This came up on the comments section the other day, and since some information I came across was so timely, and I knew rung true with the person’s experience who was claiming to have bruising issues (she originally came to the site complaining of bleeding gums which went away instantly upon pulling a 180 – calling for her to “eliminate the sweets and refined foods in the diet”? which you can read more about how to RAISE YOUR METABOLISM), thatI couldn’t help but type up this passage and post it on the blog.
This was all from a Q and A style book written by George Meinig, a dentist highly involved with the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, called, cheesily, NEWtrition.
Question: ?When I get a bump I always get myself very black and blue. Sometimes there are places all over my body that are black. Is there something I can eat to help me?” B.P.
Answer:? “Dear B. P.: People who bruise easily for very little reason are suffering what is called capillary fragility. This means the walls of the smallest branches of your blood vessels have become so thin and weak they cannot hold the blood within them. Even slight bumps or bruises cause these weakened blood vessels to break resulting in the escape of blood into the surrounding tissues. It is the bleeding under your skin that causes the black and blue appearance.
The outer walls of the capillaries should be strong enough to absorb a reasonable amount of pressure. In other words blood is meant to be able to stay inside of blood vessels and not escape under the skin.
In most cases of such tissue degeneration the blood vessel walls have become fragile because of a deficiency of vitamin C and its complex, the bioflavanoids.
Many who have this problem also have bleeding gums. Both are really an initial form of scurvy. This is one of the most overlooked deficiency diseases in America today. Many dentists now use a simple test for vitamin C developed by Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., D.D.S. in order to determine whether their patients’ gum problems are related to this deficiency.
The real cure to the problem is to eliminate the sweets and refined foods in the diet and replace them with fresh vegetables, fruit and 100% whole grain products. Two raw vegetable salads per day are especially helpful. In addition until the condition is alleviated supplements of vitamin C and bioflavanoids should be taken. These dietary changes will usually strengthen the blood vessel walls and stop the hemorrhaging under the skin in one to two months but at times may take longer.
If improvement does not take place in a reasonable period of time, medical help should be obtained to rule out other disease entities.
In my meat and starch mantra and 180 flair, I often leave out the importance of fresh, raw vegetables and fruits. While the beloved 180 Tatey contains a fair amount of vitamin C, vitamin C is?a heat-sensitive nutrient. The ultimate source would probably be to eat a little bit of whole fruit, but also raw, red bell pepper and cabbage. Although raw cabbage is probably not something you’d want to eat every day in excess?due to its goitrogenic properties, a salad like this one might be a great thing to eat more frequently (substituting red bell pepper for the carrot used in the video, which is how I usually make it). You can always use different leafy greens or sugar snap peas or other ingredients to mix it up…
http://180kitchen.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/vietnamese-cabbage-salad/
For more on Bruise, watch the character Bruise Brubaker played by talented actor Mr. T in’the movie The?Toughest Man in the World. As you’ll soon agree, it was truly robbed of an Oscar for Best Picture in 1984. Amadeus didn’t have squat on this “breakthrough” performance.
Hey Mattie,
Forgot to tell you this yesterday but in RBTI they recommend using onion soup as a great way to get C in.
Just boil up a few large sweet onions in water and drink the water. Apparently it has the highest digestible form of Vic C available.
Might make you a little farty though =)
Pips
Interesting. This makes me want to order some of those satsuma oranges I see online…
I used to bruise very easily, and was always covered in bruises on my legs as a child (that dang coffee table was always in my way!). These days it takes a heck of a whack to leave a noticeable bruise on me.
On a similar note, I've always been self-conscious about dark rings under my eyes, which I've had my whole life. They aren't terrible but seemed too dark to be normal. But I've honestly noticed in the last year that these have cleared up considerably.
I imagine my diet has a lot to do with both of those things.
Please let me know what actually stopped your bruising. My arms bruise easily. Its horrible to look at.
I notice that my gums bleed much less if potatoes are my main starch rather than cereals…
Martin.
@ Elizabeth
Dark circles is a sign of poor liver function.
@Matt
Bruising easily is also indicative of Anemia, and a sign that at the very least a gluten free diet should be tested for a feww weeks, if not forever.
Gluten blocks Iron absorption.
Paula ( who hit a moose on Saturday, and has the most amazing black eye ever!)
Check it out on our blog!
Interesting. I always thought it had more to do with Omega 6 than anything else, but that makes quite a bit of sense. I don't bruise easily and can take quite a bit of abuse, but I do have a bit of gum disease and my gums usually bleed when I floss (not drastically, but a bit).
Not really sure what the best way to proceed with it is, but maybe I do need more vitamin C. That, and I could brush my teeth a bit more often :-/. Strangely, I've had absolutely no cavities my whole life, but my gums have been off for at least the past couple years. My teeth are also a bit yellow no matter what I do, so I'm not sure what the exact cause is.
Hey this is about me! Oh wow. OK. Yeah, I used to have bleeding gum issues really bad. They do return sometimes if I overdo it on sweets. So I have scurvy! Wonderful. You know I'm really into pirate costuming and we have a pirate party every year, so this is like maybe cosplaying a bit more than even I would like.
It is possible that I'm slightly anemic as well, since that was an issue the last time I had my blood tested which was after pregnancy.
I've been going gluten free (I'm on day 8) and that seems to have helped the permabruise on my shin is starting to break up a bit. I've been having pretty horrible detox from the gluten. I've been moody as hell for the past few days, to the point of husband and son are now wary of saying the wrong thing to me. Also digestion has slowed to a halt. I'm hoping this passes quickly literally and figuratively!
Thanks Matt for taking on my personal health probs.
I should throw out there that I have always been pretty good about eating vitamin c. Of course I've cut back on fruit from time to time with 180, but I never go more than a few days without it. And I've never stopped eating red pepper and tomatoes like they're going out of style. Cabbage, I just made stuffed cabbage rolls, of course they're cooked, so that may limit the absorbtion. I eat a ton of fermented cabbage in the form of kimchi and bubbies sauerkraut. Still it is possible that I have a deficiency. Anyway, this is a good excuse to buy a case of grapefruit and satusumas at Christmas and go to town on it.
Take a cue from European seafarers and prevent scurvy by eating sauerkraut, i.e. fermented cabbage. Just make sure and get a brand like 'Bubbies' which is properly fermented with no additives instead of cabbage soaked in vinegar & preservatives like other brands.
The fermentation has prevent the problems with eating cabbage raw and it actually increases the nutrition. It's also a probiotic – good for your gut and digestion.
Lacto fermented kraut is super easy to make as well. Cuts costs way down.
We use the recipe from Nourishing Traditions, and it only takes 3 days, and it will store the fridge for over a year as long as its kept raw.
Paula
Piggy-backing on what Elizabeth said… do dark circles under the eyes operate under the same rules as bruises? And they can be eliminated as such as well? I don't bruise easily, but I get dark circles from time to time.
Yes. Onions contain a vit c that is very heat stable
Yeah, I've made my own fermented kraut, I'm German, afterall, but I've had a few batches go off, which was a huge waste of time and effort. Like making homebrew, sanitation is key and sometimes I just don't have the factory mentality in my kitchen. Easier to buy Bubbies or local awesome kimchi which kicks ass and isn't that expensive.
OMG! Mr. T in short shorts. Do not want.
Dark circles under the eyes I suspect to be a sign of adrenal gland issues. Lack of sleep and low-carb diets seems to be the best way to get that coloring much darker. Low-carb gave me a beautiful purplish hue under ol' left eye.
But interestingly, the adrenals do love 'em a good helping of vitamin C, which they use to do some of their work down there.
Jenny-
The vitamin C thing didn't ring true for me as much as the "get sweets and refined foods out of your diet" part.
Another interesting concept is that vitamin C is not one substance but a vast complex, and one can become C-deficient consuming tons of vitamin C if it's not also accompanied by the bioflavanoids (i.e., drinking orange juice but not consuming the whole fruit).
We'll be interested to see how your gluten adventure goes. Most cases of anemia have nothing to do with lack of iron either from blocked absorption or low intake, but are metabolically-related.
I know I've said that before, but whatev. I just don't want people on some restrictive diet thinking that if they cut all gluten out their anemia will go away, when virtually every human on earth with a low metabolism will have some degree of anemia no matter how much iron or how little gluten the ingest.
Yes gluten adventure maybe counter-productive, since part of the detox has been for me to crave refined sugar like a mofo. I've eaten my weight in gluten free Jennie's Macaroons in the last week. We'll see if it has any effect at all. Possibly I'm putting myself through detox hell for nothing because all bets are off come next week, when Christmas kicks into high gear. Just thought if I'd see if I could work some kind of shin-healing miracle by cutting out something fairly simple.
Tinkyada noodles are highly over-rated by the way.
Yeah, sweet timing. I highly encourage dysfunctional and seeming-to-everyone else irrational dietary restrictions this time of year.
It's a great way to look back at the past and feel a deep sense of embarrassment. Like the low-carb holidays I had, or the vegetarian holidays I had. It's awesome when all your friends and family equate holidays and your name with peculiar dietary restrictions. I'm a big fan. Call 1-800-Orthorexics Anonymous
I love how in the Steve and Paula comment mentions of cutting out gluten forever are casually made like that's no big deal, or worth it to clear up some small bruises.
You know, you could probably also improve iron absorption if you chew each bite of food 100 times, or lick metal objects for 20 minutes each day, or eat all your food while hanging upside down.
Glad to be steering away from diet obsessivenss right now. So over it. Can ya tell?
God Matt, I sent you that picture of my legs and you go using it to make a blog post!!!!!!!!!! WTF??
Kidding of course, but I have had similar looking gams.
I think C is Key. don't get me started on the gums of red.. argh. I will say that once I added animal foods back, it got way better.
and of course, being a cancer chick of the leukemia variety means this shit goes down. No matter how much I floss etc. It happens.
Love to all bruised and unbruised fruits,
deb
damn I go away few weeks and all kinds of stuff is going on ,, just getting up to speed and ill go comment in the previous posts. missed out on some real good convos damn
talk of kraftwerk , I ate matt then getting eaten by matt, wonder if cannibalism is considered paleo ?(nice carbo face and carbo-biceps btw matt lol)
jenny nip,
you are sounding too much like me in the stress postings lol people are gonna think your me too now!
To sum it up I fully agree and I typically focus a great deal on stress in my advice to others as it is fully intertwined with the "white stuff " in the whole obesity thing.
MR T ….thank you for the stellar performance i needed the intense laugh this morning. truly your best work I was not expecting your awesome game changing move
If anyone ever gets scurvy and your stuck out in the wilderness you can boil cedar branches for a quick recovery ..:)
… or drink a quart of warm pig's blood every day…
Chief-
I bet if you spent 4 hours a day in one of Mercola's tanning beds you could not only run through walls in epic game-changing fashion, but look a heck of a lot like Mr. T doing it.
@ Matt
I have Celiacs, and have more then a couple of handfulls of family and friends who have varous levels of gluten issues.
Its not a flippant remark.
If I eat gluten I get very very sick, and I bruise badly and have dark circles.
If I do not eat it I rarely bruise, and the bruise I have on my face because of the car accident is a HUGE exception.
I mention all this, because I can do everything right according to everything you have researched, but if I eat gluten, its completly wasted.
And the same goes for all my family and friends dealing with gluten issues.
Paula
Chief, my ability to sound like you probably comes from having read Lame Deer Seeker of Visions about six times in college. My favorite part is when he gets into ranting about white people and how they like everything all square and Indians have everything round…
Debbie, the phrase, "being a cancer chick of the leukemia variety" for the win. We had this newscaster in my hometown, Dean Throrough, from A Thorough Look at agriculture. He used to say stuff like "a sweater of the wool variety" all the time.
Don't worry Matt, I will not even try to be gluten free at the holidays. I've got big plans to live it up 180 style for two weeks. I'm already stock-piling potatoes, unabomber style. Not a bad idea since public buildings are collapsing at a rate of two every five years around here. Best to stay inside and go out only to shovel the roof.
Matt,
I noticed in recent post you mentioned 32 straight teeth… Im wondering how common that is I as well as my whole family all have that and I never had any cavities or anything is that uncommon in the rest of the population at large, I once met some Lakotas who actually had an extra row of teeth like some quasi x-men super chomping ability. looked cool it was straight and all, made me think of the metal mouth guy on james bond.
your new don't obsess/fuck it stance is corn! all the way.
Paula, You were genuinely answering my question about bruising which I appreciate. It has been fairly trivial to cut it out since I'd already taken pretty big steps toward cutting way back on gluten anyway. What has not been trivial has been the detox symptoms.
As for the adrenal connection to bruising, going by the gluten culprit theory, one could say that the sensitivity represents a chronic stress on the digestive system which would fatigue adrenals over time. I think that is plausible. I never thought I had adrenal symptoms, but hey who knows.
I appreciate that Matt is trying to free us from restrictive diet craziness. I've made some real steps forward in my metabolism but I'm not quite there yet. Looking for clues in some of my last remaining lingering health disorders.
My husband, ever the scientist made the helpful suggestion that maybe I should just go get a blood test to confirm this stuff rather than continue to experiment and theorize. Where's the fun in that? I think he just doesn't want to eat any more Tinkyada unless he absolutely has to.
Matt,
I hear you about not wantignt o obsess, and you know, I was not enthralled when Robb Wolf in one of his podcasts talks about having a sip of some protein shake and getting quesy and nauseous a little while later, because the stuff wasn't made in a gluten free facility. I'm not trying to cultivate that.
But so many of the respected names in health blogging or avoid altogther gluten, like Stephen Guyenet and Michael Miles, in addition to all the low carb and paleo specific folks.
It's still something of a compelling argument that the bad reaction we have after eliminating gluten comes from become re-sensitized to its negative effects. If I don't have cabbage for a while, and then do, I don't feel the same as when I avoid and then re-introduce gluten.
I love bread a lot, and don't want to casually be rid of it forever. But there's lots of bright folks who seem to raise a flag about it, and I'm not sure I want to casually dismiss that either.
I know you've said, Matt, that gluten intolerance is maybe not related to eating gluten, and you just side-step the issue by avoiding it, much like low-carbing side-steps insuluin resistance. But it does seem like a different issue when you avoid just gluten and not a whole macronutrient.
Another thing- there's that baker in California that ferments his loaves for a couple weeks and says gluten is actually in everything, in trace amounts. But how many people actually ferment their own freshly ground bread? If indeed there's a big difference between that bread and what most of us have access to, would it make sense to avoid it just about altogether?
Just wondering here, and trying to tease out the cognitive dissonance between the gluten haters I respect and the 180 folks I respect here.
Here is a littel insight into my gluten free life.
I had brain fog most of my life. School was horrible, but I had no idea why my brain would not work right.
I did the best I could though.
2 years ago, even though I was eating all real food, fully nutrient dense, sourdough/soaked grains, the whole nine yards, I could barely function. So very tired, had trouble making words come out correctly, ached all over, etc.
After lots of research, and after my dad being diagnosed, I decided to go gluten free.
WIthin three days, I found myself dealing with a brain and body that were seemingly not my own.
I was able to sit down and tally up the milk co-op paperwork without spending 20 minutes with a calculator, doingit over and over till I got it right.
I playe da gmae is scrabble with my husband, who is an English major, and I wnet from my normal scores of 100 or so, to well over triple that.
Two weeks later, in a hurry I ate some homemade soaked banana bread.
Within hours, it was like I had been run over by a freaight train.
I spent three days in such a fog that I was barely awake, and in such extreme pain from head to toe, that I wanted to die.
TO this day, I have sever trouble with gluten.
I did eat sourdough for 2 months awhile back without any extreme in your face issues, but in the last 4 weeks, I developed a lot of bruising and found myself slipping into a fog.
Now at 2 months later, I am back to normal.
Paula
JENNY,
I can surely identify with the character in your book, to quote sir mix alot :
I like em ROUND and big
And when I'm throwing a gig
I just can't help myself I'm actin like an animal !!!
In a comment in the past few weeks you mentioned the ladies having more access to food in earlier times I wanted to say that typically in at least iroquois-based societies most of the food sources were corn beans and squash, requiring a lot of cooking for most traditional recipes so a big feast was too much to lay out multiple times a day due to the work load. I have seen old ladies picking at bites here n there while cooking. and
Of course it is easy to assume that they ate alot of strawberries and blue berries while picking ( I do this lol) this would have closely resembled the the hunters food sources and would not have any different effect during the "fasting" period. I don't think it would have changed much other than it being much easier to snack given the fact they did not have to canoe for long periods of time like the men.
scuse the typos above, lol! I still do not type well!
Rob A,
really well put! I feel the same way as the results are not in and it is hard to tell what to make of the gluten issue. I originally in my quest to figure out this mess threw out all things that did not originate in north america as a control to figure it out. There is something there weather it is wheat, whole wheat, refined flour or if it is gluten i don't know. I have been looking in to the gluten thing as I agree it is a separate thing all together when its not a macro-nutrient issue but possible chronic stress or some type of reaction that causes serious problems. I avoid a few foods i don't think adding one more will become a raw vegan cult thing.
At the same time I don't want to be all Rob wolfe about it to be sure all my food has been sterilized.
Yeah, Chief, you know they hid the left-overs and snacked on them when the men folk were out in the canoe. I totally do that. Horde leftovers, I mean. It's my right as a female! But I get your point–carb based foods all took a lot more prep time, so everyone was IFing all the time. It makes sense.
No I hear ya Paula, I hear ya. And I too have limitations. Went out and had alocohol, white sugar, white flour, and PUFA last night over some football and get my ass handed to me today. I don't know how people do it. Eating junk food is not for pussies.
Around cats I get wheezy, sneezy, and often get upper respiratory infections and fever and god knows what else.
And like you, no amount of healthy eating would do me much good if I slept on a pillow full of cat fur every night.
But because of the intellectual nature of my explorations here, I can't help but ask the bigger question as to why Robb Wolf would freak out upon sipping a bit of gluten-contaminated protein shake. What is wrong with him that makes him respond that way? What is wrong with me that makes me respond to cat fur the way I do?
A part of me wants to come up with bigger solutions and ask bigger questions. There's a million bloggers like Rob points out telling people to cut out the gluten, and many people get results when they do.
Rather, I'd like to look for a better solution, because gluten-free mania is a very poor solution in today's day and age of gluten in everything. And people on gluten free diets seem to be the least healthy people I know. I can't help but think that poor health causes gluten intolerance, not necessarily the other way around.
More time needs to be dedicated to killing the allergic response, not Sherlock-Holmes-ing allergens and problem foods to death.
It makes me think back to blogger Ryan Koch and his visit to an isolated place in Central America where they eat unsoaked, unfermented, quickly-cooked wheat with every meal. Their health was vastly superior to anyone's he had ever seen in his life, and he was gluten sensitive and had been gluten free for years.
His conclusion was similar to mine – that a healthy diet from birth is the key to avoiding food sensitivies, digestive problems, and so on, and that there was nothing inherently evil about gluten or grains or any of that, which explains why McCarrison could keep lab animals like monkeys in fantastic physical health on diets of fresh-ground wheat and milk and other seemingly unsuitable foods. All the essentials were there in abundance, and health never broke down because of it.
Anyway, it's an endless conversation, but hopefully you can see why, from an intellectual standpoint, I feel obligated to look beyond the conventional Paleo wisdom and ask much bigger and broader questions.
matt ….super duper tanning bed ? hmmmm i wanted Clubber Lang to kick rocky's ass so if they did a remake I would be down for doing a tropical thunder on that ass , if they let me remix it and kick rocky's ass.
Jenny,
try hoarding butternut squash and cornbread and gravy without a fridge lol ..side not ever notice Hoarder shows tend to have fatties in em ?? hoarding is a bad thing ….mm kay there will be more food coming keep that in mind as it is part of the starvation response worrying about supplies of any sort.
Jenny and Chief-
On the what our ancestors did front, there is a huge piece of logic that is left out of that line of thinking.
Just because "x" tribe did something doesn't mean that it was superior.
In fact, in primitive tribes the diet was a limiting factor in health and population growth. They ate what they did and how they did because it was the only thing there, or that's what they had to do to survive.
That doesn't mean it's superior. If you lay out food for humans they will not stuff themsevles and then not eat for two days. They eat small amounts frequently. Likewise no human would ever just eat big slabs of meat and fat and not eat carbohdyrates. Carbohydrates are a huge advantage over a low-carbohydrate diet.
I liken the Paleo diet more to prison sex. If there's nothing but guys to have sex with, guys will have sex with guys. Just like in a dairy herd, if there are no bulls there the cows will hump the crap out of each other. One cow at the dairy farm I worked at rub herself completely raw from humping other cows – behavior you'll only see where bulls are absent.
I think what is more indicative is that when humans figured out how to cultivate grains, they ate them every single meal from birth to death. When food was abundant and complementary nutrients were available, the level of health with grain consumption was fantastic.
Chief: Yeah, except the two people in my family who are hoarders have never had weight problems. So that's some anecdotal shit to counter-act your anecdotal shit. But I get where you're coming from. Hoarding is part of the psychological malaise that Jon Gabriel is going after when he talks about a fear of lack causing us to hoard fat on our bodies.
I think you could keep leftovers overnight without a fridge just fine. Just keep stuff in the cooking vessel and it will be edible for quite a while, especially if it's covered. I usually try to eat up my leftovers within 48 hours even with a fridge, just because things get stale and unappealing pretty quick.
Matt,
Here a few things to consider.
Number one is to take a stroll through the gluten free aisle and read the lables. Same goes for recipes you can find in books and blogs.
most of the ingredients a killer and not in a good way.
That is the reason they are so unhealthy.
Gluten free in today society does not equate real food and excellent health,
Second, I need to strive super hard to get my gut in tip top shape.
If I can manage to actually carry a pregnancy through, I really pray that I will not pass that intolerance on to the baby.
Its a bridge we will cross if we get there. I am not holding my breath after 7 miscarriages, but who knows?!
I agree we need to go way deeper.
It starts with farming and processing practices.
Grains in the past were not harvested and then immediatly dried.
They were left to lightly sprout and dry on there own in the fields.
Then they were threshed and stored for making things liek sourdough.
As to pets, I have a sneaking suspicion, that if they were not placed on grain diets, we would see a change in their body chemistry.
They need to be fed a raw diet.
Greens, raw meat, and raw milk if desired.
Paula
Word, Paula. Convenience foods marketed to niche diets are one of the mainstays of the so-called natural or whole foods grocery store. Would our co-op go out of business if they quit carrying gluten free cereal bars or vegan marshmallows? They act like it, given the amount of shelf space given over to that stuff. Processed crap is processed crap and it doesn't matter what particular set of allergens are eliminated, living off of that kind of stuff makes you even sicker.
It's funny though, I see people tossing out dairy and wheat like all the time, but rarely meet anyone who is sugar-sensitive or not eating sugar.
Jenny, We eat no sugar, except for that rare cannot be avoided instance.
Have not for several years.
Paula
Paula we have two cats, one is in indoor kitty, though she can go outside, she's just not a huge fan. She eats probably 90% grain-based cat food. She is small and thin with a little pot belly that I see so many animals have. The other is outside all the time, eats mostly critters that she kills herself. She is big, strong, muscular and very lean. She only eats the store-bought food when she's had a bad day hunting. Even then she prefers to scavenge from our plates to eating the science diet. They are sisters so it's not a genetic thing. Our vet says we should do the opposite to keep her healthy, but I know if I had to bet which one will live longer, I'd say it will be the super robust outdoor kitty.
Doh!! Yeah Matt you totally hit me over the head with a 4×4 with the eating vegetables thing. I admittedly have been ignoring those cute little veggies (besides the white and orange taters and a few carrots) Last year I was raw vegan (for 4 months- how did I survive?) and I feel sick just looking at spinach these days. Anyways, since I eat straight from a college cafeteria, how much should I be concerned about pesticides and all the other crap in those mutant vegetables they serve? Or is it just me being paranoid? And since I live devoid of sunshine, I realize I am getting vit D deficiency. I went to the health store but all the vit D pills I found had vegetable/soybean oil used. I would rather get it naturally from the sun, but the freezing 18 degrees doesn't feel so great on the bare skin. Lastly, what do you think of all those thickeners and stabilizers they put in products (especially dairy) like carageneen, guar gum, locust bean, etc? I try to avoid them, but I have yet to find a heavy cream without carageneen. Okie dokie, I am going to go munchs some raw veggies now– feed my rabbit insticts…
sorry, i've killed the thread with minutia about my cats.
So, I too debate between avoiding wheat or not. I don't notice any real difference between when we eat wheat or not, but then we rarely eat it (maybe one -two loaves a week for five people), and then it's the "best" wheat foods I can get.
But then I was thinking about Matt's ideal of just getting over it, which is indeed refreshing, and his example of figuring why he can't sleep on a cat hair pillow (which is pretty funny to imagine). I mean, he could never marry a cat lady if he didn't figure out how to get over it!
And I realized that I had my own example. I'm allergic to water. Yup. So it's only on my hands. But still. Two years ago, I broke out in dishydrotic eczema on my hands and arms. Of course, I didn't know what it was. Regular eczema traveled up my arms to my face, down my torso and legs. The defining feature, though, was I couldn't touch water. Couldn't wash my hair or take a shower. Couldn't wash my hands after the toilet. Couldn't make food for my family, or do laundry (couldn't even touch wet clothes!), never mind any cleaning, dishes etc. My hands were masses of itchy, weepy, bloody welts. I would wake up the night having scratched my hands raw in my sleep, screaming and crying. I'm not at all exaggerating. I couldn't even do non-water things because my hands were useless, scabby claws.
The obvious thing to do? Avoid water. After all, I was allergic to it. Pretty limiting life though. After weeks of research on the internet (I don't bother with doctors…), I identified the "name" of the problem.
More days went by, and all I could find on the net was people who'd suffered for years, begging for help… No cure, no treatment, either conventional or alternative. Finally, I found one person who fasted. So that's what I did. And then I juice fasted. And then I water fasted again. And then I ate raw for months. I cut out any sugar, any processed food, any refined food. And even now, I don't eat anything usually, unless I can find it in nature and prepare it that way myself (not that I would, but it's at least nice to know I could).
It turned out I was toxic. Majorly. The first time I tried to take milk thistle, it made be unbelievably sick. And I was already sick. So I had to clean my system out. And now I find that, for the most part, my hands are ok. I don't swim in swimming pools (ocean is great though), and I don't do dishes. I can tell when my body is overwhelmed, because my hands start to break out again, but never like before.
I still have a lot of work to do, which is why I'm here…
But my point is, it would have been pretty silly to avoid water the rest of my life. Instead it was better to figure out the problem and fix it. I'm sure there are some things, like Celiac, that are impossible to "fix", but for most people who avoid gluten, maybe they don't really need to, maybe, like Matt thinks, they need to "get over it" somehow. Of course, that's presuming that wheat/gluten is a good thing in life. That's what I'm still up in the air about!
Oh, and another allergy bonus? I am no longer am allergic to cats, dogs, pollen, corn, dust, the world…
Jenny, we switched our dog(s)(one died a few weeks ago) to eating raw a year ago and it made a huge difference in their health. Even though they were on the best dog food you can buy (none of that Science Diet crap) before. To add to your Kitty thread killing comments.
Ok, one more thing to say… just like when I first started eating cooked starch a few months ago, I couldn't tolerate it. I'd go to sleep after every meal. My blood sugar (based on symptoms, I didn't test) was all over the place. And now, well, I'm good. I can tell when I don't eat enough starch. So I got over it. Well, except the weight part. So far, so far… it will change!
Hmm, and since the post was about bruising. After two years of eating a heck of a lot of produce, I got sick of it and now I don't… but I'm still not bruising like I used to, or even at all.
I did recently start taking a whole food source of Vit C (Synergy Vitamin C, made in Moab, Utah, woohoo, that's where we used to live… except I didn't even know they were there). For helping the adrenals.
Hey Hawaii girl, I had a roommate who was allergic to water too. I thought it was a scam to get out of doing the dishes! But it turns out it was true.
@ Jenny Thanks for the 'win'. Me likes me some verbage and Me Talk Pretty one day (listening to David Sedaris and laughing my ASS off whilst drving ).
@ Chief! WORD! good to see your sauve savage style back in action here at 180. You have been missed.
@The C Word: Citrus. It's in season, I love tangerines but my main source has been navel oranges.. so damn good, 2 a day for me.
later peeps,
deb
I used to bruise easily too but found this problem went away when I got off prescription pain medication (I think the main culprit was the anti- inflamatories) and also got onto a whole food diet.
I keep reading alot about vitamin C latly and am thinking of taking a whole food vit c suppliment such as Cuma Cuma or acerola since I don't often eat fruit.
Mat, this is totally unrelated but
i'm wondering what your stance is on microwaving food as you seem much less puritanicle than other health authors and blogger. I havn't looked into this myself personal but gave up using the microwave a number of years ago when I adopted WAPF recomendation?
So, I am coming from a history of over exertion, and low carb, low calorie, whatever. Anyway, I got diagnosed with cfs and have blood sugar issues. The alt doc calls it adrenal fatigue.
Have others fixed this with diet and time? What about the adrenal glandular supplements? I ahve heard good and bad stories. I bruise and have gum issues as well, but apparently this goes along with adrenal issues.
Any reccomendations?
My sleep sucks. So does my energy.
@Lorelei
I started eating more starch, and had the same initial response. Now the sleepy fog is replaced with some anxiety. lol. I actually prefered the sleepy doped up feeling to the revved adrenal feeling. Does this diminish?
P.S. I am from Utah too! Hurray for red rock! I miss it terribly.
If I can add my nonsense as usual:
One can easily eat ideas. Eating can become an intellectual calculation that changes this way or that depending on a scientific study or a particular nutritional expert.
A state of 'perfect health' devoid of any sickness or symptom shimmers just out of reach, and remains there no matter what one does.
This is not to deny that some people cant tolerate wheat, or fatty food, or raw vegetables, or whatever. The sickness or severe symptoms that follow are dramatically reduced by simply avoiding the food, so the immediate solution is readily apparent.
And this is not to deny that certain eating protocols are not beneficial with certain illnesses.
But, in my opinion the body is in a constant process of healing (while still able) and symptoms are indicative of this ongoing process of stasis.
It is very easy to feed on ideas and the simple task of eating food can become an unrelenting, intellectual calculation to solve, as distinct from carefree living.
I wanted to focus on Mr. T but those striped leotards are just so classic they distracted me.
:)
Cracking myself up: I love your dedication to finding the root cause of all these allergies/insensitivities rather than just mandating 'cut out x,y,z and call orthorexics anonymous' (so right on) – and yet, I've been celiac or something pretty much my whole life, have no emotional ties to gluten, actually am not attracted to gluten-containing things because I associate them with being sick, and continue to eat mostly vegan! Yes, contradictions…
But I wanted to chime in on the Vit C def. vs. refined sugar thing and comment that back when I was an 80-10-10 style near-fruitarian raw vegan and hung with that crowd, I got to meet some pretty unhealthy looking individuals (to the point that it eventually scared me off the diet) and I'd say that easy bruising was a majorly frequent symptom. Skin contusions, even (open sores), not just bruises. And these guys could be eating pounds of oranges, etc, at a sitting. I'm sure that there's an absorption issue too, as in leaky shot-to-hell guts, but the fructose load, while obviously not the same thing as refined sugar, might be implicated, you think?
Another bruise-related thought: back when I ate that way (mostly fruit), I was super-accident prone, and was always bruised up because I was always crashing into stuff, etc. When I went lower glycemic, higher fat and added raw eggs (which I'm not eating now, funnily enough), that was one of the first changes of many positive ones that I noticed. Maybe the accident-prone thing has a bearing too ;)
Matt,
wasn't saying anything was superior or even optimal. that was a convo about weather or not women fasted or semi fasted back in the day.
I agree that wheat within that hemisphere and corn within this hemisphere was responsible for making populations boom and kick ass in wars and make a far greater lifestyle. It is at the same time very easy to say that health pre-contact and post contact is vastly different in native populations in north america and that is what first lead me down my path.
Carbs have always been important wherever they were available. I have seen people go out of their way to gather roots like cat tails and whatnot during hunts that take a very long time to cook. Even aborigines in the outback go all out for some type of tuber out there that requires soaking in the river to remove a poison, now thats dedication for carbs. I am pretty sure "Grok" was not a low-carber unless of course he faced a inuit like environment with little options.
Matt, Cont.
however I disagree that all cultures wouldn't pig out with food laid out, as i have seen people still engaging in the practice of daily fasting even with post contact influence with modern things like pizza and pasta at a family feast. The tradition remains because it is a natural progression. I do not think it has anything to do with survival or lack of a steady supply. Corn kicks so much ass that it is so easy to make a surplus. We used to even trade it for trivial things. If you factor in cultural teaching that describe the health benefits in many cultures throughout the world i don't think 100% of humans would space out meal frequency evenly given the choice and availability of your local grocery store. Even in Dr Sims "overeating" study he mentioned the heavy eaters moving away from breakfast. I see that as a sign that once you are eating enough at an optimal time (evening) your body adjusts and spontaneously rejects the "back-up"/"bonus" meals by reducing hunger during those times and reserves those times for processing and other needs.
Ela,
interesting! I would have never thought fruitarians might have vit. C deficiencies ….I did think about the implications of fructose over kill though I might have to try a 40 banana challenge one day. 4 lbs of peanuts is not to be reattempted though…. that was a really really a dumb idea. cant even eat peanuts now lol luckily the weak looking physiques you mentioned scared me away from those types of lifestyles :)
Jenny, ( hoarding) very true but the reason it seems anecdotal is exactly the same reason people are baffled certain people being "fat-proof". it has different effects on different people but the root is there especially considering the high numbers of obese folks that hoard. There is definitely some research that was done on brain scans of hoarders when they are deciding to save stuff and it is quite similar to people with eating disorders and obesity issues in relation to food.
side note: the water allergy made me go WTF when i first heard it too… crazy that that is possible
Hey all,
I've been reading 180 over the past month or so, and am completely geeked about starting RRARF in the near future. I just wanted to jump into the gluten conversation (such a sharp and unsuspected turn from the bruising topic) with mainly some reminders and a few questions of my own.
First off, I wanted to post this quote from the man himself:
"Grains like whole wheat, oats, barley, and rye are a little more iffy. Gluten sensitivity, although
overblown by a lot of Paleo-oriented nutrition authors and bloggers, is not make-believe. These grains are also extremely high in insoluble fiber, which can cause a lot of digestive
irritation for those with sensitive digestive tracts."
— RRARF, pg. 40-41
I only remember because I just read it not too long ago. Maybe the topic deserves more time and depth on the blog, but I feel like that addresses at least some of the concern and confusion regarding gluten and 180 principles (at least it does for me, but I'm simple and will take what I can get).
Going back to asking the broader questions and eliminating the allergies, what I want to know is if gluten sensitivity is still an issue if one has healed their gut. I'm like Matt in that I don't want to just prescribe a bandaid for a serious issue, which I feel like most long-term restrictive diets do.
I can see (and agree with) a restrictive diet short-term to heal a problem. But the problem to be improved, not just better under the circumstances. I don't want to offend by speaking out of term seeing as though I don't suffer from any (known) allergies, but I'd be just as concerned about the fact that my leaky gut (or what have you) hasn't improved beyond my restrictive diet. So, what is the next step then? Even beyond allergies, I feel like we're often faced with the choice of being complacent about health vs. wanting to be healed.
BTW, I feel like I just rambled, but I already hit the publish button, so whatever.
Don't forget about raw milk from grassfed cows as a source of vitamin C.
Ian2.
It may be important not to overdo the C and other antioxidants so maybe food sourced is best as always.
Supplement away from exercise:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892288/
"In the case of early type 2 diabetes and the development of insulin resistance, our studies suggest that antioxidants would be bad for you."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006122322.htm
And I wonder about eating of *heaps* of raw cabbage and other crucifers in the form of sauerkraut, etc. for vitamin C.
The goitrogens are still there, which could be something to think about if you're concerned about thyroid function.
Chris Masterjohn's written about it before:
http://www.iodine4health.com/special/goitrogens/foods/masterjohn_goitrogenic_foods.htm
a couple of excerpts:
"Fermentation makes crucifers more goitrogenic."
"Dietary iodine is able to overcome the effect of cyanogenic glycosides, moderate amounts of crucifers, and is probably able to overcome the effect of soy flavonoids. It is not able to overcome large amounts of crucifers…"
and
http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2010/10/fermentation-does-not-neutrailize.html
excerpt from one of his reply to a comment asking about fermented cruciferous vegetables:
"…realize that fermentation does more or less the same thing to these foods, but that iodine can completely overcome the goitrogens in sauerkraut. In fact, I feel much more confident that it is safe to eat substantial amounts of these as long as one has sufficient iodine. That said, they do compete with iodine for uptake not only into the thyroid gland but also into the mammary gland, so it's especially important for a nursing mother to get lots of iodine if she's going to eat lots of these foods. Used in small amounts as a condiment, I do not think it's even worth worrying about in most cases."
Ian2.
In a bid to reduce some long term water retention I recently stumbled upon the subject of membrane potential and specifically the sodium potassium pump.
It occurred to me that the one thing I had neglected in my various dietary modifications was my intake of sodium and potassium and their respective ratios.
So a week ago, I curbed my sea salt intake dramatically while increasing my potassium intake via bananas and orange juice.
Almost all of my retention has gone, along with a very surprising side effect – raised basal temps!
I had achieved modest increases in my temps through increased calories etc in the past (with weight gain unfortunately) but this sudden increase has also actually dramatically reduced my appetite.
From the limited stuff I've read about the sodium potassium pump, it appears that with a correct ratio of the two, a transmembrane action potential is established that affects the transport of other things like sugar etc.
The sodium potassium pump uses 'active transport' and therefore requires energy (ATP).
By increasing transmembrane action potential it appears the mitochondria have an easier time outputting ATP which is then used for the pump and so it goes round and round.
So in simpler terms, in a well nourished situation by correcting our sodium/potassium levels, we can start off an increased momentum of energy production and expenditure.
It's proven to be a real eye opener for me and I'm curious to know if anyone else has correlated their energy metabolism with this subject.
Matt, I have to ask: what is your stance on goitrogens, then?
In the "Vietnamese Cabbage Salad" page, you write:
"Over at the 180 Blog, it’s timely that someone just commented on the goitrogenic properties of raw crucifers ? cabbage in particular. And here we go, with some raw cabbage! I do discuss the fallacy that the goitrogenic property of cabbage is a big deal in the video for this easy-to-make and tasty side salad."
In the video you say something about it being a problem only if you were to eat nothing but raw cabbage, and that feeding a little bit of carrot or other vegetable will offset the effects (according to McGarrison, whom I assume you agree with due to the fact that you brought his observations up.)
Then, in this very post today, you wrote:
"Although raw cabbage is probably not something you'd want to eat every day in excess due to its goitrogenic properties, a salad like this one might be a great thing to eat more frequently…" (by "more frequently", I suppose you don't mean more frequently than every day!)
I assume you're talking about it in the context of varied 180-style fare (I won't call it a diet!) and that it's a given that no-one here would be eating raw cabbage exclusively, yet you bring it up.
So, in your opinion:
A legit concern or a fallacy?
Thanks.
Ian2
rocket,
nice post …
I always tell people to think of themselves as a battery ( like the matrix lol) because muscle contraction depend on proper levels of not only the 2 electrolytes you mentioned but calcium as well. also chloride and magnesium play a big roll. Nerves and even mitochondria need a perfect balance to work properly. Think of mitochondria as a powerhouse because it breaks down nutrients to make ATP (energy).
Mitochondria are found in every cell of the human body if they are functioning properly and every cell produces heat as they burn up energy it is normal for any rectification of their proper functioning weather it is adequate electrolytes or calories to cause a rise in body temperature. After all using a thermometer to test over all health is a way to see if all all of the cells in your body are working to properly achieve homeostasis (normal balance)
If you are not on some kind of restrictive diet, twinkie diet, whatever, and you develop abnormal bruising, you should consider seeing a doctor immediately, not wait a month after trying x, y or z, especially if you have any other symptoms. Bruising was the first symptom of my grandmother's leukemia.
Rocket, great tip. I will try bananas and OJ in favor of salt when I'm retaining water. That's always been an issue for me.
Chief, all the hoarders I've known will hoard food, even when it's past it, but won't actually eat it because that would make them sick. Hoarding is something I have to fight against all the time, since my grandfather and mother had that form of OCD. In the case of both of these people, it is a weird side effect of perfectionism. I can see how someone who is a perfectionist could get super into an eating disorder, especially anorexia, since it would be easy to want everything you put in your mouth to be perfect. What the hoarder does with objects then is think, well if I don't have the perfect situation in which to dispose of this object (and damn recycling programs who've just made life that much harder for people with hoarding problems) then I'll hold on to it. The same thing can be done with food. Since I don't have the perfect food to eat I will just indiscriminately eat everything. They tend to shop at big box stores and then they lock themselves in to eating mountains of processed crap.
Lana: I think the point of this is that staying away from gluten, while doing RRARF is a good idea because it's meant to be a healing phase, and if you get a lot of your calories from gluten you can make things worse instead of better if you have a sensitivity. The problem is going entirely gluten free as a way of life, is not an easy or casual decision to make. It's something I'm experimenting with to see if it helps. It wasn't a huge deal since I've already eliminated probably 75% of gluten from my diet already.
Ela: Interesting about the 80-10-10 folks eating vitamin c all day and still exhibiting signs of scurvy. Perhaps it IS all about the metabolism after all. Out of curiousity, why are you still eating mostly vegan?
ROCKET-
Awesome post and very interesting!
I still seem to have problems with my electrolytes (water retention and muscle spasms)
Are you saying that a lack of potassium might be what's causing it? I used to eat A LOT of fruit but still had the problem -on the same note, I was also doing low calorie. Now I don't eat fruit (or very rarely) and eat high calories. Maybe mixing the two together (calories and fruit) will be the final solution?
Matt, I had a pt recently, in his '80's who had the skin of a 40 y o….no spontaneous bruising at all. This is quite unusual in peop of that age and I mentioned it to him.
He said that some time back, when bruising began to appear, someone told him to take a dose of bioflavanoid…not the usual, but a large dose.
Corrected the problem in short order and he has continued to take it.
Dark eye circles are a common sign of increased blood glucose.
In uncontrolled diabetes they can become very dark and by the time the pt has lost tons of weight, can no longer hold food and the next stop is the coffin, they are very pronounced.
BUT peop who have eaten a sugary item can have circles as well.
Raw fooders who consume plenty of fruit juice get them, at least temporarily while the body adjusts.
Matt,
Brilliant video. You're awesome.
That is all.
CHIEF-
Yeah, the more I read about it the more I see the void between what I thought was a healthy diet and the results that have alluded me.
I had all the macros/micros covered and was getting more than enough rest but it really does seem that the electrical aspect of cellular activity which is dependant on electrolytes cannot be ignored.
Jenny-
Hope it helps. My results were pretty fast initially although I suspect that excess sodium in the tissues etc may necessitate a potassium bias for a little while.
Sheila-
Yes, it does seem to me as though in my case I was low in potassium. I've always been pretty handy with the sea salt and had noticed when I get more bananas and OJ that I felt somewhat better but this is the first time I've specifically reduced my sodium.
I'm no expert, but the fact that you say you were going low calorie has to be relevant imo.
I guess you could have all the sodium and potassium you need just waiting to go to work but with a lazy pump (ahem) due to a reduction in ATP to power it, the benefits may have been negated.
Incidentally, as Chief points out Magnesium, chloride and calcium are also a factor but in my case were not an issue.
Some stuff here about the sodium potassium pump, action potential etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membrane_potential
Great post!
For anyone who still has had trouble digesting milk, recently I switched to pasteurized (not UHT) anf homogenized and have no trouble now digesting milk and my skin has cleared up. Before I was drnking raw (total waste in my opinion) or at least non-homogenized and never felt well.
Jenny
I think your hoarding leftovers is kinda sweet and green. I just cannot eat leftovers, so 'poor people's behavior' in my mind. Is that a better attitude?- I don't think so. Other people's work and life is invested in the food we eat, being cavalier about throwing out food isn't respectful of that. ocd and hoarding in general seems a difference thing from making use of leftovers.
Thanks Matt for the great post. And for making it clear where you stand on gluten. Because at least twice Paulasteve had told people to give up gluten to cope with some complaint and I was getting peeved with that. Doing my personal 180 and including a lot of grain in my diet has been fabulous for me. And I still think I am getting results even though I started way back in June. So the only person who can 'try' grain is the person with perfect digestion? Or more, perfect health? Why not just outlaw grain, like a paleo, since none of us can claim perfect health? Its important because its hard to really go high on carbs with veg alone, not impossible, just difficult, especially as many here are not that happy about fruit, the other big carb group.
Matt I make my own OJ and are you telling me those straggly, stringy white bits left in my machine are important to health? Not very pleasant to eat. A whole orange would only have about a 1/2 tsp at most of these bits. I could still make my juice and down these bits separately if they are really important. If I absolutely have to.
Chief Welcome back. Even if I miss a day it takes ages just to catch up, so must be taking you sometime to catch up. Or do speed read? I seem to vaguely remember. Check out my curvy visage in my new profile pic.
JR I agree with you, as usual, about the body always trying to heal if it still can and getting its prefered state of statis. But not so keen on 'care-free eating'. In the current environment wouldn't that lead to junk food eating? It gives me pleasure to eat well and care about what I eat. I will eat holiday food without worries, but day in, day out, I want to eat the best I can. And because people have not had success with one protocol doesn't mean they won't have success with something different. Or maybe I missed your point?
Rocket Theres a major blogging chappie who is really critical of the sodium pump theory. I'll see if I can find out who he is. Or maybe someone else knows.
Cutting salt works, so does upping your water consumption and upping your viatmin b and c. And as get rid of the water retention, you are also on your way to being virtually bruise proof.
magic how that works.
"But not so keen on 'care-free eating'. In the current environment wouldn't that lead to junk food eating? I will eat holiday food without worries, but day in, day out, I want to eat the best I can. Or maybe I missed your point?"
Hi Sydney,
By 'carefree eating' I mean eating so that prior to and during every meal and large amounts of the day as well, do not involve mental gymnastics: that is, should I or should I not eat this?, does this fit with study X?, does such an such expert believe this is a healthy food?, will this make me fat? etc etc.
A fear-driven process that is not minimising stress and freeing up energy to 'live' but often increasing the load.
As to junk food – for what my opinion is worth – the body has wisdom. Sweet beyond a certain level and there is a subtle taste change. The food simply becomes unpleasant. Likewise with fat or oily foods, bitter, sour, salty and so forth.
But these direct neurological responses can, and often are, missed.
Sydney, i speed read… lol
took me bout an hour while i sat in the hot tub to catch up :) emails on the other hand set me back alot more as i chicken peck at the keyboard and spell way worse than you think and it requires revision lol . think I need another assistant :P
I have to agree with your left over statement .. even down to a cultural concept that forbids wasting meat as it is disrespect of life I even apologize to an animal after a hunt and promise his life will not be a waste and I always keep my promise.
I know alot of hoarders who buy food and watch it rot and just throw things out every few days in the fridge to make room for new purchases while deep in the back science experiments develop. Analyst say the Uk and north america throw out 75 % of the food produced at some point in the distribution chain.
J.R. I think its good to avoid the stress that comes with food choices, people over analyze a lot of what they eat.
I like to keep it simple, look at it like a muslim that doesn't eat pork ,its not even an issue when they dodge it they don't feel like they miss out or analyze it. I do the same I just avoid the no brainer "bad "stuff that I have definitively chosen not to eat (5 things) and enjoy what I eat with the rest without trouble at restaurants or social engagements. I don't think about calories or measuring the pufa 's in the 4 walnuts I ate in some experimental dish a girlfriend created.
maybe i might add gluten to my "don't eat list " as i have not finished with my research and i may experiment. it would be fairly easy because i don't eat much of it in my daily life but for now I'm not gonna trip out when a friend offers a plate of pasta.
Chief
Yes its really shocking how much food people buy and throw out. Or is thrown out by the stores or in the production/distribution of food.
JR I don't see how people are going to know what to eat without reading experts or studies unless they come from a living traditional culture. Anyhow this doesn;t mean one has to get emotional about it. People have a lot of free floating anxiety, it will attach itself to anything. The body may well have wisdom but as you point out its easy to ignore the signs. Also when people are really sick and the body thinks its starving probably the only message is eat, eat anything.
Hi Sydney,
no not advocating not reading, but it can be a very fine line that is easily crossed into food obsession and stress.
I agree that a starved individual would find most anything palatable.
My feeling is physiological stasis adapts as necessary.
My diet is quite rigid and narrow. Since my appetite has returned to normal on the high carb, I have introduced more variety. This is just my diet I'm not recommending it to anyone. My point is I find freedom in restriction. I was more stressed when I had to decide what to eat everyday. Chief I can understand that if something is not a part of what you eat, as is pork for a Muslim, then you don't miss it or analyse it. I'm that way about processed food. I only object when people make personal preferences into health issues.
Matt
Keen to hear your answer vs OJ. Just repeating in case my question gets overlooked.
JR Was it you who once wrote that you thought people chopped and changed their diets too much? They were never on a diet long enough to really see how it worked? If so, I do agree with that. Part of my wanting to eat the same foods or the same category of foods is to see how they work for me. A few weeks back paleos were talking about a month to get your metabolism up but does anyone really know how long it will take any particular individual? Well I guess they have to make light of metabolism slow down since it is an acknowledged outcome of their diet (at least by Dr Adkins and I think Sissons). Its 6 months high carb and my temp is still rising and it wasn't that low to begin with.
And Chief why would you exclude gluten when you apparently have no problems with it? I understand it is not a part of your traditional diet but I don't get the impression that you are rigid about adhering to that. Or are you considering going totally native for the crack?
The man critical of the sodium pump theory is gilbertling.com
Hi Sydney,
if memory serves me right, I think it was referring to pinballing between dietary theories.
I cannot see how anyone can give an accurate time frame for (metabolic) change, as individuals and their unique past, varies.
So 'normal' or 'average' is a very arbitary judgement.
sydney ,
your right I don't alienate myself or deprive myself based on some stubborn pride over progress fallacy. I don't dodge the great things the rest of the world has to offer. good food is good food!! and good ideas are good ideas too if i learn better ways of doing things that improve my life in my travels I upgrade my lifestyle. I don't care if even romulans or zeta reticulans invented it. :) if i cant find good reasons to keep with tradition then I don't. if it wasn't for finding evidence for longevity and overall health improvements i wouldn't even do fasts.
I would say I eat about 50 – 70 percent traditional because it happens to be food I like and grew up eating ( kinda got away from it as a teen) at the same time it's super duper good for you. Some of the reason i eat mostly traditional is due to hanging out in the bush and availability as well.
Im not really sure about gluten at this point I have noticed some things about me are different with wheat ( my recent tim hortons diet experiment was an epic failure ) but I must do some truly "fair" testing by eliminating variables to know for sure before I make any decision on it. you have me curious about homemade bread now btw… for now I'll rock wheat if its there in front of me lol
Hi Chief
good to hear your comment. I enjoy your refreshing enthusiasm.
Sydney: maybe it will help you to do lefovers if you remember that even the super rich back in the day had to eat leftovers. They also had to eat organ meat and bits of pieces of the animal that we would balk at if it were mechanically recovered and shoved into a hot dog. Before refrigeration and rapid transport you simply had to eat what was in season in your area and at certain times of year that was pretty unappealing.
If you you read 180 kitchen the whole strategy is to do one big huge cook fest once a week and live on the leftovers the rest of the week. It's about the only way I could do this and not break down and eat restaurant food at work.
Sydney is your profile pic, a juicer?
Kinda off topic…what's the consensus on Braunschweiger? Is it crappy processed food or superfood (it is made from pork livers for gosh sakes!)
The Diet Fucked folks had found some nitrate free Braunschweiger. Grassland carries it. It's $10 a pound which is pretty pricy.
http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=827
The dirt-cheap kind you get at your deli is probably loaded with nitrates and made from factory farmed liver and mechanically recovered meat.
I actually was thinking about signing up for a butchery class at the University next semester. Maybe then I'll be making my own brauschweiger.
bona fide Will,
off topic too, (re: fasting fail), the coffee did you in!! lol
if I drink caffeine i get weird heartbeats dizzy spells and queezy feelings .. i suspect without food to slow down absorption it makes a for a jolt on the system.
also you mentioned blunting hunger with it, fasting isn't meant to be a forced thing more of a natural progression from eating adequately the night before in the same vein as spontaneous weight loss. not trying to convince you to try again, I just thought you might like to know coffee would do me in the same way.
Jenny
Living alone I just try to cook as much as I will eat so don't have much leftovers to cook. I don;t mind cooking=well quite like it if I;m honest- and like my food fresh. But sounds like a good strategy for simplifying and time saving. And compliance, if have to eat away from home. My profile pic is a grain mill. It was super expensive and took me a long time to commit that amout of money. 180 was an excuse for something I wanted to do anyway but thought was an indulgence. But I do see it as an investment in health as grains are so much tastier home milled so I am able to eat them more. Apparently, EU regulation requires the removing of the bran from all flour. If I understand rightly this is because research found agents in the bran caused cancer. I assume this is rancid oil effect. But, of course, the bran is where the nutrient density is greatest. And I have read the delicate oils are not damaged until the grains are broken down and exposed to air. The oils are supposed to spoil at the same rate as milk.
Chief
What was your tim hortons' experiment? I feel a bit of a fake about 'homemade bread' as I only make quick breads with baking powder, a no-brainer. Have requested a wholegrain cookery book for Christmas so may get more adventuous in the future.
Tim hortons is a north american, mostly in kkkanada coffee and baked goods/donut shop. The experiment was to see if typical food had any effect on me since I now can virtually eat retarded amounts of whole foods without weight gain.
While i slowly traveled home from alaska (7 days) I reduced my calories (unintended), I ate a typical breakfast at local diners and all other food was, bagels and sandwiches and various other Tim Horton's fare for the other 2 meals and snacks. I gained ten pounds in that time which within ten days flew off me without any exercise once i reverted back to my usual ways and pigged out. I even went with whole wheat and butter trying to be as healthy as possible lol I have concluded it is impossible to eat good at timmies super size me style :)
after that I purposely gained 25 pounds ( im at 250) in order to be past the easy "ten pound bounce back" weight set point threshold thingamajigger. All so I can do a final test of my methods for my book and a food concoction that has caused overnight temperature rectification in some extremely cold individuals which i feel strongly is the answer to weight gain while rarrfing. tested it on nearly one hundred people with excellent results…. we shall see.
@Jennythenipper – why am I still eating mostly vegan? More accurately, 'why am I eating mostly vegan again?' – I did experiment with animal products for a year or so.
I actually find that a hard question to answer, because between living in AK and some of the nutritional stuff I understand, there would seem to be good reasons to eat animal products. The best stab I can take at an answer is that it's a combination of force of a lifetime's habit, the fact that I didn't like the taste of meat at all when I did try eating it, the fact that I got really sick from my omnivore experiment (even though I don't think all meats were the culprit – some definitely made me feel worse), plus a dose of the ethical anxiety.
On the 'food hoarding' thing: some foods actually taste better as leftovers, especially those that involve spice infusions. But I notice that I'm a big hoarder and feel very anxious if any staple is running low, and I spent a lot of years literally starving (even if this was on purpose, it still has its psychological effect), whereas my husband, who eats everything and has always had a great abundance of food in his life, doesn't care for leftovers and doesn't care about stocking up.
Had trouble leaving a comment yesterday due to some weird server issues. Let's hope this badboy goes through…
Rocket-
I've become quite interested in this lately after a couple of ladies (Erika and Pipparoni) turned me on to Carey Reams's Biological Theory of Ionization (RBTI).
I've been consuming way more calcium and potassium (really good raw milk, bananas, potatoes, molasses) and very little salt. So far so good. It probably just makes it easier for the body to keep its fluids in balance. We'll see where that leads.
Dark Circles-
It's interesting that you say dark circles under the eyes is a symptom of rising blood sugars. I'm not sure it is the blood sugar itself but perhaps the adrenal overactivity – which I suspect more and more to be the cause of high blood sugars anyway (adrenals overactivate, dump free fatty acids into the blood interfering with glucose uptake and causing ever increasing insulin resistance).
I also think that this whole bleeding gums and bruising thing probably relates more closely to adrenal health (perhaps why vitamin C, the adrenal nutrient is believed to be the cure) than actual vitamin C. I'm also thinking that taking in an excess of one type of C without sufficient bioflavanoids is probably significant too. Drinking OJ, or 80-10-10 folk juicing a bunch of oranges and drinking a gallon a day might have something to do with their supposed scurvy symptoms.
Also, on the blood sugar connection vein, it's interesting that we all know not getting enough sleep can cause dark circles under the eyes. It's also well understood that insulin resistance increases and blood glucose rises with sleep loss. How bout dem apples?
Wow, dude you just blew my mind with all of that. Molasses, eh? How do eat that? Are you making epic numbers of sweet potato pies down there?
Molasses mixed w milk….Have you tried it?
My mom drank it and my sis still does.
High cortisol also can cause easy bruising; it's a standard Cushing's symptom.
Matt: With the gluten issue some people bring up, there’s something I want to make clear here.
There is a big difference between just “gluten sensitive”, “gluten allergic”, and actual Coeliac Disease.
Coeliac disease has nothing to do with allergies, people often mistake it as one but it isn’t one at all.
It is basically a genetic mutation which causes your immune system to produce anti-bodies which inflame the intestinal lining, causing the villi protrusions in the mucosa to atroprohy, leading to malabsorption, and later on in life, to intestinal cancer, if gluten is consumed. While some people with just a gluten “allergy” might be able to re-introduce gluten in small quantities, it is not a viable option for Coeliac sufferers (who have an auto-immune disease, NOT an allergy).
I was recently found to have this Coeliac disease, but unlike many other people who have issues with gluten, or eat gluten free that you apparently know Matt, I have never been anything close to an unhealthy person.I have always been extremely fit and healthy with good immunity , low blood pressure, low blood sugar, eaten what I want and never gained weight. I have never had any allergies to anything and always had good immunity (very few infections, and able to fight any off very quickly, never been on anti-biotics), despite having “Coeliac Disease”, which was only discovered because I was tested along with other family members when someone else in the family had symptoms.
Aside from the genetic mutation that Coeliac suffers have, they are just as healthy as the rest of the population, provided they avoid gluten, there, simple. However, the auto-immune condition is associated with other genetic mutations such as those which cause autism, which I also have.
A lot of autistic people have found that their problems with autism and mental function have become greatly diminished on a Gluten and Casein free diet. It also made their general health and energy levels a whole lot better.
Even though I rarely ever got ill anyway (my coeliac disease was never that severe either) eating Gluten free since 1.5 years ago, I have not had a single infection, cold etc… at all!!
I wonder if this is because my immune system is “freed up” from having to be in an overactive state as it was eating Gluten and now has more “resources” available to fight other pathogens like viruses and bacteria that try to invade. Probably.
I generally agree that it is always a bad idea to simply cut something out willy nilly in its entirety, but if you have a problem where your immune system actually fights something it shouldn’t do because of a genetic coding fault, you have no choice, because your immune system will destroy you if you consume that thing.
I guess a genetic coding fault like this is just one of those flukes of nature that happens. Nobody knows why it does, I am certainly not an unhealthy person, fit, active, fast metabolism etc…. it’s just a genetic quirk I have and as long as I adapt my diet so my immune system doesn’t try to kill me I know I’m doing the best thing I possibly can do. OK?
I have been drinking lemon water for a few months and just recently started taking some min-cal . but every time I take it it makes me feel nauseous is this normal ? will it go away? what would correct Erectile dysfunction ?