Big Changes = Big Results

Big Changes = Big Results

 I received good news today from a friend.  She shared her and a male co-worker’s blood work results taken during an on-site employee health screening. Both she and her coworker are in their 40’s and are not on any statin drugs or any other cholesterol lowering medications.

 She has been following a WFPB diet for close to two years. Her coworker is very health conscious, but he did not decide to begin a WFPB diet until 5 months ago.  His blood work taken in October of 2012 reflects a healthy lifestyle.  His total chol was 149 and his HDL was 45 with a Non HDL of 104.  Pretty damn good. However, the Film  Forks Over Knives and a crash course my friend gave him in Plant Based Nutrition, convinced him to give WFPB a try.

 Here are their results from 9-30-2013:

My friend’s  Total Cholestrol is 100 and her HDL (‘good” cholesterol)  is 56.  Her non-HDL cholesterol is an unheard of 44.    Her coworker, has a Total Chol of 121 and an HDL of 38.  His non-HDL chol is 83 which is also great.  He improved 28 points on his to total cholesterol number and 21 points on his Non-HDL number – both of which were already very good!

 Non-HDL cholesterol =  LDL (bad) plus  VLDL cholesterol (bad ).  Non-HDL cholesterol should be under 100.  They both kicked butt

 If their screenings took place in rural China, their results wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, because these type of results are par for the course in rural regions of China. However, here in America, these results are so rare, screening personnel will sometimes question the measuring equipment or they’ll suspect that the client is a Martian.

 My friend said the nurses were full of questions because they just don’t see results like hers – not even in people using statin drugs. She used the opportunity to educate the nurses on WFPB.  She also explained that the cholesterol efflux capacity of HDL is more important than the total HDL number. The cholesterol efflux capacity is a direct measure of the efficiency by which a person’s HDL removes cholesterol from cholesterol-loaded macrophages, the sort that accumulate in arterial plaque. Although her coworker’s HDL number will be identified as too low, he really has nothing to worry about.  In long-lived populations from areas where Coronary Artery Disease is just about non-existent, the people have very low cholesterol levels, LDL levels and HDL levels. With such low LDL numbers, the body doesn’t waste effort manufacturing HDLs when they are not needed.  By following a WFPB diet, it’s likely that her coworker’s  HDLs are highly efficient at removing cholesterol from the blood.

 One thing is certain, their diets have given them great results.  It shows that the results you get will be in proportion to the changes you make.  If your idea of making significant change is eating fish instead of meat/poultry, egg whites instead of whole eggs, olive oil instead of butter, light mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise and “low-fat” cheese instead of regular cheese – You will NOT achieve the results that my friend and her colleague have achieved  – which means that you won’t get the results you want and deserve.