By Matt Stone
A friend of mine was feeling a little bummed last night. Some underweight, hypothyroid guy she had been dating was acting all crazy on her – loving her one minute, then wanting to break up the next. He loved to cuddle, but didn’t like kissing. And all he wanted to do, she said, was binge on junk food. And so, to help console her, I went through all my notes from Ancel Keys’s The Biology of Human Starvation to show her that these were well-understood characteristics of poorly nourished hpometabolic males. I sent her stuff about his balls being small, for example,?and she was like, “yeah, his balls are really small.”
?The majority of investigators have agreed that the testes are reduced in size in semi-starvation, the average percentage change being rather similar to that of the body as a whole.
But hey, as much as I would like this post to be about balls, it is more about some of the quotes found in Ancel Keys’s low metabolism Bible that pertains to recent conversations about frequent urination (polyuria), night urination (nocturia), excessive thirst/dry mouth, etc. I took note of such quotes when reading the book – enough to jot down those quotes, but now with the hyperawareness we’ve placed on the harmful effects of excessive fluid consumption – water, coffee, tea, diet drinks, and alcohol in particular – these quotes become something that are very worth sharing and discussing…
?Polyuria and nocturia have been reported by practically every observer of starvation conditions.?
?Along with the increased water consumption, starving persons tend to have a marked salt hunger and will consume several times the normal quota of salt if it is available.
?Satisfaction was also obtained from consumption of coffee and tea, both of which were used in large quantities, presumably for their pharmacological as well as their filling and warming effects. It was generally reported that coffee and tea provide a ?lift.? Because some of the men increased their consumption to 15 or more cups daily, it became necessary to limit all subjects to a maximum of 9 cups per day?
?In any list of the cardinal signs and symptoms of severe undernutrition there will be several items which pertain directly or indirectly to the heart and circulation. These include bradycardia, hypotension, a lowering of the skin temperature, and frequently vertigo and slight cyanosis.
?The dry and scaly skin was probably an expression of an altered skin metabolism as a result of a decreased blood flow through the skin. There was indirect evidence that the blood flow through the skin had been decreased during semi-starvation.?
I included the last?couple of quotes because I have personally noticed a dramatic increase in skin moisture since decreasing my fluid intake while increasing my salt intake. In fact, instead of hitting the sweets so hard (eating a 3-pound papaya an hour ago made my feet get instantly cold)I have been having things like saltine crackers in between meals when I feel a slight decrease in the warmth of hands and feet. Staying nice and salted all day does remarkable things for keeping the peripheral circulation rocking – which includes greater vascularity, warmer?hands and feet, and better nourishment and hydration to the skin. Dry skin seems to commonly be paired with dry mouth, overdrinking, and peeing clear all day.
More on salt soon. I’m?continuing to think’that salt in conjunction with the proper fluid intake?could really be one of the primary missing pieces in metabolic recovery, including improving conditions like hypertension and pre-eclampsia!
I have wonderfully moist smooth skin that people compliment all the time (especially if they happen to touch it) and have been a huge water drinker for the past decade. I’m also a fan of salt and do not have a big sweet tooth, so maybe. But I spent a decade peeing clear and it didn’t affect my skin. In fact, my skin stayed like this even when I was having relapses of my eating disorder and must have been hypometabolic. What did seem to make a difference was eating enough fat, as well as lots of antioxidants (i.e., fruits and veggies). In my initial ED, my skin was dry, etc. But I was eating very little fat, not enough fruits and veggies and way too little overall.
IMO, butter seems to be fantastic for the skin, olive oil, too (I don’t eat WAPF amounts of either, just some every day). But so is just a good overall diet with plenty of everything, including water.
I can relate to butter, the best skin I ever had was when eating biblical (=Jimmy Moore) portions of butter. But most saturated fats would accomplish this by then since I probably had been satfat deficient.
to the post above>
This is the first time I read about low blood pressure; in most cases similar symptom list would include hypertension. My BP is usually like 119/78 which seems fine but it’s just because I get a bit nervous each time I visit my doctor, usually it’s lower.
Ya I want someone to refer me to some good info about blood pressure. Got a puerto rican buddy at work (age 60) he has high blood pressure and he always talks about how he’s suppose to avoid salt. I wish I could help him but I don’t even know what causes high blood pressure really. He is overweight, has a real big pot belly lol. He’s awesome though. Matt, just make a post about that, (I googled high blood pressure on your site actually and one of those short tag info things came up and you said you were going to get into more detail!) Also, Matt, go help Robert Gibbs, its your time to shine baby.
Magnesium helps. I take Magnesium Citrate for hypertension, I’m 29. It works. Also I noticed my blood pressure goes up if I don’t get enough protein or drink too much coffee. Salt is key too. You can find more info about how it works in Peats work on Dr. Brewers. That’s where I first read about how salt pertains to preeclamsia, and it explained it in a why I could understand. :)
Your ideas don’t seem to be that far from Peat’s …after all !
On the topic of skin and dietary fat…
I’ve had dry skin for as long as I can remember. My skin stays dry no matter how much fat I eat. Although it’s logical that eating more “good” fats would result in moister skin, it never panned out in my case, just like most other logical black and white health recommendations. Over the years I’ve consumed enough raw butter to kill a man, but apparently not enough to moisten up the skin. I have noticed some improvements after bringing the carbs back in and improving my overall state of health.
I too used to eat a ridiculous amount of fat – when I was Paleo I obsessively micromanaged my macros to about 75-80% fat a day. And I’ll tell you, my skin was never drier! All that nonsense about fat giving you soft emollient skin seemed to be yet another thing that failed to work for me :).
It’s STILL dry, though I hope it gets better through regular dry-brushing and adding carbs again. For the past year or so it’s been gross – taking off a sock would peel off a whole layer of skin with it. Fun.
I ate plenty of carbs the whole time. Fat was never the majority of calories or anything like that. I think that makes a big difference, probably. So, I probably upped fat from 10-15% or so of calories to 30% or maybe 40% tops.
If you use oil on your skin it will dry your skin out. Like if you wash your face with olive oil, it will actually decrease the natural oil in your skin and it will become drier. I’m willing to bet it has the same effect if you eat a lot of fat. Seems to have a “like cures like” effect. I’ve never been able to be really low-carb and I’ve always had amazing baby soft skin. I don’t eat a ton of fat, but probably more the the average person out there. I’m almost 30 and don’t have any wrinkles yet.
Could nutritional type be the issue?
Speaking of preeclampsia…one of my friends recently had a c-section at 30 weeks because of severe preeclampsia. So I did a (very) little internet reading on it, and this is one thing I saw suggested for management of it: drink more water, eat less salt.
Uh-oh.
Often preeclampsia is a result of a magnesium deficiency.
Pre-eclampsia is improved with more food (calories), more protein, and salt. This is why it is so common in poorer areas like Haiti and (now) First World nations b/c women starve themselves intentionally. See Brewer’s Blue Ribbon Baby.
I had preeclamsia symptoms with my first pregnancy. It was low protein, low salt and low magnesium. Second pregnancy I did the Dr. Brewer diet which was higher protein, higher salt, and I took magnesium supplements. Pregnancy and labor went perfectly!
Matt and others,
Ok, I have a must-read here. Dr. Steven Bratman, who coined the term/”founded” the disease of Orthorexia several years ago, wrote a novel called Holistic Harry. You can take what you want from the message of the book (basically, that all holistic medicine is BS), but to me it’s more of a general warning to take holistic treatments and diet trends with a huge grain of salt.
It’s tremendously well written and entertaining. I especially encourage anyone who has dealt with eating disorders/disordered eating to give it a read! It really brings light to how so many things that you might have thought in the past are so freaking ridiculous, it’s awesome.
You can find it for free here: http://www.orthorexia.com/hh/
-Er
OMG< i just read the whole thing, it was so well written and hit sooo close to home! i'm a northern cal gal, and spent my life in that world…all those people i know and have been! i must be the same age as that dr. too. i would watch my friends take ONE vitamin pill and say WOW i feel much better! i disagree with a lot he said, such as the old HRT was not bioidentical and caused all kinds of side effects because the pharms purposely made the molecule slightly different so they can PATENT IT, whereas the bio version is cheap.. but the main explanation about double blind studies is so important for everyone to understand. and he went into such entertaining detail about the way the mind works to delude us! the extent to which we all live in fantasyland of our own making is so true. and how doctors and scientists are the new priests…totally. however, to me, he implies that pharma drugs have been proven to work, whereas we know that the studies are routinely manipulated to show efficacy, tossed when they show inefficacy, not done to the standards he describes MOST
of the time…but the book isn’t about every issue or treatment, his message is about the human situation, and how we don’t want to DIE. he perhaps should have mentioned swallowing mercury too… ayurvedic and chinese, and till recently, a germkiller to put on open wounds we had when i was a kid, mercurochrome….not to mention all the toxic, barbaric stuff still common…no wonder us nature lovers want a gentle, benign way to be healthy. it’s just that there is just as much bullshit in the natural healing world as the pharma one. i’ve gone thru the same process of disillusionment. this book expressed that process in such depth and richness of storytelling i really have to compliment the author.
To the two of you commenting on Holistic Harry, thank you for your kind words! Katheraw: Thanks so much for enjoying it even while disagreeing with parts. I disagree with parts of the book too … one writes from a certain perspective to make a point. I definitely agree that big pharma systematically distorts studies; most published studies are dishonest in part, and many are distorted entirely. But most of them are mostly accurate about efficacy; what they almost always hide to their best ability is risk data. Which leads me to these “devil’s dictionary” definitions:
Alternative Medicine: A form of medicine most effective for treating conditions you do not have.
Conventional Medicine: A form of medicine most effective for giving you new conditions you did not have before.
What the heck is going on Matt? Last time I saw you in person you were praising RBTI as the best thing since sliced bread and how you would even recommend it for athletes and bodybuilders because it works with the body’s chemistry yada yada yada but now you’re back to blogging about the same type of things that you did prior to investigating RBTI so am i supposed to forget about all the positive unbelievable things you said about RBTI like it never happened? Am I supposed to believe that you still feel the glucometer is still a useful tool even though you obviously don’t believe in RBTI beliefs and practices in dealing with the nod’s chemistry? Why do you do this to me?! Lol jk
I love you Rosenfelt. There are certain things about RBTI that I still really like and find very intriguing. The stuff about pork and eating heavy late at night are really interesting. Min-Col is pretty remarkable too, and a great complement to the idea of replenishing oneself nutritionally. But by far the most fascinating part of RBTI was the refractometer – and with the refracometer, the most interesting part I think was learning that observable negative symptoms could be attributed to urine solute becoming too low. I recognized immediately the ties between “low sugar” and low metabolism. And find that keeping the refractometer reading elevated makes the process of increasing metabolism WAY more effective. Likewise, eat all you want, but sometimes it’s difficult to make progress if you are flooding your system with too many fluids. And perhaps my favorite part about RBTI was seeing the improvements in increasing these “sugar levels” by eating more hyperpalatable foods. We would pig out with Challen on ice cream and pie with butterscotch syrup or something, feel horrible and pass out at 3 in the afternoon, and find the next day that all of our sugar levels were much more stable and that we felt awesome.
Good stuff. I feel like Ray Peat once again has been leading the pack on the necessity of salt.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/salt.shtml
Matt, do you think there is a connection between things like Tummo and breathing exercises that can generate vast amounts of heat in the body and the thyroid or metabolism? I’m thinking of people like Wim Hof who can sit in ice baths and not get cold or monks in the Himalayas that sit outside naked. Maybe there is a body awareness or improper breathing aspect to some peoples metabolic problems.
Are you eating Saltines because you think you’re pregnant? Cuz your not, :-)
In other news, the more meat I ate, the best grass fed shiz even, the more I got those pesky skin bumps on the back of the arms and the upper thighs.
Don’t know why but I know I no likely.
Now what have you done with Johnny Lawernce and Chief? I demand to know.
xo
hagggggggggggatha
Back in the day when I did “the water cure” which is crazy amounts of water + salt, I saw improvements in a few areas. Now I realize it was just the extra salt that was helping my body, not all the water. Cutting way back on fluids has been a really liberating experience. I still get plenty of salt, and I do use sea salt / himalayan salt because the processed stuff tastes terrible to me.
I just donated blood for the first time, and my iron was 14.5, with 12 being the lowest it can be in order to be ok to donate. I didn’t get the details on the measurement scale, though. It was done very quickly on a machine from a finger prick before the actual donation. Point being, I don’t think all that sea-salt is giving me excessively high iron levels, despite Peat’s and RBTI’s antagonism towards it.
My refractometer is on the way to me, so I’ll get to start some pee-analysis soon. After a few weeks of that, I will probably get an Electro Conductivity meter to measure salts as well.
But based on bio-feedback on daily energy levels, mood, clarity of thought, performance in the gym, recovery, and bedroom performance, minimal liquids with plenty of salt, carbs and sugars is proving to be very positive in the few weeks since I have pretty well dialed things in.
ALSO, for the people who are trying to find the “ideal” ratio of salt & sugar to add to water when exercising, I have been using this with good results:
30oz water
1/2 teaspoon salt (pick your favorite type)
1 tablespoon (approximately) of organic blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon (approx) of organic dried sugar cane juice
I am for a sweet tasting mixture with just a hint of saltiness to it. I do my best to only sip small amounts in between sets, but by the end of the workout I usually chug the last few ounces to quench my thirst.
– Cameron
Cameron, just to note, they test hemoglobin at your blood donation, not ferritin which is stored iron. I think that Peat is more worried about excessively stored iron, and not the ‘active’ iron in your blood.
Here is my milkorade mix that I am using, I am trying no daily water and about 1 quart of the following spread across my meals:
2 quarts milk
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/2 Cup sucanat, palm sugar, cane sugar mixture.
Dissolve the sugar and sea salt in 1/2 distilled water (heated), and add to milk. I got this idea from Danny Roddy’s post:
http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/2011/11/3/hair-like-a-fox-the-anti-stress-milk-mix.html
Thanks for clarifying that for me, Undertow. I didn’t think to ask at the time what exactly they were testing because it was an all new experience with a lot to take in. I’m going to keep donating every couple of months and observe my body’s feedback with each donation.
I like that milkorade mix on Danny’s blog. Any specific reasons that you went from a teaspoon up to a tablespoon? Does it taste really salty at that level?
Hey Cameron,
Just trying to up the sodium to see if I see improvements, I ate low sodium my whole life… milkorade doesn’t taste salty, it actually very sweet and I love the stuff. Could probably add cocoa and have an awesome chocolate version!
After re-reading the Peat article on salt, makes me wonder if my low life long sodium intake, has been part of the metabolic issues related to me.
I will note that may oral basal has been stuck at 97.6 for the last 2 years after starting HED, RRARF… finally in the last two weeks, it has jumped to 97.8 and I hope climbing again. This seems to coincide with lower fluid intake, and uping sodium, calcium (egg shell) and fructose intake. As always will report what happens as the journey continues.
Should note also that my diet is carb-fuelled, mod protein, and very low fat (saturated eaten of course).
Cameron, ya at 1 Tbsp it can be a little salty, most will probably want to try 1/2 Tbsp to start. The batch I made today might need more sugar!
Would dextrose be a better sugar to use since it is all glucose and no fructose? Or does it really not matter?
I think fructose and glucose both have their advantages and disadvantages. I prefer a little of both. Okay, well, a lot of both.
More info please, fructose is the one thing I still can’t decide on, just can’t bring myself to believe it isn’t damaging, plus I don’t want to realise that I wasted 5 years avoiding sugar.
First of alll, where has Chief been and when is he gonna update his blog. I have been really intrigued with intermittent fasting lately just because I have been so worried about food and my diet for years now that it would just be incredible to eat once a day and not have to worry about it otherwise. I just dont think my adrenals could handle it right now.
Matt,
Have you looked into intermittent fasting anymore. I know you see RBTI as a form of it since you are eating so light at night. But what about Chief’s version? It just seems more natural to have a huge meal at night so you can relax afterwards and go to sleep.
omg dude, I was going to say the same thing. I have his blog on RSS and look for a new post everyday lol. I am currently trying to get all of my calories once a day and follow what I do know from readin Matt and Chiefs stuff. I have been rarffin as best i can on the weekends however. I do get calories from beverages though. It’s too early to tell if I’m makin progress I think.(since rarffin I’ve gained bout 20 pounds though) I didn’t know it was possible but I ate 4 foot longs from subway last night. A tiny bit of time in between 2-2 but not much. I ate beyond appetite, but didn’t feel discomfort really. Then I slept like a mofo and woke up very thirsty, I specifically wanted to get really hot so I bought OJ when I got the subs. I drank a half gallon throughout the night. I think that’s too much…(havent been able to not pee at night yet) But juice is so good and it was so pleasurable to chug it while I was half asleep LOL(I still felt like a heater when I woke up for work). I feel half tempted to email chief to see if he’s alive.
Assuming excess fluid triggers problems, it remains to be seen whether it’s a primary cause, or something that hypometabolic folks simply can’t tolerate as well as ‘eumetabolic’ people. I believe both Matt and RPeat have said that hypothyroid people waste minerals in the urine. This suggests that the kidneys of compromised folks aren’t able to purify urine as well as they should (or at least that they aren’t actively doing so; perhaps due to a particular hormonal profile e.g. high aldosterone).
The adrenal fatigue folks claim that without proper adrenal function, your pupils aren’t able to maintain a contracted state against bright light. I don’t know if their proposed cause is accurate, but I do know many people can’t tolerate bright light, and that’s gotta be a sign something’s not working right. Perhaps in the same way, compromised kidneys can’t respond properly to high fluid intake.
Because body chemistry is so complex, you can create many plausible theories. For example, imagine that someone has a hard time retaining salt. That would cause salt craving and aldosterone to go up, leading to K/Mg/etc wasting, leading to improper mineral concentration in the cells and thus reduced ability to generate energy, causing the body to increase adrenaline (and thus cold hands / slow digestion / anxiety / etc).
I had terrible light sensitivity while doing a very healthy eating high protein diet, I also wasn’t getting the best sleep so it was probably adrenal fatigue. I also had the cold hands, low body temp.
Yeah. I’m not convinced adrenal fatigue exists in the sense that the adrenals get tired, but I buy into the fact that there are symptoms that occur together, and it’s handy to just tag them adrenal fatigue. Many of the symptoms just seem to be an overactive sympathetic nervous system.
Put another way, if the body is unable to produce enough energy (thus causing fatigue) for whatever reason, it may compensate by triggering the sympathetic nervous system. So someone can be both tired and nervous (and constipated, light-intolerant, and other sympathetic-dominant symptoms).
Janelle,
How much protein were you eating, and how much do you weigh? High protein diets may quickly lower stores of vitamin A.
I keep tweaking, trying to get this whole fluid intake/outtake thing figured out. One thing that I think was messing me up was having dinner. I was eating a big lunch, trying to be done by 2 P.M., and then having a light meal around 7. But it usually ended up being a not so light meal, like pasta and veggies or pizza, because just eating cottage cheese and veggies would make me feel cold and hungry by bedtime. However, eating all those carbs at night set off an intense thirst and I drank all night long and had trouble getting sleepy until 1 or 2 A.M.
This week I have experimented with having a later big lunch, like around 3:00 P.M., and then I find I don’t want/need any supper at all, maybe just sip on some soda during the night and have a little shot of kefir at bedtime. Seems to be helping with reducing the intense thirst and peeing that was happening, mostly in the late afternoon every day, between 4 and 6 P.M., and reducing the intense thirst I was having at night.
I am starting to think our bodies are not really designed to consume food at night! (At least mine isn’t!)
Oops! Still tweaking! Now that I am skipping the evening meal, by 10:00 P.M. my hands are FREEZING. I forgot that I have been having a little snack, like a cupcake or a sweet roll to warm myself up before going to bed.
I would rather have that than have a carby dinner and then suffer through the unquenchable thirst from Hell that goes on all evening long. (I am diabetic type 2, so that may have something to do with the way my body responds.)
Okay, I had the sweet roll an hour ago and now I am getting really thirsty and can’t go to sleep and need to start drinking. It appears that at least for me, as a diabetic type 2, starchy carbs at night = extreme thirst. But no starchy carbs at night = freezing cold hands. So do I want to lie in bed, freezing all night, or stay up half the night, drinking?
With Peat eats, with the majority of carbs coming from sugar and fruit and juice, and almost no starch, I NEVER had ANY thirst, EVER. Had to pee only a few times a day. I must say, that was a lot easier to deal with than this. But I also had terrible insomnia and gained 30 lbs. and that was NOT a good thing, and I am losing weight eating this way. But trying to regulate this fluid intake and pee thing is a constant challenge and I am a long ways from having it figured out.
I noticed my skin was getting a lot softer and more moist cutting back on my water intake. I then got a cold and was chugging all sorts of liquid probiotic drinks and my hands got so dry and flaky just in a days time.
I have noticed the same thing, Melissa. I have really been struggling with extreme thirst and drinking a LOT (and peeing a LOT) and my hands felt like sandpaper. In the past few days, since eating the big lunch later in the afternoon and skipping dinner, I have been drinking much less and my hands are starting to feel much softer.
Hey Undertoe, awesome post about Danny Roddy’s anti-stress milk mix. That dude is a huge Peat-fanatic. Got a lot of respect for him, He has helped a lot of guys/gals with low libido and hair loss. I actually tried his Ray Peat based dietary strategies for a few months kinda off and on. I had some really good results but was unable to keep it going do to lack of options and desire to have more solid foods. In that time I jumped up my basal body temp from a high 95 to the mid 97s. Desiring more solid foods, I decided to jump back over to 180degree health and started loading in some starches while still having moderate sugar consumption. I have also kept my fructose intake to only fruits instead of juice. For the first time in the last four months I started my journey with fixing metabolism, I finally saw my temp come up to 98.6 degrees “today!!!!” Holy Shit!! I can not even explain the excitement I felt. I have barely exercised during this period, but you can feel muscle on my arm with out any flex. That has never happened before. Yeah I have gained a few but feel more healthier today than ever. Not to get of topic, but I loved the anti stress milk mix. I was using whole raw milk, sugar in the raw and “real” salt. I felt amazing drinking this stuff and my completion was amazing. I think the salt and raw saturated fat with raw cholesterol might have had an important impact!!!
Hey Bill T, thanks for the feedback. I am going to stick with the sweet milk for awhile, enjoying it and feeling well with it too. Goes great with large mixed meals.
Undertow,
Every time I try increasing my milk intake, my nose stuffs up, and this low-level latent sinus infection (fungal?) flares up. Does that ever happen to you and/or do you have any suggestions or advice as to how to turn this around?
Kelly,
I went from lactose intolerant to drinking about 1 quart per day. I have slowly been increasing my intake, and have noticed that when I keep other fluid intake low, and get lots of salt my nostril are more open. I still can’t make it through the night without one nostril blocking, but that happens without milk as well… also my basal temp’s have never hit above 98 for me yet. So I may not be the best example. Are you stuffy during the day, or night time only?
For everyone else, I think I have consumed to much salt in the last couple days, made me feel lethargic and irritable and dizzy… another fine line to watch out for :)
Drinking very, very salty water clears my sinuses right up. I use a Xylitol nasal spray at night which clears them up at night & in the morning (maybe a saline spray might work too?).
p.s. by “very, very salty water” it’s like 1 tbsp sea salt in 1/2 cup water.
Hi Undertow,
Sorry for the late reply. That sinus thing turned into a full blown infection w/nasty sore throat. Was better yesterday (Thurs) but is bad again today. No milk, but did have salty pretzels last night, which are helping me in other ways, but wonder if they’re drying me out too much or perhaps I’m not drinking enough fluid.
I stuff up overnight, so it’s probably a combination of a dust mite allergy and the foods and my generally poor immune function’metabolism. I felt ‘hot’ and a little sweaty this morning, but took my temp and sure enough it struggle to get up to 96.4!
Frustrating…..
Assuming you use a mint toothpaste, you might try swapping it out for something unflavoured (you might have to make your own). It can be a common side effect of salicylate intolerance.
undertow, why not try hair tissue mineral analysis to see what your cellular levels are?
http://www.arltma.com/index.html
seems cheap way to know your ratios, i’m sure while salt is important, what about your other electrolytes, since those ratios probably affect your body chemistry and hormonal system
Thanks danimal, I will look through that site.
no problem, please keep us updated if you do something related to this type of analysis
Nocturia, polyuria, dry skin, excessive consumption of caffeinated drinks, low body temp…. This is my situation exactly. Keep it coming Matt, keep it coming!!
Mike M
i think the mechanism behind that is by slowing the breathing you retain more carbon dioxide. it probably has a lot of the benefits if not more than you get by increasing carbon dioxide through overfeeding.
this is the best site i’ve found about breathing http://www.normalbreathing.com/
Yes, Ashtanga Yoga belly breathing – a good way to do it.
i am trying something new these days..
getting a really big breakfast with 3 or 4 eggs , bacon, toasted bread
and butter. some fresh juice as well. a bit paleo , but with carbs,which makes it much more pleasant in my opinion..Still more protein and fat ladden then carbs.
I trully don’t get hungry till the evening which is relief for lately
i’ve been eating a way too much. Skiping lunch bring the kick of little IF which
i personally love, specially since high consumation of carbs been a bit slowing me down.
If i don’t get enough bread in the morning though my hands go cold..
In the evening i go slightly rraf. Carbs and veggies. not in small quantity though.
it seems to work.. i don’t get the crappy stuff from low carbing , but i feel the energy associated
with the beginning of paleo..
And, that is a bit funny.. i try the cold bath thing.. Dunno yet. But it gives a wild kick in the ass though.. you got this manic smile when you are out, but is it from simple relief or real
metabolic stuff it is still to be seen..
Increased salt intake may help with hypertension? I have no problem with a contrarian idea like that. But it sounds like the most radical suggestion since Atkins’ book came out in the 1970s. The lamestream health gurus won’t be happy!
I think the main thing, based on what Ray Peat has written on his site, is that the body has some very nasty compensatory mechanisms in place for dealing with lack of salt intake. These processes increase blood pressure and reduce blood volume, and the increase is often far worse than what salt produces just be increasing blood volume a bit.
It makes sense that a healthy body would be able to adapt without a problem to a bit of increased blood volume and benefit from the increased blood flow.
I think the real issue with BP is not even just blood volume but *why* the blood vessels are acitng in such a manner, and that in turn has to do with signals sent to the brain and kidneys through the bloodstream.
BALLS!
Salt is food/stimulation for the adrenals. Sally Fallon once recommended salt in water in the morning to kick start the adrenals.
http://www.naturalnews.com/029165_adrenals_sea_salt.html
this reminds me of how Japanese people have miso soup for breakfast (yum!)
I take 1 tbsp of sea salt in a glass of water along with some Vitamin C when I feel really tired in the morning. Read about it in the Adrenal Fatigue book a couple years ago. At the time my adrenals were so busted that this gave me a HUGE energy boost. My adrenals are better now so the effect isn’t as major, but still there.
This whole thirst/salt/water thing is very interesting.
I’ve never in my life had a taste for salt, and yet with my adrenal issues and low bp, I “should” crave salt. Oh, and I actually like bright light in my eyes too!
I just starting tracking my calories, though, these last couple weeks, and I’m eating maybe 700 calories a day. Knew I wasn’t eating much but hadn’t realized it was that little. And I’m very thirsty, drinking herbal tea and homemade no caffeine chai all day. I put black pepper in my chai, and recently one time I shook in some salt by accident (picked up the wrong shaker lol) and it actually tasted and felt quite good–just a little shake of salt in about 3 pints of chai, so not too bad I guess…
Hey Matt,
I posted this on one of your other blog entries.
“I’m still suffering from severe fatigue, mood swings, gastrointernal distress and fungal overgrowth. I rebuilt muscle the last couple of weeks and gained about 20 lbs, but it didn’t help as much as I expected. Your last articles made me experiment with my fluid intake and, indeed, it helped greatly to drink less and increase my salt intake. However, I’m stuck with feeling thirsty all day long and my appetite pretty much vanished. After the period of overfeeding I literally feel like not eating at all. Trying to quench my thirst I can drink 3 to 4 litres of diluted juice with salt and still be thirsty. I don’t urinate very often, but my urine is always clear. I made an attempt not to drink anything at all for several days and my urine still came out clear.”
I’ve read your book and tried to hasten my metabolism by eating more and giving in to my cravings, but it did not help much. I think my health problems have to do with my water and salt intake. I feel much more stable by drinking less and eating more salt. My skin and body temperature improves and the white layer on my skin seems to recede. I’m still struggling with fatigue though and surprisingly, even now that I’ve stopped drinking so much, my urine is always clear. Yet I am extremely thirsty all the time. Do you know what I could do to decrease my thirst and have more energy throughout the day? And as for the overfeeding: I have gained quite some fat along with the regained muscle and I’m usually very lean. Do you think this is a sign to stop the constant overfeeding and eat to appetite again?
But what if you hate salt? I can’t stand the stuff, but have really dry skin.
How many varieties of salt have you tried? I personally hate “table salt” that you would find in a restaurant, but I love real, unprocessed salts. Check out http://www.saltworks.us/ and try a sample pack of different varieties.
Himalayan Pink Salt is DELISH!! My kids eat it straight up!
Matt, do you think that nasal/sinus congestion is also related to metabolism and blood sugar issues? As I sit here, unable to sleep, because I am so incredibly clogged up, which happens almost every night when trying to sleep but does not seem to be an issue during the day, it makes me wonder.
Even eating light during the day? I had that problem go away on RBTI. And return swiftly once I got more casual about when I eat. But yes, the cloggage gets much more severe in the evening. Meat and dairy seem to be the biggest aggravators of it for me personally.
I had the same problem and found out that for me personally it was not connected to food. At night there was bad circulation in our bedroom and I think we have a mold issue in our air ducts (west coast, lots of rain). I’ve read that Xylitol nasal spray can help with that. True enough, no more issues since I started it.
Like Cathy, I’m also interested in dry nasal passages.
I can usually breathe OK when I go to sleep, but during the night, my nose dries out, and I awaken, unable to breathe, with a nose full of dry, rock-hard mucus that requires gallons of saline nasal spray to soften. (Yes, way too much information. My apologies.)
If you have any thoughts about how to fix this problem, Matt (or others), I am all nose — er, ears. Limiting fluid intake and consuming more salt has helped my metabolism in the a.m., but my nose still dries out at night.
Let’s face it, Matt. You’ve already written about urine and poo. Now it’s time to write about mucus. Embrace your destiny!
Sir Eat-a-Lot
a humidifier, dont have a fan on you, snort some cayenne if you have some infection stuff goin on. Just kiddin bout the cayenne, but I’ve really done that before. It’ll get you breathin real nice lol.
Thanks, Bob. I’ll look at humidifiers. Cayenne pepper sounds tempting, but I think I’ll try snorting something more soothing, like whiskey, or maybe a chocolate milkshake.
Avoiding heavy foods later in the day (ala RBTI) was the biggest help I’ve found with this. If I eat a big meal in the evening I get this same problem pretty consistently.
Thanks for the tip, Matt. I’ll experiment with lighter dinners.
It seems like my nose clears and my breathing gets better when I’m in the groovy, Peat-tastic, high-CO2, high-thyroid state. I can sometimes get into that state during the daytime, especially now that (thanks to your intervention) I don’t drink so much water, but staying in that state overnight is a huge challenge for me.
Have you tried Xylitol nasal spray?
I’ve suspected another reason why I used to have issues with this is mercury detox. I’ve read it can collect in the sinuses. This is a long shot but…. salt detoxes bromide, when bromide is detoxed it helps increase iodine, iodine detoxes mercury. Possibility maybe?
Matt,
Have you seen using Himalayan rocks to make this water concoction for healing. Just came across this today and wondering if this would be something good or not. http://www.handsonhealthy.com/2012/03/yeast-overgrowth-slow-and-steady-road.html
I started taking Himalayan rock salt brine everday to control my asthma. At the end of the month, I was in the hospital for unrelenting tachycardia attacks. They proposed doing the big guns treatments like ablimation and pills for the rest of my life. I walked out of there with nothing. Finally was told about potassium (salts) and magnesium inbalances. I’m not smart enough to know how to monitor those, so I’ve been leery of salt therapies ever since. You really have to know what you are doing.
Helen, thanks for your comment. Things like this worry me. I think I will stick with salting my food to taste :)
It’s comforting to see how I relate to many here. Both my pregs ended with preeclampsia, and I could see the argument that I wasn’t eating enough. So thanks for that info! In Dec, I started RRARF for a few weeks then Peat, then back to RRARF for all of Feb. This seemed to have tempered BS issues since I can now easily go 4 to 5 hours between meals without issues, and still approach my next meal w/o anxiety. Drinking less upped my temps to the 99’s finally, but then started my cycle and now morning is 97.9’s. Still way good. Problem is, I’ve been left with a thirst for sweet beverages (I’m sure started with Peat’s OJ’s and then RRARF’s sodas with meals -on weekend outings). Using coconut oil to try and shake it. Also, since starting it all, there have been relentless mad pimples around my hairline, scalp, neck and back, fatigue less but still there, hair fallout more increased (as of a few weeks ago), and BP still high but not chronically so. I’ll keep trying with limiting fluids. I am taking a supp called water factors (Country Life) but have no noticable results yet to report.
I would think it better to drink sweet beverages than to guzzle coconut oil.
I was hospitalized for severe hyponatremia in December and I am just starting to now feel better on a daily basis. This topic is so important because I never even knew of this condition before having journeyed through it first hand. I have since read your “Eat for Heat” book which has gerat advice. If you need someone to study for your future articles, feel free to use me as a case study.
I would love to hear more about this Beth, if you care to share. Perhaps you could write up a little post about it if this hyponatremia hospitalization was brought on by doing something you thought was good for you.
Very curious about the partner wanting to cuddle but not wanting to kiss??? This is me! It’s terrible for my husband. Is this really a symptom of low metabolism???
Also, Matt, I have just read about pyroluria and I really relate to the symptoms. Am going to try and get tested for it. Do you know much about this and is it also related???
thankyou1