Newly Interested in Longevity

This is really dramatic. I thought I was doing fine when I eat around 50-60 grams… seems there is a way to go lower! Maybe I should look into full fat milk products but they seem to be associated with lower ASCVD, so I never opt for low fat milk, cheese, yogurt or anything in this category. My LDL-C now seats at around 90 mg/dl but my apoB are much lower at 58 last measurement. So maybe I can enjoy my full fat until i decide to turn vegan. I have been experimenting with fibrous vegetables as well lately. Trying to eat 40-50 grams of fiber daily. but it is difficult without constantly reminding myself.

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I’ve been having ultra filtered skim milk and fat free plain Greek yogurt lately to get my fat down. Of course that increased the protein percentage in my diet which is controversial in the longevity sphere but it’s pretty amazing for body composition. What to do?!? That’s a rhetorical question of course. My weight is also not going up much (1.5 pounds) but I’m a solid 18.5 bmi and holding fwiw.
I do also have flaxseed meal and sunfiber (PHGG) for extra fiber in addition to fibrous vegetables.

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Try to eat more PUFA’s or MUFA’s as well.
That and having SFA as low as possible will probably move your LDL or apoB quite nicely.
If you combine it with trying a statin you will probably be heart attack proof.

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Awesome sir! Thanks for your input. It’s greatly appreciated.

1/6/24 was our year rapaversery! Everyone is doing well here. Here’s a year comparison both done in standard mode (not athletic) fwiw.
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Besides generally feeling better the biggest improvement I’ve made is in my lipids which I’m happy about. I already wrote about it but y’all have influenced me to change my diet and now I’m eating way less fat. My last labs were done 2 weeks after my first covid symptoms so I’m planning to repeat them in early February. I’ve also mustered the energy to sign up for classes which I’m starting soon.
I don’t seem to be having any noticeable side effects. Currently I’m taking 3mg one week and 2mg the next. I do feel like 3mg every week recently is a little too much. It’s just my intuition though. I definitely do not feel like I’m aging rapidly anymore but just holding steady.
I am at the lowest weight of my adult life but I feel good. When I was under 100 pounds before I’d always feel weak. Here’s how I look at this size fwiw. I’m currently trying to build some muscle.

@RapAdmin, if the bathing suit photo is inappropriate please accept my apologies and feel free to delete! It’s intended purely for science and not immodesty. :slight_smile:

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All good. Thanks for posting the update!

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I just mentioned briefly in another thread the improvements I’ve had with my gut over the last 6 months but I wanted to post in more detail here.
In 2019 I started eating carnivore because even plain white rice caused me so much bloating and discomfort. My gut and health in general had been pretty rocky for 20 years after a 50 day course of levaquin in 1999 due to a body fluid exposure at work.
When I started rapa in January of 2023 I had mainly been eating only animal foods for close to four years. I had tried multiple times to go back to an omnivore diet with no success. Last July I decided to try again and it’s worked this time. It was a little rocky for a couple months but I tracked my glucose pretty religiously and slowly upped my carbs as my body readapted. I’m up to 200 grams of carbs per day now and I’m able to eat many gluten free grains (I’m celiac), vegetables, fruits and some nuts again. After 6 months on rapa I was finally able to go back to eating omnivore and don’t have any gut issues at all.

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Here are my latest labs after 16.5 months on Rapa. I did end up with a bit of long Covid after being mandated to work while positive and symptomatic so I put off getting them until I felt mostly back to normal.
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My lipids have improved further so thank you @AnUser. My glucose and a1c are slightly worse but I did transition off carnivore style eating so I’m having a lot more carbs. I might consider adding something for glucose if they aren’t improved on my next lab draw. I’m uncertain yet about what (if anything) to do about the ALT & BUN/creatinine ratio. Overall nothing seems too bad and im happy with the lipid trend without medication.

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It’s you who are doing the heavy lifting.
I don’t think you will be able to reduce LDL further with diet so if you want to decrease risk for heart disease and stroke which ends healthspan, then I would look into trying some medication, that’s what I do.

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Thank you very much for the input!

I compared the results to my last labs and everything has actually improved except the hbA1c which is exactly the same.

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I plugged my numbers in and this is what I got.

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Nice calculator! I hope it’s right. I’m at -12 years, so you’re doing a better job than me!

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@DeStrider, Thanks, I found the calculator on this site. The first time I tried it I didn’t convert all the the units from US values to UK before putting in the numbers so the results came up as a couple years older. You probably wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake but it’s worth mentioning for anyone like me not paying close attention. Regardless you still beat me on several counts! It’s fun though. Btw, I did a fun metabolic age estimate on a fitness site and got 40. That’s not what the mirror tells me (hahaha) but it’s okay, I’m feeling good, happy about my results so far and look forward to continued fine tuning. Have a great one sir.

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Two things that have stood out for me as positive changes (not reflected in blood work) are my HRV and resting HR. I looked back at my Fitbit from December of 2022 and my HRV was as low as 12 but averaged in the 30’s. I’m now in the high 40’s and 50’s consistently. My resting HR was about 80 and now it’s low 60’s. Obviously I can’t attribute those changes exclusively to rapa but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have felt good enough to make the other lifestyle changes if I hadn’t started rapa. I was really trying before but not getting very far!

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mTOR sustains inflammatory response in celiac disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7329835/

I found this yesterday and it seems to explain my improved gut health since starting rapamycin. I might do a two week gluten challenge and get my antibodies drawn just to see if there’s been any change. I used to have pretty quick and unpleasant reactions to accidental gluten ingestion but for a little while now nothing happens. I know I had a small amount of gluten when I met my friend for lunch last month with zero issues which frankly shocked me. I also take communion which has gluten most Sundays. After I read the above article my recent experiences made more sense. It would be super cool if I didn’t need to worry so much about gluten anymore. I didn’t get diagnosed until age 41 and that was by skin biopsy rather than bowel and my official diagnosis is dermatitis herpetiformis fwiw but the doctor told me that eating gluten free is how it’s kept from flaring. Due to my circumstances and gut issues I didn’t really want to continuing eating it while I waited to get a bowel biopsy. I ate I slice of my husband’s low salt Ezekiel wheat bread last night and tolerated it fine. I’m probably going to eat 2 of those per day since that’s the typical amount recommended for a gluten challenge. I’ll report back.

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Here is a direct link to the calculator:

I always like a calculator that says I am younger than I am.

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Thank you sir!!! I like it too. -14.37

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I hadn’t seen anything about gluten and rapa, until now… so thx for this.

Soooo… I am sensitive and have been for almost 10 years, but on a rare occasion, I can randomly eat some and have no ill effects, otherwise, I do.

I ate gluten three times over the last couple of weeks, which is very unusual (it would normally be once a quarter) and nothing… Could still be a coincidence, I’m not sure.

Also, ages ago, I heard that if you have hashimotos, you shouldn’t have gluten. I hadn’t seen much about it until last week when I heard there is some connection between the antibody that causes celiac and the one that causes hashimotos, and THAT is why those with hashimotos shouldn’t have gluten. I wish I could remember the source.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this topic?

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Beth, that’s interesting that you’ve also not noticed any negative reactions recently from gluten. I worked with a nurse who avoided gluten due to hashimoto’s. It seemed to help her but I don’t have any understanding of it other than reading the claim that gluten can trigger body wide inflammation in some people.

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