Questions and more questions...

[Danny1611124300]

Hi everybody,

 

my Mom (she's a doctrrr) recently did some tests to check certain blood levels and there seems to be quite a few problems...

 

-HDL cholesterol is at 40 which my Mom says is too low (I read it's okay but since HDL is important for hormone prod. I guess I'll try to boost it)

 

-Q 10 is at 400 (supposed to be 3 times as high)

 

-Selenium is way too high (at 230, almost toxic)

 

-D3, magnesium, and zinc are below requirements

 

My question is if this is okay for vegans (since they often have different requirements) and if any of you get tested regularly or have any experiences/useful advice.

 

Danny

[xjohanx]

It would be a lot easier to help you if you wrote down stuff about your diet, excersise level and type of activity etc.

[chrisjs]

Are you overweight? Are you active? Taking a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement?

 

Was the one test for D3 or 25(OH)D?

[VeganDavid]

Danny,

 

Always look at the total cholesterol figure, not so much the component part.

Should aim for 150 or less total cholesterol.

[cubby2112]

Danny,

 

Always look at the total cholesterol figure, not so much the component part.

Should aim for 150 or less total cholesterol.

 

Yes, and if your LDL is low, your HDL is almost irrelevant.

[Fallen_Horse]

For D3, get some sun!

 

For selenium, you must be eating a lotta nuts to get numbers like that. Most high selenium foods aren't even vegan...

[Danny1611124300]

It would be a lot easier to help you if you wrote down stuff about your diet, excersise level and type of activity etc.

 

Yeah, I lift weights about 3 hours a week (mostly hypertrophy) and do Muay Thai and boxing about 3 hours a week. Until recently I've done a lot more but school and work has kept me awful busy. I think I'm in pretty good overall shape. I also ride a bike to get around. No walking or talking the bus/car.

My diet has been pretty clean but not too much variety. I eat oats with soy milk in the morning a bag of trail mix (200gr of nuts + 200 grams raisins, I don't eat all of these though) at around 10 AM. From noon on I'll usually eat like 2 or three meals of legumes with a little veggies. (Like a garbanzo bean salad with cucumber and bell peppers or a bean burrito with corn and a little bit of veggies raw) and another bag of trail mix. Occasionally I'll eat fake meat with whole wheat noodles, but not often.

I think I do well with cutting out processed crap and sweets (aka junkfood) but I have to eat a greater variety of legumes and more veggies.

 

Are you overweight?

 

No, I weigh around 76 keys (or 170 US pounds) at 6 feet (or 180 cm). I'm pretty lean and somewhat muscular.

 

Are you active?

 

Yes, see above.

 

Taking a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement?

 

Yes, I take a daily pill of Vegan Society's "VEG 1" although I'll have to stop using it because it contains selenium. I also sporadically (every second day) take Solaray's Zinc Magnesium Calcium pill and get B 12 shots.

 

For D3, get some sun!

 

I'm outdoor relatively often and definitely not a couch potato.

 

Was the one test for D3 or 25(OH)D?

 

No idea.

 

For selenium, you must be eating a lotta nuts to get numbers like that.

 

Between 200 and 400 grams a day. I guess that's a lot.

 

Always look at the total cholesterol figure, not so much the component part.

Should aim for 150 or less total cholesterol.

 

My total is at 139 (LDL is 87 and HDL is at 41). Is this supposed to add up?

 

Does anyone know anything about Q 10. As far as I've read it's in a lot of vegan food but is destroyed by boiling or cooking.

[xjohanx]

First, buy a good vitamin D2 supplement. Go high if you don't live in a warm climate all year around.

If you do want to boost your HDL levels I would try replacing some polyunsaturated with monounsaturated fatty acids. MUFA is mostly found in olives (olive oil) and some nuts (lik almonds). Also I know that in animal models Q10 supplements has been shown to increase HDL so your low levels might be related to the low level of Q10 you have. I think you should ask your mom about this though.

Well selenium you seem to get the idea, quit the supplement. VEG1 is made for vegans in the UK who eat mostly local stuff I guess and since UK soil is poor in selenium man people need the supplement. If you live elsewhere or eat imported products (like brown rice, quinoa etc) you will get plenty through your regular diet. Make sure you get another source of B12 though.

[Danny1611124300]

I've been eating a tablespoon of cocoa fat every day to increase HDL. I also get B12 shots regularly so that shouldn't be a problem. I guess I'm going to have to eat more quality raw stuff (and less nuts). D2? Was that a typo?

Do you have any reliable info on Q10 (I haven't found any reliable sources)? I hardly know anything about this and it's not in the standard "vegan checklist"...

 

Thanks for the info everybody...

[xjohanx]

Cocoa fat is like 60 grams of SAFA and only 30-40 grams of PUFA and SAFAs are better at raising LDL than HDL (does both though).

 

Vegan vitamin D is almost always D2, now there are ways to create vegan D3 vitamin but it's not common at all. So you will have to buy D2 if you want it to be vegan. I highly recommend veglife which you can buy at http://www.veganessentials.com. I take 2 pills a day during autumn, winter and early spring.