Do any of the calorie counting apps track fatty acids?

(Bob M) #1

Do any of the calorie counting apps track fatty acids? Specifically, saturated fatty acids like palmitic and stearic?

My LDL went up and my doctor told me to “watch my diet”. So, I’d like to get a test, go on a lower fat diet for a week, get a test, then go on a diet extremely high in saturated fat, get a test. Last time I went on a diet very high in saturated fat, my LDL went down. I want to show him the results.

But I’d prefer it if calorie counting apps would do this for me, rather than my having to find these and add them up.

(Chuck) #2

There is one key measurement that I make when I get my lab results. That measurement is: triglycerides/HDL, here in the USA if the ratio is less than 2 then it is good, I believe over in Europe it is below 1 by there standards, mine ratio is below 1. In fact I believe it was around 0.75.

(Bob M) #3

Yeah, but most doctors ignore that. LDL is king! :wink:

And this doctor has caused my ire so much that I want to yell at him. For instance, I have data indicating that 4.5 days of fasting caused my LDL to go up. How is that caused by what I ate (is my question to the doctor)? I have another time when I fasted 4.5 days, then ate a ton and drank cups of cream, and my LDL went down. Why?

So, I want to do a test that shows that high levels of saturated fat do NOT raise LDL for many.

(Joey) #4

Carb Manager does.

I tracked whatever I ate and it then did the math telling me (among an eye-popping range of other things) mono-, poly-, trans-, saturated fat, total…

I had paid for a “premium” version which I used for 1 year daily. I’m therefore unclear as to whether you need to pay (about $25-30/yr) to access that data (which I now have in a spreadsheet before I cancelled out of data fatigue) or whether the free version allows such export access.

EDIT: Just re-read your original post… no it does not tell you palmitic, stearic details. If that’s what you need I’m afraid Carb Manager doesn’t quite do that. Sorry.

P.S. - Your doctor said to watch your diet. Not change it. :wink:

(Chuck) #5

I only do IF, I average 19 hours a day fasting. I eat a moderately low calorie diet. No highly processed carbs/food and no fast food. I only eat eggs 2 or 3 times a week. But I enjoy high fat foods and whole fat dairy, I also don’t go for the low sodium diet like my doctor recommended, and guess what? I am completely off all my blood pressure medication after 40 years being on it. I have lost 54 pounds so far since the first of September of 2022. I am now almost 76 years old and in better health than I was at 40 years old. I have so much more energy and my mind is so much clearer. I am now able to memorize poems and Bible verses again something I couldn’t do before my new lifestyle. I am someone that speaks my mind then moves on. My doctor that I have is at my VA clinic and he has even started asking me for advice on my way of living and for my research materials and books I read.

(Bob M) #6

Just an aside about this doctor. He remarked that I exercised more, therefore I lost weight. I have been exercising about the same for the last 45 years, yet my weight has gone up and down radically in that time period.

He remarked that I didn’t have to get a CAC scan done – he wouldn’t give me a prescription for one – because my LDL was lower, and everyone knows you can’t get heart disease if you have low LDL. (I found a place where I got my CAC scan without a prescription.)

He’s a “believer”.

I want to change that.

(Joey) #7

@ctviggen Sounds like your challenge has morphed into trying to provide your physician with an updated medical education. You might consider whether it would take far less time, energy and stress on your part to simply find a doctor who already has one. :thinking:

(Bob M) #8

Unfortunately, this is my cardiologist. Much harder to replace than a general physician. I’ve had low carb/keto general practitioners, but lost them (they went to do different jobs). I have a person who I had to ask to have fasting insulin done, but I just ignore anything she says that’s related to things like LDL.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Like that old joke about the “seafood” diet: I see food, and I eat it! :rofl::rofl:

LOL! What was your CAC score?

I wonder if there’s anything useful at the THINCS Web site. I’m not sure how well it’s being maintained. THINCS stands for “The International Network of Cholesterol Sceptics.”

(Joey) #10

I didn’t realize that was the case. I would’ve guessed it’s easier to replace a specialist. :man_shrugging:

As you know, a specialist is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

I see a doctor at Griffin Family Health. The guy I started with was a keto advocate, and the guy I switched to, after he retired, is a friend of his. We haven’t really talked yet, but so far he hasn’t said anything anti-keto. I hope to sound him out at the next visit. Haven’t had a chance to tell him yet that I’m eating carnivore.

But I know what you mean about cardiologists. My mom saw a guy from a big cardiology practice in this part of the county, and so far as I could see, they were all pretty old-school, even the young guy who came, once.

(Bob M) #12

@SomeGuy I’ve had this guy for over 10 years, and most of the time I can ignore what he says (other than why I’m there). But he made me get a cholesterol test, and this is what I got:

image

Now, I normally get a TC around 160, and have for ages, so I’m not sure why mine went up this time. I theorize it’s because I was sick with a cold, and still went and got both covid and the flu shots, then got this test a few days later. Unfortunately, saying that colds cause your LDL to go up is tough, as there’s basically no evidence it’s true (mainly because how do you test this?).

It just irks me when I KNOW this is not due to what I eat.

Personally, I’m more concerned about my HDL, which went from below 40 to the mid 50s. Why is it going down?

@PaulL Where is Griffin located? I went to a local place in Newtown, where my mother went, and where I HATED the person she was given there. However, I do need to see a “normal” doctor sometimes.

The problem with CAC scores is that I can easily find people with low TC and high CAC and high TC/LDL and low CAC. Would it make a difference to a person steeped in LDL causes everything bad? I don’t know.

My score was zero, though that was almost 5 years ago now. Maybe I should get another one? The problem is to get one without a prescription, I had to drive over an hour one way. So, it’s a few hours out of my day.

Oh, and I should note that I have an extremely high Lp(a), which is now the supposed killer of all and causation of heart disease. But my CAC scan didn’t show it.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

They go by various names, such as Griffin Faculty Physicians, Griffin Family Health, and the like. They are part of, or associated with, Griffin Hospital in Derby. or they and the hospital are all subsidiaries of the same parent company, I don’t know. They have offices at various locations in the Derby, Ansonia, Oxford, Shelton, Naugatuck, Newton, Monroe area. I go to the office on Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton, but I’m sure there are several offices closer to your home or work. If I were you, I’d call the Derby number and make them tell you where all the offices are, lol!

Lp(a) might very well be a good marker, as triglycerides/HDL is, but it’s certainly not causal. I’m staking my llife on that!