Issue #37: What's in Your Blood?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, October 5th.
This is one of the issues I've been dying to write since we launched Thrive25. A few months ago I finally went to the doctor and requested a full blood panel (and I'm almost as afraid of needles as I am snakes). Sure, we know a lot from how we feel and what we can do, but sometimes you gotta take a look inside. Today - we're peering into the complicated world of blood test results... 💉
“There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.”
The amount of added sugar the body needs to function properly (Dr. Casey Means).
Your Metabolic Blood Panel
So you get a physical, request a blood test, and get your results. Umm...what does all of this mean? They don't make it easy to make sense of these acronyms and numbers. Well, we're here to help.
The Top 10 (homage to David Letterman)
1. High sensitivity C-reative protein (hsCRP) - sounds complicated. It's a protein made in the liver that increases with inflammation. This can go up before you notice the inflammation - a good marker to know and get ahead of any problems.
Range: 0.5-10 mg/L; Aim for less than 1 mg/L (ideally even lower) [mg/L = milligrams per liter]
2. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) - glucose binds to our hemoglobin in red blood cells (which each live for about 3 months). So basically this is a 90-day avg of our blood sugar level. Note: many experts believe the variability of this test often makes it inaccurate.
Range: 0.0-6.4%; Aim for less than 5.2-5.5%
3. Fasting Glucose - this is a better measure of blood glucose (Note: you can't eat for at least 12 hours before the blood is drawn) and can identify potential for diabetes or metabolic problems.
Range: Optimal = Less than 85 mg/dL; Normal = 86-100 mg/dL; Prediabetes = 100-125 mg/dL; Diabetes = 125+ [*mg/dL = milligrams per deciliter]
4. Fasting Insulin - the other side of the coin, insulin is the hormone that moves glucose into cells. Your body wants low glucose, but while that might be in the normal range, high insulin shows your pancreas is working too hard, leading to potential metabolic problems in the future.
Range: Optimal = 2-6 uIU/mL; OK = 7-10 uIU/mL; Concerning = 10-19 uIU/mL; Warning = 20+ uIU/mL [*uIU/mL = micro-international units per milliliter]
5. Triglycerides - most fat we eat are triglycerides and they give us energy, but extra calories, alcohol, and sugar turn into triglycerides and are stored in fat cells. High triglycerides lead to metabolic problems and potentially fatty liver disease.
Range: Ideal = Less than 70 mg/dL; Better = Less than 100 mg/dL; Normal = 100-150 mg/dL; Risk = 150+ mg/dL
6. HDL-Cholesterol - ah cholesterol, such a buzzword with health. HDL is considered the "good" cholesterol because it carries the cholesterol back to the liver to be exited from the body. More is better here.
Range: Optimal = More than 60 mg/dL; Normal = 50-60 mg/dL; Low = Less than 50 mg/dL
7. LDL-Cholesterol - this is considered the "bad" cholesterol, but this really requires more explanation. We'll cover this in more detail in the future, but this measure doesn't matter as much we used to think when it comes to predicting our future heart disease.*
Range: Less than 130 mg/dL (less than 100 mg/dL if you have diabetes or heart disease risk)
*If you can't wait and want to read more, check out Dr. Chris Kresser
Whew - that's a lot! Need a minute to stretch, get in a quick walk?
Ok - now just a few calculations from those tests and we're done:
8. Triglyceride-to-HDL Ratio - this is becoming one of the gold standards in predicting heart disease. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, if this ratio is high your risk for heart disease goes up 1,600 percent!
To Calculate: Triglycerides Test Result / HDL Test Result
Range: Optimal = Less than 2.5-to-1 in Caucasians & 1.5-to-1 in African Americans (why this is different is unknown but that's what the data shows in terms of increased risk).
*Personal Note: I was happy to learn this fact. I actually have high LDL - to the point the doctor wanted more tests. But thankfully my triglyceride-to-HDL ratio is 1.1-to-1
9. Total Cholesterol-to-HDL Ratio - if you don't have the triglycerides test result or want another assessment, this is also better than LDL for predicting cardio risk.
To Calculate: HDL + LDL / HDL
Range: Optimal = Less than 2-to-1; Normal = Less than 5-to-1; Risk = Above 5-to-1
10. HOMA-IR - this one is really a bonus metric (but we said Top 10, so we couldn't stop at 9). This measures your insulin sensitivity - the beginning of many health issues.
To Calculate: (Fasting Glucose * Fasting Insulin) / 405 (online calculator)
Range: Aim for Less than 1
**Huge thanks to Levels Health - their amazing blog (read more details here) served up much of this research from multiple leading doctors!
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Move Over X-Rays: AI’s got a new target - MRIs. A study from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences shows that deep learning models can review MRIs and estimate brain age compared to chronological age. This could become a transformative digital biomarker for cognitive decline and related diseases (Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.).
Speaking of the Brain: Easy is...easier. But it turns out we really value effort - for example people are willing to pay more for an object they built themselves than the same object built by experts, and it might not just be the endorphins ultramarathoners are after. The momentary pain is less than the reward of the effort. Can we say the same about today's Workout and Logic Puzzle?
Spermi-what?: Supplements and foods with spermidine are linked to longevity. Spermidine is naturally occurring in our bodies and found in peppers and mushrooms. It may help with autophagy (cellular renewal) - thus slowing the signs of aging. Looking for younger skin? Spermidine is apparently great for wrinkles.
Wednesday Weights
Your obliques will feel this one tomorrow - that's supposed to be a good thing. 😀
Click HERE to view the workout on our YouTube channel.
Workout and video courtesy of Connor J. Obrochta. Check out all of Connor's workouts on Playbook!
Wednesday Logic Puzzle (LP)
Four friends, Scott, Oscar, Nadine, and Darius, were each born in a different one of the months September, October, November, and December.
"This is annoying," said Oscar one day. "None of us have an initial that matches the initial of our birth month."
"I don't mind at all," replied the friend who was born in September.
"That's easy for you to say," said Nadine. "It would at least be cool if the initial of my birth month was a vowel, but no."
In which month was each friend born?
Credit: Braingle
**For answer, see tomorrow's issue
Thanks for joining us today! Hope you enjoyed it - tomorrow we'll continues with more insights on blood work, and talk about hormones.
Check out the latest workout videos on our YouTube channel
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We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
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