When I'm getting old

I could have written this. My thoughts have been running down this same path.

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Just now catching up with your comment. Did mean to write “same” instead of “sane”? Either works!

Hi Terry, I was reading your old post from 2020 saw where you said you have made significant health gains. Can you share what you did/are still doing to get those health gains? Thanks as always!

@v_prediabetic – In October of 2018, I received the results of a coronary artery calcium scan - a CAC score. Mine was very high at 489. Anything over 100 is a large concern. I was able to stop my CAC score from rising as evidenced by a 482 score in 2019. I understand that stopping progression is unusual and very helpful.

This provided the motivation to make some changes.

  • I stopped consuming all grains; I had already stopped most grains to a low amount for several years.

  • I adopted good sleep hygiene including a habit of maintaining the same bed-time each evening. I quit all sleep meds except for melatonin.

  • I took a sauna almost every day until the pandemic hit in early 2020. That is one habit I regret that I was forced to quit.

  • I reinforced my attempt to meditate every day. I still meditate about 4-5 times per week.

  • I added a rowing machine to my daily workout regime. The stroke has interrupted that routine and need to restart.

  • I removed all “vegetable oils” from my diet, especially those in processed foods. These oils are refined in processes more in common with petroleum production. No one should consume these ubiquitous oils.

  • I quit long-term use of stomach antacids, proton pump inhibitors. My real problem was low stomach acid caused by the PPI’s themselves.

  • I tried to adopt an attitude of thankfulness. This is an ongoing project.

As you can see, my effort was wide-ranging and I believe heathy. It did not stop me from having stroke but I think they placed me in the best possible position for its effects to be minimized and my recovery to be shortened.

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Hi Terry.

Re High Calcium Scores:

I see a cardiologist at MassGenBrigham (Boston) annually because of a very high calcium score done in SoCal (previous residence) in March of 2019. Total coronary calcium score was 1143. You read that right: 1143.

I saw the doctor at MGH for the first time to obtain a second opinion. I since relocated and he’s now my ongoing cardiologist. I have no other issues, and have had two stress echos since then. In case people reading here don’t know much about calcium scores, it might help to widen the aperture a bit. My cardio informed me that calcium score is a risk factor for coronary disease but alone, it doesn’t mean much in assesssing the risk of deveoping obstructive coronary artery disease. Anyone with T1D and a high calcium score, however, will likely be advised to get a stress echo. Just want to make sure no-one gets scared about a high calcium score as a single additional (to T1D) risk factor.

FWIW, I stopped grains in 2011 and can’t remember last time I used a vegetable oil unless dining out and then, who really knows? (Although techincally olive oil is a vegetable oil and I certainly include it in my diet). I’m not up-to-date on the benefits of sauna but the rest of your list I susbscribe to. I use a bike instead of rowing but rowing is great cardio (I grew up rowing regularly on a lake in the PNW and memory of the lake is my fav imagery for relaxation). I’ll have to go read about your stroke experience and thanks in advance for sharing about it here.

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My cardiologist doesn’t think much of the calcium score because it gives no info about where the plaque is located. He only uses it to see if someone needs to be on a statin or to see if more tests need to be run.

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I gave up oil too, even olive oil. I also don’t eat avocado or anything that has a lot of oil in it.

I avoid processed food as much as I can, but I don’t avoid grain.
I eat oats and bulgar and farro even small amounts of wheat and rice.

I think with grains, it’s all about moderation