Vegan results so far...
jflongo
Posts: 289 Member
So for starters I went Vegan 2.5 months ago, so not the full year, so I can't say it's 100% due to this.
Last year, I had a physical and blood drawn.
my Cholesterol Total was at 251 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 69 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 168 mg/dl, Triglyceride 71 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 182.
I had a physical on Monday and blood drawn again and was quite shocked.
my Cholesterol Total was at 177 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 64 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 103 mg/dl, Triglyceride 50 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 113.
Even though I had planned on staying Vegan, this cemented that even harder. I also had my B12 and other items tested and they all came out fantastic as well.
Just thought I would share this, in case anyone was on the fence about it. Keep in mind, I do workout 4 - 5 days / week, so that could have contributed to this a little as well.
Last year, I had a physical and blood drawn.
my Cholesterol Total was at 251 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 69 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 168 mg/dl, Triglyceride 71 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 182.
I had a physical on Monday and blood drawn again and was quite shocked.
my Cholesterol Total was at 177 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 64 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 103 mg/dl, Triglyceride 50 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 113.
Even though I had planned on staying Vegan, this cemented that even harder. I also had my B12 and other items tested and they all came out fantastic as well.
Just thought I would share this, in case anyone was on the fence about it. Keep in mind, I do workout 4 - 5 days / week, so that could have contributed to this a little as well.
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Replies
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Good news for you, but all my cholesterol levels are just fine and I am decidedly NOT a vegan or vegetarian. I eat meat, cheese, eggs, ice cream and all that. I don't exercise either.
I'm not discounting that your diet choices are working for you, but being a vegan isn't a cure all for everyone.22 -
Great job on getting your numbers down!! Looks like a good way of eating for you to stick to!4
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So for starters I went Vegan 2.5 months ago, so not the full year, so I can't say it's 100% due to this.
Last year, I had a physical and blood drawn.
my Cholesterol Total was at 251 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 69 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 168 mg/dl, Triglyceride 71 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 182.
I had a physical on Monday and blood drawn again and was quite shocked.
my Cholesterol Total was at 177 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 64 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 103 mg/dl, Triglyceride 50 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 113.
Even though I had planned on staying Vegan, this cemented that even harder. I also had my B12 and other items tested and they all came out fantastic as well.
Just thought I would share this, in case anyone was on the fence about it. Keep in mind, I do workout 4 - 5 days / week, so that could have contributed to this a little as well.
Your exercise is likely playing a strong role in your results. If you have lost weight, that likely contributed as well.
For most people, exercise and weight loss (if overweight) have a much greater effect on blood cholesterol levels than dietary cholesterol does. If your morals tell you veganism is the best option for you, then there's nothing wrong with being vegan, but it doesn't necessarily do much for cholesterol for most of the population.12 -
Your improved cholesterol lab results mirror the results people have experienced making the changes you made in your dietary practices, in particular, Dr. John McDougall’s starch-based nutrition approach. Congratulations on your initial success. Keep us posted how your continuing wellness journey goes for you, I’m very interested.13
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How much weight have you lost over that time frame?
most likely it is the exercise and weight loss, not the change to Vegan that led to the better health markers. If you wanted the true experiment you would have had to keep activity and calorie levels the same before and after the diet switch.13 -
I'm a vegetarian, for the most part. My cholesterol was 98 at my last blood test 2 weeks ago. It is down even though I had gained some weight and cut back on exercising. I'm getting back on the weight loss and exercising bandwagon as of today. I have found over the years that different things work differently for everyone. There is more than one cause of high cholesterol. Keep up the good work and what works for you.1
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How much weight have you lost over that time frame?
most likely it is the exercise and weight loss, not the change to Vegan that led to the better health markers. If you wanted the true experiment you would have had to keep activity and calorie levels the same before and after the diet switch.
Probably since my last blood test in April 2018, maybe around 10 lbs. April 2018, I was around 204 lbs, now I'm around 194 lbs, and a little over 6'. I started back in the Gym in December of 2017, so was working out constantly for around 4 months before I had that blood test in April 2018. I was probably around 215 - 220lbs in December of 2017.3 -
congrats on your success.
I am vegan and have been my entire life. I have not had any issues with anything thus far. 5 -
Well done on the great results !1
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So for starters I went Vegan 2.5 months ago, so not the full year, so I can't say it's 100% due to this.
Last year, I had a physical and blood drawn.
my Cholesterol Total was at 251 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 69 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 168 mg/dl, Triglyceride 71 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 182.
I had a physical on Monday and blood drawn again and was quite shocked.
my Cholesterol Total was at 177 mg/dl, HDL Cholesterol 64 mg/dl, LDL Cholesterol 103 mg/dl, Triglyceride 50 mg/dl, non HDL Cholesterol 113.
Even though I had planned on staying Vegan, this cemented that even harder. I also had my B12 and other items tested and they all came out fantastic as well.
Just thought I would share this, in case anyone was on the fence about it. Keep in mind, I do workout 4 - 5 days / week, so that could have contributed to this a little as well.
Have you lost weight? Losing weight in addition to regular exercise usually improves blood work in just about everyone.
I eat a lot more veggies, oats, legumes, etc than I used to, but I still eat meat and whatnot and got all of my blood work into the optimal range by losing weight and introducing regular exercise.5 -
That's great progress, well done!
I'm a vegetarian and tried being vegan last year. I found the weight dropping off easily, probably due to less choice of junk food. I also stopped binge eating. I didn't stick to it though, I missed milk chocolate and cheese too much. I think anyone who has the discipline to be vegan is great. I managed 4 months.5 -
Congratulations! That's awesome! A vegan diet is naturally low in cholesterol so this makes sense. My mom was diagnosed with high cholesterol at age 56 and was prescribed medication. She didn't want to deal with side effects so she became vegan. Her cholesterol went down significantly (without any other changes in activity levels). She's been vegan now for 9 years, supplementing B12 like all vegans should, and all her bloodwork results always comes back really great.
Really proud of you, OP, for taking care of your health!14 -
That's great news! I just had my bloodwork done and it was good, thank goodness. I'm not vegan and don't have plans to be. I did ask my doctor is working out benefits cholesterol. Other than keeping you at a healthy weight if you're eating according to plan, her answer was no. It's genetics and diet. My genetics are terrible, so I'm keeping an eye on it. I'll be sad if the day comes when I have to give up eggs and cheese...0
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girlwithcurls2 wrote: »That's great news! I just had my bloodwork done and it was good, thank goodness. I'm not vegan and don't have plans to be. I did ask my doctor is working out benefits cholesterol. Other than keeping you at a healthy weight if you're eating according to plan, her answer was no. It's genetics and diet. My genetics are terrible, so I'm keeping an eye on it. I'll be sad if the day comes when I have to give up eggs and cheese...
It sounds like your doctor believes you have familial hypercholesterolemia. This form of high cholesterol is genetic but can be helped by diet. The majority of people with high cholesterol, however, do not have this and dietery cholesterol does not have much effect on their blood cholesterol level.
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@jflongo I’m glad your markers have improved and it Sounds like you enjoy this WOE. Cautionary tale, I went WFPB over a year ago and had (literally) perfect blood work and felt great. Eventually, I let vegan junk food creep in and crowd out the beans, tempeh and other protein sources. By December, I could barely get the energy to run. IMO, you don’t need too much protein, but you do need enough.2
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Congratulations on the great results. You might want to keep in mind that B12 deficiencies take more than a couple of months to show up (your body can store B12, and you don't use that much), so you might want to be sure you're consuming some fortified foods (like fortified nutritional yeast, which I like on popcorn, especially if you mix it with a little cayenne and ground chipotle -- good in a tofu scramble, too).2
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »Congratulations on the great results. You might want to keep in mind that B12 deficiencies take more than a couple of months to show up (your body can store B12, and you don't use that much), so you might want to be sure you're consuming some fortified foods (like fortified nutritional yeast, which I like on popcorn, especially if you mix it with a little cayenne and ground chipotle -- good in a tofu scramble, too).
Thank you. I do get a serving of nutritional yeast in just about every day and take a 1000mcg pill every day.
Regarding everyone saying many things are genetic, I would not call that 100% true. Just because my mother had colon cancer, doesn't mean I would. Many of my family members are overweight, eat like crap, and some smoke. Many of that has caused their diseases, not necessarily genetics.4 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Congratulations on the great results. You might want to keep in mind that B12 deficiencies take more than a couple of months to show up (your body can store B12, and you don't use that much), so you might want to be sure you're consuming some fortified foods (like fortified nutritional yeast, which I like on popcorn, especially if you mix it with a little cayenne and ground chipotle -- good in a tofu scramble, too).
Thank you. I do get a serving of nutritional yeast in just about every day and take a 1000mcg pill every day.
Regarding everyone saying many things are genetic, I would not call that 100% true. Just because my mother had colon cancer, doesn't mean I would. Many of my family members are overweight, eat like crap, and some smoke. Many of that has caused their diseases, not necessarily genetics.
First, I don’t believe anyone said your high cholesterol is genetic. I did say it sounded like someone else’s doctor believed they have a specific form of genetic high cholesterol based on the advice that person got. Most people do not have this. You probably do not have this unless your doctor diagnosed you with it.
Second, saying something is “genetic” in the way you’re using it is very broad. The genetics for familial hypercholesterolemia and colon cancer are not the same. Without going into great detail, some conditions are very strongly influenced by genetics, but many are combinations of genetics and other factors. We can’t directly compare the mechanisms of different disease processss just by calling them “genetic.”1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Congratulations on the great results. You might want to keep in mind that B12 deficiencies take more than a couple of months to show up (your body can store B12, and you don't use that much), so you might want to be sure you're consuming some fortified foods (like fortified nutritional yeast, which I like on popcorn, especially if you mix it with a little cayenne and ground chipotle -- good in a tofu scramble, too).
Thank you. I do get a serving of nutritional yeast in just about every day and take a 1000mcg pill every day.
Regarding everyone saying many things are genetic, I would not call that 100% true. Just because my mother had colon cancer, doesn't mean I would. Many of my family members are overweight, eat like crap, and some smoke. Many of that has caused their diseases, not necessarily genetics.
First, I don’t believe anyone said your high cholesterol is genetic. I did say it sounded like someone else’s doctor believed they have a specific form of genetic high cholesterol based on the advice that person got. Most people do not have this. You probably do not have this unless your doctor diagnosed you with it.
Second, saying something is “genetic” in the way you’re using it is very broad. The genetics for familial hypercholesterolemia and colon cancer are not the same. Without going into great detail, some conditions are very strongly influenced by genetics, but many are combinations of genetics and other factors. We can’t directly compare the mechanisms of different disease processss just by calling them “genetic.”
So many people say things are genetics. Is it true that some things are passed down by genetics, yes. However, quite often these lay dormant, and then your crappy eating and lifestyle is what wakes them up.3 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Congratulations on the great results. You might want to keep in mind that B12 deficiencies take more than a couple of months to show up (your body can store B12, and you don't use that much), so you might want to be sure you're consuming some fortified foods (like fortified nutritional yeast, which I like on popcorn, especially if you mix it with a little cayenne and ground chipotle -- good in a tofu scramble, too).
Thank you. I do get a serving of nutritional yeast in just about every day and take a 1000mcg pill every day.
Regarding everyone saying many things are genetic, I would not call that 100% true. Just because my mother had colon cancer, doesn't mean I would. Many of my family members are overweight, eat like crap, and some smoke. Many of that has caused their diseases, not necessarily genetics.
First, I don’t believe anyone said your high cholesterol is genetic. I did say it sounded like someone else’s doctor believed they have a specific form of genetic high cholesterol based on the advice that person got. Most people do not have this. You probably do not have this unless your doctor diagnosed you with it.
Second, saying something is “genetic” in the way you’re using it is very broad. The genetics for familial hypercholesterolemia and colon cancer are not the same. Without going into great detail, some conditions are very strongly influenced by genetics, but many are combinations of genetics and other factors. We can’t directly compare the mechanisms of different disease processss just by calling them “genetic.”
So many people say things are genetics. Is it true that some things are passed down by genetics, yes. However, quite often these lay dormant, and then your crappy eating and lifestyle is what wakes them up.
That's really not how things being "genetic" works overall. Genetics of disease processes are a lot more complicated than what you're describing. It depends very much on what medical condition is being discussed.
However, for the purposes of this post, a small proportion of the population has an inherited condition called familial hypercholesterolemia. Those individuals' cholesterol levels can be influenced more readily by diet.
The larger proportion of the population with high cholesterol does not have this condition. Their cholesterol levels respond most strongly to increased exercise and weight loss if they are overweight.1
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