I’ve got quite a lot in my Inbox now and I’m definitely exploring my limits these days. But to save time on answering many similar questions, I’m going to give a heads up on what’s ahead…
This Week
- I just completed an experiment where I ate primarily meat for the first three days, then added bananas at various amounts for seven days following. This was a sister experiment to the isocaloric carb swap I did a couple months ago, where I used bread as my primary carb source. My write up on that won’t be for a while due to the other items I have ahead of it below.
- This Thursday I’ll be giving a presentation at Low Carb USA in San Diego at 6:30 PM (Room TBD). It will include the data from the Ketofest Cholesterol Experiment, including a cool new graph I’ll post here later.
The Patreon Solution?
Following Low Carb USA, I may have to slow down again and do more contract work.
While I’ve been approached on doing sponsorships before, I’ve had to turn them all down. Direct financial compensation from a business entity risks concern it could influence my data — which is a valid critique.
One thing I’ve been pressed on by many is to start a Patreon channel as a means of being funded directly by individuals. I’ve always been a bit reluctant as I genuinely want the helpful materials I make available for anyone to be free.
But recently, I’ve been thrown a few new ideas that are making a lot of sense. For instance, I could vlog the day-to-day “sausage making” of my experiments for interested viewers (and apparently there are many more than I would’ve thought). They would get more of a heads up in how things are going and even a sneak preview to the raw data as it develops — but I’d still write up the refined data and materials for free on the blog as I always have.
Even if it didn’t cover my bills (unlikely), what amount it raised would directly influence how much time I could devote to expanding on the research where I’d otherwise have to earn with contract work instead.
Dave:
Another Craig here.
I am a 60 year old electrical engineer who understands control systems.
I have studied Ivor’s system diagrams as well as your diagrams. Have to say I love the boat “cartoon” concepts (and I mean that in a good way).
I have been so looking forward to Low Carb USA.
Being from Denver, I have become a Dr. Gerber patient since March 2017.
I have spent hundreds of hours over the past 6 months learning.
I am clearly a hyper-responder and a data nerd.
I am also “lean” (5′ – 10″ @ 160 lbs; Omron scale says visceral fat is at 7 and my hip/waist ratio is less than 1).
I track my glucose/ketones with XTRA, I have an A1C Monitor (with falling numbers); and I have a way to measure my TC; HDL; Trigs at home (will be able to compare my at home readings with a hospital test that was performed yesterday).
I found you via youtube (first from low carb breck; then bio-hacker; then two keto dudes).
I love what you did at Keto-Fest with your group experiment.
My interest in your work ties directly into my “case” as I learned in 2016 that my CAC score is 1000.
My goal at age 60 is to:
1. Live for the next 30 years to prove that the Low Carb approach works (because I feel so good).
2. See if it is possible to actually lower my CAC score (or at least my calcium volume).
3. See if GKI levels that work for cancer patients help to lower CAC scores.
4. I realize that with my high LP(a) score, with my Lipids, I am playing with “fire”.
5. To communicate to the community that it is one thing to have a CAC of zero and have high Lipids.
6. It is completely different living with a CAC score of 1000 and have high lipids.
I look forward to “finding” you tomorrow.
Craig Morroni
I really enjoyed meeting you at the convention and look forward to seeing how your experiment goes!
Hi, Dave. We spoke briefly at SD Low Carb. As I mentioned, I’m trying to schedule in a a baseline lipid panel test on the morning of Day 4. (I’m constrained by scheduling commitments and the need to do my annual physical blood test on Day 7.) For reference, I spoke about paying for a simple Labcorp lipid panel on Day 4. My doctor/insurance HAS scheduled a Quest blood test on “Day 7.” Question. Is dry wine on High Calorie days OK? This is still preliminary. Still mulling it over. I haven’t yet scheduled w/ Request A Test.
I’m not as sure with dry wine as there hasn’t been a lot of people who have reported back to me on that. But I’d speculate it would be fine if in moderation and accounting for macros, of course. That said, I tend to err on the side of avoiding any possible confounders just to be safe. So if you could go without, you might want to anyway.
Did I miss the write up for the ‘banana swap” experiment Dave mentions here? I’ve searched the site for ‘bananas’ and come up with nothing! :0)