Two Years Later…

As of today I will have been on a low carb, ketogenic diet for two years.

If you had told me when I started that (A) my cholesterol would skyrocket, (B) I’d become obsessed with researching new patterns around it, and (C) I’d get the data from these patterns by intensive self-experimentation and frequent blood draws (55 so far) — I’d have said you were out of your mind.

In some alternate universe where the Inversion Pattern didn’t exist, I’d have noticed nothing new beyond the research already out there and would have likely found some alternate, middle-ground diet that mitigated my lipid numbers while staying relatively low carb. Hey, I might yet do that anyway.

For now I’m obsessively punching though these experiments to isolate key variables that I hope will get me closer to the data I’m looking for. And yes, I’m a bit behind in reporting them here, but I promise they are on their way. Here’s a running slate of what I’ve already done and will be posting on soon:

• The Effect of Endurance Running on my Cholesterol – I’ll detail what happened between August of 2016 to January of 2017 when I both trained and ran several races.
• The Egg and Cheese Only Experiment – Just like it sounds, but even more controlled in that I ate to specific quantities and on a very set time table.
• The Fasting Experiment – I did it, but I won’t be doing it again. You’ll see why soon…
• The Egg, Cheese, and Whole Milk Experiment – Intentional addition of lactose to test impact on glucose, insulin and the lipid profile.
• The Meal Replacement Experiment – 10 days of a keto meal replacement which started yesterday.

And yes, I know I need to wrap up Part III of my Simple Guide to Cholesterol Series as well. But that may still be a bit further down the road given current responsibilities.

Speaking of current responsibilities, I should note my next speaking engagement will be on the Low Carb Cruise sailing for Alaska next month (May 19th).

It should be emphasized once again that I actually don’t make a dime from this life pursuit, my income is from my career in software engineering. Most of the blood testing I’ve done to this point has come out of my own savings and easily qualifies as the most expensive hobby I’ve ever had. (Which is pretty funny when you think about the fact that it involves so many challenging experiments and painful blood draws… there are probably more enjoyable pastimes to blow money on!) The point being, while I’d love to do this 24/7, I still have to take a significant amount of time to add back to the funding I need to move forward. So when I have drop off periods, this is usually the reason why.