Raw Food Benefits - Jaye's Blood Test Results and Discussing B12

What are the raw food benefits that you can expect to experience when you switch to a high raw plant based diet?

Well, excellent results on your blood tests is one of them!

Jaye works for Gulf News, which is a large newspaper and website. They decided to do a story on Jaye's 'extreme' diet in June 2010.

As part of the story, he was sent for blood tests and an ECG along with a colleague who eats a standard, non-vegan diet so that the results could be compared.

Here is a video showing the testing process and clearly revealing the raw food benefits Jaye has experienced:

Raw Food Benefits: As expected, Jaye had fabulous results!

• His DLDL cholesterol was 60 (normal range: 62-130), Low = GOOD!
• Cholesterol was 115 (normal range: 140-240 mg/dl), Low = GOOD!

*Heart attacks happen to plenty of people who have cholesterol in the 'normal' range. It is a far safer bet to make sure you are far below 'normal' in this instance.

• Triglycerides were 68 (normal range: 36-150mg/dl), GOOD!
• Haemoglobin was 12.5 (normal range: 11-18 g/dl), NORMAL
• Vitamin B12 was LOW at 133 (normal range: 200-1000 pg/ml - more details on B12 further down the page).
• Uric Acid was 3 (normal range 3.5-7.2 mg/dl), Low = GOOD!
• Sodium was 144 (normal is 135-145 mmol/l), NORMAL
• Potassium was 4.78 (normal is 3.6-5 mmol/l), NORMAL

* The potassium reading is noteworthy as often the first thing people say when they see you eating a bunch of bananas for lunch is: 'That's too much potassium! That's dangerous!'. Well, as you can clearly see, the body has no problems dealing with dietary potassium.

• Chloride was 102 (normal is 96-111mmol/l), NORMAL
• Growth Hormone was 0.1 (normal is: LESS than 10ng/ml), NORMAL
• Kidney Function was NORMAL
• Liver Function was NORMAL

Raw Food Benefits: Jaye's Non-Vegan Colleague

Jaye's colleague fared in the normal range for most things along with Jaye, and results were pretty close except for a few notable exceptions:

• His DLDL cholesterol was 143, HIGH
• His cholesterol was 220, HIGH end of normal, and according to studies on causes of disease, this is VERY HIGH!
• Triglycerides were 155, HIGH!
• His Uric Acid was 8.4, HIGH!
• His B12 was 268, NORMAL - (debatable, more on this further down the page)

The B12 Debate

The doctor who is shown in the video and who examined Jaye and discussed the test results with him, said that Jaye's low B12 is not currently causing any problems in his body as his Haemoglobin levels are still normal.

If he had an actual B12 DEFICIENCY, rather than this just being a low B12 reading, then this would have caused some corresponding problem that would show up in his haemoglobin levels.

According to Dr John McDougall, 'levels below 80 pg/ml represent unequivocal B12 deficiency'

However, the endocrinologist who examined the results without seeing Jaye in person, said that he should add some meat or fish to his diet in order to get some B12.

He also expressed concern that Jaye might develop anaemia in the future, due to B12 levels affecting his haemoglobin.

BUT if Vitamin B12 is a VEGAN problem than how come it isn't only VEGANS who have low B12 or B12 deficiencies?

The problem with the advice to add animal products into the diet for B12, is that it isn't only VEGANS who have low B12 or B12 deficiencies.

In fact, most people taking B12 shots on a regular basis (such as bodybuilders) are on high MEAT diets. Problems with B12 are definitely not limited to vegans.

Therefore low B12 levels are not a problem of INTAKE but rather a problem of ABSORPTION. Therefore, eating more B12 in the form of animal products is a total waste of time, not to mention having potentially disastrous consequences in terms of every other aspect of your health.

So most of the time when someone is presenting with low B12, it is a result of malabsorption of the nutrient, not a result of a lack of intake.

Raw Food Benefits: Plant based diets offer enormous protection against disease!

According to Dr John McDougall:

"You could choose to eat lots of B12-rich animal foods and avoid the one-in-a-million chance of developing a reversible anemia and/or even less common, damage to your nervous system. However, this decision puts you at a one-in-two chance of dying prematurely from a heart attack or stroke; a one-in-seven chance of breast cancer or a one-in-six chance of prostate cancer. The same thinking results in obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, constipation, indigestion, and arthritis.

Much easier to just take a B12 supplement don't you think?

Vitamin B12 Supplements

Considering that low B12 levels are a problem of absorption and not intake, then it follows that supplementing with oral forms of B12 are not going to be helpful.

Therefore, if deficiency is an issue with you for any reason, then using a sublingual (absorbed under the tongue) B12 supplement or taking intramuscular injections is the best idea, since these bypass the digestive system and are therefore absorbed.

After receiving these results, Jaye and I decided to supplement with sublingual B12 as well as monthly injections.

We have also been influenced by the book Could It Be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses by Sally M Pacholok (not a vegan or vegetarian!). In this book a very strong case is made for anything under 300 representing VERY LOW B12 and requiring supplementation (in the form of injections). Therefore Jaye's meat eating colleague would require supplementation as well! In fact in Japan anything less than 500 represents low B12, so depending on where you are in the world, you will get a different diagnosis!

Doctors are not trained in nutrition and are pretty clueless when it comes to B12 deficiency, as shown in the book. They tend to make snap judgments and if you're a vegan or vegetarian, will be very quick to jump to the conclusion that you require B12 supplementation, but if you eat meat, they assume you must be fine, even in the face of low/borderline readings.

A recent Tufts University study found that almost 40% of Americans have low/borderline or deficient B12 levels! Are 40% of Americans vegetarian or vegan? I wish!!!

So this is NOT a problem of intake it is a problem with absorption and a lack of intrinsic factor which is required in order to absorb B12.

And what damages intrinsic factor? LOADS of stuff! If you've ever been under general anaesthetic, abused alcohol or had an eating disorder you may well need to supplement B12!

So Yeah! We're Supplementing!

Sublinguals and injections now and again and I reckon we're well covered.

Raw Food Benefits: A little extra clarity

Just to get even more clarity on Jaye's blood test results, we asked for the opinion of Dr Stefania Licari. Dr Licari is a London, UK based medical doctor who is also training in anaesthetics and critical care. You can find out more about her here: Go 4 Extremes

She had the following to say about Jaye's results:

"I have had the pleasure to review Jaye's blood tests and I am satisfied with these findings. Overall, the results are pretty good.

In clinical practice we tend not to base our treatment decisions on laboratory results alone; we also take into account the perceived overall state of health of the individual. To me, blood tests need to be put in context in order to make sense at all.

Jaye reports great health, strength and general well-being. In this specific case, Jaye reports no signs or symptoms of anaemia or B12 deficiency or any other complaints. In fact he claims to feel extremely well. His results show a normal Haemoglobin level and no signs of Macrocytic anaemia, but a lower than normal B12.

Generally, B12 deficiency can be linked to conditions of malabsorption or atrophic gastritis.

Although the levels in Jaye are lower than normal, I would not recommend the introduction of meat or fish or any other animal product. Personally, I support a vegan lifestyle above a diet based on meat.

I recommend to watch out for any symptoms of deficiency and I recommend further check ups to be able to compare results, keep him monitored and see what the trend shows.

Cholesterol levels, especially LDL, are low which is highly positive; High LDL is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

I think that Jaye's diet is working well for him and clinically he seems to be a shining example of health."

Raw Food Benefits: Peace Of Mind

Leading the raw food benefits list is peace of mind. While we may have blood tests in future (just for the fun of it), there is no need for us to worry about monitoring any issues, since, other than a low B12 level (easily solved with some easy injections and sublinguals), there are no issues.

Jaye feels amazing, and his health and the raw food benefits continue to improve. With his cholesterol at such healthy levels there is never going to be any fear of heart attacks in this household, not to mention all the other risks associated with high cholesterol.

So, we plan to continue reaping these substantial raw food benefits.

So go on, eat more raw food and find out first hand what the raw food benefits are. Gradually add in more raw and phase out all the other junk at whatever pace feels right for you.

You'll start to experience the raw food benefits right away!

References

McDougall, Dr. John. "Vitamin B12 Deficiency—the Meat-eaters' Last Stand" McDougall Newsletter Volume 6 No. 11. Read it here: Vitamin B12 Deficiency - The Meat-eaters' Last Stand.

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