Cholesterol, Thyroid, and Health Results

[Alecmcq]

it is increasingly clear that our LDL level does not cause cardiovascular disease

Hallelujah! Preach it brother!!

[Saphire]

The “normal” range is listed at 0.35 - 4.94 uIU/mL

I am not a doctor but having a TSH of 13 is out of range. What did your current doctor say? Even if you are switching he should have an opinion

The test I would get is the test for the two types of anti thyroid antibodies
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/
If cost is not an issue, I would get T4 and T3 levels, as well as free and reverse T4 and T3 (not sure what those signify) done as well. The T3 is important because that is the active form of the hormone that your body uses or at least that is my understanding but I am not an expert. You may want to google thryroid panel and again talk to your doctor

[JStanisch]

So to see and compared to another blood test, you think going full blown carnivore or even just keto is good enough?

I think the best things to do for me moving forward would be
1- Actually tracking intake
2- Limiting coffee intake? I have 2/day (I put 1 packet of raw sugar in my coffee and drink them over a 3-5hr period slowly). I could bring and store butter/heavy whipping cream at work instead
3- I have been doing more cardio and lifting less than ever in my training before. Can that have any effect?
4- I used to cook a lot more with olive/mct oil as well vs the butter/ghee/fat I cook with now. Would that type of fat have any effect? I also eat a lot more read meat now vs chicken, turkey, etc. That isn’t for any particular reason but still. Could that also have an effect?

Let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

[PaulL]

So to see and compared to another blood test, you think going full blown carnivore or even just keto is good enough?

It is for many people. You will have to make the experiment to see what works for you. In any case, you need to make the experiment long enough to see the benefits. For example, lowering carbohydrate intake to ketogenic levels entails an adaptation in the skeletal muscles (healing of mitochondria and reactivation of certain metabolic pathways) that generally takes six to eight weeks, so an experiment needs to last at least three months to see whether a keto diet is of benefit or not. And lipid numbers don’t generally stabilise until around the six-month mark.

Likewise, there is an adaptation period involved in going carnivore, even from being fully keto-adapted, and that adaptation period can also take up to six months. So these are not short-term experiments, if you truly want to know the effects of these diets on your body.

Limiting coffee intake? I have 2/day (I put 1 packet of raw sugar in my coffee and drink them over a 3-5hr period slowly).

Coffee is fine on keto/carnivore, but sugar is problematic. Table sugar, sucrose, is half glucose and half fructose, and both chemicals have negative effects on the body. Fructose, in particular, damages the liver. Can you wean yourself off of sugar in your coffee? Here is where an artificial sweetener might be of help, even though non-sugar sweeteners are often not great for long-term use.

I have been doing more cardio and lifting less than ever in my training before. Can that have any effect?

Exercise will not help with weight loss. Numerous studies have shown this. However, exercise is great for healing the mitochondria and for maintaining and increasing muscle mass. High-intensity interval training is supposed to be the best for this. Dr. Sean O’Mara, a former U.S. Presidential physician, swears by sprinting as a means of healing the liver and promoting overall fitness.

I used to cook a lot more with olive/mct oil as well vs the butter/ghee/fat I cook with now.

I happen to believe that animal fats, such as butter, lard, tallow, and bacon grease, are even better than olive or coconut oil, which are not bad. On a carnivore diet, the animal fats are the way to go, and plant oils are to be avoided.

There is no doubt that the polyunsaturated fatty acids in seed oils lower cholesterol, but the question is increasingly being raised about what damage they are doing to the body in the process. The role phytosterols play in the human body is increasingly being shown to be unhealthy, as we learn about their effects. Cholesterol plays an essential role in all cell walls, in the immune system, in brain function and the transmission of nerve impulses, and in the formation of Vitamin D and the sex hormones. The belief that it causes cardiovascular disease is based on distorted and cherry-picked evidence, and more and more researchers are questioning this belief.

For these reasons, I personally don’t worry about my cholesterol levels, except to pay attention to my ratio of triglycerides to HDL. (Which is not causally related to cardiovascular disease, but is a pretty good indicator of problems with my diet that are implicated in causing cardiovascular disease.)

[JStanisch]

Thank you again for answering so fast

I think I definitely need to keep track and go back to keto. As I have mentioned I have not done tracking/not been as strict in the past for probably more than a year now. I typically do OMAD and just kinda eat primarily eggs, meat, and maybe some sort of nut/fruits but I know I eat out 1-3x/week which means drinks, apps, whatever. I will try to get more bloodwork done in ~3 months and this has helped me realize I need to crack down for my own sake. (I get enough ■■■■ from family on the way I eat saying I will die young due to it) I just figured with my muscle and size that eating a sort of what I feel like with a little thought into what I am eating I should be ok because most people with my mass are more insulin sensitive anwyays.

I can wean off the coffee or just use butter/heavy cream/MCT oil in it.

In regards to my weightlifting routine, I am not looking for weight loss at the moment. Just being in shape, being lean year round, and just being a freaking bull both with weighlifting and day-to-day activities.

Any other tips?

Thank you again

[ctviggen]

You know, some people can hack OMAD, but if you’re working out, is that reasonable? I know for myself, I can only do OMAD on the days I’m not exercising.

Coffee is one of those confusing subjects. I’ve heard lately some suggesting to get rid of coffee due to mold. My wife quit then restarted and is going to quit again, saying she felt better without coffee, which might have caused or help cause some back and bone pain, which she didn’t have while eating a relatively clean version of keto (no coffee or dairy, but some fake sugars allowed).

@PaulL and @Alecmcq I’m pretty much convinced that the chances that LDL are causal for heart disease are near zero. Maybe the chances oxidized LDL are higher, but even there I don’t think they are cause per se.

And I’m looking into PANS/PANDAS for my daughter, which is usually related to some type of inflammation. The people addressing inflammation for this disease are very against seed oils, which also supposedly lead to oxidized LDL. One said there are many studies showing seed oils are inflammatory. Not sure that’s true, but she’s the one treating these patients and researching the disease, whereas I’m not.