Here are some comments that I received from last post from someone who contributed a “Low-Carb War Story.”
Hi Matt,
Thanks so much for commenting on my Carb War Story. It was the first one in the last series that you commented on.
I have to say, your comments were not only helpful but hilarious. I especially love the one about my protein goal.
As of right now things are starting to balance out. I was seriously bumming about all the weight I was gaining, but my ever so logical boyfriend reminded me of the big picture. I so appreciate you men folk for just this. You help us women folk put things into much needed perspective at times when the emotions get a little too out of control. Anyway, I gained a total of 15 pounds, and in the last week I stopped gaining and actually started losing, and I’m down 6 pounds. It feels as though a switch was turned on in me, and things are starting to work as they should (emphasis mine).
My body temp is now at 98 degrees. It took about 2 months for this to happen. I’m glad I don’t need to use any desiccated thyroid.
So, again, thanks for your comments, your blog, ebooks and podcasts. You really are doing a great thing with all this information. It would have taken me so much longer to figure all of this out without your site. You are much appreciated.
My comments:
Oh our man emotions get plenty out of control too, don’t worry. My nads certainly don’t make me a more reasonable person than anyone else. I don’t think my logic is related to testosterone either. But thanks for trying to give all the credit to men. Please contact my girlfriend, sister, mother, etc. and tell them all to start thinking this way.
Not everyone will have these results – a plateau of weight gain followed by weight loss and a confirmed rise in body temperature with minor symptoms falling into place that is. But many will. You don’t have to be one in a million or a superhero to have this experience. This is precisely the results that the conclusions of my research has led me to believe is not only possible, but probable when you pull a full-on 180 on the mainstream ideas about health and nutrition.
Matt you favorite fat is nuts/seeds? Those are PUFAs BIG time?
I think Matt is lying so that the costs of his REAL foods don't increase. I think Matt is following a Raw Paleolithic diet (rawpaleodiet.com) and he only says he eats other foods like pork, cheese and nut/seed butters, so everyone flocks there and buys those (increasing price), leaving grassfed beef conveniently priced cheaper for Matty to buy.
hahahaha… damn you matty!!!!!
Hey everyone. I'm looking for help for better sleep. For the most part i go to bed at 10-12pm (lightless room) usually taking a while to get to sleep, my mind preferring to do things like playing the same piece of music over and over and over arrgh… actually this happens during the day too and is no doubt because of some kind of imbalance of something. My sleep feels shallow mostly, i think i wake up frequently but not to total wakefulness and so go back to sleep. I end up being in bed for atleast 9 hours and once i do get up i feel pretty much fine for the day. This has been for atleast a year although i don't really feel as though i have poor sleep. I eat and don't eat the usual foods recommended here and have for atleast a year, plenty of carbs too ofc. Never had weight problems or extreme diet and always ate as much as i felt like.
I'm 21 y.o male, I think i am mildly hypothyroid, with an ok but not perfect temperature. From what i can gather i was born with this, i dont sweat much and don't tolerate the heat well, just getting red and overheating instead since my body can't cool me down well. My hands also tend to go cold unless i'm doing something with them. I may have high BP since my head being inverted makes my feel the pressure increase, a handstand makes it feel like it will explode. My temp was highest when i started HED for 3 weeks, then seemed to lower a bit once i stopped eating as much as i physically could… My diet has never really affected these things. This is pretty much the extent of my problems and i'm fine for the most part.
I'm mostly sedentary but exercise frequently with gymnastics strength stuff although not too intense and have no problems with energy etc. I think i slept best recently when i started HED and didn't workout for the 3 weeks, i don't know if that was all the food or no workouts but the workouts aren't particularly strenuous, rarely max effort and feel easily managable.
What i think from reading on here is that certain hormones (cortisol?) are high or low at the wrong times and interfere with sleep. I've been reading here for months and i know the answer is different for everyone but any help is much appreciated, thanks :)
Terpol,
In my humble opinion, and without knowing any other pertinent information about your lifestyle, I suggest a couple things for you:
-Try to "slow down" earlier at night, if you can, to tell your body that it's time to sleep soon. If we are go go go all day, how can we expect our bodies to want to sleep just by finally turning off the lights at 10pm?
-Find ways to increase your melatonin production (not by taking it in pill form!) and/or GABA production (a very high quality supplement, if you must). Doing something like relaxing yoga in the evening should naturally help to stimulate both. I have also heard that getting more B vitamins during the day helps (it seems to help me as well).
-Probably anything else that helps to balance your overall hormones will help you.
At the very least, these suggestions won't do you any harm. Good luck!
Gina
How's your sex life? Nothing messes up my sleep patterns worse than not gettin' any. I'm not entirely joking here.
haha… seriously jenny!!
Having lots of sex makes life way better!!!
Everyone here should definitely check out Dr. William Wongs podcasts… I think you would all enjoy them. Just go to totalityofbeing.com go to audio, and check out all his podcasts. Not everything he says is right but man… this guy has been my hero since i was 18.
troy
Terpol,
It can take quite awhile for the "HED" type of eating that we do to heal you. So keep that up. To get to sleep and calm your constantly moving mind you could try yoga as was suggested or just learn some concentration/meditation techniques. I used to practice Hao style taiji and learned lots about concentration and energy control. When I lay down to sleep I start with my head, feel the energy there, and let it flow slowly throughout my body, relaxing everything. I start at my head and move down my spine, mostly using my skeleton as the pathway I concentrate on. I imagine energy as a liquid flowing down vertebrae by vertebrae, once it fills one it then flows down to the next, filling it before going to the next. Then at the base of my spine I move to my hip joints, fill those, then down one leg at a time all the way to my toes. Then do the arms next starting at the shoulders. This whole process can take several minutes depending on my state (sometimes it is easier and sometimes requires more concentration). The entire time I continue holding the "filled up" bones and joints with energy until my whole body is warm. I usually pass out before I finish. This calms the mind and relaxes the body.
On the Inuit and PUFAs:
I am of the opinion that PUFAs are definitely not good, at least in the refined oil state, but if the PUFAs were slowing to the metabolism and harmful to the thyroid, wouldnt the Inuit have horrible thyroids by now with the PUFA content of their diet plus the fact that bad thyroids get worse from generation to generation? It seems like if PUFAs are a main cause of all the issues we have, and PUFAs in general are bad rather than just refined oils, that the Inuit would be in horrible health by now like America is. Am I missing logic somewhere?
Question for all:
Back in my Primal Diet and immediately Post PD I read about lots of people that healed teeth with good diet. Has anyone had any experience with this or known someone that actually has? I have a filling (not a crown) in my back left mollar and it just feels like semi jagged metal in my mouth (its not the kind with mercury) and I want it gone and dont want it back. But I could only do that if it were possible to heal a tooth with some kind of chunk out of i. Anyone (MATT INCLUDED) think this is possible at all?
-Drew
I think that America consumes polyunsaturated fat in such a large amount that it becomes pollutant to thyroid; I mean, with people suggesting it, it's even worse. Though, I've heard a teaspoon of vegetable oil a day will eventually damage thyroid. That's consistency – and also the fact that it's refined oil.
I'm pretty sure the Inuit ate more than just unsaturated fat. Their diet was not just of rotten fish – and even so, they got vitamins with the fish, fish broth, and gelatin. Even Peat says that fish oil is not as bad as refined seed oils and things – but it's not like it's great. I think it should be brought up that the Inuit had other factors going for them in their diet that were pro-thyroid; but they also may have had complications as noted by Steffansson. These are also people born with health – unlike most Americans, who have a ton of detrimental factors brought on by dieticians, organizations, and mainstream health that worsen conditions.
Thanks for a fascinating series, Matt.
Coincidentally, this week Jenny at Blood Sugar 101 also blogged about low-carbing diets sucking hind tit: http://tiny.cc/rzbNY
Troy, I listened to one of Dr.Wong's podcasts and definitely enjoyed it and am going to go get more. Seems like good information and he's funny to boot. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome, like socialists". fuckin lol. Talk about hitting the nail on the head there.
Don't have any specific recommendations for sleep other than to keep taking steps to fine tune what sounds like decent health. Eat well.
Drew,
I often refer to my teeth as having more metal in them than a Slayer concert. I personally am curious as to whether not I could have my fillings removed and then, instead of having them redone with non-mercury fillings – just have them left alone. I want to at least attempt to regenerate dentin or at see if my cavities can form a nice hard layer of calcium on top to seal off my teeth from decay. It will probably be years before I give that a shot, but it's on the list. I definitely think it's possible. Good luck hombre.
What type of hernia did you have Half Navajo/Troy?
I have heart palpitations after I eat all the time. I think I might have what you had. How did you cure it?
For everyone else:
How much cream do you guys drink/eat? I drink 1 pint of cream per day. Too much?
I had hiatal hernia, where the stomach protrudes up into the esophagus. Yah there's alot of shit that can happen to your body when this happens… shallow breathing, indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, problems swallowing, back aches, heart palpitations, constant belching, sleeping problems from lack of oxygen to body, malnutrition from digestive problems, etc…
Depending how bad it is… you can probably have a Chiropractor/kiniseologist use techniques to push the stomach down manually out of the esophagus…. you should almost get immediate relief like i did. My hiatal hernia was kinda bad… probably from lifting weights and not breathing correctly. There is the option of surgery, depending on how bad it is… but i have never had surgery and i am not going to start now. My chiropractor thinks this was caused by an earlier trauma, because my 2nd and fourth vertabrae were also out, and one looked like it had been out for years. I remembered jumping off a huge cliff when i was 19 and my ass pounding into the ground super hard and fucking up my back… so it could have been that, and it finally just decided to flare up now… i am 26 now, and physiology says you start aging around this time. So maybe when i was younger my body dealt with it. The only thing i got from my hiatal hernia was shallow breathing, and weird burping.
If you can't find a chiropractor that specializes in hiatal hernia, you could also try to find a massage therapist that does. I probably wouldn't eat things that can irritate the esophagus and stomach until it is healed, like coffee, and acidic fruits… I also cut down on the amount of fat i eat, just enough there for taste and satisfaction, and fat soluble vitamins.
i wouldn't go the surgery route, we all know most surgeries are unneccisary…. and i looked at the procedure, it looks weird and unatural to tie it up the way they do… much better to massage it down, and strengthen an heal naturally. Also, stress can make things worse too.. i run, walk alot, ride my bike, and growl and let out all my emotions out alot when i had it…. its sounds funny but i really worked. You could also try the trick where you drink a quart of room temp. water in one swig and do 15 heal stomps or jump off a chair on to your heals, i have read that working for alot of people.
hope this helps,
troy
Went and listened to Dr. Wong based on recommendations here. Pretty wacky. Thinks Obama is the anti-Christ, gay people are a sign of civilization's decline, etc.
I don't know Dr. Wong. He's got a point about gay people though. The perpetuation of a species is dependent on male/female interaction. That's of course no fault of their own or a license to discriminate. I certainly don't discriminate against folks like myself for having a crooked tooth or two or needing some glasses, but I don't deny that both are also signs of the decline of civilization. Don't confuse Dr. Wong with 180 though. I have no idea who Dr. Wong is.
And Obama isn't the anti-christ, he's just another douchebag following orders like every other president since JFK.
Dr. Wong is raising lots of awareness, and has been for years, about keeping our freedoms. Just wait till they take natural thyroid away from people who need it, or when it becomes a crime to have your own farm, or livestock. He has been raising awareness of our estrogen rich world, and the effects it has on both sexes for years.
I don't think you will be calling it wacky when all his and others like him predictions come true if we don't do something to stop it. The government is taking every last bit of our freedoms away, and pretty soon they will try to control the internet.
damn the man!!! Save the Empire!!!!!
troy
Homophobic, much?
Matt:
Do you also believe that heterosexual couples who decide to remain childless are also contributing to the "decline of civilization"?
I personally wouldn't place someones sexual choice at that level of importance. The closed-minded and ignorant thoughts are most likely contributing to the "decline", more than the sexual orientation.
Sheesh anonymous, could Matt have been any more clear that he doesn't have a problem with homosexuals? You're preventing an honest and valid discussion here.
I, personally, have long been meaning to inquire about dietary connections to things like homosexuality, savantism, geniuses and even simple shyness/anxiety. Is it possible that societal dietary failures resulted in, not only unnaturally mentally challenged people, but also unnaturally intelligent people (Mozart, Einstein)? Could dietary failure (sugar, refinement, etc) have been THE major contributor to the rapid technological/scientific advances of the last few centuries?
I'm not sure how my question about childless heterosexual couples is preventing honest and valid discussion, and I wasn't attacking him personally. I simply don't place sexual orientation in a position of importance in that way. If someone could make a valid argument, I would certainly listen.
Hey all,
Any other updates on HED progress, do some people have a couple months of progress now? One week on for me, definitely a roller coaster week, coming off a 9 month VLC. Mainly digestion trying to catch up I guess. I was doing the VLC to clear up acne, which worked well, but after going through all the posts here, decided fixing the metabolism sounds like a better idea, hoping this will work on the acne as well. So far my avg basal temp is 96.4.
Thanks
why do dolphins and apes engage in homosexual behavior — I'm guessing this has been observed in the wild where they eat wild food. Is it because of pollution?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality#Homosexual_behavior_in_animals
"Homosexual behavior in animals refers to the documented evidence of homosexual, bisexual and transgender behavior in non-human animals. Such behaviors include sex, courtship, affection, pair bonding, and parenting. Homosexual and bisexual behavior are widespread in the animal kingdom: a 1999 review by researcher Bruce Bagemihl shows that homosexual behavior, has been observed in close to 1500 species, ranging from primates to gut worms, and is well documented for 500 of them. Animal sexual behavior takes many different forms, even within the same species. The motivations for and implications of these behaviors have yet to be fully understood, since most species have yet to be fully studied.[189] According to Bagemihl, "the animal kingdom [does] it with much greater sexual diversity — including homosexual, bisexual and nonreproductive sex — than the scientific community and society at large have previously been willing to accept."
I as well have thought it might be interesting to look more into the diet-homosexual relationship. I mean I could be wrong but if I remember correctly the study of Pottenger's Cats showed that when fed an overly processed diet the cats started to move away from their normal gender characteristics to the opposite gender. Couldn't these structural changes also have some bearing on their sexuality? Pottenger also found these same structural changes happening in humans. So all I'm saying is that I find it interesting. I'm not discriminating I'm just pondering and throwing some ideas out there.
Ha, you guys are funny. If I say obesity is a sign that the human race is on the decline everyone nods their head and says, "totally." If I say that infertility is a sign of the decline of humanity, no one questions that. If I say that a person's lack of desire to mate with a member of the opposite sex may be a sign of a decline of humanity, watch out! I'm a homophobe!
Somebody call me a infertiliphobe or an obesiphobe please. Somebody! Call me on that! I'm like an anti-fatty Nazi! I'm Adolph Fatler!
Yes, I've often thought that exceptional savants may be born out of poor heredity. Let's face it, the highly intelligent folks of the world don't have a reputation for being physical specimens, but for being thin, gangly, unnattractive, and adorned with coke-bottle glasses. Louis Skolnick if you will.
Anonymous going for the HED…
Digestion is always rough the first couple of weeks. It's like lifting weights for the first time in months or years. Digestion is weak and gets sore from the new workload. Then, it toughens up and begins operating better than you may have previously ever imagined. That's been my experience, and several people round these here parts have echoed that. Good luck and keep us posted.
Well obviously I mean that's such a touchy subject Matt you're not being politically correct! Attack anyone's position that could make them feel a little hurt inside and you get called a homophobe or not "open-minded"… funny thing is they never seem to be open-minded about your position either…
Matt – what about the mental mood swings and extreme fatigue on HED? I feel so tired its like im drugged half of the day. I feel like falling asleep behind the wheel!!
How often do you think you should masturbate, Matt? Is 1 time per day normal or too often?
Anon:
Homosexuality existed way before anything processed touched our diets.
Nutrition certainly can affect behavior and development, but it gets tiresome when people use it as an explanation for everything. Weston Price provides us with some amazing information, but it's not the be all end all of all that exists.
Here is what I have pulled from my Cultural Anthropology book,
"The range in permissiveness or restrictiveness toward homosexual relations is as great as that for any other kind of sexual activity. Among the Lepcha of the Himalayas, a man was believed to become homosexual if he ate the flesh of an uncastrated pig. But the Lepcha said that homosexual behavior was practically unheard of, and they viewed it with disgust. Perhaps because many societies deny that homosexuality exists, little is known about homosexual practices in the restrictive societies.
..there is variation in the pervasiveness of homosexuality. In some societies homosexuality is accepted but limited to certain times and certain individuals. For example, among the Papago of the southwestern United States there were "nights of saturnalia" in which homosexual tendencies could be expressed. …
Homosexuality occurs even more widely in other societies. The Siwans of North Africa expected all males to engage in homosexual relations. In fact, fathers made arrangements for their unmarried sons to be given to an older man in a homosexual arrangement.(ha what the fuck)… Almost all men were reported to have engaged in a homosexual relationship as boys; later, when they were between 16 and 20, they married girls. Among the most extremely prohomosexual societies, the Etoro of New Guinea preferred homosexuality to heterosexuality. Herosexuality was prohibited as many as 260 days a year and was forbidden in or near the house and gardens. Male homosexuality, on the other hand, was not prohibited at any time and was believed to make crops flourish and boys become strong."
"Why do homosexual relationships occur more frequently in some societies, and why are some societies intolerant of such relationships? There are many psychological interpretations of why some people become interested in homosexual relationships, and many of these interpretations relate the phenomenon to early parent-child relationships. So far, the research has not yielded any clear-cut predictions, although several cross-cultural predictors about male homosexuality are intriguing.
One such finding is that societies that forbid abortion and infanticide for married women (most societies permit these practices for illegitimate births) are likely to be intolerant of male homosexuality. This and other findings are consistent with the point of view that homosexuality is less tolerated in societies that would like to increase population. Such societies may be intolerant of all kinds of behaviors that minimize population growth. Homosexuality would have this effect, if we assume that a higher frequency of homosexual relations is associated with a lower incidence of heterosexual relations. The less frequently heterosexual relations occur, the lower the number of conceptions there might be. Another indication that intolerance may be related to a desire for population growth is that societies with famines and severe food shortages are more likely to allow homosexuality. Famines and food shortages suggest population pressure on resources; under these conditions, homosexuality and other practices that minimize population growth may be tolerated or even encouraged."
I don't think there is a clear reason why any species engages in homosexual acts. The book does not talk much about actual people today who have feelings instead of policies towards homosexuality. The mental part may be the part that is interesting and perhaps linked with diet..but that's still iffy. I just find it interesting that anthropologists do not possess many clear answers.
I get what Matt says; that it's obvious a population wouldn't flourish if everyone was homosexual. That's not a big brain buster, but it's also not Rush Limbaugh. But when population gets out of control.. Think about how many people live on earth and how many people starve. Maybe animals who do such homosexual acts have similar problems. If they have too many babies, and not enough food, and little predators.. Maybe it's just another part of nature, ya think? I mean, infertility is purely physical. Homosexuality is not, so I don't really think the two can be compared. Though, I'm not sure if these cultures and the animals acts are different than actual mental feelings for the same sex. There's a lot of conflict in my brain on that one.
very interesting chlOe, as usual.
I checked out yours and Harper's blog the other day finally. I read all the posts… i really like it.
troy
I don't know about you guys, but when my diet is clean, well-balanced and I am able to get lots of fresh air and exercise, my sex drive goes thru the roof!
Thanks, Troy! We appreciate that.
Ok, so I'm going carb crazy in attempts to boost my metabolism. This is day one. Feel free to follow me on my blog :)
I woke up and simmered a pot of rice. I used canned chicken broth as the cooking water, some spices, and a heaping tablespoon each of coconut oil, tallow, and olive oill.
Along with the 2 cups of raw rice I added just a 1/4 cup of canned black beans and 4 small peeled and cubed potatoes, a few glugs of salsa and plenty of salt and pepper. When the rice and potatoes were nice and tender I threw a handful of frozen corn as garnish. It's delicious.
I ate 2 big bowls of it for breakfast. I got no sugar rush or dizziness, as I sometimes do after eating pancakes or a mess of fried potatoes first thing in the morning. I'm gonna eat it for every meal today, and throughout the week I will probably continue to make this until I get burnt out on it.
Wish me luck!
Definitely keep us updated here Crazy Mother.
Im hoping you are eating that concoction in several meals as 2 cups of raw rice is a ton! Im a 6'0 male and I usually only eat 1/2 a cup of dry rice at a time.
Dr.Wong is definitely a little wacky, very entertaining. But his gung-ho bible beater rants put me off a bit. I guess its just very difficult for me to understand how someone of very obvious intelligence, not to mention very studied in a Chinese martial art and all the spirituality that goes along with that, could so be so thoroughly zealous about Christianity (or really any of the major religions) and believing the Bible to the letter (to the point that he believes who it supposedly says the anti-christ is). Its just ridiculous in my mind and really puts me off. He has a lot of very good information (at least it seems to make sense to me) but then goes on 5 minute rants about satanism and the antichrist. I guess its like any health author, you have to take the intelligent bits and pieces out and leave the rest.
Yeah Crazy Mother. Eat 'em up.
Going truly high-everything will definitely make you feel sluggish at first, and extremely drowsy. This, too lasted for less than a week for me. It has much to do with poor glucose tolerance and the production of too much insulin, but the idea is that through boosting the metabolism, this improves. Even when eating a big meal, I seldom get drowsy.
On homosexuality, there are obviously great variances in social, religious, idealogical, and cultural values. There are also those that engage in all kinds of sexual activity, and aren't strictly homosexuals.
I too think that in times of nutritional abundance the metabolism is high, fertility rates increase, sex hormones rage with great and clearcut strength – testosterone dominance in men and estrogen dominance in women, and so forth.
Like T.L. Cleave's quote:
"The forces of evolution have ensured that in nature organisms react to an abundant food supply never by developing a disease, such as obesity, but by raising the rate at which they propagate themselves.
I was emphasizing more of the definitive physical and behavioral differences that manifests in male/female ambiguity. This was something Pottenger emphasized in particular, to show that malformation was becoming more prevalent as evidenced by less distinct male and female body types. Regardless of sexual orientation, there's obviously a huge physiological/hormonal/hereditary difference between:
Subject A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6XO3ecsJRk
and Subject B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxqzb6H4s3Q&feature=related
The question is why.
Much has to do with the hormonal heredity that is pre-determined and based on generations of nutrition and lifestyle history.
I, myself have a pretty small and narrow chest as well as wider hips in comparison to the prototypical male body.
And no, I have no plans to shy away from certain topics because they are touchy or because I have a fear of appearing politically incorrect. That's all I do – is point out that those with health problems, crooked teeth, allergies, poor eyesight, mental illness, infertility, poor musculature, excess body fat, early puberty, and more have something that could use correction. Each and every one of the people who has those characteristics must own the fact that something might be off kilter within themselves and within their family lineage to be captivated by my work.
If you have a strong emotional reaction to anything that has been written here, feel free to join the conversation with your beliefs about the subject. No, shouting "homophobe" is not a valid counterpoint.
Curious as to folks' thoughts on Dark Field Microscopy in relation to the consumption of pork and how it supposedly changes the blood to somehow resemble that of cancer patients. Any takers?
I just can't see how the flesh of an animal that is so widely consumed worldwide could be inherently dangerous.
Matt,
I think you misspoke on estrogen being a good hormone for a woman to be dominant in, no? Let's not leave out progesterone – the better hormone; and the fact that estrogen can also be present and a problem in men and plenty other animals. It's classically thought of as the "female" hormone for pretty dumb reasons if you ask me.
I get your basics, though, more food = healthier person, more fertility. But estrogen is not something you want to have a lot of nor be dominant in in any sex; for high estrogen in reality is associated with infertility and low thyroid function.
Both men and women produce estrogen and testosterone. Men should produce more testosterone than estrogen. Women should produce more estrogen than testosterone.
That's what I meant by dominant – more than what is considered to be the hormonal opposite.
High estrogen levels are different from normal estrogen levels. It's just like insulin. Insulin is great. Produce too much and you get associations with all kinds of chronic illnesses. I presume high estrogen levels are caused by the same type of fundamental "resistance," or the closure or malfunction of receptor sites.
I think cellular resistance to hormones is the real fundamental issue, and is systemic, and results in high chronic levels of estrogen, insulin, testosterone in men (associated with baldness, heart disease, etc.), and so on.
That's why docs don't acknowledge hypothyroidism, because the hormones are present in normal levels in blood tests. Well, there's plenty of insulin in a type II diabetics system too – more than normal, but the production of the hormones is not the problem, but the functionality.
Beware of the mindset that puts hormones into categories of heroes and villians. Both progesterone and estrogen are essential to life, reproduction, and much, much more. Hormonal abnormalities; however, are everything.
Gina –
Sorry, no takers! Ha, ha!
Cooked up an 8.5 pound pork butt roast two days ago!
Don't think there's much of a correlation between pork consumption and anything. The Chinese and Southeast Asians who love it seem to be doing just fine.
If anything, the harmful side of pork has more to do with the typical additives used in ham, sausage, and bacon such as nitrates, MSG, and refined sugar.
Women also commonly have more problems than men in health for various reasons, I think including the fact that we generate more estrogen. I don't think it's just hormonal receptors, but a host of things that can bring on high estrogen including that of diet and stress promotion. Of which, whatever usually increases estrogen, decreases progesterone.
I don't really know what "normal" amounts of estrogen would be. It's difficult to say that; when progesterone in high amounts is beneficial..and estrogen in high amounts is harmful.. you can't exactly compare the two to insulin and cortisol.
But I get what you mean by testosterone over estrogen and estrogen over testosterone. I'm just mentioning in terms further of..it's not as simple as women have this hormone and men have this hormone. Let's just not leave out progesterone here.
I don't know about the "women have more problems with health than men" thing. That's not unanimously agreed upon, and women outlive men significantly – typically not developing degenerative diseases like heart disease until they are older.
3 times as many boys have Autism than girls. Yet 3 times as many women have autoimmune disease than men – and more diagnoses of IBS and other digestive disorders.
The comparison to insulin and cortisol was a functional comparison – in terms of how they operate with receptor sites. I think you'll find that high estrogen levels/low progesterone patterns are much more common in those with high cortisol and high insulin levels.
Generally women carry more fat and gain fat much more easy than men, for one. Not everyone, no, there are obviously exceptions, but thyroid problems are more common in women – which I would think has a lot to do with how easily estrogen can be over-produced.
Also, we may live longer, but, that doesn't make one healthier,
"Among 5,888 people over 65, women suffered up to 2.5 times more disabilities than men of the same age.
Higher rates of obesity and arthritis among these women explained up to 48 percent of the gender gap in disability ? above all other common chronic health conditions, researchers announced today.
"While women tend to live longer than men, this study shows that they are at greater risk of living with disability and much of the excess disability is attributable to higher rates of obesity and arthritis," said Dr. Heather Whitson of the Duke University Medical Center. "
"In addition to obesity and arthritis, the study found the women were more likely than men to experience fractures, vision problems and bronchitis. Men were more likely to have emphysema, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes and hearing problems. "
It's debatable, yeah. There's also the fact that the female liver and thyroid gland are just less efficient at producing T3 than the male's. Not that that should discourage anyone, it's just what it is.
"About 35.3 percent of women and 33.3 percent of men were considered obese in the 2005-2006 survey, which is statistically about even."
This quote ignores the fact that obesisty is determined via body mass index though, and men have more lean body mass.
Like the example used by Gina Kolata in Rethinking Thin, Aniston has a body mass index of 18.3 while Brad Pitt has a BMI of 21.6 – but they are more or less equally thin by the standards of their gender. My BMI puts me at overweight despite the fact that I have about 10% body fat.
Don't forget that most people produce plenty of T3, T4, TSH, etc. That's why blood tests always mislead doctors into thinking that the person isn't suffering from hypothyroidism. They are, but not because there is a glandular malfuntion. It's more often a case of poor interaction with receptor sites – i.e. 'thyroid hormone resistance.' There's a big fundamental difference between the two.
People who do get told they have a thyroid problem (I'm pretty sure it's reported that women are more likely to) are probably determined by those very blood tests, which would make sense with what I was saying that women are less likely able to produce enough T3 and T4.
Even still, it's difficult to say what is normal in blood tests, and what is enough hormone. What if they only determine it by what is extremely low on their tests? I find it unreliable to say that everyone most likely produces enough hormone but just doesn't respond to it. It's using the logic that blood tests are reliable to the extent that the ranges they suggest are either hypothyroid or not – enough thyroid hormone, or not enough. It doesn't make sense that someone like Broda Barnes determined pretty much everything by symptoms and treated his patients with thyroid hormone. What would more of thyroid hormone do in someone's case that supposedly, by blood tests, produces enough of it? Maybe people don't have enough thyroid hormone in their situation – that they aren't producing enough of it to combat the negative effects that other hormones have on thyroid and metabolism; those hormones that were effected because of diet and lifestyle.
If you suddenly develop a serious illness, you'd need more antibodies than you would for a small cold.
I think it's a bit more complicated then receptors just not responding to thyroid hormones; or any hormone. It's a mix of doctors not knowing what the hell their doing, instead following numbers, and industries spreading the false fact that blood tests determine whether or not you have a true disease. I think they just determine how extreme it is for them to give you some druggin.
Then of course there's always the RT3 dilemma. Which, even if blood tests were correct in determining someone was producing "enough" hormone and simply not responding to them, then RT3 is another factor that can block T3 from functioning; RT3 brought on by elevated cortisol levels.
Giving someone thyroid who produces plenty but has thyroid hormone resistance is exactly what Barnes did. It had the same effects as giving insulin to a type II diabetic – it was miraculous.
Although Barnes may not have cured anything, he gave his patients exactly what they needed to live better, longer, and healthier lives. This is exactly what insulin does for type II diabetics. They take insulin and avoid many of the complications of having high blood sugars. They produce plenty of insulin, but they still have the symptoms of not producing enough – which is high blood sugars and subsequent complications such as neuropathy and macular degeneration.
But clearly a better "cure" would be to overcome insulin resistance, not just provide more insulin. That's why Barnes work, although excellent, revolutionary, and life changing, is still not humanity's solution to an ever-worsening problem.
He thought it was heredity, and he was right. What he didn't know, is that our inheritance is spiraling down generation after generation, and that it's a lifestyle and dietary issue at the core.
I thought of insulin, but also, I thought of the fact that diabetes is more than just insulin or no insulin. All of type 2 diabetics problems are not cured from taking insulin, I'm pretty sure. There are type 1 diabetics who have gone off insulin and been fine while dealing with their diabetes through other methods. It may help type 2 diabetics blood sugar some to take insulin, but, that's not the effect that Barnes created with thyroid hormone. Same with Mark Starr who had pictures of such people's appearance and lives change from it. It's difficult to compare insulin's effect on blood sugar to thyroid hormone's effect on someone's entire life and health.
There's obviously methods to increase thyroid hormone (and to keep the right balance of thyroid hormones) through diet that Barnes did not touch topic on. There's also methods to stabilize blood sugar without abusing insulin – but insulin companies would not exactly like if that was exposed, unfortunately.
Interesting reading the comments. I've been away from them for a couple days, so I figured I should do a comment or two.
I also agree with Matt that overall, hormones aren't either "good" or "bad". It's a balance of them. When hormones have to fluctuate to do different things, I believe that if the body is healthy and it will stay balanced, it will not cause any genuine side-effects other than what the body was intending to do (menstrual cycles, puberty, etc.). I do agree with chlOe about that progesterone should be dominant in women over estrogen though.
I also have wider hips for some reason. I've never fully understood why, but I don't mind that much.
I remember reading about the blood level changes with pork from Nourishing Traditions. I think Pork could be debatable, more so when the body is not healthy, but that nitrates and such are probably much more likely to cause issues.
About men vs women for typical health. I'm sure it goes both ways some. Men don't live as long usually; I'm really not sure why. I think that the female body has more to accomplish with being capable of pregnancy and what not, so possibly hormones are easier to disrupt. However, I think Matt's "Generation-X Woman" ebook on digestion summed up why women might have more health difficulties in a number of ways (thought probably not accounting for all of them). Culturally, it's even masculine to down lots of food, but it's more feminine to eat barely enough to get by while working out to death (and women are more prone to getting into the soy fad, which definitely doesn't help). One day I might write on this in another context, but I do think that diet and other factors causing imbalance of the thyroid and hormones has put men more at a "overly masculine" tendency, and women at a "overly feminine" tendency. Based on my own observations I think both sexes need more balance that way, but I'm definitely not encouraging a neuter gender.
I agree with chlOe that it's probably not just hormone utilization and resistance, it's a mix. The body has to heal in some way or another; perhaps there is something that the thyroid hormones are affecting that we are not seeing? Once most people heal it seems like they do from an on-off switch to having a body that controls its weight properly, lets them down as much food as they want, and generates muscle on its own for the most part (it seems like the real switch is more for weight loss though, and the rest comes gradually). I could be totally wrong though.
Ok, enough commenting for this post; off to the next one :-).
Thanks,
Teran