Lab Tests – Page 14 – BJJ Caveman

Nutritional Ketosis and Testosterone

Posted on March 25, 2013December 5, 2016 by BJJ Caveman

One of my favorite blogs to follow is Mark’s Daily Apple, and when I came across this post, one of the letters really caught my attention. One of his reader’s was wondering about his “gynoid” pattern of fat deposition. A gynoid pattern is when there is increased fat in the hips, buttocks, and thighs as compared to an “android” pattern where the fat is increased in the chest and belly. Here is part of Mark Sisson’s response:

“…For you, a male with a more “feminine” pattern of fat deposition, I would suspect low testosterone levels.

The Effect of a Ketogenic Diet on Cholesterol Part 2

Posted on March 14, 2013February 18, 2015 by BJJ Caveman

Here are my cholesterol tests from the past couple of years along with my most recent results. My initial results from 2010 when I was following the standard american diet actually look remarkably ideal, despite the diet, however I was running almost 3 miles a day during this period AND I was carrying around more weight and a greater body fat percentage. So while my blood work looked ideal, my outside appearance didn’t really reflect it… and I was exhausted from all the running I was doing.… Read More

The Effect of a Ketogenic Diet on Cholesterol Part 1

Posted on March 10, 2013February 18, 2015 by BJJ Caveman

Before I go into what my lipid results were, I thought it would be a interesting to do a literature search to find what data there is in the academic literature looking into the effect of a ketogenic diet on cholesterol.

This is a pretty comprehensive list going back 15 years to 1998. I limited it to papers that either provided enough information in their abstracts and those that I could actually access the entire paper for free. I didn’t want to actually shell out money for papers that required payment since they typically cost around $30 per article!… Read More

The Effects of Nutritional Ketosis on HbA1c Part 2

Posted on March 6, 2013December 4, 2016 by BJJ Caveman

In part 1, I tried to find a reasonable explanation as to why my HbA1c remained elevated at 5.7% before and after 72 days of nutritional ketosis where I remained in ketosis (documented with blood ketone tests) almost the entire time, and to top it off I had low fasting AM blood sugars (avg of 83 mg/dl).

The most plausible explanation I came across was:

Low Carb -> Lower Blood Glucose -> Longer RBC lifespan -> Higher HbA1c

Even though this explanation made the most sense, at least in my situation, I still wasn’t satisfied and had to prove it to myself. … Read More

The Effects of Nutritional Ketosis on HbA1c Part 1

Posted on March 4, 2013February 18, 2015 by BJJ Caveman

One of the reasons I decided to switch from the Slow Carb Diet that I followed since the beginning of 2011 to nutritional ketosis was because I had a blood test that showed my HbA1c level to be 5.7% which placed me at an “increased risk for diabetes.”

< 5.7% is normal
5.7% to 6.4% means you have a higher risk of diabetes
> 6.4% means you HAVE diabetes

I was surprised by having such a high HbA1c, especially since the main idea behind the Slow Carb Diet was to maintain glycemic control to decrease the amount of insulin fluctuations with the exception of one cheat day. … Read More

Why I Decided To Try Nutritional Ketosis

Posted on February 18, 2013October 9, 2014 by BJJ Caveman

I’ve always been on the heavier side and struggling with my weight was the norm for me. While I wouldn’t have called myself morbidly obese or anything, I would say that I was doughy with a good amount of ‘spare tire’ and ‘love handles’ with an estimated body fat percentage of around 30%. I am 5’9″ and at my heaviest weighed around 215 lbs. I managed to lower my weight to around 200 lbs using a lot of caloric restriction which left me hungry and unsatisfied most of the time. … Read More