I think that's a great point. I sometimes run into folks who are against supplementing because "I eat healthy whole foods now."

Yeah, me too, but I went decades eating crap food, which not only has low nutritive value, but can actually drain nutrients from my body in the process, I now fully believe some tanks are very low and need filling immediately.

Not to mention we aren't exactly eating grazing antelope, either. I try to buy humanely raised eggs, and meat, and such; but sometimes the budget doesn't stretch that far. Vegetables are grown in deficient soils and don't have the magnesium they should, too. I took 2-3 chelated magnesium tablets for the last two years, and it was just the other week where it told me, back off, one a day is now enough.

I think the scariest number is her atrocious D3 deficiency.

Her D3 was awful two years ago...and still bad now, a minor change that could be due to variable test results.
But the huge changes for the worse in total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, etc. can't be explained by a testing blip nor her weight loss. Her lipids, and Jimmy's, have entered worrying levels on NK, even by low carb standards.

Only "worrying" if numbers that don't reflect the status of anything cause you worry. His heart scan shows his arteries are clear. He doesn't have small lipoprotein issues. He doesn't have the bad APOE gene.

Truth is, we don't really know what it all means because no one has studied it. The statinators would love us to worry about it, but I chose not to.

YMMV

Agreed. I've said it several times, I could have a heart attack tomorrow, and if I survived, I would not change my diet, and I would not become a lipophobe.

I wonder if Anne needs to see a thyroid specialist? Her TSH is in the "normal" range but plenty of people still don't feel great with a number like that, and her free T4 is meaningless without knowing the lab range, and her free T3 is not tested apparently.

I just ask since my numbers in 2011 were VERY similar to hers, with total cholesterol of 296 and LDL of 221. But finally I found someone to prescribe Armour thyroid for me, and within 6 weeks my total was 196 and LDL was 134. Now after 2 years my total is 191 and my LDL is 110. And that's with no particular changes in diet - just changing from synthroid to Armour thyroid.

A recent podcast from Jimmy Moore's site featured some Australian Paleo folks. One of them brought up what I've been thinking lately... that all these numbers are averages, and from a lot of people who are actually quite ill.

Are they good models for studying nutrition, aging, and disease? It's all based on people who are already health challenged. What do we really know?

Update on his cholesterol numbers:
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/...2008-2013/18256

His numbers do make me feel a little better about mine... Thanks Jey...

So it's the 18th of the month and no update on Jimmy's progress. Did I miss something, or is this n=1 experiment over?

ETA: Ooops. Had the wrong date. That will teach me not to post without my reading glasses.

He's still doing it, Turtle. I talked to him while he was here in San Diego a couple weeks back. He's just not going to be doing quite as much tracking.

Dr. Davis's book, Wheat Belly, talks about the reasons why LDL appears to go up on low carb. Mostly it doesn't, it is just the way the stupid LDL test they use calculates it. It overestimates LDL when it is large and fluffy. You really need an ApoB (I think it is), or direct particle count to get an accurate accounting of it.

"Wheat Belly" was interesting to me, even though I thought I knew most of what I figured he'd write about. There was stuff on AGEs and cholesterol testing that I didn't know.

Now you're worrying me, I thought it was the 18th, and I have to do something unpleasant on the 21st!


Lee

Jimmy has posted the summary of his YEAR on Nutritional Ketosis! 78 pounds and a list of improved health markers:
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/...y-331-360/18365

Jey, I see you follow Dr Westman's plan. Does he approve of using net carbs or does he not allow subtracting fiber?

I've read that the new Atkins book that he co-authored says to subtract fiber, and I've also read an interview with him in which he said the same thing, but when I watched a video of him presenting his plan to newbies I don't recall him mentioning fiber.