In my recent blood test from September I also checked my Vitamin D level. Because my job involves working indoors, at a desk, in front of a computer for 10 hours a day, it’s rare for me to get much sun exposure. Sometimes I’ll sneak out for a coffee run or something, but even then only my face and hands will be exposed since I typically wear a dress shirt, and the walk to the coffee shop only takes 5-10 minutes. We’re talking minimal exposure at most.… Read More
I had normal cholesterol, went low carb, and then ketogenic, and saw that my cholesterol started to go crazy. I tried a host of things to bring it down including raising my carbs and taking various supplements to no effect. I finally saw a lipidologist, did some more research, and came up with a 12 point gameplan which surprisingly worked!
I’m now in the process of peeling away parts of my gameplan to see what changes, if any happen to my cholesterol levels.
This past October I stopped taking bergamot and saw a bump in my LDL-P. … Read More
I had normal cholesterol, went low carb, and then ketogenic, and saw that my cholesterol started to go crazy. I tried a host of things to bring it down including raising my carbs and taking various supplements to no effect. I finally saw a lipidologist, did some more research, and came up with a 12 point gameplan which surprisingly worked!
I’m now in the process of peeling away parts of my gameplan to see what changes, if any happen to my cholesterol levels.… Read More
In my last post I shared the notes I took from my consultation with the lipidologist. During that initial meeting she ordered all the labs we discussed and many that we didn’t.
After a week the results came back and we discussed them over the phone. Unfortunately there was a lab screw up and a bunch of the insulin resistance labs she ordered weren’t processed.
I of course took diligent notes that I’ll share below. As a warning, like the past couple of posts in this series, things do get a bit dense and technical, but I’d rather give you more information than less. … Read More
After a little over three months since I stopped working as a shift worker and fixed a lot of my sleep issues and settled into a fairly regular routine, I thought it would be a good idea to check some of my labs to see where I stood. I checked my NMR Lipoprofile, Apo B100, Lp-PLA2, Ferritin, fasting Insulin, CRP, Vitamin D, Thyroid Panel, and Testosterone. Before going into the health test results, here is a brief bit of background.
My last series of tests was in October 2014 when I was trying another round of strictly following the Carb Nite protocol.… Read More
My previous Vitamin D Posts:
I hope you don’t mind if I just plagiarize myself a bit since it’s also helpful for me to go through some of this stuff:
… Read MoreBasics of Vitamin D
- It is a hormone derived from cholesterol
- It can be made in the skin with exposure to sunlight
- It can also be ingested with food or supplementation
Effects of Vitamin D
- Maintains calcium levels in body which is important for bone health
- Regulates gene expression
- Helps immune function
- May provide anti-cancer effects
- Vitamin D levels need to be in the 50 -70 ng/mL range for thyroid hormone receptors to respond properly
- Low Vitamin D levels are seen in obesity, although I’m not entirely sure if it’s known whether obesity causes low vitamin D levels, or if it’s the other way around.