LINKS on
Health and BLOOD COMPONENTS
(Triglycerides, etc.)

(Links to info on signals in your blood tests
that indicate abuse of your body for
10, 20, 30, 40+ years.)
(in other words, info on cardio damage,
diabetes, obesity, nerve damage,
eye damage, joint damage, etc.)

Home page > This HEALTH-and-BLOOD-CHEMISTRY LINKS page

! NOTE !
Like most 'LINKS' pages on the web, there will, no doubt,
be more and more dead links on this page over time.
It may be years at a time before I return to this page to
remove dead links and replace some links with better links.
In the meantime, try 'WEB SEARCH' links provided on this page.

Table of Contents:

(links to sections of this page, below)


Note1:
You can use an option like 'Find in This Page ...' of your web browser to find character strings in this page, such as

'trigly'   OR   'diabet'   OR   'type 2'   OR   'type2'   OR   'type-2'   OR   'starch'.

Note2:
Because many of these web sites and web pages will, no doubt, disappear, I have preserved (below) some noteworthy quotes from sites and pages that may not be accessible, after I put their links on this page.

End of Table of Contents.

Start of Blood Health Links.

Where I'm Coming From :

I have experienced poor blood chemistry, in the form of elevated triglyceride levels, and moderately unhealthy cholesterol levels. But I was not warned of the dangers of high triglycerides by health professionals.

Below, I describe how I found out that triglycerides are a "risk factor" (or "predictor" or "indicator") of many-many modern unhealthy, disease conditions --- such as

  • "type 2 diabetes",

  • obesity,

  • vision degeneration,

  • joint degeneration,

  • blood capillary degeneration,

  • poor skin condition (such as deep cracks in heels), and

  • neuropathy (nerve degeneration, indicated by a "stinging" or "biting" or "itchy" feeling in the extremeties, particularly the feet).

In fact, most of these conditions are probably a result of blood capillary degeneration.

To begin my story ...

I have personally experienced the extreme frustration of vision degradation --- due to a vitreous "floater" persistently in the center of the vision of my right eye, as well as a cataract worsening in the lens of my right eye.

It is said that the painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch was motivated by Munch's desperation as he found his vision persistently blocked by floaters.

(Try a web search on "edvard munch scream eye vision floater".)

Until one has experienced the persistent blockage of one's vision, every hour of the day, one cannot appreciate how it ages a person, prematurely.

As someone has said on one of the eye-floater web sites, "I feel like I am waiting to die."

The condition makes one painfully aware of one's mortality, and it makes one aware of how, in one's younger and healthier years, one takes normal eyesight (and many other normal conditions, like good knees, good back, etc.) for granted.

In doing web searches, to find causes and cures for my eye condition(s), I found that several eye clinics pointed out that high triglycerides and high sugars (example: galactose in babies with an enzyme deficiency) --- as indicated by blood tests --- have been implicated as a cause of cataract formation.

    [Other factors, such as excessive exposure of eyes to sunlight, may also contribute to cataract formation. However, if that is the case, elderly Eskimos should all be blind.]

When you look up in a medical book how you reduce your triglyceride levels, they all say reduce sugars and starches in your diet.

For several years, my blood tests had shown that I had high "fasting" triglyceride levels --- around 250 mg/dl, then 380 mg/dl. [ mg/dl = milligrams per deciliter ]

My family doctor and his nurses never mentioned the dangers of high triglycerides. They just mentioned that my cholesterol was a little high --- and that my good, HDL cholesterol was a little low, and my bad, LDL cholesterol was a little high.

But they did not urge a change in diet, nor use of cholesterol altering drugs.

I am thankful that they did not try to force drugs on me, but I feel too many doctors do not advise their patients strongly enough about the need for a diet change when triglycerides are high.

They didn't even ASK me about my diet.

I was loading up on free re-fills of coke in fast food places --- and I ate Oreo cookies, York peppermint patties, ice cream bars, and half-gallons of ice cream like my pancreas could handle all the sugar I could throw at it.

Current practice is to consider 150 mg/dl a high triglyceride reading.

But because doctors frequently see patients with readings above 500, even above one thousand, doctors (and nurses) seldom give warning to patients whose triglycerides are in the 200 to 400 range.

In doing web searches, I found one research article that indicated that triglycerides are a better predictor of cardiovascular problems (and other problems) than cholesterol.

That same research study stated that it would be better to consider 100 mg/dl a high triglyceride reading --- instead of 150.

I have lowered my triglyceride readings from the 380 level to 38 (a reduction of about 90%) --- simply through a diet change.

I eliminated "added refined sugar" and high-sugar foods (like "cokes", candies, and junky breakfast cereals, and sugar-bread --- i.e. donuts, sweet rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, and the like).

I also greatly curtailed my ingestion of high-starch foods (like all forms of potatoes --- french fries, potato chips, and baked potatoes).

And I continue to reduce my intake of bread, rice, pasta, pizza dough, and the like --- because grain products are even higher in starches than potatoes --- and starches are simply chains of sugar molecules.

Please note that when you eat a donut or a sweet roll or a slice of cake, you are eating sugar on top of sugar.

    [And you are getting no fiber from that highly refined flour. Say hello to your little friend, constipation. Note that you don't need concoctions like Ex-Lax. Just eat a couple of handfuls of carrots instead --- or a veggie equivalent --- daily. They are high in fiber mixed with a sufficient amount of moisture.]

A web page entitled "How to Interpret Your Blood Test Results" points out :

    "Alcohol and sugar are not fats, but the body can convert them into fats, then dump those fats into your blood stream."

It continually amazes me to hear nutritionists and nurses and doctors (who should know better) constantly urge eating "low-fat" foods, whereas most manufactured "low-fat" foods contain a high amount of added refined-sugar --- to make up for the lack of taste caused by the removal of fats.

Those same nutritionists and nurses and doctors "rail" against "low-carb" diets --- which are simply diets that are low in sugar-y and starch-y carbohydrates --- NOT low in carbohydrate foods that contain plenty of healthy nutrients like vitamins, enzymes, minerals, and other "co-factors"--- and NOT low in carbohydrate foods that contain plenty of fiber, which is a major healthful component of 'good carbohydrate' foods.

    [Please note that "low carb" diets are NOT LOW in sugars and starches compared to the way man ate thousands of years ago. 'Primitive man' naturally ate a "low carb" diet.

    "Low carb" diets are low in sugars and starches compared to the way AMERICAN men and women eat TODAY.]

Most health professionals never mention how the body is perfectly capable of converting sugars and starches into fats.

I was taught that fact in Health and Physical Education classes in junior high school back in the 1950's. Don't they teach that basic fact of human chemistry any more???

    [It is amazing to me that whenever I see a picture of a dietician or nutritionist in the newspaper, they are almost always, not just over-weight, but just plain old fat or obese.

    I have no doubt that these same diet 'professionals' are the ones who claim a 'low-fat' diet is the solution to obesity, and 'low-carb' diets are dangerous.

    These diet-pros are typically the people who say things like 'Complex carbohydrates like starch and cereal grains seem to have a lowering effect on triglycerides.'

    WRONG! Starches and cereals are not so complex that the body cannot break those starches (long chains of sugars) down into their component sugars within a couple of hours.]

In any case, if it seems like this web page on "blood components" has a lot of links having to do with triglycerides and sugars, the paragraphs above indicate the reasons why.

Blood Components -
BLOOD TEST INFO web pages

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

< Go to Top of Page, above. >
  • How to Interpret Your Blood Test Results - at
    www.amarillomed.com/howto.htm
    ("alcohol and sugar are not fats, but the body can convert them into fats, then dump those fats into your blood stream")

  • Wikipedia - Reference ranges for blood tests - at
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_ranges_for_blood_tests

  • How Food Affects High Triglycerides - at
    www.joybauer.com/high-triglycerides/ about-high-triglycerides.aspx

  • Elevated Triglycerides - What Your Doctor May Not Tell You - at
    www.reducetriglycerides.com/BA.htm
    (some symptoms of extremely high triglycerides)

  • Refined Processed Carbohydrates -
    www.med-health.net/Refined-Processed-Carbohydrates.html
    ("A diet that includes an excessive intake of sugar has been linked to an increase of triglycerides in the bloodstream. These fatty cells have the potential to build up to such a point that the blood is no longer able to flow as freely and easily as it should, which can in turn lead to serious health problems like stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure. Refined processed carbohydrates are known in some instances for their extremely high sugar content, which in turn means that the more refined carbs that are consumed, the bigger the risk of triglycerides becoming excessive. The recommended daily intake of sugar stands today at no more than nine teaspoons - the average American however consumes at least 22.")

Blood Components -
TRIGLYCERIDES web pages

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

< Go to Top of Page, above. >
  • High Triglyceride Risk Factors - at
    www.optimal-heart-health.com/hightriglyceriderisk.html
    ("... why do some doctors seem to ignore high triglycerides?"

    "People with elevated triglycerides are at an increased risk of having a heart attack. This is true even when cholesterol levels are normal.")

  • Blog - "Natural Health Show" - at
    naturalhealthshowblog.blogspot.com/ 2005/11/ control-your-triglycerides-blood-fats.html
    (Dr. Bittiker's "patient had a triglyceride level of 2400 mg. He had been released from the hospital after having an angina attack. After making diet changes, his triglyceride level returned to normal - less than 150 mg/dL."

    "... biochemist listener had access to lab equipment ... checked the rise in triglycerides after eating only olive oil, only cheese, and only pasta. These are the main ingredients in Fettucini Alfredo, also known as 'heart attack on a plate'. Both the olive oil and cheese increased triglyceride level by about 50 mg. The pasta increased triglyceride level by 300 mg!"

    "Grains are converted to simple sugar in the body. Substituting vegetables for some sugar and grains is a good start.")

  • Blog - "Healthy Eating" - at
    eatinghealthy.blogspot.com/ 2006/07/corn-is-technically-grain-but-look-out.html
    ("I dropped my triglycerides from 1374 to 76 in two months.")

  • Triglycerides description in Wikipedia - at
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride
    ("Triglyceride ... is ... glycerol and three fatty acids.")

  • Chem4Kids - Lipids - at
    www.chem4kids.com/files/bio_lipids.html
    ("Glycerol is the basis of all fats and is made up of a three-carbon chain that connects the fatty acids [of triglycerides] together.")

  • Triglycerides May Predict Heart Risk - at
    www.mercola.com/1997/archive/heart_risk.htm
    (This page disappeared. In 2015, his archives go back no further than 2000.)

    ("High triglycerides alone increased the risk of heart attack nearly three-fold"

    "People with the highest ratio of triglycerides to HDL -- the 'good' cholesterol -- had 16 times the risk of heart attack as those with the lowest ratio of triglycerides to HDL in the study of 340 heart attack patients and 340 of their healthy, same age counterparts. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL was the strongest predictor of a heart attack."

    "This is especially encouraging news as elevated triglyceride levels are one of the simplest conditions to treat naturally. The restricted carbohydrate diet discussed in 'Protein Power' by Eades will normalize triglyceride levels with most people within weeks or even days.")

  • Dr. Mercola Nutrition Plan - at
    www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/index2.htm
    ("In over 20 years of practicing medicine I have never seen an elevated triglyceride level fail to drop in response to a low carbohydrate program."

    "Most adults have about one gallon of blood in their bodies and ... in that gallon, there is only one teaspoon of sugar! You only need one teaspoon of sugar at all times -- if that. If your blood sugar level were to rise to one tablespoon of sugar, you would quickly go into a hyperglycemic coma and die."

    "When the blood sugar rises above 100 mg/dL I become very concerned with respect to the possibility of diabetes. Diabetes is not usually diagnosed until the blood sugar rises above 126 mg/dL. However, it is my contention that this is far too late in the process."

    "High blood sugar levels can attach to the proteins in your body and rapidly accelerate the aging process." "...fasting blood sugar should be below 90." "Fortunately, a fasting blood sugar is a very inexpensive test!"

    "The triglyceride to HDL ratio ... should be below 2.")

  • "LDL subfractions and atherogenicity" - at
    www.priory.com/cmro/cmro1104.htm
    University of Glasgow research paper
    ("Triglycerides ... may cause ... cell dysfunction in the artery wall ... This evidence has led to an increasing recognition of the central role of triglycerides in the process of atherogenesis [hardening of the arteries].")

Blood Components -
BLOOD SUGAR web pages

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

< Go to Top of Page, above. >

Blood Components - 'WEB DIRECTORY' pages

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

< Go to Top of Page, above. >

It seems that 'web directories' are dying out. Google and Yahoo closed theirs down around 2014. Then around 2017, the directory from which the Google and Yahoo web-directories were spawned --- the DMOZ "Open Directory Project" closed down.

It seems that it is just not feasible for a team of people to keep up with all the sites that are going dead and the new sites that appear.

About a year after the dmoz.org site closed down, it appears that a new web-directory site --- curlie.org --- arose from the ashes of 'dmoz.org'. It remains to be seen how long that web-directory lasts.

Following are a few links related to 'web directory' sites.

Bottom of this
BLOOD Components (& Human Health)
web LINKS
page.

To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times. OR, use the History-list option of your web browser.

OR ...

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Or you can scroll up, to the top of this page.


Page history:

Page was created 2006 Aug 02.

Page was changed 2010 Aug 09.

Page was changed 2015 Jun 27.
(Added 'WEB SEARCH' links. Added some links. Added 'WEB DIRECTORIES' section.)

Page was changed 2018 Sep 17.
(Added css and javascript to try to handle text-size for smartphones, esp. in portrait orientation.)

Page was changed 2021 Feb 15.
(Specified the width of images in proportion to the width of the browser window. Some minor re-formatting.)