Low-carb 'keto' diets have some health benefits and some risks
 

Low-carb 'keto' diets have some health benefits and some risks

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-idUSKBN1WH2H4

I want to get some blood work done next month, since it will be around 8 months since transitioning to lower carb, (and some time doing the carnivore woe mixed in there).

I had the normal panel done at my annual check-up a couple weeks after I had started transitioning to lower carb and everything was normal, (total cholesterol 170, trigs in the 60s etc), but I want to get a Lipoprotein Analysis done, which will show the size of my LDL particles.

DD, you may already know this, if you specify an NMR Lipid Panel, that will give you everything you're seeking including LDL particle size with measurements for large and small particles. It often costs more with health insurance, but in my opinion, it's the only lipid analysis that has any real meaning for low carb, keto, carnivore people. Good luck.

And this summary quote in the Reuters article says it all (bold is mine):

Easy to determine where this is heading and which nutrition camp supplied the information. Fact is we don't know the risks and benefits with lipid changes being interpreted as a corresponding health marker. We're getting there, but outside of epidemiological studies which are useless and to which this article likely refers, we have lots of N=1 and clinical experiences that point us in a different direction than what we've been brainwashed with over the past 50 years.

I'll be paying for the test out of pocket and doing it independently from my doctor, (since I already had my annual/regular blood work done earlier this year), so insurance/doctor won't play a part in what I chose. I'm looking at this one, thoughts? I can get the test drawn at a Quest lab that's just a few minutes from my house.
https://www.walkinlab.com/labcorp-n...blood-test.html

That's the one. It provides direct measurements, not estimates, along with particle size.

Good to know, thanks! I'm thinking this test and then this one as well, which would give me a lot of data to look at. Tentatively planning on November, and then I'll get my regular doctor blood work done again next April. Like the idea of having bloodwork done twice a year, to keep tabs on things.

https://www.walkinlab.com/labcorp-w...globin-a1c.html

DaisyDawn

The Wellness 2 Blood Test Panel is composed of the regular blood tests your family doc would most likely order if (s)he was ordering a "complete" blood workup. The lipid panel part is the regular panel docs usually order. There's no direct measurement of LDL size or particle number.

If your HDL is good and triglycerides are low then the LDL size and particle number are probably good too, but you don't really know if you don't measure them directly.

Oops, yeah, the NMR panel is the right one

DD, just FYI, some of us are what Dave Feldman terms "lean mass hyper-responders." Our LDL cholesterol can rise very high on a very low carb diet to shuttle sufficient fat to the body's muscles etc. in people who are thin and/or exercise significantly, since these particles transport fat-burning energy to the body and a thin person or someone burning through a lot of fat for fuel won't have enough fat stores in each working muscle to supply itself and depends on these lipoprotein "boats" to shuttle this energy to them. I'm not super lean but tend to be fairly active and was perplexed and concerned for quite some time when my LDL rose dramatically changing to low carb (and losing a bunch of weight) until I realized I did fit within this category as the explanation, so I now don't worry when I see my LDL look high by conventional standards so long as my triglycerides are low and my HDL cholesterol high. Anyone who's interested in a better explanation of all this, check out the numerous different videos and articles by Dave Feldman on cholesterol, which I've found very enlightening.

I figure if my A1C, CRP, body fat level, sleep, appetite, blood pressure, eye exam, and autoimmune symptoms are all doing well, I don't care about cholesterol. Let it handle itself :)

Good to know, thanks! I'm not very active (just do some walking for exercise), but I am very lean at this point-BMI is under 20 right now. I'm very curious to know what my numbers are now, after going low carb-my HDL was low last time and that was the only thing my doctor brought up as a concern, she wanted that number to move up quite a bit. Hopefully I'll see improvement in that area on the next test :)

I have horrible eyes, so I definitely don't want to go by that :lol: I actually have early onset cataracts so in the next few years I'll get that taken care of and my vision should improve quite a bit-so tire of spending over $500 on one pair of glasses!