Troubling To Say The Least

If you are health conscious at all, you have probably heard the stories in the news about how high cholesterol is becoming an issue at an earlier and earlier age. Apparently, it is showing up in children younger than ten years old, and there is talk of recommending regular cholesterol testing starting at age 9-12! I saw a story on ABC Evening News last night about a fit-looking teenage boy who is now taking statins because the dietary recommendations of low fat, high carb didn't work for him. Try as he may, he could not get his cholesterol down with diet and exercise. This was an active, lean young man. If this trend doesn't make us question conventional wisdom about nutrition and health, I don't know what will. I'm amazed how easily we embrace pharmaceutical solutions but refuse to question the failed dietary prescription. It is troubling to say the least.

I recently had my annual physical and registered improvement in fasting blood glucose, A1C, HDL, triglycerides, body weight, and other markers. But my LDL cholesterol is too high, and it has increased since last year. My doctor has been trying for a couple of years to get me on statins, but I have refused. Given this latest uptick, she was insistent. She's concerned about my health, and she is following the standard of care. I appreciate her and respect her, but I have a strong desire to correct my health issues with lifestyle changes whenever possible. I do not want to take a statin for the rest of my life. I reluctantly accepted the prescription and agreed to take it. After thinking about it for several days and studying alternative approaches, I decided against taking the statin. I can always take it later if further diet and lifestyle changes don't help, but my instincts and study tell me to pursue a different route. After reading (studying) Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution, I am convinced more than ever of the health implications and believe that I may benefit from a purist/strict implementation of Paleo. Here's what this means for me:

• No grains. I already do this with near 100% abstention. So this won't be difficult. I just won't allow myself any grain-based cheats between now and my blood test.
• No legumes. I don't eat legumes except for occasional peanuts and peanut butter. This is an easy switch to real nuts and nut butters.
• No dairy. This is one tenant of paleo that I have never embraced. After more study, I understand the reason for eliminating it, and given my health issues, I think it is a sacrifice worth trying. No more cream in my coffee; no more cottage cheese; no more cheese.
• Eat more fish (wild caught) for the omega 3's. This won't be easy for me because I'm not fond of fish and seafood. But I'm certain I can add at least two fish meals per week. I've got one week under my belt, and I ate fish twice. It didn't kill me.
• Whenever possible, eat 100% grass-fed meat (for the omega 3's). Conventional meat is high in Omega 6's because of the grain diet cattle are fed.
• No bacon or sausage or other processed meats.
• High dose Fish Oil is recommended for unhealthy and/or overweight people. I'm increasing my dose to 20ml (4tsp) per day. I had been taking just 1tsp per day.
• No vegetable oils or products containing vegetable oil (prepackaged mayo, salad dressings, etc). I don't cook with vegetable oils, but I have been using prepackaged mayo and salad dressings which of course are made from vegetable oil. Even the ones that say "Olive Oil and Balsamic" are mostly canola or other vegetable oils. The reason for eliminating the vegetable oils is to get my Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats in balance. Our modern diet is way too heavy on Omega 6's and way too light on Omega 3's.
• Eggs must be Omega 3 enriched. I'm already doing this; I switched to high quality eggs a couple of years ago when I started eating more eggs. I also plan to limit eggs to every other day.
• Emphasize vegetables over fruit especially on light exercise days.
• Get plenty of sleep in a dark room. I'm already pretty good at this, but need to make sure I'm getting to bed at a decent hour every night.
• Increase Vit-D from 1000 to 3000 IU per day.
• Decrease nut consumption to just an oz or two per day. Most nuts have a very poor ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats. (Walnuts have the healthiest ratio). When you overdo on nuts, you can easily throw off the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats. High omega 6's in relationship to omega 3's are implicated in high LDL and insulin resistance. Plus they are high calorie and keep me from dropping weight.
• Strict compliance. This is probably the number one thing I need to do. Just be consistent and stick with it. I had gotten too lax and was allowing myself more than an occasional cheat.

So that's my plan leading up to my blood test on December 7. I implemented these changes over a week ago on November 4. That allows for more than 30 days of strict paleo, and if these changes are going to help me I should see improvement on the retest.