Health Claims

Most people in a small group of German meat-eaters started the carnivore diet because they had health problems, and they kept it up because they felt healthier — suggesting this diet tends to attract people who already have medical issues.

People in Germany who ate only meat for about a year saw their bad cholesterol and overall cholesterol go up a lot, according to one small study.

In kids who don’t have diabetes or anemia, red blood cell creatine doesn’t seem to track with average blood sugar levels, so it might not be a good way to measure sugar exposure over time.

Girls who have started their periods tend to have higher levels of creatine in their red blood cells compared to those who haven’t, and this doesn’t seem to be because of differences in blood sugar control.

In teenage girls who don’t have diabetes or anemia, red blood cell creatine goes up as they get older, especially after puberty—but this doesn’t happen in boys. This rise isn’t linked to blood sugar levels.

In pregnant women who don’t have diabetes, things like red blood cell size and volume don’t seem to affect their HbA1c blood test results in any meaningful way.

In pregnant women who don’t have diabetes, blood traits like hemoglobin and hematocrit can slightly predict their average blood sugar levels — but other traits like MCHC and PDW don’t hold up when we adjust for other factors.

In pregnant women who don’t have diabetes, having denser hemoglobin in their red blood cells might be linked to slightly higher blood sugar levels over time.

In pregnant women without diabetes, having more red blood cells might make their blood sugar test results look higher than they really are, even if their actual sugar levels are normal.

In pregnant women without diabetes, having more hemoglobin in the blood is linked to slightly higher HbA1c levels — a marker usually tied to blood sugar — suggesting that blood cell levels might affect this test even if sugar isn't high.

Men and women with type 2 diabetes show similar links between blood cell traits and A1c levels, so doctors can use the same A1c rules to monitor both.

In people with type 2 diabetes, a blood test measure called RDW doesn’t seem to be linked to their average blood sugar levels (A1c), so it probably doesn’t affect how doctors read those A1c results.

In people with type 2 diabetes, certain blood traits like red blood cell size and count might change A1c levels — not because of blood sugar, but because of how those cells are made. So, your A1c might look high or low even if your sugar control is fine.

If someone with type 2 diabetes has red blood cells that don’t live as long, their A1c test might be giving a lower number than their real blood sugar levels — meaning the test could be misleading for them.

Even when blood sugar averages look good on a diabetes test, people with shorter-lived red blood cells might still have higher actual sugar levels throughout the day.

In people with type 2 diabetes, red blood cells don’t live as long when there’s a bigger mismatch between their actual HbA1c levels and what those levels should be based on blood sugar — meaning the body’s sugar coating on blood cells doesn’t always match up with sugar levels.

Some people with diabetes might seem to have good blood sugar control based on standard tests, but if their red blood cells don’t live as long, the test could be misleading — and nearly 1 in 3 of these patients might actually have worse blood sugar levels than the test shows.

If someone with type 2 diabetes has good HbA1c numbers but their red blood cells don’t live as long, their blood sugar might actually be higher than the test shows — meaning the test could be giving them a too-rosy picture of their sugar control.

Doctors usually rely on the HbA1c blood test to see how well someone with diabetes has managed their blood sugar over time — but some experts are starting to question if it’s always accurate for everyone.

Sometimes, blood sugar tests that don’t use HbA1c might give a better picture of how well someone’s diabetes is managed—especially if things like blood disorders or other health issues make the standard HbA1c test less reliable.

HbA1c might not give a true picture of blood sugar control in people with diabetes because things like how often blood sugar swings, different ethnic backgrounds, and other health problems can affect the results.

Sometimes, the food we eat can mess with the good bacteria in our gut, leading to low-level body-wide inflammation. This hidden inflammation might make it harder for the body to manage cholesterol properly and could help explain why high LDL leads to heart disease — not just because of saturated fat.

If you have diabetes and a worn-out shoulder tendon (not from injury), your tendon might be healing poorly because the 'strong' collagen is going down and 'weak, inflamed' collagen is going up.

High LDL cholesterol might not always lead to heart disease if a person is metabolically healthy — it could depend on whether they have insulin resistance or other metabolic issues.