I shared in a previous post my (partial) blood test result and I mentioned that I was pleased to find that my inflammation marker was reduced from 3.3 (in December 2023) to below 0.5.
Inflammation is not just a marker for infections/injury (acute inflammation) like when you have sore throat, a mouth ulcer or a laceration/cut. But it is also indicative of reactions that can take place within your cells in response to certain foods or environmental toxins (chronic inflammation). This category of inflammation if it takes place for a prolonged period of time (low grade inflammation) can cause damage to our tissue like blood vessels, heart, brain etc.
I was looking for a video to better explain this phenomenon (short video with simple English) so that anyone who is interested can learn and benefit from the information.
This morning I found Dr Doug Lucas who specialises in bone health and here he explains what is inflammation and its effect on bone health.
Just sharing (which is caring) with those of you who want to know what is inflammation and how it can impact your well being. But of course, if you have no interest in this subject, just ignore it. That's what I told one of my ex-classmates on our whatsapp group when he made a sarcastic response when I shared a video.
So, I was naughty yesterday. I was at Halla Holla and I saw that they had a very sweet deal at RM16.00 where you get a beverage (latte will cost RM2.00 extra), a pastry (choose from a list of selected pastries, I chose Almond Croissant) and a free sourdough cookie.
The Almond Croissant was excellent. Buttery and generously topped with toasted sliced almonds. So delicious! Worth the
The Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookie (as expected) is a soft cookie. Not too sweet at all and enjoyable only of you like soft cookies. It was just all right for me.
Being the greedy person that I am, I added a slice of Sourdough Banana Rye Bread. Just curious lah.
It was on the dry side and in my opinion, this cake needed more bananas. There were also grated coconut inside this banana cake. Yes, this is a cake, though it is referred to as "bread". If you want a nice recipe, here is one I tried before.
Back home, it was meat as usual for dinner.
With a good dose of kimchi.
Hmmm, maybe I can include this CRP test in my next blood test...but since it's an indicator of chronic inflammation (as in the reading is high which is mostly like what I'd get), I guess the reading will not change much since a chronic illness is long term. It's surprising though that your reading is high one year and low another since you've been on this same all-meat diet for the past 2-3 years...and have had cheat meals in between. Funny thing is that they list refined carbs, sugar, fried food, processed food....and red meat (!) to avoid if one wants to bring down their CRP levels. But then I'm no doctor or am I qualiied in the field of medicine, so I know squat about the subject...lol.
ReplyDeleteIn 2023 I deviated from my all meat diet. I was eating a lot of carbs due to my disrupted schedule with my parents being ill and all that. Plus stress too elevated the CRP reading. This year, I am back on track hence the low inflammation level. Red meat is not inflammatory or else my CRP would have been sky high LOL! Sure, we may not be doctors, but we can still learn and gain knowledge on health and nutrition. As a matter of fact, nutrition is not focused much in medical school.
DeleteThe size of the crossaints at Halla Holla surprised me when I saw it during my last visit. They were bigger that those usual ones. Although they are big, I don't think I can be full by just having one. >_<
ReplyDeleteThe Halla Holla croissants are delicious especially the one with almonds. Me too, just one croissant cannot be full LOL!
DeleteIKR! Although they are big but the "hollow hollow" texture of croissant isn't something filling..... >_<
Deletehah..hah.. yes, we are eating air!
DeleteThank you for sharing these info. ๐ ๐
ReplyDeleteOh, sourdough soft cookie. I must try since I haven't eaten any sourdough cookies. Sounds yummy ๐๐คค
Most welcome. If you like soft cookies you will enjoy the sourdough cookies.
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