I'll be checking in to see how you go and I'm especially interested to see where your at with bone density. Maybe we could chip in if your declined. There's more than a few interested people.

I try to post the results of all my lab work every year as well as any issues I'm facing and my overall progress (or decline ).  This lets people see the long term effects of my way of eating - good or bad - and they can hopefully make better decisions for their own life.

Lex

I suspect your on the right track.

It is July and time for my annual physical which I had 2 days ago.  I got the results of the blood test today and they are attached below as a PDF file.
My doctor just shook his head when he saw them.  All the dire problems he predicted just have not materialized.  Most everything is pretty much the same but some items beg comment.

Blood Lipids (Cholesterol and Triglycerides)

Initially (about 5 years ago) my total cholesterol was up around 250.  Unfortunately the labs from this time period are not available.  I then started ZC in ernest in Decenber of 2005 but didn't get my next physical and blood test until July of 2007.  My 2007 labs are posted in the first entry of this journal and you will see that after about 18 months total cholesterol had dropped a bit to 237.  My July 2008 blood work, also posted in the first entry of this journal, shows that after 30 months total cholesterol had dropped to 189.  This year after 42 months total cholesterol dropped again and is now 175.  So I've had a 75 point drop over about 4 year period eating nothing but meat and fat.

Triglycerides were initially up around 500 but had dropped into the upper 40s by the 2007 test and were 52 in the 2008 and 50 in the current 2009 test so this seems to have stabilized.

Blood Glucose

Initially fasting BG was in the 135-140 range.  By 2007 BG had dropped to 111 and for both the 2008 and current 2009 test is 97 and 99 respectively.  It appears that BG has also pretty much stabilized, though at a higher level than expected.  One would think that BG would fall dramatically into the lower ranges of the 70s and 80s since I’m not eating any carbs but it seems that this is not the case.  My assumption is that my body has converted as many systems as possible to using fatty acids as their primary fuel.  The body seems to convert a certain portion of all protein eaten and probably any excess glycerol in the fat consumed into BG and since there are few tissues that require it, it BG tends to rise.  My guess is that at some trigger point a small amount of insulin is released causing the excess BG to be stored as body fat which is then burned as fatty acids between meals.  Is this idea correct?  Who knows – it’s just a guess. 

A1c
This is supposed to be a test that shows a general average of BG levels over a 2 to 3 month period.  This is the first year I’ve been given an A1c test.  The level came out 6.0% which is surprising since this supposedly relates to an average BG level of 135 mg/dl or so.  I keep a careful watch on my BG and over the past year I don’t think it has ever risen above 105 and it seldom drops below 90.  My guess is that A1c is not a very good predictor when BG is extremely stable.  Anyway, I’ll continue to ask for this test in the future just to see where it goes.  I do wish I had asked for this test in previous years as it would have been interesting to see if the levels had changed much.

PSA
Due to my BPH issue I keep a sharp watch on PSA.  In 2004 it was 4.1 and my doctor wanted to follow up with a biopsy which I declined.  Just too many horror stories of men that were doing just fine until they got their prostates punctured a dozen times for a biopsy and then it was a rapid down hill ride to a prostectomy.  Needless to say I want to avoid this at all cost.  In my 2007 blood test which was the next test where PSA was run after 2004, my PSA was 0.6.  In 2008 it went to 1.5 and this year it is 1.6.  I expect the 0.6 was an anomaly since I started at 4.1 but I’m very pleased with my current levels as these too seem to have stabilized.  The symptoms of early stage BPH still persist but they have not worsened by any measurable amount since I started ZC and seem to have actually improved a bit, but nothing dramatic. 

One thing seems clear.  It takes time for many of the changes the body makes when there is a major change in dietary protocol.  As you can see, cholesterol is still dropping after 4 years.  Most of the others took about 2 years before they reached a stable level.  The idea that we are fully adapted and the body has made all the adjustments it is going too after 8 weeks of ZC just doesn’t hold up based on actual lab results.

I’m extremely pleased with where this adventure has taken me and will continue forging ahead for the foreseeable future as the lifestyle and way of eating have certainly proved beneficial.

BTW - I did ask for a comprehensive bone density test which was submitted to my HMO for approval.  If that materializes I will post the results.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Glad to answer any questions,

Lex

Congrats Lex! I would also contribute toward the cost of your bone density test. If it's a DEXA scan you want, I read that those range around $200 - $300 for cash customers. We might be able to cut that down to size here if we raised some funds.

Have you already tried to reduce your protein intake (keeping fat intake constant) to see if your BG and A1c lower ?

Hmmmm, you can't lower protein and keep fat constant without significantly altering calorie intake.  Based on my experiments, (and at this point in time) total calories seem to have a greater affect on my BG than the fat/protein ratio.

After several years on a zero carb diet, your body may needs less carbs ?

I think you meant to say less glucose? Anyway, I'm sure this is true and is probably what is causing BG to seem elevated.  Glucose can come from protein OR fat and from either diet or breakdown of body tissues (as when fasting).

Protein seems to be turned into BG as some relatively consistent rate - maybe 58%?  Fat is eaten and stored in the triglyceride form which contains a molecule of glycerol.  When the fat is broken down (either by digestion or breaking down body fat), and, if the fatty acids are used as the primary fuel for the body, then the glycerol will remain free as there won't be surplus fatty acids to create a new triglyceride.  The surplus glycerol will also be converted to glucose.  It takes 2 glycerol molecules to make on molecule of glucose so this means that about 10% -12% of the fat will potentially be converted to glucose as well.

Since my body needs little BG, the glucose just collects in the blood until it reaches some trigger level where insulin will be released to cause the excess BG to be converted to fatty acids and either burned as fuel or stored as body fat.  Speculation, but from what I think I know about this stuff, this idea seems reasonable.

Lex