Health Check

[Murray]

but the doc said the spray is crap compared to their pills to boost it backup lol,

Everything I read about it says oral sprays are just as good if not much better if the person taking it doesn't have the best stomach

Also the NHS might prescribe you d2 pills instead of d3; apparently d3 is much better because it's exactly what your skin would make via sunlight, d2 is a plant product and leaves your system quicker, your body doesn't store it the same as d3.

Did he say you should stop using the spray for an amount of time before the blood test or no?

I did some research on it after doing my blood test to see if I should have left it longer than 36 hours, but 24 hours is apparently enough time to see what your baseline in (not 100% on this though as I couldn't only find one source)

https://www.livestrong.com/article/465017-does-the-body-store-vitamin-d/

According to a 2010 journal article published by "Pediatric Nephrology," vitamin D-2 and vitamin D-3 circulate in the blood for about 24 hours. Afterward, these vitamins are stored in the fat tissue for approximately two months. When the body needs more vitamins, vitamin D-2 and vitamin D-3 are converted to their active form called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The active vitamin is then released into the blood

Another interesting thing I learned was that the blood test doesn't look for the vitamin D3 from the supplement, it looks for what your liver turned into the active form

 

[newguy]

I've done a Medichecks test before. It was pretty comprehensive and revealing really. For the price I'm thinking of doing one each year just to keep an eye on things.

 

[m4c]

I think living in the UK, unless you're spending a lot of your time outside in the summer (when there is sun) or going on holiday regularly it's very likely you have low vitamin D

You can't produce vitamin D via sun through a window

You can't produce vitamin D in the winter in the UK because sunlight doesn't contain enough UVB radiation between October and March

These are the vitamin D facts I've learned lol

I use this spray - https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/betteryou-dlux-3000-vitamin-d-oral-spray-60012895

In my personal experience it also boosts your libido because it helps increase your testosterone

Agree with Murray - I've been using that spray during the winter for a couple of years - and then after my Thriva test showed I was short of B12, take that as well first thing in the morning

 

[m4c]

I'm actually quite exited to try some weights again in the coming weeks to see if its made any difference, as doing anything like that, even pull ups, pushups etc feels like my muscles are burning after 10 reps where I used to be in a physically fit Job before the interweb stuff so i'm used to being fit ( or 10 - 15 years ago I was ).

6 months off from hitting 50 years, I suddenly appreciated my own mortality and stepped up efforts to pay attention to my health - after growing up on a farm until age 25, and then 10 years of martial arts, I'd always kept 'fit' - but last 10-15 years, let it go in the pursuit of business - and always saw going to the gym / working out as a 'luxury' or only if you wanted to compete at something - now I know it's as essential to good health as quality food / vitamins / sleep - without regular exercise, and pushing / pulling weights - we all loose muscle mass as we age, and reduce our potential life span.

Definitely recommend visiting this site and taking your own QRisk test, to know your likely life expectancy: https://qrisk.org/three/

 

[m4c]

Last thing to suggest - get your Heart Rate Variance tested to see how your body is coping with stress / sleep / recovery - I found an 'almost magical' app that uses the light and camera on your smart phone to watch your pulse and heart beat - go to https://welltory.com/ / download the app - first 5 days of tests are free - it gives a whole word of information that traditionally was only available to scientists

 

[Adam H]

Quick update on this, had my appointment a few weeks ago. Doc didnt seem bothered at all but said he'd do a full range of bloods anyway to make sure there were no other problems as the Thriva results didnt have all the results he would have liked to have seen.

This was 2 weeks ago and I never heard anything back, so phoned today to chase them up assuming that not hearing anything meant everything was fine. ( Which it was ). While I was on the phone i asked what my Vit D levels results were ( just so i could see if the spray was doing anything ).

So my original thriva test was 30 nmol/L , after taking the spray for I guess a few weeks prior to seeing the doc, 3 sprays a day ( so massively overdoing the recommended allowance, 2 in the morning , one mid afternoon ). My results given today are well in the "normal ranges" at 101 nmol/L

Thriva indicate normal ( green line ) is between 50 - 100. So I will probably reduce down to 1 spray a day now, then in a few months do another thriva test to see how things have settled.

 

[Murray]

@Adam H 100 nmol/l seems to be widely considered around the lower end of optimal so that's very positive

How long before the test did you stop taking the spray?

Have you kept the original energy boost that you got when you first started taking it?

I've started taking vitamin K2 along with D and magnesium, they apparently work well together because they play a role with calcium and the K2 helps you put it in your bones instead of potentially getting clogged in arteries and organs

 

[Adam H]

I stopped taking it a few days before the test.

Yes I still see a much reduced frustration and brain fog daily and the energy is much better, although I still think i have some kind of intolerance or allergy to a food of some kind as some days I still feel like Im battling through it a bit. But we eat very well with a well mixed diet so finding that one or two things which is causing the problem is proving difficult, at the moment I'm rounding it to Sugar ,Chocolate, caffeine , Wheat, Yeast ( which I knew about before ). Obviously Sugar fuels yeast so Sugar is probably going to have to fall victim to a reduction to test.

 

[keys]

Sugar ,Chocolate, caffeine , Wheat, Yeast

If you have the interest to read or listen, Dr Sarah Myhill has some assertive views on this.

 

[dragon]

I've done a Medichecks test before. It was pretty comprehensive and revealing really. For the price I'm thinking of doing one each year just to keep an eye on things.

Medichecks is the way to go guys, best way to test for almost everything, especially testosterone levels from mid 30's as they can drop, which is linked to loads of things such as depression, etc. Highly recommended.

 

[bluerock]

Medichecks is the way to go guys, best way to test for almost everything, especially testosterone levels from mid 30's as they can drop, which is linked to loads of things such as depression, etc. Highly recommended.

ZMA will help to maintain testosterone levels and is reasonably priced at Amazon etc and all health shops.

 

[ANY-Web]

I am a bit late to this conversation.
Dee - thanks for sharing. Much appreciated.

As a mother of a son with autism I have used all sorts of supplements over the years
(I won't bore you with the list).

Turns out the one thing I have been missing is the focus on a healthy diet.
Where food is the medicine.

A friend of mine (wish I could remember who it was so I can thank them) recommended that I read "How Not to Die". I read the book and was hooked.
Most of the material in the book is covered on the website www.nutritionfacts.org and there are many videos on Youtube. It takes a while to get used to the style...
My personal favourites:
"Greger Daily Dozen" - I like the concept of a daily checklist of food groups.
"Greger Legumes"
"Greger Antioxidants"
"Greger Fibre" - the 5 to 1 rule (Carbs to Fibre)

Through reading about antioxidants I also discovered the benefits of "Eating the Rainbow"
every day, particularly adding dark green and purple foods.
Kale, broccoli, spinach and beetroot are my new friends.
The darker the berries the higher the antioxidant values. So hello blueberries and blackberries.
And pulses. Lentils, any type of dried bean, quinoa, etc ..... variety is indeed the spice of life.

Before I discovered "How Not to Die" I had always referred to DrAxe.com for a list for foods to target a particular vitamin or mineral.
So now when I find an interesting topic on Nutritionfacts.org I type e.g. "DrAxe Top Magnesium Foods" into Google to get the top food list (the search box on DrAxe.com has gone wrong and no longer returns specific results - use Google instead). I like the food lists and the Daily Values in Percent for a particular food.
They are not gospel but a guide to further research about a topic.
So "DrAxe Top Vitamin D Foods" reminded me (as a new vegan) to eat more mushrooms for Vitamin D - and to take a supplement. Thanks for the recommendation about the spray.

Anyway - I hope this will make some of you more curious about a "whole food plant based diet".
Not to become vegan - but to add beneficial foods like these (draxe.com/top-10-high-antioxidant-foods/) to your diet and ticking off the "Daily Dozen", and thus crowding out foods that are not that good for us.

I only rarely visit the forum - I just wanted to share my latest passion for "eating the rainbow"....

 

[Adam H]

Thought id add a little to the thread as to what else I've done since these Thrive tests which have certainly helped me take control of what I need to do to improve health, On top of the Vit-D spray I'm now doing B-12 and Multi Vit spray. Will do some more thiva tests in a month or two to get a comparison.

Because I've always kind of known my problem is probably Allergy or food related I found a company which does Intolerance tests ( at a great price ) against loads of different foods and beyond. Quite surprising some of the stuff myself and missus came up that our bodies reacted to. Especially on mine as I have reactions to Rice and All Fish , Peppers ( red only ) and celery apparently all of which I have alot of. Many other things just confirmed what I already expected, such as Coffee and de-caff, bread.

I've attached a copy of my report for anyone interested and think they might also suffer. So far since the report came ive cut out all of it, the one day i had rice the next day i knew I had something my body didnt like. They give a rating of anything with over an 85% reaction score is considered something that may need to be looked at.

Now I've just got to get my arse motivated to do a bit of exercise and ill be a healthier and more energised I have been the last 20 years.

https://www.intolerancelab.co.uk

 

[ian]

Damn Adam, is there anything left for you to eat

I really need to run my Thiva tests again, as I'm not convinced by the results; but have tried adjusting according to them, so we shall see.

 

[Adam H]

Damn Adam, is there anything left for you to eat

I really need to run my Thiva tests again, as I'm not convinced by the results; but have tried adjusting according to them, so we shall see.

Tell me about it, when it said beef my heart sank lol. But luckily it's only dried jerky style instead of steak as that would have really annoyed me lol

 

[dee]

@Adam H What does the test involve please and how long ? cost ? That looks really interesting.

I'm due my new test from thriva in about a week ( 3 months already) so looking forward to seeing any difference. I think the vit D has made a difference and I've not been as religious about taking it as i should have been. Next one will check testosterone aswell as that was suggested based on last vit d results . Maybe that's the cause of me being a 48-year-old bloke with the body of a 68-year-old woman.

 

[Adam H]

@Adam H What does the test involve please and how long ? cost ? That looks really interesting.

You just purchase them, then pull 10 of your own hairs ( root if possible ) put them in a plastic food bag along with the details they asked for and 3 - 5 days later the results get emailed to you.

So no need to wait for a testing pack, the sooner you send them the sooner you get them back.

 

[Lovekraft]

Thought id add a little to the thread as to what else I've done since these Thrive tests which have certainly helped me take control of what I need to do to improve health, On top of the Vit-D spray I'm now doing B-12 and Multi Vit spray. Will do some more thiva tests in a month or two to get a comparison.

Because I've always kind of known my problem is probably Allergy or food related I found a company which does Intolerance tests ( at a great price ) against loads of different foods and beyond. Quite surprising some of the stuff myself and missus came up that our bodies reacted to. Especially on mine as I have reactions to Rice and All Fish , Peppers ( red only ) and celery apparently all of which I have alot of. Many other things just confirmed what I already expected, such as Coffee and de-caff, bread.

I've attached a copy of my report for anyone interested and think they might also suffer. So far since the report came ive cut out all of it, the one day i had rice the next day i knew I had something my body didnt like. They give a rating of anything with over an 85% reaction score is considered something that may need to be looked at.

Now I've just got to get my arse motivated to do a bit of exercise and ill be a healthier and more energised I have been the last 20 years.

Have you noticed a considerable difference since cutting out the reported trigger foods?

I've come across these lab test sites before but was a little dubious about their authenticity.

 

[Adam H]

Have you noticed a considerable difference since cutting out the reported trigger foods?

I've come across these lab test sites before but was a little dubious about their authenticity.

Early days yet but so far I haven't felt rough at all other than the day after I had rice, that said It has been very warm and sunny during this same period since cutting the food out and I always feel better when the suns out

Should be able to say for sure in the coming weeks, but on the list of things highlighted, there is alot there that i already knew or at least suspected that i had issues with. To me those are confirmations and the others are possibly the missing link. Fingers crossed .

 

[Lovekraft]

Early days yet but so far I haven't felt rough at all other than the day after I had rice, that said It has been very warm and sunny during this same period since cutting the food out and I always feel better when the suns out

Should be able to say for sure in the coming weeks, but on the list of things highlighted, there is alot there that i already knew or at least suspected that i had issues with. To me those are confirmations and the others are possibly the missing link. Fingers crossed .

cool, good luck! Let us know how you get on. Tempted to get one myself as having some bother in the last few years which may be food intolerance related.