I got my AGE levels measured... ! Wow

[Inger]

Yesterday got my AGE levels measured with a AGE Reader (DiagnOptics Technologies BV, Groningen, The Netherlands) that works using skin autofluorescence (SAF). It is a pretty new thing, this link is about one study done

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672176/

Some in my family got it measured too. You need to put in your real age, then measure and it will tell you what you biologic age is according to your body's accumulated AGE's. My mom was 54 (real age 61) and my dad had about the same numbers, a little worse. My bro had 23 (real age 21), he has not lived a healthy life until now, but since a month or so he does great, eats and does good stuff. I am proud of him. Now... I was pretty excited what my number will be... I just had labs done last week and my cholesterol was so high and my glucose too

    HDL was 119 mg/dl
    LDL was 193,3 mg/dl
    Triglycerides 43,4 mg/dl

    glucose was 108 mg/dl

    and I am eating so much fat and I though holey moley I will have so much AGEs in my body....... but.. my biologic age according to the machine was 5...!?  I had the best by far! They were all stunned.. but I figure it is because I eat almost 100% raw for almost 10 years? When I do not cook anything (almost) there will be way less AGEs? Or is it the lifestyle I am doing? The Kruse style? IDK but I am so happy now! You see... I  have been warned from some raw food people that eating so much protein and fat and coconut oil will make huge amounts of AGEs in my body and it will be very bad for my health and I will age fast. I did not listen to them and now it seems my diet is just right. Maybe my high glucose levels are not bad at all either, maybe my body have just made some anti freeze to take me safe through the winter

    I was not too surprised though to be honest - I really feel like I am 5 yo 

I think this is a great testimonial for the raw vegans that fear animal proteins and fat. I have been eating high animal protein for years now..... Maybe the thing I decided to quit fruits etc years ago was not a bad decision 

[goodsamaritan]

That sounds inspiring.

You have the sex appeal of a 20 yr old. 

Does that count too? 

What kind of attention do you get in person over there?

Men have this kind of female radar with various cues such as voice, smell, movement, shape, skin, etc.

[TylerDurden]

It is pretty notorious that RVAFers routinely look much younger than cooked-food-eaters. AGEs contribute to aging in a significant way.

[Iguana]

Yes, and AGEs are formed by heat in a reaction between carbohydrates and proteins. Consumption of raw proteins and fat does not produce AGEs.

[Carne Cruda]

I'd like to know more about it, and the full extent of what a certain value means and so on, but for sure sounds great.

As well as  being quite impressed by:

HDL was 119 mg/dl
 Triglycerides 43,4 mg/dl

Instead, to be honest, 108 for blood glucose doesn't seem that amazing to me, but even more the fact is that I wasn't expecting it on a 90% carnivore raw food diet (BTW I eat the same way, that's one strong reason more why I point it out).

[Inger]

Yeah... I was very disappointed with my high FBG too to be honest - at first. After searching a bit... not anymore.

I live in a cold country, I do cold ice baths.. have it at 15-16 degree C in my apartment.. in my bedroom even freezing cold. The glucose in my body serves as a anti freeze from evolution. It is why we have so much diabetes up North, the blessing turns to a curse when we go against natures laws. When people eat carbs in winter and have it warm 24/7 it becomes an illness instead. This is not how nature meant it to be.

That all my other blood work is great, feeling is great, no hunger pangs or fatigue.. and even AGEs are super, shows a high blood glucose in a ketogenic diet means nothing bad.... it is meant to be so in winter.
Frogs survive because their bodies get loaded with glucose in winter...

- - - -

GS, male attention have not been an issue... lol I am choosing to be alone right now to get some stuff done.... otherwise I rather need to fight the men off so to say 

[TylerDurden]

Yes, and AGEs are formed by heat in a reaction between carbohydrates and proteins.

AGEs are also formed by heating fats.

[jessica]

Inger, thanks so much for sharing this inspiration!  5 years old huh? Seems like a comfy age to be.  Do you think if you get tested next year you might be younger? 

What is your parents diet and lifestyle like?  Their tests results, while not as dramatic, seem excellent as well?  I think you are also blessed with superior genetics !


Just yesterday I started my cold river therapy, inspired by you!  It does not get very cold where I am now in the winter, and so when I hike outside during the day my body is burning up, like it is trying to keep my extremities warm but my core of my body is super hot.   I generally hike next to a river and have wanted to take a dunk for quiet a few weeks. I couldn't put my fingers in because I still have old nerve damage from frost bite and they loose feeling and become immobile pretty quickly, but it was easy to get submerge my whole body, face and neck.  I dunked twice and then stayed in until my feet felt warm, which wasn't long, maybe two minutes each time?  It felt amazing!   I felt much less shock from the cold then I did in the summer, when my body was so hot but actively trying to loose heat.  This felt right.   I dried off and walked around for a while after, until everything felt toasty warm.  How long do you stay in the water when you do cold submerging?  How cold is the water?  I will have to test the water temp next time.  I honestly don't think it is that cold.  The outside temp was 55 degrees F, that was the high for the day, which for me in the winter is warm.  The water was probably 40-45.

[ys]

Last time I did my blood work around 5 years ago my HDL and LDL numbers were exactly like yours.  Despite high numbers the ratio total/HDL is very nice.  And low trigs is a good thing too.

I would totally not worry about this.

[Inger]

Yes Jessica I think I get younger and younger...lol pretty fun  but I am not complaining! The absence of any health issues is totally amazing. When I look around people have so many issues. I am very lucky. I have not strong genes either... I had many issues before changing my lifestyle. My siblings have not the best health either, mental and other issues are common. Not anything major maybe but many things from little energy/fatigue to allergies, to deficiencies to poor cognition/mental issues....

My mom and dad belong to a old generation that grew up in a different world, and they have never smoked or used alcohol heavily etc. because of their religion. Also do not use medicines and hormones etc. Living outside the cities and avoiding electronics (never had TV etc.) have probably helped a lot too. They live a pretty healthy lifestyle going early to bed and such even if their food is pretty normal food, better last years for sure since I live here, way less bread and sweets etc and more fish and lamb... But they eat cooked, they are not able to eat much raw animal food at all except graved lachs maybe 

So good for you starting CT! Yes, jumps into the river are magic for sure! I am not in for long at all... maybe a minute or two? Water is around 5 degree C right now, it is rainy and warm here.. no snow so far! If I stay in longer I must put on wool socks or my toes suffer. I swim a short round and that's it, sometimes I dive 3 times (always when I have washed my hair before dipping - river water works great as a balsam  ) I love the diving especially... makes me high 

When I go to sleep my bed is ice cold and it feels baaad... grrr but in a minute I am heating up and my body is a furnace lol I love that!

[Inger]

Last time I did my blood work around 5 years ago my HDL and LDL numbers were exactly like yours.  Despite high numbers the ratio total/HDL is very nice.  And low trigs is a good thing too.

I would totally not worry about this.

YS you are carnivore too are you?

I would be so curious to see what the bloodwork of omnivore rawfooders with high fruit consumption  looks like, and their AGE levels too

I think lots of cholesterol is  great for the hormones.. at least mine are.. pretty boiling!   

[ys]

Meat and fat is my staple.  I also have about 1 fruit a day, usually coconut, imported durian (when in season), or banana.  Occasional nuts, dark chocolate, pickled mackerel.  And few times a week I eat scrambled eggs fried in butter.   I just don't like the taste of raw eggs.

Anyway, I think cholesterol numbers are different for everybody even if they eat the same thing.  As long as they are not in ridiculous range >100 (in case of cancer) or <400 (chronic inflammation) there is nothing to worry about.

[cherimoya_kid]

It is pretty notorious that RVAFers routinely look much younger than cooked-food-eaters.

All raw foodists look years younger than their actual age, even the vegans, in my experience.  The only exception would be those eating a very lowfat fruitarian diet like the 80/10/10 diet, like Doug Graham .  He looks terrible these days.

[cherimoya_kid]

I live in a cold country, I do cold ice baths.. The glucose in my body serves as a anti freeze from evolution. ..

Plants that grow in good soil are usually high-Brix, which means they have more minerals and especially sugar in their sap and juice.  As a result, they resist cold temperatures much better. I wonder if there really is something to your idea about high blood sugar being cold-adaptive.  Where did you read that?  Have there been any comparison studies? 

[Ioanna]

inger, thanks for sharing! very inspiring!!

[PaleoPhil]

Congrats Inger! I'm not surprised by your great numbers, given your youthful radiance.

    glucose was 108 mg/dl

That's a rather common FBG reading for VLCers. Lex also reports FBG thereabouts. I used to get FBG figures like that quite often too before I added more resistant-starch-rich raw Paleo foods to my diet. Now my FBG tends to be in the 70s.

[goodsamaritan]

What are your

"more resistant-starch-rich raw Paleo foods" ?

[van]

Congrats Inger! I'm not surprised by your great numbers, given your youthful radiance.
That's a rather common FBG reading for VLCers. Lex also reports FBG thereabouts. I used to get FBG figures like that quite often too before I added more resistant-starch-rich raw Paleo foods to my diet. Now my FBG tends to be in the 70s.

 two things phil,  what do you attribute the starch foods in helping lower you fbg? and is everything else consistent, for I remember you eating a fair amount of fermented honey at times?   And might you be substituting your starch foods for some amounts of  protein which I believe could lower ones fbg's , as would substituting fat for extra protein.   By extra protein, I mean that to be any  amount not needed by the body for maintenance and repair.   Lex eating one meal a day imo falls into that category, as the body can only utilize so much protein at any given meal, or so I've read.  I don't have direct experience with that though.

[PaleoPhil]

I'll answer the questions at the butyrate thread, to avoid sidetracking Inger's wonderful thread.

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/general-discussion/fantastic-health-benefits-of-butyrate-6649

[PaleoPhil]

I would be so curious to see what the bloodwork of omnivore rawfooders with high fruit consumption  looks like, and their AGE levels too

Yes, it would be interesting to see the AGE levels of people on various raw Paleo approaches, to perhaps help get a better sense of what works. How did you access the DiagnOptics AGE Reader device? Did you purchase it? It could be a game changing quantified self tool if it's affordable, because various rawists could compare their measurements to those of their families, and perhaps help persuade them to eat more raw. Has it influenced the opinion of any of your family members yet?

You could do a Youtube video of you measuring yourself to show the age 5 figure (and if any coctivores are up to it, they could also be measured on camera to show the contrasting older biological age level), and also showing your before and after photos, showing how much more youthful and radiantly beautiful you've become. If you make it, I'd like to show that video to people I know. I think it might be persuasive.

[Inger]

The AGE meter was a friend of family's ownership. There are only very few in Finland at this time, maybe 2 or 3. That is what he said and I believe it, it is a pretty new thing here. It is expensive I would not have the money to buy one..lol he had the small variant and said it cost 3000 € or more

My family members that was there were amazed. Influenced? They see my lifestyle every day..lol and they know the benefits and they totally believe them and want them too but they lack discipline to do it radical enough to have big impact. They do eat better now than before, my parents. They also have no acute health issues so that might make one think, no need to change anything.

My younger brother, 21 yo, had the worse readings, he was even older than his age, meter showed 23 yo, he also measured 2 times like me to be sure. He fell back to worse eating patterns after the event, as he had weeks before changed to a strict high raw Paleo WOE with almost no carbs but maybe he got disappointed he had not better readings. But it takes time, and you need patience. That is what people often do not have, if they do not get big results fast they give in for cravings etc. IDK if he had other influence too... my parents are very religious and those folks often thinks, God saves me, I can eat and drink whatever I like. I in fact do not really know what happened, but after the event he was eating candy. Sad actually, he would need healing so bad, he has messed with drugs and alcohol a lot in his younger years. I think he tends to depression too, he often seems  not too happy. there is something he struggles with for  years. But he does  not say too much... But only he can change himself and his life so I need to not worry too much. He knows I will always help him if he needs. But he needs to want it from his whole heart or it will not last. But he does way better than for years - that makes me happy. Maybe he has a slow pace 

[Sapphire]

That's amazing and so inspiring! Thank you for sharing!

[PaleoPhil]

Sorry about your brother, Inger. Let's hope that some day a cheap version of this device gets made for home use.

[raw]

Inger, ur  posts are so cool. Your family story is similar to mine. My younger brother is a schizophrenic patient. He stays on eating junk food too. But I do not give up. I try to help him. Looking forward to see ur more amazing posts.

[Joy2012]

Inger, Thanks for sharing.

Will you direct me to a post of yours in which you described in detail your diet?