My cholesterol and iron numbers
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:28 pm
Just got my Life Extension Foundation blood tests back (I gotta say, these people are fast - I just had blood drawn yesterday morning!).
Age: 29
Sex: F
Cholesterol, Total: 141
Triglycerides: 68
HDL Cholesterol: 71
VLDL Cholesterol Cal: 14
LDL Cholesterol Calc: 56
T. Chol/HDL Ratio: 2.0
Iron, Serum: 39 (Reference Interval 35 - 155)
Ferritin, Serum: 9 (RI 13 - 150)
RBC: 4.8 (RI 3.8 - 5.1)
Hemoglobin: 14.4 (RI 11.5 - 15.0)
Hematocrit: 43.0 (RI 34.0 - 44.0)
(The RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit show I'm not anemic even with that low of a ferritin number.)
My diet: I eat almost no meat and as few grains as possible. Heavily reliant on fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, and dairy products (meaning butter, cheese, yogurt, and heavy whipping cream). Almost every day I eat a fruit smoothie made with frozen fruit and about 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream (people cringe when I drink these and it makes me laugh).
Some observations:
Blood donation is indeed an excellent way to achieve low ferritin. Last year I donated 4 times, and my ferritin is great.
Vitamin C helps with dietary iron absorption. There's no iron in my supplements anymore, and I eat almost no heme/meat iron, but my hemoglobin numbers are still great. I eat a lot of dried fruit, and a lot of kidney beans, and vitamin C is apparently helping me get all the iron I need from them.
You guys have mentioned that total cholesterol under 180 possibly raises one's cancer risk. Is that just for cholesterol that is artificially lowered with statins, or does that include any low cholesterol?
Age: 29
Sex: F
Cholesterol, Total: 141
Triglycerides: 68
HDL Cholesterol: 71
VLDL Cholesterol Cal: 14
LDL Cholesterol Calc: 56
T. Chol/HDL Ratio: 2.0
Iron, Serum: 39 (Reference Interval 35 - 155)
Ferritin, Serum: 9 (RI 13 - 150)
RBC: 4.8 (RI 3.8 - 5.1)
Hemoglobin: 14.4 (RI 11.5 - 15.0)
Hematocrit: 43.0 (RI 34.0 - 44.0)
(The RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit show I'm not anemic even with that low of a ferritin number.)
My diet: I eat almost no meat and as few grains as possible. Heavily reliant on fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, and dairy products (meaning butter, cheese, yogurt, and heavy whipping cream). Almost every day I eat a fruit smoothie made with frozen fruit and about 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream (people cringe when I drink these and it makes me laugh).
Some observations:
Blood donation is indeed an excellent way to achieve low ferritin. Last year I donated 4 times, and my ferritin is great.
Vitamin C helps with dietary iron absorption. There's no iron in my supplements anymore, and I eat almost no heme/meat iron, but my hemoglobin numbers are still great. I eat a lot of dried fruit, and a lot of kidney beans, and vitamin C is apparently helping me get all the iron I need from them.
You guys have mentioned that total cholesterol under 180 possibly raises one's cancer risk. Is that just for cholesterol that is artificially lowered with statins, or does that include any low cholesterol?