Help Me Analyze My Blood Work?

[Christos17]

Hi guys,

I am 27 years old. I Recently started following Ray Peat and Danny Roddy to try and help my hair condition. I did my blood work as attached in the thread. I know its not the most comprehensive blood work, but can anyone give me atleast some insight into where my body is inefficient? and to what may be causing some hair recession.

Thank you so much

 

[KennethKaniff]

High TSH, high LDL, low testosterone

Looks like textbook low thyroid to me. Are you taking T3?

 

[Christos17]

High TSH, high LDL, low testosterone

Looks like textbook low thyroid to me. Are you taking T3?

oh, thank you for interpreting the numbers for me man. so TSH at 1.5 is high? or do you mean reverse T3? interesting you mentioned my numbers are common among people with low thyroid. I am not taking T3, is that best way to resolve the issue?

 

[KennethKaniff]

oh, thank you for interpreting the numbers for me man. so TSH at 1.5 is high? or do you mean reverse T3? interesting you mentioned my numbers are common among people with low thyroid. I am not taking T3, is that best way to resolve the issue?

I have not studied reverse T3 so I can't comment on that, but Ray considers any TSH over 1 to be sub-optimal. I would try taking thyroid and see if your TSH lowers and high cholesterol resolves.

 

[baccheion]

High reverse T3 is a sign something is wrong (inflammation/stress/cortisol). LDL could then be higher, as it's not being converted to hormones.

Reverse T3 (also called Reverse Triiodothyronine) - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Reverse T3 Treatment Guide + How to "Flush" it out of Your Body

 

[Christos17]

High reverse T3 is a sign something is wrong (inflammation/stress/cortisol). LDL could then be higher, as it's not being converted to hormones.

Reverse T3 (also called Reverse Triiodothyronine) - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Reverse T3 Treatment Guide + How to "Flush" it out of Your Body

Thank you very much for informing me on this. I have to figure out how to correct it. I will read on these articles, any suggestions off top of your head?

 

[sunraiser]

TSH raising is likely to be protective. I wouldn't say taking thyroid is the best first choice.

First thing to address is obvious gaps in diet and perhaps lifestyle.

What foods do you regularly eat? Have you ever or do you take any long term pharmaceuticals?

Heavy alcohol and other drug use?

Don't make your issues more serious with a zealous hormonal attack or by trying to hack your blood work. It can get you into a quagmire that's really hard to get out of. Many before you have fallen foul of this.

Small changes. Sometimes the answer is a very simple lifestyle change + patience.

Remember hormone fluctuations are almost always protective and, while bloodwork can give clues, hacking your bloodwork back to "healthy" levels is not the same as having health.

 

[Christos17]

TSH raising is likely to be protective. I wouldn't say taking thyroid is the best first choice.

First thing to address is obvious gaps in diet and perhaps lifestyle.

What foods do you regularly eat? Have you ever or do you take any long term pharmaceuticals?

Heavy alcohol and other drug use?

Don't make your issues more serious with a zealous hormonal attack or by trying to hack your blood work. It can get you into a quagmire that's really hard to get out of. Many before you have fallen foul of this.

Small changes. Sometimes the answer is a very simple lifestyle change + patience.

Remember hormone fluctuations are almost always protective and, while bloodwork can give clues, hacking your bloodwork back to "healthy" levels is not the same as having health.

Great advice, thank you so much. I will take this safe approach. It must be my diet as I do not drink alcohol much or take any drugs. I have, however, taken quite a few herbal supplements in the past like ashwaghanda, stinging nettle root, shilajit, etc... trying to do pseudo science that you are advising against. Not sure if that really had much of a negative impact. Perhaps its more dietary issue. My diet consists of a lot of pita bread, olive oil, eggs, chicken, meat, nuts, peanuts, hot sauce, and dark chocolate (among other things). I have been recently adding goat milk and cheese to incorporate more dairy if that will help with my hair? (according to Danny Roddy that is). I dont eat enough fruits and veggies overall, in my opinion. What should I be eating you think?

 

[bluewren]

TSH raising is likely to be protective. I wouldn't say taking thyroid is the best first choice.

First thing to address is obvious gaps in diet and perhaps lifestyle.

What foods do you regularly eat? Have you ever or do you take any long term pharmaceuticals?

Heavy alcohol and other drug use?

Don't make your issues more serious with a zealous hormonal attack or by trying to hack your blood work. It can get you into a quagmire that's really hard to get out of. Many before you have fallen foul of this.

Small changes. Sometimes the answer is a very simple lifestyle change + patience.

Remember hormone fluctuations are almost always protective and, while bloodwork can give clues, hacking your bloodwork back to "healthy" levels is not the same as having health.

So true!
This is a great post, @sunraiser

 

[sunraiser]

Great advice, thank you so much. I will take this safe approach. It must be my diet as I do not drink alcohol much or take any drugs. I have, however, taken quite a few herbal supplements in the past like ashwaghanda, stinging nettle root, shilajit, etc... trying to do pseudo science that you are advising against. Not sure if that really had much of a negative impact. Perhaps its more dietary issue. My diet consists of a lot of pita bread, olive oil, eggs, chicken, meat, nuts, peanuts, hot sauce, and dark chocolate (among other things). I have been recently adding goat milk and cheese to incorporate more dairy if that will help with my hair? (according to Danny Roddy that is). I dont eat enough fruits and veggies overall, in my opinion. What should I be eating you think?

Your diet looks like it has a degree of balance. I definitely think starches are a lot more beneficial to the body when combined with vegetables of some kind though (such as cooking meat and potato stew with onions and celery, or eating some tomato or something else with your pita bread). It's really down to what you enjoy though - it's so important to enjoy what you eat and to hone your cooking skills and food combinations via experience.

I personally enjoy berries and occasionally apples and kiwis for fruit (oranges are way too inconsistent in flavour here) but don't crave them every day. If you enjoy any fruit then I think it's worth adding something if you can afford to. I sometimes find I crave fruit after a heavy meal (maybe an acid/alkaline balance thing?).

My experience is that torso; front, back and side sunshine is extremely beneficial to my wellbeing. Only when the sun feels good on your skin (if you need it it'll feel amazing).

Speaking specifically about hair, I feel like I should have some hair loss after an extremely long period of metabolic stress including undereating, accutane and overtraining, yet I still have a full head of hair. I can only theorise but I guess differences between me and many people might be some of the following:

- no caffeine (though I eat dark chocolate sometimes)
- very very rarely drink and only in small amounts. No other stimulant or drug consumption
- eating wholegrains because I enjoy them and crave them

I instinctively feel like pushing the metabolism with stimulants is the reason behind hair loss for a lot of people. Chronic caffeine and nicotine consumption are rife in society, but they're often necessary as coping mechanisms to get by with intense life demands. If you're a regular stimulant user then it might be worth reevaluating your overall lifestyle and seeing if you can find the time and space to get energy without resorting to stimulant use (like food prep the night before work).

These are just some ideas - I don't believe hair loss is simply inevitable and hereditary, but I also don't think harsh interventions are the key. Just remember to never ever abandon your intuition or give in to the temptation to completely cede to some idea or protocol that you perceive to be an authority. Intuition based change within a sensible framework, I suppose.

@bluewren - thanks!

 

[KennethKaniff]

Great advice, thank you so much. I will take this safe approach. It must be my diet as I do not drink alcohol much or take any drugs. I have, however, taken quite a few herbal supplements in the past like ashwaghanda, stinging nettle root, shilajit, etc... trying to do pseudo science that you are advising against. Not sure if that really had much of a negative impact. Perhaps its more dietary issue. My diet consists of a lot of pita bread, olive oil, eggs, chicken, meat, nuts, peanuts, hot sauce, and dark chocolate (among other things). I have been recently adding goat milk and cheese to incorporate more dairy if that will help with my hair? (according to Danny Roddy that is). I dont eat enough fruits and veggies overall, in my opinion. What should I be eating you think?

Cut out all of the nuts and definitely incorporate more dairy. Your diet sounds low in calcium as is

 

[Christos17]

@sunraiser Very interesting. I never thought about the emotional relationship to foods and the impact that can have on physiology. I will do my best to choose comfort foods that are also healthy and protective against inflammation.

 

[Christos17]

Cut out all of the nuts and definitely incorporate more dairy. Your diet sounds low in calcium as is

Man. It seems to be a general consensus that nuts are bad and dairy is good. I literally have been taught the opposite. I will go ahead and swap these two foods. In terms of ways to boost my thyroid, because blood work does show high reverse T3, how do I counteract this with diet/lifestyle? If i am not mistaken, high reverse T3 is basically synonymous with hypothyroidism or hashi motos.

 

[KennethKaniff]

Man. It seems to be a general consensus that nuts are bad and dairy is good. I literally have been taught the opposite. I will go ahead and swap these two foods. In terms of ways to boost my thyroid, because blood work does show high reverse T3, how do I counteract this with diet/lifestyle? If i am not mistaken, high reverse T3 is basically synonymous with hypothyroidism or hashi motos.

Ray and the mainstream nutrition world have opposing views on polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat, which is part of why his recommendations re: nuts and dairy seem contrary to most advice that’s out there.

In terms of boosting thyroid and addressing hair loss, here are some things I would try:

-Ensure you’re getting enough carbohydrate every day (probably at least 300g/day for most people)
-Keep your calcium:phosphate ratio above 1 (this can be difficult without dairy)
-Supplement with gelatin or collagen protein, or pure glycine
-Supplement Vitamin K2
-Drink coffee or another source of caffeine

 

[Christos17]

Ray and the mainstream nutrition world have opposing views on polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat, which is part of why his recommendations re: nuts and dairy seem contrary to most advice that’s out there.

In terms of boosting thyroid and addressing hair loss, here are some things I would try:

-Ensure you’re getting enough carbohydrate every day (probably at least 300g/day for most people)
-Keep your calcium:phosphate ratio above 1 (this can be difficult without dairy)
-Supplement with gelatin or collagen protein, or pure glycine
-Supplement Vitamin K2
-Drink coffee or another source of caffeine

This is very helpful. I always always taught to stay away from carbs/sugar/ because it causes inflammation, aging, and diabetes. but you are saying it's protective against hair loss in some way. Im going to increase my carb intake in a big way then, do you have insight into the best sources of carbs? by any chance.

and I sort of understand why calcium is beneficial but what does phosphate have to do with hair? and a collagen protein powder is fine?

also have been reading that Iodine is great for the thyroid, especially if youre low on it. should i supplement with iodine, vitamin k2, and vitamin D?

 

[KennethKaniff]

This is very helpful. I always always taught to stay away from carbs/sugar/ because it causes inflammation, aging, and diabetes. but you are saying it's protective against hair loss in some way. Im going to increase my carb intake in a big way then, do you have insight into the best sources of carbs? by any chance.

and I sort of understand why calcium is beneficial but what does phosphate have to do with hair? and a collagen protein powder is fine?

also have been reading that Iodine is great for the thyroid, especially if youre low on it. should i supplement with iodine, vitamin k2, and vitamin D?

Carbs are very important for the thyroid, as the thyroid hormone is the hormonal driver of the metabolism of glucose. The best carb sources are fruit, milk, and honey according to Ray.

The calcium:phosphate ratio is important because an excess of phosphate over calcium tends to activate the parathyroid gland, leading to lower thyroid function and calcification of tissues (such as the balding scalp)

Collagen protein powder is a good idea.

It’s rare to be low on iodine. If you do choose to supplement iodine, use low doses, as Ray has warned that excess iodine is actually anti thyroid.

 

[Christos17]

Carbs are very important for the thyroid, as the thyroid hormone is the hormonal driver of the metabolism of glucose. The best carb sources are fruit, milk, and honey according to Ray.

The calcium:phosphate ratio is important because an excess of phosphate over calcium tends to activate the parathyroid gland, leading to lower thyroid function and calcification of tissues (such as the balding scalp)

Collagen protein powder is a good idea.

It’s rare to be low on iodine. If you do choose to supplement iodine, use low doses, as Ray has warned that excess iodine is actually anti thyroid.

thanks so much man, this helps put things into perspective. So I will try to lower phosphate and increase calcium through diet.

 

[KennethKaniff]

thanks so much man, this helps put things into perspective. So I will try to lower phosphate and increase calcium through diet.

I'm glad to help. Here are some references for the calcium:phosphate ratio and its relationship the parathyroid gland:

Low calcium:phosphorus ratio in habitual diets affects serum parathyroid hormone concentration and calcium metabolism in healthy women with adequat... - PubMed - NCBI

High phosphorus intakes acutely and negatively affect Ca and bone metabolism in a dose-dependent manner in healthy young females. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[Christos17]

I'm glad to help. Here are some references for the calcium:phosphate ratio and its relationship the parathyroid gland:

Low calcium:phosphorus ratio in habitual diets affects serum parathyroid hormone concentration and calcium metabolism in healthy women with adequat... - PubMed - NCBI

High phosphorus intakes acutely and negatively affect Ca and bone metabolism in a dose-dependent manner in healthy young females. - PubMed - NCBI

great, going to read over these. Do you, by any chance, know why Danny Roddy says aspirin is protective for hair loss? is that from ray peat?

 

[KennethKaniff]

great, going to read over these. Do you, by any chance, know why Danny Roddy says aspirin is protective for hair loss? is that from ray peat?

I haven’t looked into aspirin and hair loss specifically, but Ray recommends aspirin for its anti-inflammatory effects and its effect on mitochondrial uncoupling