My A1C 6 months ago was 5.0, we were doing keto but not really worried about macros. We were losing weight and. My bio numbers were dropping and getting healthier. Since starting Keto on December 5th, 2017 I started at 212, 5.7 A1C, triglycerides 388, HDL 22. I got down to 187 around April 17, 2018 and my A1C was 5.0, triglycerides went down to 230 and HDL up 30! Great! Now 6 months later after 4 weeks of strict following macro protocol and my numbers are horrible, A1C is 5.9, triglycerides 428 and HDL 27! Did I load my numbers unintentionally? If anyone has any answers please let me know. I am still following strict macro protocol and intend to do so until I know I am fat adapted and beyond. Please tell me why this happened. Will it eventually normalize?
My bio numbers went wacky disappointed
Some possibilities (micronutrient deficiencies):
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Glutathione (is being depleted and not replaced on a high fat diet)
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Cysteine & Glycine
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Choline & Methionine
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Leaky gut
References:
- “… When cells run out of a vitamin or mineral, that scarce micronutrient is allotted to proteins (in the body) essential for short-term survival. Proteins needed for long-term health, including those that protect DNA, lose out and become disabled. …” …More
Hi, some more information is needed. What macros are you following?
A1C is affected by the previous three months of glucose exposure. What happened the two months before strict macros?
Also, how long were you fasting before the blood draw of the last cholesterol test. Having trigs that high without a genetic condition suggests one possibility. That your insulin is too high and thus parking a lot of energy in the blood stream because your cells are burning glucose instead of fat.
Okay, before September 25th, 2018 I was not counting macros very much. Since December 5th, 2018 I reduced carbs to 20 or less a day, ate fat and not a lot of protein. Every 4 or 5 weeks or more we would have a cheat meal or cheat weekend probably 4 times, but we did go off diet 2 weeks in May for an 8 day cruise. Since the cruise 2 cheat times 1 meal or 1 day. Starting September 25th it’s been 80% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs, and I have been getting really close to all macros since. I have intermittently fasted daily with 4 to 6 hour eating window, and one 24 hour fast about a week before my doctors appointment. I was expecting really good numbers but I believe the abundance of fat, low protein and usually less than 10 carbs a day caused my numbers to show a very deranged picture of bio numbers. I really think I may be fat adapted as I can eat omad and be okay until the next omad. Is that enough information? My appointment was October 23rd, 2018, so it was a full four weeks of strict Ketosis, with blood sugars 88 to 110 and ketones from .05 to 2.7. I am down to 180, a 32 pound loss thus far. Another thing, I take a multivitamin, I still take 500 mg of metformin, and lisinopril, D3 and B12, and until recently omeprazole. Now I have in the last month not taken my meds every day and have eliminated omeprazole. Since my blood sugar has been checking fine and my blood pressure is ok and my doctor is fine with that, but the last blood work was so wacky. She is ordering another in 3 months, the end of January.
I also check and have been checking morning glucose almost daily, and it’s never been over 120, mainly between 88 and 110. So 5.9 is wacky with those numbers, is my fasting the answer?
You gotta watch fasting relative to getting tested. When I was fasting a lot, my trigs went up, HDL down. So, before you get your next test, stabilize eating for a while, say a week, then have the test done.
Thank you, I did fast a lot to lose a few more pounds before doctors visit, since I had to fast the night before I didn’t think anything of it. What about a high A1C? No day over 20 carbs in a month!
The high A1c, I was going to remark on that, but I’m not sure what to say, especially if you are taking your blood sugar several times a day and not seeing a rise. HbA1c is a strange measure, as it depends on your red blood cells. What happens if your red blood cells are simply living longer? (This means that they spend more time “alive” and therefore become more glycated, meaning your HbA1c goes up…but it has nothing to do with blood sugar.)
Also, what is the error in this measurement? I’ve found this:
This says there can be a high variance in HbA1c, such as from different testing facilities. This is also from Germany. I’m not sure whether any of this applies to you though. So, I’d say keep calm and retest at some point in the future.
This shows how quickly the cholesterol values can change in my case:
The yellow row is after 4.5 days of fasting, and the 10/31/16 is also after doing a lot of fasting shortly before the test (but only 12 hours of fasting for the test). I then went on vacation, ate pretty low carb but ate daily, and got substantially different numbers two weeks later.
Also, you might be a so-called “hyper-responder”, especially if you’re 180 (I’m still “obese” and over 200):
By any chance were you consuming a lot of coconut oil? I found out skipping it for a couple of weeks before a draw resulted in my trigs going to 36, they had been in the 70s the draw before. I feasted for the three days before my last draw as well, and just did 12 hr. overnight fast. My HDL was at 70 doing that. I had also switched to decaf coffee during that period. I alternate now between caffeinated and decaf. Only use HWC in it, no coconut oil like before.
Some other things to consider, sometimes labs mess up, just saying.
If you were losing weight your body releases what is stored, it is circulating in your blood, so LDLs, trigs, even BS numbers can be wacky.
I’d plan another draw in a couple of weeks and watch what I eat carefully. And as Bob M above recommended, visit Dave’s website.