Scheduling a blood test...what to look at?

[Nekodaiden]

I’m considering getting a blood test done as I’m coming close to 1 year vegan. Some of the things I know to look for:



- B12 levels. I have a supplement. I rarely take it.

- A recent post has brought up arsenic in brown rice. I have looked and am fairly comfortable with Aussie brown rice, but it might be worth considering a test to see anyway.

- Vitamin D levels.

- Cholesterol levels

- fasting blood glucose

-triglycerides



The last test I had done was a few years ago. I was concerned at that time about elevated liver enzymes due to a beer habit. This was before I became vegan, and I was told it was nowhere near serious and they were a little elevated but nothing that wouldn’t come down given a few weeks without.



Since becoming Vegan, I have not given up the beer, only battled to slow my intake. I know it is within my power to stop, it is an issue I’m working on and seeking counseling on. I started hitting it pretty hard after my partner died some years ago.



Astute readers of my posts will have probably picked up on this due to some of my comments. I know a fair bit about excessive alcohol intake and ramifications, and how to offset those by making sure my vitamin and mineral levels are top notch, as well as eating enough fat (which is from whole plant sources these days, and is actually necessary for someone who drinks regularly or semi regularly). I may seem pretty anal about whole foods and not eating refined garbage, but it’s not just because they’re aren’t good for health, it’s because I don’t want to do anything worse than I already am with alcohol.





Anyway, this blood test will be my first as a vegan. Anything else worth looking for or at?

 

[Kellyr]

Probably anything on this list if you agree with it:

7 supplements you need on a vegan diet

 

[Forest Nymph]

I drink but have the "bloodwork of a 17 year old" according to the doctor.

Alcohol will cause deficiency only if you drink so heavily that you don't eat properly or if you aren't vigilant about your B vitamins (vegans usually already are).

I think it's good to take multis sometimes. Not every day. Like once a week for a couple of months, but don't stress if you go a few more months until you get a new bottle. A supplement should just give a boost I don't think it's good to obsess so much that you take multis every day or even every week. Waste of money to just pee it all out.

As long as you have a balanced diet and take B12, you should be fine. I like to work hemp into my diet as well and occasionally take DHA.

 

[Wendy Diaz]

Yeah, I think you mentioned all the most important ones.

 

[Nekodaiden]

I drink but have the "bloodwork of a 17 year old" according to the doctor.

Alcohol will cause deficiency only if you drink so heavily that you don't eat properly or if you aren't vigilant about your B vitamins (vegans usually already are).

I think it's good to take multis sometimes. Not every day. Like once a week for a couple of months, but don't stress if you go a few more months until you get a new bottle. A supplement should just give a boost I don't think it's good to obsess so much that you take multis every day or even every week. Waste of money to just pee it all out.

As long as you have a balanced diet and take B12, you should be fine. I like to work hemp into my diet as well and occasionally take DHA.

Eh, I had to respond to this because while the advice given is good, it's also incomplete. Alcohol drains Zinc and as far as I'm aware, also the alkaline minerals because it is so acidic(Calcium from bones and teeth, magnesium and others). I know Zinc is a big one, though. Without it, or enough of it, you can't detox from alcohol. Men need more zinc than women (as it is a major part of male sexuality) and anyone who drinks alcohol needs more than the average person.

This awareness (along with the B complex vitamins you mentioned) is one of the reasons I used to eat meat after drinking - Zinc, B vitamins, fat. Since becoming vegan I realized I could do this upping my seed intake and whole grain intake, as well as eating sprouted grains like barley for more B complex and some minerals it contains as well.

I have also noticed greater recovery times as a Vegan after drinking, with keeping up seed intake and incorporating sprouted grains (particularly Barley) in my diet. In my meat eating days I used to wake up after a night of drinking/meat eating and was literally sometimes choking on the mucous the next morning. Alcohol still gives me mucous, but not nearly the combination I used to get when I ate meat after as well.

Homocysteine levels is what I forgot I need to look at. I have hardly been taking my B12, Vegan diet is naturally low in Methionine (which is good) but I have to wonder what my homocysteine levels are given all these factors.

As for your "perfect bloodwork", that may have been at the time you got tested, but if you drink anything like I'm trying not to anymore, your body will still take a hit somehow. I credit the loss of a few teeth (thankfully, not the front ones) due mainly to quite a few years of alcohol abuse.

 

[Black Eyed Pea]

B12, Vit D, lipid panel (cholesterol), zinc, iodine, omega 3s, K2, fasting glucose (blood sugar)

 

[pumpkin]

I really agree with the list of 7 nutrients posted above. I've been Vegan for 32 years (I was born it) and now at age 32 I have a myriad of health problems I'm struggling to sort out. I've had 4 different health issues rise up in the last year alone.

I've started testing for nutritional issues and found various problems. I had an iodine deficiency - which would explain the thyroid problem. I also did a hair mineral test for copper and it came back 8 times the maximum limit, suggesting I have serious copper toxicity. I am investigating this further but I consider this to be an essential problem with the Vegan diet now. I use an app called chronometer, which shows all the nutrients you do or don't get through what you personally eat. I've read our zinc to copper ratio should be about 10-1, but I always only get about 4/5 times more zinc than copper. This is because most of the health foods Vegans eat, like nuts, seeds, lentils and soya, are massive sources of copper. They are ironically our main sources of zinc too, yet by eating these to up our zinc, we also go way over the daily limit for healthy copper amounts. Then we have the copper added to many multivitamins. I am struggling with this one but my conclusion now is that Vegans should supplement with not only B12 and DHA but also zinc, as I can't see how we can maintain a healthy zinc to copper ratio through food alone. You can get iodine through diet, if not, supplement.

Without attention to my diet I was deficient in all those key Vegan nutrients, B12, iodine, now zinc etc. So it really is worth cleaning up our diets and taking the supplements regularly.

Another issue can be vitamin A as many people have a genetic mutation meaning they can't convert beta carotene to retinol or do so at a vastly reduced rate. I now drink a glass of carrot juice every day for this purpose, but I've also done a genetic test called 23andme, which costs around 120quid, to find out exactly what mutations I have, to be more certain about what I specifically need to do about diet.