Kestrel Report

Action Plan for Metabolic Health

• Diet: The Foundational Lever

  Your diet is the most powerful tool for improving insulin sensitivity. The primary goal is to manage blood sugar levels and reduce the demand for insulin.

  • Reduce Sugars and Refined Carbohydrates: This is the highest priority. Focus on minimizing or eliminating sugary drinks, fruit juices, desserts, pastries, and snacks with added sugars. Also, reduce refined grains like white bread, white pasta, and white rice, which break down into sugar quickly.
  • Prioritize Protein, Fiber, and Healthy Fats: Build your meals around these three components. Aim for high-quality protein (fish, poultry, legumes), abundant fiber from non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower), and healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts, and seeds). This combination slows digestion and promotes stable blood sugar.
  • Consider Nutrient Timing: An effective strategy is to eat your vegetables (fiber) and protein/fat sources before you eat your carbohydrates in a meal. This has been shown to significantly blunt the blood sugar spike from the carbohydrates.
  • Implement Time-Restricted Eating (TRE): Consider confining your meals to an 8-10 hour window each day (e.g., eating only between 10 am and 6 pm). This gives your digestive system and pancreas a prolonged rest from secreting insulin, which can powerfully improve insulin sensitivity over time.
• Exercise: Building a Glucose-Ready Body

  Exercise works on two crucial fronts: it helps dispose of current blood sugar and it builds a more resilient metabolic system for the future.

  • Incorporate Resistance Training: Aim for 2-4 sessions per week. This includes lifting weights, using resistance bands, or performing bodyweight exercises like squats and push-ups. Building more muscle is like creating more "parking garages" for glucose to be stored, reducing the burden on insulin to clear it from the bloodstream.
  • Engage in Zone 2 Cardio: Aim for 3-5 sessions per week of 45 minutes or more. Zone 2 is a low-to-moderate intensity pace where you can still hold a conversation. Examples include brisk walking on an incline, jogging, cycling, or using an elliptical. This type of exercise improves the efficiency of your mitochondria, the energy factories in your cells, making them better at using both fat and glucose for fuel.
  • Utilize Post-Meal Movement: One of the simplest and most effective habits is to go for a 10-15 minute walk after your meals, especially your largest meal of the day. This uses your muscles to immediately soak up some of the glucose from the meal, resulting in a smaller blood sugar spike.
• Sleep: The Non-Negotiable Recovery Period

  Sleep quality has a direct and immediate impact on insulin sensitivity. Even a single night of poor sleep can induce a state of temporary insulin resistance.

  • Prioritize Consistency: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time, even on weekends, helps regulate your body's circadian rhythm, which in turn governs hormonal health.
  • Optimize Your Sleep Environment: Ensure your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet. Blackout curtains, an eye mask, or a sound machine can be helpful tools.
  • Practice Good Sleep Hygiene: Avoid caffeine after noon and limit alcohol, as it can disrupt sleep architecture. Stop using electronic screens (phones, tablets, TVs) at least an hour before bed, as the blue light can interfere with melatonin production.

Action Plan for Cardiovascular Health

• Improve Dietary Fat Quality: Focus on replacing sources of saturated fat with unsaturated fats. This means reducing processed meats, commercial baked goods, and excessive butter, while increasing intake of monounsaturated fats from sources like extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and almonds. Prioritize anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats from fatty fish like salmon and sardines, as well as plant sources like chia seeds and walnuts.
• Increase Soluble Fiber: Aim for at least 10-25 grams of soluble fiber per day. Soluble fiber forms a gel in your digestive system that binds to cholesterol and bile acids, helping to remove them from your body and prompting your liver to pull more cholesterol from the blood. Great sources include oats, barley, psyllium husk, apples, Brussels sprouts, and beans.
• Medical Consultation: Discuss your ApoB and LDL levels with your physician. They can determine if pharmacological intervention (such as statins or ezetimibe) is appropriate alongside lifestyle changes to aggressively lower your ApoB. For the optimal lipid levels to greatly reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke, some pharmacological help is likely needed. Working with a doctor, we like to focus on lifestyle factors first and if needed, introduce Ezetimibe and/or Statins at the lowest dose possible to get ApoB below 80. Knowing your Lp(a) would also be critical for this discussion.

Action Plan for Nutrient Optimization

1. Targeted Supplementation: Discuss a supplementation plan with your doctor to address your specific low levels of Vitamin D, RBC Magnesium, and Zinc.
2. B-Vitamins: To lower your suboptimal Homocysteine, a high-quality B-complex containing methylated forms of B12 and folate is often effective and worth discussing.
3. Iron Stores: To address your low Ferritin, focus on increasing dietary intake of iron-rich foods. If levels do not improve with diet, an iron supplement can be an effective way to rebuild stores, but should be discussed with your physician.