Our insurance coverage is changing again, but this time to one of the worst ones around (very few doctors accept it). The fantastic holistic doctor I see won't accept it. Anyway, she said I can come in before it switches over to do another update on how well I'm doing with the raw diet. I've been consistently documenting my path to health with blood tests (to see how things are changing on the inside, as well as the outside).

I'm trying to remember the things that sometimes are deficient on a raw diet if raw foodists aren't making sure to eat a good variety of fruits/veggies. Was it zinc, selenium, and magnesium?

I see her Monday morning, so if anyone has suggestions for things to add to the blood testing, I'd love to hear about it.

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

Well:

My own experience (after eating all raw for about 8 years...and all fruit the past few)...is that I showed up with a slight deficiency in Vitamin A & D....both fairly easily remedied. All other bloodwork was fine....including B-12 levels (but I also eat/have eaten quite a bit of home-grown locally grown produce...so I don't think that's much of an issue). My protein levels, fat levels, iron levels, zinc, slenium, magnesium were all fine.

So: You might certainly want to be tested for B-12, and any of the various fat-soluble vitamins that the body stores.

-Just my experiences.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

After Year and half of eating raw, I have normal blood test results also.

I asked them if they will check Vitamin D, B12, Calcium leves etc etc and they said yes. This was about a month or so ago. All results came back normal.

The only concern I have is that I am off Thyroid medication and I want to fix it and let the Thyroid gland heal naturally. My TSH level is now 4.0 and that is in high end of normal (0.7 to 5.1) and I would like to bring that lower. I hope it continues to heal and the levels get better.


Good luck with your tests

Take care
A Iyer

Methylmalonic acid (MMA) for B12.
DHA for long-chain omega3.
Zinc can be tricky.

D would be good, too, but there are so many different tests, they are controversial, and the quality of the results are variable--not all labs are equipped properly.

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Thanks for all of the advice. My husband created a cool spreadsheet that shows my results over the past few years. It's super easy to see how much raw foods has increased my health. I'm going to ask her to test for all of the things you've all mentioned here, to see what she thinks.

The last test (after about one year raw) showed low eosinophilis, absolute (as in so low it was zero)--but, I'm pretty sure everyone here said it was okay when I mentioned it last year.

I continue to be low in ferritin (it went lower after a year of raw), as of my last test.

Also RDW continued to be high after a year of raw (don't know what that is or what it means).

My B12 was once low, but was corrected after B12 supplements (which also corrected a homocysteine problem). I haven't been taking much B12, so we'll see what the results show. If my homocysteine is high again, I'll be more cautious and take B12 more regularly.

Anyway, I'm excited to get the test done after a year and a half 100% raw. However, I'm one of those people who is terrified of needles (so much that I almost hyperventilate when they are taking the blood--UGH). I always wonder if my stress level increases during the test and shows higher levels than it normally would if I wasn't so terrified of the needle.

I'll see the doctor in the morning and hear what she thinks I should get tested. She's an awesome holistic doctor and I'm going to miss her when we move to CA sometime this year. If there are any more suggestions on what to get tested (things that are sometimes running a bit off with raw vegans), let me know before the morning.

Thanks, everyone!

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

> She's an awesome holistic doctor

Yes, she certainly sounds like it. You will be in good hands.