The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [110]
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UV-B/F Lamps
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The KBD D/UV-F fluorescent lamp was developed in 2010 for individuals who can’t tolerate direct sunlight exposure or oral Vitamin D supplements.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened to my blood and cholesterol after those 21 days in Nicaragua, 21 days of consuming at least 30% of my calories as beef fat and 200–300 grams of protein and 40–70 almonds per day. I expected the worst. Here is the real impact on two common concerns: cholesterol levels and kidney function.
BEFORE (AUGUST 20, 2009) vs. AFTER (SEPTEMBER 25, 2009)
Cholesterol
Total cholesterol: 200 (borderline out-of-range) vs. 190
HDL: 57 vs. 57
LDL: 133 (out-of-range) vs. 108
VLDL: 10 vs. 25
Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 3.5 vs. 3.3
Triglycerides: 48 vs. 124 (normal: <150)
Kidney function
BUN: 17 vs. 18 (normal: 7–25)
Creatinine: 1.0 vs. 1.1 (normal: 0.7–1.2)
BUN/creatinine ratio: 16.4–17 (normal: 10–20)
Even I was stunned.
I took no cholesterol-lowering (or HDL-raising) drugs or supplements, and a 21- day marathon of red meat actually improved my cholesterol/HDL ratio, which most doctors view as an indication of cardiac health. I also lowered both total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. I ended up within the “low-risk” range for triglycerides, according to the American Heart Association, but there was an elevation. I expected the increase for three reasons:
1. Triglycerides transport dietary fat, and I had been consuming massive quantities of fat.
2. Fat-loss can produce transient elevated triglycerides (as it did with my dad, who lost 70+ pounds of fat), and I had lost substantial bodyfat in the preceding 21 days.
3. I had consumed 14 ounces of pulp-free orange juice the morning before the blood draw—the first time I’d done so in at least a year—to measure my blood sugar response. Fructose, the sugar in fruit, is well known for rapidly increasing both triglycerides and LDL.
All cardiac markers were brought within normal range within weeks of stopping the animal flesh binge. When I retested on October 16 (21 days later), my triglycerides had dropped from 124 to 82, and my VLDL had dropped from 25 to 16.
What of the BUN and creatinine, considered indicators of kidney stress? Both were nominally elevated but well within normal range.
I’m amazed that both weren’t higher, considering that muscular damage can increase both BUN and creatinine, and I had done a squat workout 48 hours prior to the “after” blood draw on September 24.
But isn’t cholesterol bad for you?
This belief is predicated on the Lipid Hypothesis of cardiac health (cholesterol = bad), which I disagree with based on the sum total of available evidence. Between 2006 and 2009, I had obsessed over lowering my total cholesterol. The outcome? Lower testosterone and fatigue.
I’ll take my egg yolks, thank you very much.
It appears that splitting up the 800 milligrams of cholesterol also works for the earlier “Nitro Boost” Protocol 2.
If you know your local sources and can avoid salmonella and raw milk issues, I’ve found the following shake to produce incredible effects when mixed with a hand blender and consumed at both 4:00 P.M. and before bed. It also helped me achieve the 100+-pound strength gains as detailed in “Effortless Superhuman”:
12 oz whole raw milk
4 tbsp raw almond butter
2 raw egg yolks
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
This is more appropriately called a “fat shake” instead of a protein shake, but I still dropped bodyfat while consuming it. How? The fat-loss was predicated on otherwise maintaining a slow-carb diet and taking the shakes only on workout days, no more than three times a week. If you’ve ever wondered what anabolics feel like, one week of these shakes will give you a good idea.
Here is the nutritional yield,