6 replies to this topic

[britt3303]

Stats

• 23 years old
• 5'3, 110 lbs.
• On daily low-estrogen birth control pills (for the past 6 years)
• Vegetarian/mostly vegan diet as of July 2014. Ate mostly vegetarian for past several years
• Green smoothie almost every day (kale, spinach, apple, banana, lemon, pear)
• Exercise - Infrequent due to crazy work schedule and frankly laziness and ease of maintaining aesthetics without

 

 

Current Supplements (since July 2014 - nothing before)

• Curcumin
• B12 
• Folic Acid
• IP6
• Monolaurin

 

 

Health Concerns

• HPV - pap smear in July 2014 showed low grade abnormalities due to HPV
• Minor lymph node swellings in groin (perhaps due to HPV??)
• Blood sugar (see blood test results)
• Borderline hypothyroidism (see blood test results)
• Somewhat high body temperature (98.6 - 99.2 throughout day - which seems to contradict hypothyroidism) 
• Overall cancer prevention 
• Have anxiety (especially health anxiety), and major stress right now with job

 

For ease, I've uploaded screenshots of my latest blood test. Most concerned about:

Glucose - 98 (Normal range 65 - 99) - but I feel like I shouldn't have this high number based on my lifestyle

TSH  -  2.58 

 

I SO appreciate any of your help or input! 

 

 

Attached Files

•  Screenshot 2014-10-22 21.44.14.png   97.34KB   2 downloads
•  Screenshot 2014-10-22 21.43.56.png   92.46KB   1 downloads

Edited by britt3303, 23 October 2014 - 05:15 AM.

[platypus]

Why do you think your blood sugar should be low - are you some kind of low-carb moderate-fat moderate-protein diet and avoid sugar? Also, are you physically strong? Having adequate muscle-mass is a prerequisite for excellent glucose-control, i.e. one should avoid becoming "skinny-fat" like the plaque. 

 

edit: Also, it seems your smoothie is laden with sugar from the fruit. Fruit ought to be consumed whole as the fiber in them will dampen the blood-sugar spike. Fruit-juices are not healthy!

Edited by platypus, 23 October 2014 - 12:13 PM.

[britt3303]

Why do you think your blood sugar should be low - are you some kind of low-carb moderate-fat moderate-protein diet and avoid sugar? Also, are you physically strong? Having adequate muscle-mass is a prerequisite for excellent glucose-control, i.e. one should avoid becoming "skinny-fat" like the plaque. 

 

edit: Also, it seems your smoothie is laden with sugar from the fruit. Fruit ought to be consumed whole as the fiber in them will dampen the blood-sugar spike. Fruit-juices are not healthy!

 

 

I don't think my blood sugar should be low. But 98 is almost like pre-diabetic which shocked me because by all appearances I'm extremely healthy - and this was taken after fasting for about 12 hrs. 

 

Hmmm.. I didn't know that about the fruit. The smoothie is 80% vegetables (blended in my Vitamix) - just use a bit of fruit to make it drinkable. 

[timar]

Your background lacks a description of your diet other than the fact that it is mostly vegan and the ingredients of your smoothie.

 

What is the form and the amount of B12 you take?

 

I think a basic multivitamin is a good idea to take for almost anyone. In your case it may be appropriate to take one formulated for menstruating woman that includes iron. Although your CBC panel isn't indicative of an acute iron deficiency, your body stores may running low on a vegan diet (next time you should ask to have your ferritin level tested), particularly if you additionally take supplemental IP6 (which may not be a good idea - why do you take it, when and how much?). I would also test for vitamin D and supplement accordingly (to reach 40-60 ng/ml 25(OD)D) as vitamin D deficiency is the norm nowadays. Supplemental long chain PUFAs from fish oil or alternatively algae oil are essential for anyone following a vegan diet, just as adequate supplementation of B12. Zinc, iodine and selenium are often scarce in a vegan diet but essential for thyroid function - again, a multivitamin providing the RDA of those minerals will take care of that.

 

A possible explanation for the borderline high blood sugar is that you fasted for too long and ran into ketosis, which can temporarily cause compensatory insulin resistance and somewhat high fasting blood sugar. Next time, you should fast for no longer than 10 hours.

 

Moreover, there are several micronutrient deficiencies that can cause insulin resistance - one more reason to make shure you don't leave any gaps.

[noots6494]

edit: Also, it seems your smoothie is laden with sugar from the fruit. Fruit ought to be consumed whole as the fiber in them will dampen the blood-sugar spike. Fruit-juices are not healthy!

Are there any studies actually showing blending whole fruits destroys the fiber?

 

[Godof Smallthings]

Your anxiety and stress levels seem like the first ones to take care of here, as prolonged stress/anxiety can disrupt the balance of the body.

Everyone has 10 minutes to spare at some point every day. My advice is to build a meditation habit. Just 10 minutes daily of concentrated relaxation will lower stress during the rest of your day. Wake up 20 minutes earlier, maybe forsake watching TV or surfing, maybe take 10 minutes off your lunch break. Whatever you can do.

 

Jon-Kabat Zinn's Body Scan meditation could be just the ticket. Or Tolle's Inner Body meditation technique. Slightly different ways of essentially working with the physical and mental sensations of anxiety, stress, and any other sensation as well, for that matter.

 

Also, if at all possible, consider if there is anything you can do to reduce stress at work. Take a few days to think it over and write down your ideas and thoughts.

 

If your honest answer, after really considering the matter, is that you can do nothing, then would you prefer to change jobs? Or is this job the one you really want? If you have decided this is what you need to/must do, then you need to work on acceptance of the situation, and trying to integrate a method of accepting and examining stress/anxiety.

 

Hope that helps in some way.

 

[platypus]

Your diet should be looked at - a vegan-diet is rather extreme and can easily be unhealthy unless one pays a lot of attention. Exercise is a fantastic tool against stress and better for your health than any drug/supplement out there. At 23 it's not impossible to be in reasonably ok shape even without any exercise, but at 53 or even at 43 that is just not possible.