It was time for my 9 month check-up. In addition to a CT scan, my doctor ordered some blood work. I did both the lab work and the CT scan just before leaving on an extended work/pleasure trip. I have to confess that more than once during that 3 week wait for results did I experience a little anxiety. "Oh, ye of little fatih", you say. Hey, I'm workin' on it.
So anyway, we get back from our road trip, I see my doctor the next day, and I get a stellar report! I haven't felt this excited since I brought home straight A's in grade school*. Seriously - the first person I called was my mother.
Doc told me the scan revealed that all the plumbing was normal. Awesome! Then we went over my blood work, and now I'm really jazzed. The last time he tested me, my total cholesterol was high (246); but because my HDL was high and my ratios were good, he wasn't concerned. BTW, if that last sentence isn't clear to you, you have some homework to do.
"What did you do differently?" you ask. I ate more red meat, raw milk, and butter. Seriously. As counterintuitive to the mainstream mantra of "fat is evil", my results came as a result of following the metabolic typing diet. During the same period, I also cut my sugar consumption way back - no more soft drinks/sweet tea, very few cookies and cake. All of this would be consistent with the Metabolic Typing Diet I mentioned a couple of times this spring:
At the time I wrote these, I had no clinical evidence of how my mixed metabolic type, which does well with some saturated fats, would respond to the changes in my diet. Well now I do. My disclaimer would be that I'm just one guy and this is just one test. But dang! I sure like those results.
I hope this places a crack in the firmly held belief system of most that red meat, raw milk, and butter will kill you. For those of you with high cholesterol, taking statin drugs is the medical solution. A good read for those of us concerned about high cholesterol can be found on the Mayo Clinic website:
Statins: Are these cholesterol-lowering drugs right for you
It's a good piece that acknowledges the risks of taking statins. They also recommend lifestyle changes that should occur before using the drugs. As you would expect, they blow it when they recommend "Eating a healthy diet that's low in fat, cholesterol, and salt". Try telling that to an Eskimo who's native diet consists of a whole lotta fat and cholesterol, but who has no trouble with heart disease.
What about those of us who follow all the recommendations of a Mayo-type clinic or doctor but still have high cholesterol? Three of my favorite people in the world come to mind: my sister Cynthia, my brother-in-law Jim, and one of my 10:10 Wellness Saturday regulars Barkley.
All are are incredibly healthy and fit. They exercise, their weight is in check - but they all have high cholesterol - and they all take statins. After Jim's bout with prostrate cancer, he was convinced that red meat was the culprit - so he now avoids.
One of the points of the Mayo piece is that you don't just take statins until your cholesterol comes down - you take it forever. That is unless you discover how to bring it down naturally.
And that's the point of The Metabolic Typing Diet.
*that's a bold-faced lie. I never brought home straight A's in school. I'm just hoping those that didn't read this far will now think I have intellectual potential.
