- Messages
- 2,171
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
One Year on Part 2
Cholesterol
My cholesterol went up to 4.3mm from 3.9 at my last reading in March - I had already predicted ( and hoped ) it would, because I reckoned that at some stage the growth in my HDL should outweigh the very low figures I was recording for triglycerides last time. Sure enough my HDL is now 1.6 mmol - towards the top end of the range, compared to a very worrying 1.0 mmol a year ago. I have always had low cholesterol and used to pride myself on it, and particularly my high HDL. Looking at the figures again I can now see I as on a downward trajectory ever since 2007 now happily reversed.
Kidney function
One year in I now know why I am being tested for creatinine and albumin and that creatinine is a waste product that needs my kidneys to clear it . I can see that my actual creatinine levels are pretty much at the best level they can be and my creatinine clearance rate is also now at a high, whereas actually it's been prone to be too low in the past leading to a build- up of creatine in my blood. This means I am now actually running with kidneys in the tip top condition of a much younger and thinner person than I actually am - that can only be a testament to my LCHF diet and new exercise regime. I can also see that whilst low creatinine is good, if I can actually increase it whilst at the same time keeping my clearance rate at the current maximum, that would indicated that I am building muscle mass and thus getting even " younger" metabolically. So I need to add in gym sessions and see what happens
Liver function
One year in and I now that know whilst my liver function was always ok and still is, these are the things I need to watch out for.
AST is a marker for Alcoholic hepatitis (severe liver inflammation caused by excessive alcohol consumption) Autoimmune hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by an autoimmune disorder) Celiac disease (small intestine damage caused by gluten). I'm pretty sure I'm not gluten intolerant and frankly historically I drank very little yet by the time I was diagnosed I was knocking up towards the upper end of the normal range ( 10-37 mmol) . Within 6 months of my LCHF lifestyle I had reduced it from a historic high of 31 to an historic low of 17. Since then it's starting to rise gradually, 3 months later 19, 6 months later 21 . I'm still on the right side of average but I can see that as I've felt healthier , I have been more outgoing and spent more time in the pub, complete with my favorite low carb tipple - whisky. Looking at these results, I guess it's time to reign in the whiskey a little!
ALT is a marker for cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis . I've always been a light drinker and I've always been on the low side of average (range 7-41 mmol) and I still am. However my historic low of 13 in March is now creeping back up to 18 mmol - which reinforces the " limit the whiskey" point above
Bilirubin is a marker for liver disease, jaundice and the potential for gallstones and its what makes stools the colour they are. It has a normal range of 3-20 and for much of my life I've been right at the low end (or even below that) of that range commensurate with a very low alcohol lifestyle. It hit the average figure 8 on diagnosis, I can only assume that as with the everything else, my diabetes was starting to affect my liver . I got that back down to 6 by December, nowhere near as low as where I still was in 2012 (4). I am now back to 9 slightly over half way. I do not want gallstones. ****** -that whiskey really is going to have to go back in the cupboard.
GGT
I now know that high Gamma GT is a marker for diabetes, alcohol use, heart failure, liver cancer or failure, lung disease, and pancreas failure. In short the lower this damned thing is, the better. There is a range 5-36. I clearly want to be the low side of average. The last time I was under 20.5 was 2001. By the time I was diagnosed with diabetes in August 2015 the figure had increased to 35 - so I was only just in the normal range . Enter LCHF , within 6 weeks of beginning LCHF I had got that down to 22, by six months 17 and one year 14. it has never been this low for 20 odd years. thankyou HCLF !.
These improvements are clearly despite the offsetting whisky issue, so presumably if I can reduce consumption of that I can drive this down even lower.
Cholesterol
My cholesterol went up to 4.3mm from 3.9 at my last reading in March - I had already predicted ( and hoped ) it would, because I reckoned that at some stage the growth in my HDL should outweigh the very low figures I was recording for triglycerides last time. Sure enough my HDL is now 1.6 mmol - towards the top end of the range, compared to a very worrying 1.0 mmol a year ago. I have always had low cholesterol and used to pride myself on it, and particularly my high HDL. Looking at the figures again I can now see I as on a downward trajectory ever since 2007 now happily reversed.
Kidney function
One year in I now know why I am being tested for creatinine and albumin and that creatinine is a waste product that needs my kidneys to clear it . I can see that my actual creatinine levels are pretty much at the best level they can be and my creatinine clearance rate is also now at a high, whereas actually it's been prone to be too low in the past leading to a build- up of creatine in my blood. This means I am now actually running with kidneys in the tip top condition of a much younger and thinner person than I actually am - that can only be a testament to my LCHF diet and new exercise regime. I can also see that whilst low creatinine is good, if I can actually increase it whilst at the same time keeping my clearance rate at the current maximum, that would indicated that I am building muscle mass and thus getting even " younger" metabolically. So I need to add in gym sessions and see what happens
Liver function
One year in and I now that know whilst my liver function was always ok and still is, these are the things I need to watch out for.
AST is a marker for Alcoholic hepatitis (severe liver inflammation caused by excessive alcohol consumption) Autoimmune hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by an autoimmune disorder) Celiac disease (small intestine damage caused by gluten). I'm pretty sure I'm not gluten intolerant and frankly historically I drank very little yet by the time I was diagnosed I was knocking up towards the upper end of the normal range ( 10-37 mmol) . Within 6 months of my LCHF lifestyle I had reduced it from a historic high of 31 to an historic low of 17. Since then it's starting to rise gradually, 3 months later 19, 6 months later 21 . I'm still on the right side of average but I can see that as I've felt healthier , I have been more outgoing and spent more time in the pub, complete with my favorite low carb tipple - whisky. Looking at these results, I guess it's time to reign in the whiskey a little!
ALT is a marker for cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis . I've always been a light drinker and I've always been on the low side of average (range 7-41 mmol) and I still am. However my historic low of 13 in March is now creeping back up to 18 mmol - which reinforces the " limit the whiskey" point above
Bilirubin is a marker for liver disease, jaundice and the potential for gallstones and its what makes stools the colour they are. It has a normal range of 3-20 and for much of my life I've been right at the low end (or even below that) of that range commensurate with a very low alcohol lifestyle. It hit the average figure 8 on diagnosis, I can only assume that as with the everything else, my diabetes was starting to affect my liver . I got that back down to 6 by December, nowhere near as low as where I still was in 2012 (4). I am now back to 9 slightly over half way. I do not want gallstones. ****** -that whiskey really is going to have to go back in the cupboard.
GGT
I now know that high Gamma GT is a marker for diabetes, alcohol use, heart failure, liver cancer or failure, lung disease, and pancreas failure. In short the lower this damned thing is, the better. There is a range 5-36. I clearly want to be the low side of average. The last time I was under 20.5 was 2001. By the time I was diagnosed with diabetes in August 2015 the figure had increased to 35 - so I was only just in the normal range . Enter LCHF , within 6 weeks of beginning LCHF I had got that down to 22, by six months 17 and one year 14. it has never been this low for 20 odd years. thankyou HCLF !.
These improvements are clearly despite the offsetting whisky issue, so presumably if I can reduce consumption of that I can drive this down even lower.
