hey everyone. I’ve been trying to look for this a couple days now… I came across the post a while ago about when you get your blood testing done at your doctor and some of your test is wonky and it makes the doctor concerned but it is actually easily explained because of being in keto and there’s nothing to worry about with the numbers being different from what the doctor would normally expect. but for the life of me now I cannot find that post. is there anyone that could help me find it or help me understand the explanation so I can bring it in and show my doctor when I go in to get my blood work done in case my numbers are all wonky too? I have a terrible memory so I cannot remember the details but I think it was something about the different kinds of cholesterols being off or something along those lines I honestly don’t really remember. I’m about 2 months into it now I think at some point I’ll be going to be going to see my doctor for blood work just to check and make sure my thyroid is okay. people keep telling me that I’m going to ruin my thyroid on keto and I’m a little freaked out LOL. Ty for any help.
Blood testing at Dr?
There are plenty of people on these forums who find that keto helps their thyroid, so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I’ll let one of them chime in on that point.
Generally, people who get their blood work done before the six-month point see numbers that haven’t stabilized yet, so we usually advise waiting till then before getting blood work.
The lipid numbers to worry about are the ratio of triglycerides to HDL (under 2.0 is a good indication of low risk of cardiovascular disease), and the particle size pattern of the LDL, not so much the amount of cholesterol or the number of LDL particles. (The way to raise your HDL, by the way, is to eat saturated fat.) The notion that LDL has anything to do with heart disease risk is being challenged by current research, and there are even indications (in major studies that were actually intended to show the reverse) that higher LDL levels are associated with lower risk, especially in women and the elderly. Your lipid numbers are far more volatile than has generally been assumed; you can learn more about this at www.cholesterolcode.com.
If you want a real assessment of your risk of cardiovascular disease, ask your doctor to authorize a CAC scan, which measures heart disease directly by measuring the amount of calcium in certain key arteries.
Ask for your doctor to have your HbA1C checked along with your fasting glucose and fasting insulin. It is a measure of the glycation of your red blood cells, and acts like a three-month average of your serum glucose. If it’s under 5.5, you don’t have Type II diabetes.
Be sure to fast between 12 and 14 hours before having your blood drawn, and don’t eat or drink anything but water before the test. This will give you the most accurate results.
If and when you get your test results, we’d be happy to comment on them.
Just something to consider:
My doctor resisted fasting insulin and said that insurance would probably not pay for it and that I should consider an independent lab and not Lab Corp. So I am waiting on my results from http://directlabs.com/ ($34US). She said that if insurance does not pay for it that I would be billed too much from Lab Corp. I’m glad she was thinking about the impact on my wallet and supportive of using a lab that does not require dr orders.