My latest blood test results are in-how’s my biological age?
In the video I discuss my dietary approach prior to my latest blood test, the blood test results, and my plan to improve them with diet going forward.
After going on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Paul Saladino, MD, posted his show notes, which included his blood test results. Based on that data, is his biological age optimal while on a carnivore diet?
My latest blood test results are in-how’s my biological age? In the video I discuss my dietary approach prior to my latest blood test, the blood test results, and my plan to improve them going forward.
Here’s a video clip about my latest Biological Age measurement!
Interestingly, we recorded this as I was recovering from a respiratory infection. Was it SARS-CoV-2, or influenza? I’ll know later this week!
In the first 45 minutes, discuss each of the biomarkers contained within Levine’s Biological Age calculator, Phenotypic Age.
After that, I answer questions from the audience and we discuss all things related to aging.
Here’s a recent podcast that was recorded with Julian Hayes II at Optimal Health for Busy Entrepreneurs:
https://theartoffitnessandlife.com/episode20/
Enjoy!
Exactly 1 month ago, my first biological age measurement of 2020 was 32.75y (https://michaellustgarten.wordpress.com/2020/02/14/biological-age-32-75y-chronological-age-47y-first-2020-measurement/). When considering that my chronological age is 47y, that’s a 14 year improvement, but I wasn’t (and still aren’t) satisfied. When I sent my blood for analysis, I was battling a mild upper respiratory infection (cough, no fever), which likely raised my WBCs, thereby resulting in a higher biologic age. Also, I was experimenting with a higher intake of meat, eggs, and cheese, to see what affect that it would have on my circulating biomarkers. On that blood test in February, my creatinine levels were higher than my 2015-2020 average value, and if those foods were associated with circulating levels of creatinine, reducing them should also reduce creatinine, and accordingly, further improve my biological age. I also assumed that all other variables on Levine’s Phenotypic Age calculator would be unchanged.
On March 9 2020, I sent my blood for analysis so that I could calculate biological age with Levine’s PhenotypicAge. Almost exactly as expected, my WBCs (4.7 * 10^3 cells/microliter) were closer to my 2015-2020 average value (4.6), rather than the higher value (5.8) in my blood test last month. Similarly, reducing my intake of beef, eggs, and cheese brought creatinine from 1.08 to 0.97 mg/dL, which is closer to its 5-year average (0.94 mg/dL). As a result, I further reduced my biological age by 1.14 years to 31.61y, which is 15+ years younger than my chronological!
Because I track my diet every day, I can investigate the correlation between my meat, eggs, and cheese intake with creatinine. I now have 8 blood tests that correspond to dietary data, and interestingly, there is a moderately strong correlation between my average daily beef+egg+cheese intake with creatinine (r = 0.55). Based on these data, I’m going to continue to minimize consumption of these foods, with the goal of optimizing creatinine.
On a final note, I also expected to further reduce my CRP from 0.3 to something lower, but it slightly increased to 0.37 mg/L. While that is far from a high value, lower is better, and in future blood tests I’ll try to figure out how to further reduce it.
If you’re interested in calculating your biological age, here’s the Excel link:
Measurement of biological age with Levine’s Phenotypic Age calculator is strongly correlated with chronological age (r=0.94; see https://michaellustgarten.wordpress.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). In 2019, I measured all 9 of its analytes 3 times, with biological age readings of 35.39y, 35.58y, and 31.3y, for an average 2019 biological age of 34.09y (see https://michaellustgarten.wordpress.com/2019/11/01/biological-age-31-3y-chronological-age-46y/). That’s 12 years younger than my chronological age in 2019, 46y!
On Feb 12, I had my first blood test measurement of 2020. I expected to see a worse biological age, as over the past week, I’d been hit with the flu, and since my last measurement in 2019, I made a few changes to my diet that I didn’t expect to favorably affect it. In contrast, I’ve been purposefully in a mild caloric restriction in an attempt to reduce my body fat from a relatively lean 10-12% to lower values. Since my last blood test 3+ months ago, my average calorie intake was 2553, which is 5-10% less than my maintenance intake, 2700-2800 calories/day. So how did these variables affect my biologic age? Let’s have a look at the data!
My biological age was 32.75y, which is less than my 2019 average value, and better than I expected considering the factors mentioned above! Note that there is room for improvement, including my creatinine and WBC levels, which both increased when compared with my average 2015-2019 values (which included 23 blood tests). My average daily fiber intake has been ~100g/day for a few years, and over the past 3 months, I purposefully reduced that to ~70g/day. Conversely, I increased my intake of meat, eggs, and cheese intake during that period, to see if eating less fiber and more animal products would negatively impact my blood test results. For me, eating more animal protein and less total fiber may not be optimal, as my creatinine levels also rose in 2019 when I performed a similar dietary experiment. Note that creatinine levels increase with age (see https://michaellustgarten.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/optimizing-biologic-age-creatinine/), so if I can avoid that by altering my diet, I will. For the next blood test, I’ll reduce, but not eliminate my intake of meat, eggs, and cheese, and I expect that my creatinine levels will decrease back towards my average 2015-2019 value of 0.94 mg/dL.
Also note my WBCs-although they’re not higher than the 3.5-6 optimal range (see https://michaellustgarten.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/blood-testing-whats-optimal-for-wbc-levels/), they’re increased when compared with my average 2015-2019 value of 4.5. This increase is more than likely a result of the flu/infection that I’m battling. Once it passes, I expect it to return to close to my average WBC value, ~4.5.
Going forward, I expect my creatinine and WBCs to come down to their average values, which would result in a biological age that is closer to 30y on my next blood test. Stay tuned for that data!
To quantify your biological age using Levine’s Phenotypic Age calculator, here’s the Excel link! DNAmPhenoAge_gen (1)
If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!
Michael Lustgarten 