Lulubelle Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 My husband and I just finished the Whole30 and feel wonderful, and lost weight, and are continuing on. My husband (he's 67) had bloodwk done after and the Dr flipped out over his elevated liver enzymes, now wants him to have ultrasound. After looking more closely at what my husband was eating when I'm at work (i.e.: not cooking for him!), I think it's because he's eating too much protein and not enough veggies! Breakfast we usually have eggs, compliant sausage, sautéed mushrooms/tomatoes. Lunch for him (when I'm not around) is 2 hamburger patties with lettuce wrap, or can of tuna, then I make a great compliant dinner. I'm thinking he's not getting enough "carbs" from not enough veggies, am I correct? So we are thinking of adding more sweet potatoes, and bananas for him. Anything else recommended? Or should he just eat more veggies in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 He should be having 2 cups worth (or more) of veggies at every meals. Sweet potatoes and bananas are fine, but what about greens? broccoli? red and yellow bell pepper? cucumbers? tomatoes? green beans? The list goes on...he needs to eat these things. That said, before you panic it might help to know that there are a variety of reasons liver enzymes may be elevated temporarily, and liver enzymes are not the best indicator of liver health (just the easiest test to perform). The ultrasound should give you more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Were they high before? Mine were quite elevated before my first whole30 and my iron, vitamin d and b were also below normal but after my whole30 my iron, d and b got into normal range and liver enzymes improved to slightly elevated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulubelle Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 @missmary - thank you for your response. Yes, we do eat lots of greens and other veggies with dinner usually, he just wasn't at lunch on his own! We were just going to add the sweet potatoes and bananas more often because the Dr said he needs to eat more "carbs" (and of course, wheat is out of the question!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrannieD Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 How will carbs improve liver enzymes? Did the doctor elaborate on how this would improve his levels? Just wondering. Does he take Tylenol often? That can affect liver enzymes. What about any cholesterol lowering meds? There are many reasons for elevated enzymes. Do a google search and go to a reputable site (a major university, a major hospital, NIH, etc) and line up your questions for your next meeting with the doc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewer5 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 There is an entire ketogenic community out there who are enjoying great health on very little to no carbs at all. Dr. Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain is very much in favor of a ketogenic diet -- for a variety of reasons. I just heard him make a strong connection between carbs and Alzheimer's on a podcast the other day. I, too, would be interested in knowing how these carbs are supposed to correct elevated liver enzymes? "Did the doctor elaborate?" is a great question. Also, when was the last time your husband had this test done? Did he have it immediately prior to Whole 30, so that you know what is "normal" for him -- pre-Whole 30? The two enzymes they test for both deal with protein. If your husband is consuming much more protein than he used to, it could simply be from that. Adding in vegetables doesn't seem to me that it would have much to do with liver enzymes -- unless he was also decreasing his protein intake at the same time. Most importantly -- how is he feeling? Do either of you think he "needs" more carbs -- for energy, for workouts, to build muscle? Sadly, most doctors have very little nutritional education -- if any. On that same podcast, I heard Dr. Perlmutter say that there are NO nutrition classes required for a medical degree from Harvard right now. Soooo... I am interested to know his reasoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praxisproject Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 He'll also need the nutrition from the veggies too, not just the carbs. Beware crazy amounts of protein and make sure he's getting plenty of veggies and water. If he's not a fan of the texture, add some veggie soups. Don't panic about elevated livery enzymes, they can be a sign of other things, but that's why they want to do another test. Some conditions are seen first in the liver, but warning signs can also be shared with weightloss and other deviations, weightloss makes quite a lot of tests deviate (you can dump a lot of stuff out when burning stored fat), so make sure your doc knows about any losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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