Vegan blood tests

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Canastenard
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Vegan blood tests

Post by Canastenard »

My mother, who has been reluctant too accept my veganism for a long time, wanted me to get a blood test. So I saw my GP and explained him that I want a blood test because of my animal product-free diet I'm sticking to since more than one year, and he prescribed me a blood test. I did it and I got the results.

There are some things that are below or above reference range. In particular there are things that don't look very normal:

- Total cholesterol is very low, at 0.85 gram per liter. For comparison reference range is at least 1.50. I don't even have a low fat diet, I eat sunflower seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, poppyseeds, canola oil, vegan mayonnaise, peanut butter and canola and olive oil, and fats represent about one third of my caloric intake. Maybe it's because of high fiber intake, or because I take a daily supplement of long chain omega 3 algae oil (which has vitamin D3 too). LDL is 0.45 and HDL is 0.26, although I don't explain why the sum of LDL and HDL is lower than total. Triglycerides are at the low end of reference range (0.69 g/l with reference being between 0.50 and 1.50). I know low total cholesterol is good against heart disease, but maybe there's something problematic with cholesterol being that low.
- For the section about transferrin, latent iron binding capacity is higher than usual (304 µg/100 ml compared to reference range which is 160 to 280) while saturation coefficient is 20.4% (bellow reference range of 25 to 35). After doing some research the former being high and the later being low is a sign of low iron stores. I'd be surprised to be deficient in iron since I tend to eat more than 250% of my daily needs when I suggest one day of eating to Cronometer, and eat at least 60 grams of cooked broccoli at most of my meals (steamed for 20 to 25 minutes) which even counting for cooking is a rich source of vitamin C. I know that vegans tend to have lower iron stores since non-heme iron's absorption tends to saturate unlike heme iron, but I'm not sure those results are normal or if it could evolve into an iron deficiency anemia if I keep my dieary habits.
- Eosinophils are high, and doing research actually showed me that having more than 500/microlitre of blood is a condition with its own name, eosinophilia. It's generally a symptom of allergy or parasitic infection, so when I'm going to call my GP by phone tomorrow (he wasn't available today) I'm fairly confident I'm going to have another appointment with him for that reason. It's also suggested that high B12 might also be a cause, and that wouldn't be a huge surprise considering I take a daily supplement of 100 µg and also tend to eat fortified products.

I know the opinion of an actual doctor is still the most important thing to consider, but if there's anyone here with some knowledge in medical science I'd like to have a preliminary opinion. Don't try to reassure me for the sake of it - if you think something is a real problem please be honest about it. I'm also posting this because I'm curious to see how other vegan blood tests compare to me or reference ranges in average.
Last edited by Canastenard on Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Nightcell001
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Nightcell001 »

I can only speak for the cholesterol part. Keep in mind that everything I'm saying comes from my own research, I have no medical training but extensive investigations on my side.
Canastenard wrote: Total cholesterol is very low, at 0.85 gram per liter
This is just a ballpark number. usually to detect high/low cholesterol numbers. It is not really meaningful by itself. The more important indicators are LDL, HDL, tryglycerides and derivatives ( VLDL etc .. ).
Canastenard wrote:For comparison reference range is at least 1.50
Reference range is an average of the whole population tested. Really not a good anchor point considering the chronic diseases rate we are experiencing.
Canastenard wrote: I don't even have a low fat diet, I eat sunflower seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, poppyseeds, canola oil, vegan mayonnaise, peanut butter and canola and olive oil, and fats represent about one third of my caloric intake
Most of these fats are unsaturated, they won't have much impact in your cholesterol numbers.
Canastenard wrote:Maybe it's because of high fiber intake, or because I take a daily supplement of long chain omega 3 algae oil (which has vitamin D3 too)
High fiber intake play a role in reducing your cholesterol. There has been shown that the fiber managed to pulls extra cholesterol (LDL) from the blood stream. That's mainly why people recommend eating oatmeal for reducing cholesterol.
Canastenard wrote:LDL is 0.45 and HDL is 0.26, although I don't explain why the sum of LDL and HDL is lower than total
This is really low indeed. Doctors are concerned by low HDL number usually, but you shouldn't because your LDL is low. They work in tandem, if you do not have a high concentration of LDL particles, your liver won't produce a lot of HDL to compensate for it.
Canastenard wrote:Triglycerides are at the low end of reference range (0.69 g/l with reference being between 0.50 and 1.50)
That's good. You do not want high triglycerides. This would be a good indicator of a variety of problems.
Canastenard wrote:I know low total cholesterol is good against heart disease, but maybe there's something problematic with cholesterol being that low.
Research has shown ( mostly population studies ), that high total cholesterol as well as extremely low raise your rate of all cause mortality. With your numbers, if you have adequate hormonal panel I wouldn't be too concerned. To give you a comparison, there is no rate of heart disease with people having between 0.6-0.75 LDL, we know what happens when you go over 0.75 ( western societies ), but when you go under it's not really clear.

Your number might indicate a genetic predisposition to low cholesterol as well. But if everything checks out outside of this, you are fine.
(Of course consult a doctor !!!, and you might try to order an advanced lipid panel as well)
Last edited by Nightcell001 on Wed Nov 15, 2017 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Canastenard
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Canastenard »

Nightcell001 wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:26 pm
Canastenard wrote:LDL is 0.45 and HDL is 0.26, although I don't explain why the sum of LDL and HDL is lower than total
This is really low indeed. Doctors are concerned by low LDL number usually, but you shouldn't because your LDL is low. They work in tandem, if you do not have a high concentration of LDL particles, your liver won't produce a lot of HDL to compensate for it.
You meant "Doctors are concerned by low HDL number" right? I know the recommended minimum HDL is 0.36, but yeah I don't find mine to be shockingly low from an LDL to HDL ratio standpoint. A ratio about 2:1 is generally said to be good.

Good comment about hormones. I know cholesterol acts as a precursor for hormones such as testosterone, so I might ask for an hormonal test to see if things work correctly.
Nightcell001
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Nightcell001 »

Canastenard wrote:You meant "Doctors are concerned by low HDL number" right? I know the recommended minimum HDL is 0.36, but yeah I don't find mine to be shockingly low from an LDL to HDL ratio standpoint. A ratio about 2:1 is generally said to be good.

Good comment about hormones. I know cholesterol acts as a precursor for hormones such as testosterone, so I might ask for an hormonal test to see if things work correctly.
Yes sorry for the typo. I had myself low testosterone along with my low cholesterol number ( not as low as yours though ).
You should definitely do:
- standard blood panel
- lipid profile ( + advanced )
- hormonal panel
- B12
- omega 3s
- Vitamin D
- Urine analysis

To have a good idea on where you stand.
DrDavid
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by DrDavid »

I agree with Nightcell001's comprehensive answer, so I'm just going to add a few things.

Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + 20% of triglycerides. So in your case the numbers add up.

There's not much research on health issues caused by low cholesterol. (Low cholesterol caused by disease is a different issue.) There might be some negative effects, but If you have low values due to a healthy lifestyle, the positive effects will by far outweigh any potential negative effects.


Transferrin and TIBC (total iron binding capacity) can be indirect indicators of low iron stores. A more direct test is Ferritin. I would at minimum also check Hemoglobin, MCV (size of red blood cells - decreases in iron deficiency), and S-Iron.


Eosinophilia just means a higher than normal count of eosinophil white blood cells. There can be many different causes - from benign to serious - allergy/astma being the most common in the industrialized world. Laboratory error is also a possibility. You didn't specify your level, but I recommend you get this issue checked out. Start by retaking the test.

David (M.D.)
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Jamie in Chile »

Here are my results. The first column is from early 2016 immediately that I started a vegan diet. The second coluymn in from early 2017 after pursuing this diet for one year. Odd that my cholesterol total increased (?) but basically it was about the same.

Your numbers look fine to me at a glance. But I am no expert.

2016 2017 Reference Range Unit


Colesterol Total 109 119 <200 mg/dL
Colesterol HDL 37 45 >40 mg/dL
Colesterol LDL 60 66 <100 mg/dL
Colesterol VLDL 12 8 <30 mg/dL
Trigliceridos 61 41 <150 mg/dL
Relacion COL/HDL 2.9 2.6
Jamie in Chile
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Jamie in Chile »

2016 2017 Reference Range Unit

Ferremia 139.0 109 33-193 / 65-175 ug/dL
Capacidad de Fijacion 259.0 258 228-428 / 250-450 ug/dL
% Saturacion Transferencia 53.7 42.3 16-45 %
Ferritina 242.7 187 30-400/22-322 ng/mL

It's in Spanish but I think all the words are pretty similar to English.
DrDavid
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by DrDavid »

Jamie in Chile wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:17 pm Odd that my cholesterol total increased (?)
Your levels were excellent to begin with, hard to improve on that. That said, the main reason your total cholesterol increased was the increase in HDL, which is a good thing. VLDL and triglycerides dropped a little, also a good thing.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Welcome DrDavid, I hope you'll post an intro!
Canastenard wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:52 pm I know low total cholesterol is good against heart disease, but maybe there's something problematic with cholesterol being that low.
Not that we know if. If you drink a lot of alcohol there may be some relationship to a rare kind of stroke... but maybe just correlation. This is from memory, I may be wrong. I think Norris talked about this once.

http://jacknorrisrd.com/low-cholesterol-part-1-stroke-and-depression/
They broke the group up even further. Among those with high blood pressure, they stratified the results for gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) which reflects alcohol consumption. At low concentrations of GGT, low cholesterol was not associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke among those with high blood pressure.

The researchers conclude, “In effect, low blood cholesterol may act as a marker of the health damaging effects of alcohol, rather than be a cause of hemorrhagic stroke.”

Based on the results from the 2013 meta-analysis, I’m not sure that this one study from Korea can be considered to put to rest the entire question of whether low cholesterol, in itself, can contribute to hemorrhagic stroke. Apparently the authors of the meta-analysis didn’t think so, but I’m actually inclined to think perhaps it does.

In any case, if you have low cholesterol (below 150 mg/dl) and have either high blood pressure or drink alcohol heavily, you should talk to a doctor about your risk for hemorrhagic stroke.
Ah, it's also high blood pressure.
Probably not an issue for you. I wouldn't worry about it if you're feeling well otherwise.

If you wanted to raise your levels (no reason to) you could eat more coconut.
Canastenard wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:52 pmI know that vegans tend to have lower iron stores since non-heme iron's absorption tends to saturate unlike heme iron, but I'm not sure those results are normal or if it could evolve into an iron deficiency anemia if I keep my dieary habits.
The fiber in broccoli may interfere with absorption (it's good for you, but there are costs).
Lentils may be a richer source that are easier to absorb iron from (with rich vitamin C sources to go with them).

I think others answered this better.
However, iron deficiency anemia is very easy to correct. And the symptoms are pretty obvious. A multivitamin with iron will probably set you right if you get in that range.

Canastenard wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:52 pmIt's also suggested that high B12 might also be a cause, and that wouldn't be a huge surprise considering I take a daily supplement of 100 µg and also tend to eat fortified products.
Since you're eating fortified foods, cutting down to 25 µg should be fine.

Otherwise, if they don't come down you might have an infection or a parasite, as you said. Sounds like your doctor will have this in hand.
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Jebus
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Re: Vegan blood tests

Post by Jebus »

brimstoneSalad wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:43 pmThe fiber in broccoli may interfere with absorption (it's good for you, but there are costs).
Is that viscous fiber? The only reason I put broccoli in my smoothie is that I need a vitamin C source that helps with iron absorption. Would spinach be a better option?
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