) #4

It was an NMR that did come back as pattern A, so yes :grinning:

(Michael) #5

Most would call 130 pounds lean, yes. I never touch coffee however.

(Bob M) #6

By the way, this is very impressive for the time you did it.

(Bob M) #7

I also think it’s interesting that some people, like me and others, ended up getting cold, which we think means lower basal metabolic rate when fasting like this. Yet others, like you, don’t. I wonder why?

(Michael) #8

Good question, but I would preface by saying that I was cold actually, however,there is snow on ground where I live, so it is damn cold too. What I found is that I was colder than now when I am eating daily again. However, I also think that my fasting success is due to the prioritization of RMR and calorie intake upon eating. I am sure my RMR remained high due to weight loss and calorie intake, also my body heat since stopping ADF is pretty high again. My thoughts always go back to it is more about feasting than fasting. How many calories you eat when you do eat defines the RMR more than average daily intake. I cannot say for sure as I do not measure, but that is my feeling.

Are you ALWAYS cold when you fast, or just after a few days? How much do you eat to daily when not fasting?

(Bob M) #9

I’m no longer cold when fasting, because I stopped fasting for quite a while. And, when I fast now, I only fast 36 hours once per week, though I’m going to try to fast a 4.5 day fast sometime. Wanted to try this last week, but I got sick, and that turned out to be covid.

I think also it’s gotten a lot harder for me, for reasons I don’t clearly understand. When I first started fasting, I could fast 4.5 days and exercise twice during that period. Now, if I exercise Monday and Tuesday, I cannot fast Wednesday. I need that day to recover. Then I can fast Thursday.

I’m a lot stronger and have a lot more muscle than I did, so maybe that affects things?

I also try to eat a lot the day before I fast. Not sure whether that helps though.

(Robin) #10

My fingers re crossed for the same results!

(Laurie) #11

Thank you for posting about your experience!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

How are you doing? How bad were the symptoms?

(Bob M) #13

Thanks for asking. I seem to be doing OK. I had listened to a discussion on This Week in Virology with Paul Offit where he suggested the series of three shots (first two then a normal booster) was all you needed, and the bivalent was necessary except for older folks or possibly those with pre-existing conditions. There was also discussion as to whether a “normal” booster or bivalent was better, but it’s a moot point since the bivalent is all you can get.

I decided to get the bivalent and just got one a few weeks ago. Then got my flu shot. From someone who hadn’t gotten a flu shot in decades, that means I’ve rethought vaccines.

Initially, I just had a low level of chest congestion. That is, I could feel my lungs were somewhat congested and would cough every once in a while. On the second day of that, took a test, negative. The third day, felt as if I had a cold, was positive. Got a “fever” of 100.5 as a high (my wife says 101.4 is a “fever”, so I’m barely into that range). Took two advil at one time in the evening with the worst fever.

It’s two days later, no fever, temperature a bit higher than normal (97.5, so above 98 is “high”), still positive. Feel pretty good, took the puppy to the park yesterday for a walk. Been with the wife and puppy on walks. Want to go to the stores but can’t. Have been taking loooong naps though: 1.5 hours! That’s a nap!

Unfortunately, now my oldest daughter turned positive today (Sunday). Had two tests yesterday, one barely positive, one negative. Today, a solid positive.

Puts our Christmas hosting plans in flux. She’s supposed to isolate until Friday probably, but mask for 5 more days, and I’m supposed to mask until and through at least Sunday. I assume masking = not sitting at tables eating with a bunch of people in an enclosed place.

By the way, this is a bummer:

They have the best (beanless) chili I’ve had. I love that stuff. And, while I liked a lot of their food, I especially liked the smoked steak they had.