My Blood Work After 7 Months On An Animal-based Diet

I am not a doctor, scientist, or expert in anything. This content should not be construed as advice or recommendation, but is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I’ve been treating myself as a guinea pig for years, experimenting with different dietary approaches to try to figure out what allows me to live at an optimal level. For the last 7 months I have been following an animal-based diet.

I will do a follow up article on why I’m trying animal-based and exactly what it looks like. But at a high level, around two-thirds of my 3500+ daily calories come from animal products and the rest come from fruit.

The only supplements I’ve taken are desiccated beef organs, vitamin D3, and single ingredient collagen or whey protein. I do not take any prescription or over-the-counter medications.

Based on conventional medical wisdom, my blood work should look like shit with all of the meat and saturated fat I eat, as well as, the high level of carbohydrate from the fruit, honey, and maple syrup. Before we get to the results, I do want to give credit to Dr. Paul Saladino whose work I have been following. He regularly shares his blood results with his listeners/watchers on his podcast.

I think it’s a great idea to show the actual data instead of the untested hypotheses, speculation, and poorly designed epidemiological or animal studies that are usually the case with most in the nutrition and longevity space. So here goes.

You can see that my blood was drawn on February 8th, and I just had my consult to review the results the other day. Many doctors will not do a lot of these tests, such as fasting insulin, sex hormones, or thyroid unless you ask for them or if you are consulting with a specialist who might order them. I did my panel through Marek Health and by-passed doctors.

For starters, my thyroid numbers need a little work. TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is a bit high (ideally should be 2.0 or less) and my free T4 is a bit low (1.5 or higher is ideal). My CBC numbers (complete blood count) were all in good shape. The glucose reading, which is a fairly worthless metric, is in normal range.

The next page shows my kidney function and cholesterol panel. My kidneys are in good shape. My BUN (blood urea nitrogen) and BUN/creatinine ratio were just outside of the range, but are normal according to my reviewer since I consume higher amounts of protein and do strength training.

My total cholesterol is high, but cholesterol numbers, especially LDL, are not good indicators of cardiovascular health. Just as an fyi, HDL and LDL are not cholesterol, but are lipoproteins which transport cholesterol throughout the body.

My HDL, the “good” lipoprotein, is exceptionally high (over 50 is considered good), and my reviewer couldn’t believe I didn’t eat a lot of fish or take an omega-3 supplement. My HDL is likely high because I eat pasture-raised meat products which are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, and don’t consume grain-fed animal products, seed oils, or grains.

My triglycerides are very low (under 90 is optimal) and my VLDL is very low as well (under 30 is optimal.)

The next page shows my iron levels which are good. My total testosterone is very high, but my free testosterone is low. I’ll hit on hormones more at the end. My hemoglobin A1c which is an average of blood glucose over the last 90 days is about spot on.

DHEA-Sulfate, which is considered the master sex hormone is pretty low (should be 350+). Cortisol levels were fine. Luteinizing hormone which is secreted by the pituitary and signals testosterone production is fine as was my FSH (follicle stimulating hormone).

My prolactin was in a good range (below 10 for men.) PSA levels were very low which is good. IGF-1 is a surrogate marker for growth hormone and mine was just shy of the optimal level of 175+.

My vitamin D levels were very good. Low vitamin D levels set you up for poor outcomes from pathogenic diseases and cancer. Research is showing that levels above 50 result in better outcomes. I take 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily except during the summer when I try to get my D from the sun.

Lipoprotein (a) is a LDL variant and supposedly higher levels can increase chances of heart attack or stroke, but my levels were fine. C-reactive protein (CRP) which is a marker for cardiac inflammation was very low at .32 with a target of .75 or less.

Estradiol was fine. GGT, which is a marker for liver health, was good. Progesterone levels were perfect.

The big one for me that I wanted to see was my fasting insulin. I mentioned earlier how blood glucose readings are essentially worthless. Well, fasting insulin is the one that really counts as insulin resistance can have major negative impacts on cardiovascular and overall health. The reference range is extremely wide, but anything above 5 starts to indicate some level of insulin resistance. Mine was 4.2 which was a relief given a family history of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues.

Ferritin is an iron test and was normal. Free T3 is another thyroid test and was below the optimal range of 3.5-7.0. My sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was extremely high and is the reason for my low levels of free testosterone. I’ll get to some of the potential causes shortly. My apolipoprotein B (ApoB), another protein involved in metabolism of lipids and is supposed to be an indicator of cardiovascular health, was elevated above the ideal target of 90 or less.

Fist, I’ll address the cholesterol issue.

Our arteries will most likely be damaged and heal many times over throughout our lives given the high pressures they experience. But without chronic inflammation and an out of control healing mechanism, clot development is extremely unlikely. Meta-analyses on statins and other drugs which lower LDL show little improvement for cardiovascular outcomes. Odds are good that LDL is simply guilty by association and isn’t necessarily the problem.

LDL is a part of the healing process bringing cholesterol to damaged cells; every cell has a sterol membrane. To me, blaming cholesterol for clots is like blaming firefighters for fires.

What drives chronic inflammation? Insulin resistance is the likely culprit which would explain why diabetics have major cardiovascular and circulatory issues. But you don’t have to be a full blown diabetic to have these issues. Even low levels of insulin resistance cause chronic inflammation and damage throughout the body.

While nothing is guaranteed, I have no concerns about my cardiovascular health even though my “bad” cholesterol and ApoB were higher than the reference range. I anticipated my LDL being higher due to the simple fact that I eat a lot of animal products that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol which will require higher levels of LDL. But my cortisol, CRP, insulin, HDL, triglycerides, and VLDL are all excellent.

I want to focus on hormones because they are critical signaling factors for a huge range of processes throughout the body. Hormones don’t seem to get the attention from the medical community they should with the exception of just injecting people willy nilly or prescribing thyroid medications without trying to understand why they are low, or high, in the first place.

Age certainly plays a factor in declining hormone production and how the body responds to them. But what’s probably just as important if not more important is the impact our lifestyles have on hormone production and signaling.

If you look at a chart of the steroid hormone cascade, the first thing you will see is that cholesterol, yes cholesterol, is the precursor to steroid hormones including DHEA which is the precursor to testosterone and estrogen. The proper balance of testosterone and estrogen which are produced in both men and women, are critical for the body to function optimally.

What can interfere with hormone production? There are many potential causes including:

• Low cholesterol either from use of cholesterol lowering drugs or low intake of dietary saturated fats and cholesterol

• Other prescription medications

• Poor sleep habits

• Alcohol consumption

• Highly processed foods that include seed oils, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, refined sugars, and other chemicals

• Too little protein

• To little quality carbohydrate (ketogenic diets)

• Deficiencies in micro-nutrients

• Pretty much anything the longevity community recommends as body hacks including protein restriction, caloric restriction, time restricted eating, and intermittent fasting.

• Excessive exercise.

I’m pretty convinced that the reasons my free testosterone and DHEA are low, and my SHBG and TSH are higher are due to low carbohydrate intake and time restricted eating. Given a family history of Type 2 diabetes, I have been intent on keeping my carbohydrate intake low, but I’m starting to rethink that based on what scientific literature is showing and now my own results. More evidence is pointing to high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) typically found in seed oils such as canola, soy, cottonseed, sunflower, and corn as a significant factor in obesity and insulin resistance.

I’ve also stopped my experiment with time restricted eating. I was eating 2 meals a day with the first meal around 11 am and the second meal usually before 7 pm.

When the body senses famine, all sorts of things happen to try to help the body survive, and hormone production going in the tank is one of them. I’m back to eating a light breakfast just to signal my body that I’m not starving. I plan to do some more blood tests in a few months to check my hormone levels, and will put out another post with updates.

Now you know more about me than I knew about myself just a couple of weeks ago. My point in sharing this information with you is that much of what we are being told is healthy or unhealthy for us may not be correct, and we should be hesitant to blindly accept mainstream and other health narratives at face value.

Whether or not you plan on making significant changes to your diet, it would probably make sense to consult with a functional doctor and get similar blood work done so you know what’s going on. If you do decide to make changes, you’ll have a baseline to make comparisons. After a few months on your new eating pattern, re-test to see how the results compare and if things are moving the right direction.

Eating shouldn’t be complicated so don’t over think it. I’ve found that keeping it simple by eating more like our hunter-gatherer ancestors offers surprisingly good results.