A few weeks back I shared what I eat as a vegan for the 5th time on this blog. The goal of those food diaries is to show you what vegans eat (or at least, this vegan), in hope to inspire you to do the same. I think killing animals for no good reason is unethical. But once you know what I eat, I guess your next question is: is a plant-based diet healthy? I believe so, I think it’s the diet that can make us live longest without disease. Unfortunately, not everybody shares this opinion. I feel amazing, but how do I proof that I am healthy? Well, I am doing it today by sharing my bloodwork. Here’s the bloodwork of a vegan.
Why I did some bloodwork
The results of the bloodwork I am showing today are from September 2023. Today (June 2024) the results a bit old, but I just have a lot of things I like to write about on this blog and so I wasn’t able to share it earlier. I went vegan on the 30th of October in 2017. I wanted to look at my bloodwork, because I had been vegan for almost 6 years and I wanted to see how I was doing. Like I said, I am convinced that a vegan diet can be best for you, but I wanted to check whether I was actually doing good.
My employer at the time offered it to me with a discount, but I still paid about 300 euros for this bloodwork. My health insurance only covers bloodwork when I’m sick, but I wasn’t sick, I just wanted to check on my health. I chose to pay for it myself, but I am very well aware of the fact that not everybody can afford this. I took the most extensive test the company offered, but I think there are many more parameters that you could check. This is what I have right now.
The bloodwork of a vegan
Here are the results of my bloodwork in 2023. At the time I was 24 years old.
Parameter | My result | Recommended result | Status |
Natrium | 144 mmol/l | 135-142 mmol/l | Normal |
Calcium | 2.31 mmol/l | 2.15 – 2.55 mmol/l | Optimal |
Iron | 19 µmol/l | 15.22 – 23.27 µmol/l | Optimal |
Vitamin D | 59 nmol/l | 100-125 nmol/l | Low |
Vitamin B12 | 284 pmol/l | 260 – 569 pmol/l | Optimal |
Ferritin | 33.9 ug/l | 30 – 70 ug/l | Optimal |
Magnesium | 1.8 mmol/l | 2.2 – 2.69 mmol/l | Normal |
Free T4 | 17.89 pmol/l | 15 – 21.9 pmol/l | Optimal |
TSH | 1.94 mU/l | 0.8 – 2.5 mU/l | Optimal |
Testosteron | 1.2 nmol/l | 1.21 – 1.56 nmol/l | Normal |
HDL Cholesterol | 1.61 mmol/l | 1.42 – 1.81 mmol/l | Optimal |
LDL Cholesterol | 1.32 mmol/l | 0.3 – 2.59 mmol/l | Optimal |
Total Cholesterol | 3.19 mmol/l | 5.1 – 6.2 mmol/l | Low |
Cholesterol Ratio | 2 | 0 – 3 | Optimal |
hbA1c | 4.8% | 4.6 – 5.5% | Optimal |
Triglycerides | 0.75 mmol/l | 0.3 – 2.28 mmol/l | Optimal |
hs-CRP | 2.37 mg/L | 0 – 1 mg/L | Normal |
Leukocytes | 5.7 /nl | 4 – 10 | Optimal |
Neutrophil granulocytes | 39% | 34 – 71% | Optimal |
Lymphocytes | 46.7% | 19 – 52% | Optimal |
Monocytes | 9% | 5 – 13% | Optimal |
Eosinophilic granulocytes | 4.6% | 1 – 6% | Optimal |
Basophilic granulocytes | 0.7% | 0 – 1.5% | Optimal |
Erythrocytes | 4.3 /pl | 3.9 – 5.2 /pl | Optimal |
Hemoglobin | 8.3 mmol/l | 7.5 – 9.7 mmol/l | Optimal |
Hematocrit | 0.42 l/l | 0.36 – 0.49 l/l | Optimal |
MCV | 96.30 fl | 82 – 98 fl | Optimal |
MCH | 1.92 fmol | 1.59 – 2 fmol | Optimal |
MCHC | 19.9 mmol/l | 19 – 22.5 mmol/l | Optimal |
Platelets | 248 /nl | 150 – 400 /nl | Optimal |
Iron | 19 µmol/l | 15.22 – 23.27 µmol/l | Optimal |
Transferrin Saturated | 21.10% | 24 – 35% | Normal |
Creatine Kinase | 64 U/l | 65 – 135 U/l | Normal |
Are the results good or bad?
I’m not a dietician or a doctor. Therefore I cannot say much all there is to say about the individual values. The recommended results that I listed are the ones I got from the company I took this test at. For all values they list 5 categories. 1 being low, 2 being on the lower bound of normal, 3 being optimal, 4 being on the higher bound of normal and 5 is high. I tested 33 different values and these are the overall results:
– 2 values are low
– 4 values are on the lower bound of normal
– 25 values are optimal
– 2 values are on the higher bound of normal
– 0 values are high
That means 76% of my values are optimal, 12% is on the lower bound of normal, 6% is on the higher bound of normal and 6% is low. 94% of all values are within the reach of normal and 6% is low. Overall, I’d say (as someone who doesn’t know anything about bloodwork) that’s pretty good.
Low vitamin D
I have two values classified as low: vitamin D and total cholesterol. Vitamin D is a vitamin that is primarily deprived from direct sunlight on your skin. So funnily, this has nothing to do with me being vegan. It has to do with the fact that I didn’t see much daylight anymore when I started working in an office 32 hours a week from October 2022 onwards, after I graduated. By the time I did this test I had built up a huge deficiency. I knew something was partly wrong, because I was extremely tired and my feet felt like they were asleep permanently. However, I thought I was extremely tired from work and had to get used to working full-time. I went to see my doctor for my feet, but he told me, since I was already waiting on this bloodwork, we wouldn’t do additional bloodwork. When I went on a 21-day long interrail holiday, while waiting for the results, my complaints got less and less. I got the feeling in my feet back and I had more energy. That’s because I was exposed to more sunlight.
When I got these results, a lot of puzzle pieces fell into place haha. I started supplementing vitamin D daily since then. Before the deficiency I took a vitamin D supplement every now and then, but now I take it consistently. The company where I took the test recommended me to do another test after a few months, but since I feel good I didn’t do this. I believe the value is stable now.
Low total cholesterol
Then the second value that is classified as low: the total cholesterol. I am still very surprised by this. My LDL-, HDL- and cholesterol ratio are optimal. Somehow my total cholesterol is low. They don’t say why this is the case. And this might sound shocking: but I am going to ignore this low value. Why? I find it weird that all the other values are optimal. The LDL-cholesterol, the HDL-cholesterol, the cholesterol ratio and the triglycerides are all optimal. Why is then the total cholesterol too low? They don’t say why. But when it comes to the negative effects, they say that they may occur, not that they will. They literally say that it doesn’t have to be a problem. When it comes to these possible negative effects, I don’t experience one of them.
I tried to find more information about total cholesterol. I am not a researcher, but I do have a master’s degree. My conclusion is that I could barely find anything on low total cholesterol. On the website of national authorities (like the association for heart disease in The Netherlands) I couldn’t find anything. They don’t give a lower bound. They state that everything below 5 mmol/l is good (I have 3.19 mmol/l). In literature I didn’t see much consensus either. Most things I read there said that a lower total cholesterol is associated with a lower mortality rate. Since I feel fine, I am going to ignore this low value.
Normal natrium, hs-CPR and creatine kinase
The test showed 6 values which are all normal, but not optimal. I do want to discuss these, even though the values are normal. This article is a personal note for me too haha. First the natrium, it’s on the higher bound of normal. That’s usually because people drink too little water. This is true for me. I am never thirsty, so I have to force myself to drink water. I force myself to drink 500 ml water in the morning. This is not going perfect every day and I can definitely improve this habit. Then the hs-CRP, this is on the higher bound of normal as well. This value is usually elevated when you have an (chronic) infection. This value is probably a bit elevated due to my vitamin D deficiency. It should be normal when my vitamin D deficiency is resolved.
Then there’s the creatine kinase, which is on the lower bound of normal. This says that there’s no muscle damage in my body at the moment they took the test, this means that either my muscles have already recovered or that I don’t trigger my muscles enough. Since I exercise regularly I think this is remarkable. It can be a sign of quick recovery, but the company that took the test say that this is usually they usually see this in people with little muscle mass. This can be caused by a low protein intake. I struggle with eating enough beans at this moment, so it might be interesting to try and higher the my protein intake. I’ll experiment with it.
Other normal values
There are 3 more values that are normal but not optimal. Magnesium, on the lower bound of normal. Testosteron, on the lower bound of normal, and transferrin saturated, on the lower bound of normal. The company where I took the test didn’t really give me any advices on these numbers. And I personally wouldn’t know what to do with them either. I will keep an eye on them next time.
My personal conclusion
I am very happy with my test results. 96% of all values are within the normal values. In my eyes, the only real problem is vitamin D. I now supplement this daily so I personally think this is resolved. So, no more problems. But of course there are also some things that could be a little better, optimal instead of normal. I want to lower the natrium value by drinking more water. And I also want to take a good look at my protein intake soon. I will just track it in a normal week and see if it’s enough. I have a sense that it may indeed be a little low, since I struggle with getting my daily dozen of beans. If it’s low, I will adjust my intake a bit.
But those are details, for tweaking. The base is extremely good I’d say. However, I was 24 years old when I took this test. Bold statement, but I think it’s fairly easy to have healthy blood values at this age. The real struggle is maintaining these amazing blood values. I don’t know yet when I’ll do the next check, as doing a test like this one is quite expensive. Maybe at the 12 year-mark of my vegan journey, we’ll see. For now, I am content. This is the bloodwork of a vegan, and it looks hella good.
Yours sincerely,
Romee