A while back I posted links to some of the best articles I had recently read. Readers seemed to really enjoy being directed to these great reads. Here’s another installment…
The first is an absolute must-read. I love information, but I have a weakness for really clever and creative writing. This article combines both in one of the best pieces I’ve read on the modern disease known as healthitis…
The Terrible Tragedy of the Healthy Eater
Next is by Scott Abel. I’ve been impressed with Scott for years, and his material just seems to get better and better. This is a powerful article about how the dieting mentality influences young kids – certainly an inspiring motivator for ending the diet cycle. Warning – it mentions some really gruesome stats on how many young kids are now dieting and yearning for weight loss…
Your Kids and the Diet Mentality
And finally, I think Andrew Kim, a recent newcomer to blogging, is already one of the most impressive “health scientists” I’ve encountered. If you like sciency writers like Ray Peat and Chris Masterjohn, you’ll love Andrew Kim. I have invited him to write here and he?has a post in the works. This is a very interesting post he has written on diabetes and sugar…
Diabetes, Dangerous Fat, and Protective Sugar
Enjoy, and let me know which one was your favorite.
As a reminder, you can sign up to catch my talk for the Small Changes Big Results Health Summit on the 21st HERE
I will also be part of a great online event hosted by AnnMarie Michaels of www.cheeseslave.com called The Healthly Living Summit. I think this is going to be the best summit I’ve ever participated in. You can register for the event for free HERE. It includes 35 interviews with a diverse collection of’some very bright and interesting people.
Looks like Andrew’s learned the art of article naming from Peat.
Yes, at first glance Andrew Kim seems like RePeat. But he’s a smart kid and even has a series called “Ray Peat Fact Check” in which he challenges some of Peat’s -isms. He can think for himself, and as he continues to do so he’s going to put out some great stuff. At least, that’s my prediction.
So confused. Reading your books – fat good=coconut. Kim says fat bad eat more sugar???
I just want my metabolism to rise and my fat to lower and be healthy.
?????
I agree, it’s all confusing. I’ve read Kim’s blog, they’re very technical at times, but he’s essentially in line with Peat. What I’ve decided is that I’m much less concerned about sugar now which is a good thing. But carbs seem to be the big confusing point. I think they’re likely ok to one degree or another, there’s good evidence of population groups eating relatively high levels of carbs (the Kitavans from starchy root vegetables) who are healthy. But if you go over to any of the Ray Peat forums (raypeatforum.com) you would walk away with this dire sense that carbs are pure incarnate evil and you should only eat fructose from strained orange juice(!!). But if you read Ray Peat directly, he says fructose helps to blunt the insulin impact from eating glucose rich foods. I’ve decided that avoidance of PUFAs as much as possible is a good takeaway message from Peat, but I’ve decided that some of the Ray Peat followers are now just as nutty as any hard core vegan or vegetarian or paleo or whatever group out there. I’m just learning to follow my body’s signals and stop worrying so much about what one group says.
Agreed on the Peat followers. I’ve read a quote: “you can’t always judge a cult by its cultists”. I think it was referring to the Grateful Dead, but it seems just as apt in the case of dietary guru followers (Peat Heads?).
My main takeaway from Peat is not to be afraid of sugar.
As for PUFAs, I think that gets taken way too far. For one thing, it can be too socially isolating to try and eat a near-PUFA free diet. Secondly, there seems to be no qualitative differences. Eating fresh, wild-caught salmon once or twice a week, vs getting ~40% of calories from corn oil? Peat follower response: “doesn’t matter; all PUFAs are bad; end of story.” Seems just as puritanical as the anti-sugar rhetoric.
Ray is an incredible researcher and deserves respect. It’s hard to study health and not get a little groupie-itis from Ray because of the depth and breathtaking detail of how he has pieced the health puzzle together in such a coherent way. But that makes people vulnerable as well. By the way, there are two appropriate names and Peat Heads is not one of them. The proper terms, which are interchangeable, are “Raytards” and “Peatards.” Either will suffice and I admit to being a little Raytarded sometimes myself.
Stop f’n reading so much. I started out great with just Matt’s stuff but ended up reading way too many opinions and have now ended up a nervous wreck again. I’m going with the don’t fix it if it ain’t broke mentality now. Also, throw a little destiny in there and you’ve got something. I was brought to Matt first, then Chief. I’ll just stick with them. Scott Able’s opinions on gluten are interesting, though.
Sorry, that’s Scott Abel’s……
“Stop f?n reading so much”
Couldn’t agree with you more.
This obsession with health is predicated on the assumption that we must be unhealthy and “toxic” because we don’t eat the way our ancestors (supposedly) ate. Life is too short to spend so much time reading about health. Keep in mind that no matter how supposedly healthy one eats, most people will die before their seventies and, if they are lucky, early eighties. There is no evidence whatsoever that a perfect diet will ensure longevity. In fact, I am shocked at the number of health obsessed people who are getting cancer and other diseases before they are old. The emotional distress caused by pursuing perfect health offsets most of the benefits of a perfect diet.What is the point of spending a lifetime pursuing health only to end up in the box?
I agree! Every single time I start to read too many “healthy-foodie” blogs, I start worrying about what I’m eating. And when I read these, I tend to get “health crazy’ again and start doubting what I’m currently doing, because I’m still a recovering Orthorexic. :(
Someone we know just passed away a few days ago from cancer and left behind a beautiful wife. Life is too freaking short to be worrying about eating “optimal” food. This couple spent most of their last few years together, vacationing and spending time together and having a blast.
Life is too short to get caught up in all this optimized eating nonsense. If you have a true food allergy or something else, like Celiac, of course…eat differently. But most us are equipped to eat most foods and should just say “Screw it!” and enjoy life.
Yes, I’m quite confused as well. Having read all the 180 e-books, and quite a few of the blog posts, I can’t seem to find a single item that is not completely contradicted elsewhere. I’m more confused than when I began.
I’m also confused, but I haven’t been reading 180 degree health for very long. Also, haven’t finished reading Eat for Heat. I can definitely say that I got confused reading some of Matt’s blog posts from last year, and then reading the more recent ones. He seems to have done a complete 180 (hehe), from being very anti-refined carb to very pro-refined carb. The only common thread I can find (and the only thing that seems to distinguish ‘Matt Stone’ food from the SAD) is an avoidance of PUFAs.
The recommendation to eat refined foods is only for those in need of metabolic rehab and in need of very concentrated calorie sources. Even Diet Recovery 2 says explicitly that one should transition to a nutritious diet featuring mostly the quintessential health foods.
Thanks Matt, appreciate the response. That certainly makes more sense to me.
I have a bad case of strep. There are visible white bacteria cultures on my tonsils. I have had this for the past 4 days and it is not getting better. I have tried gargling with salt water and vodka to kill the germs. It does feel better, but only temporarily.
Should I go ahead and take the round of antibiotics (amoxicillin) or should I wait it out and potentially have the strep become much worse?
What?? Gargling with vodka! Just read more about it… that is some awesome stuff.
Just had strep a month ago and it sucked. Yeah you should go ahead and take the meds.
Personally, I wouldn’t. I haven’t taken antibiotics in thirty years. Have had the flu, strep etc a few times and natural antimicrobials and rest have always worked just fine without the damage done by antibiotics. I believe that colitis and other problems were caused by antibiotics taken as a kid. Pharmaceutical antibiotics are fungal toxins. Fungus like penicillin make poisons that ooze out and surround the colony and kill off competing microbes like bacteria. Problem is some bacteria become resistant and many protective bacteria are wiped out and the toxins help the growth of fungus. This is why so many people get diarrhea, digestive problems c. Diff infections that are antibiotic resistant and long term weakened immunity from disturbance of the immune system in the gut. Natural antimicrobials don’t cause these problems. They are so complex and attack germs in so many different ways they can’t develop resistance and they are not highly toxic to the person taking them like pharmaceuticals. They actually boost your own immune functioning by increasing macrophage activity and white blood cell function. A number have been tested and found as effective as pharmaceuticals. Some I use are oil of oregano, vitamin c at high doses short of diarrhea which is about 10,000 mg for me, zinc which is great for strep and other throat infections. I have started getting strep a couple of times and sucked on several zinc tablets one after the other and it knocked the infection right out. My throat hurt really really bad and within maybe an hour of sucking on several zinc gluconate tablets the pain completely stopped. The tablets didn’t taste good but I didn’t have any lozenges. They work though. You have to suck on them and let the zinc trickle onto your throat making contact with the infection. It doesn’t work to just swallow them. There is another diluted in olive oil essential oil solution like oil of oregano that is very effective called thieves. It is cinnamon oil , lemon oil, eucalyptus oil and clove oil in olive oil as a carrier. You can google it and get the recipe. There are lots of herbs, minerals, vitamins like c d a an e that fight infections and inflammation. With natural stuff you have to take high doses and frequent doses to beat an acute infection. It is good to layer remedies. So you might take oil of oregano or thieves six drops every couple hours, 1000 mg vitamin c on same schedule, 10,000 units vitamin d, 25,000 units retinopathy form vitamin a not beta carotene (the vitamin a and d are totals for the day, not every couple hours, but you could space it out thought the day taking a few thousand units at a time if you want) and suck on zinc lozenges. Even swallowing zinc tablets will help beat an infection as it is very antimicrobials and important for immune function, but sucking on it is quickest for a throat infection. You can google natural antimicrobials to learn about many others than I have mentioned. One I just remembered is olive leaf.
I really enjoy reading health blogs and “Learning about health”. However, whenever I have some sickness or health problem show up, none of these so called alternative cures ever work. What does seem to work are normal doctors, over the counter drugs and uh oh pharmaceutical drugs (gasp).
Then you have not taken them correctly. I have not taken antibiotics in thirty years and have never been sick for more than a few days, always less than a week and usually no more than two or three days. If you focus on antimicrobials which kill all categories of microbes, layer multiple medicines and take them hourly to every couple of hours for a couple of days or more until symptoms have drastically reduced for 24 hours, then continue taking every couple of hours for another day or two, they work incredibly well and you don’t risk getting an antibiotic resistant infection from the antibiotic. These are on the rise and have killed or seriously harmed many people. mock all you want but pharmaceutical antibiotics are potent, dangerous drugs that have harmed or killed many people. They are not innocuous substances that only do good. I and many other have developed inflammatory bowel and other supposed autoimmune diseases after their overuse. They should be avoided unless absulutely necessary and most people think they are necessary way more than they really are because they don’t know how to effectively use natural substances that don’t promote resistance or damage to the gut and immune system.
Some say that iodine solutions can have a good effect. Swab it on the tonsills.
If I were you, I’d try raw garlic! Crush it into a glass, add a little water, and wait 15 minutes for the allicin (I think) to become active, then swish and swallow. It will probably burn like crazy, but garlic is supposed to be a pretty intense antibacterial, and it would probably work quite well. If you go to syontix [dot] com (not my website, but it’s a great resource!), there’s a post on garlic’s amazing antimicrobial abilities.
That said, go with your gut! I wouldn’t want you to take advice from a random person online and then end up really sick :( I hope you feel better!
TAKE THE ANTIBIOTICS!!!!!!!!!!!
You don’t know what u are talking about. It is easy to kick an infection with natural substances if you know how and much safer. Take high doses, use multiple medicines 3 or more, make sure you are taking 2 or more antimicrobials which kill all classes of microbes not just bacteria or viruses, and take every couple of hours or even hourly until symptoms have abated for a couple of days. Elderberry for example is an antiviral. Echinacea is not particularly antimicrobial. It boosts immune functioning through increased macrophage activity and white blood cell activity. What a lot of people end up doing for instance is taking a normal dose of echinacea and some vitamin c two or three times a day and of course it didn’t work. They didn’t choose particularly good medicines, did not layer three or more, did not take them at a high enough dose often enough or long enough. If done properly they are extremely effective. I have not taken pharmaceutical antibiotics in thirty years. My kids are in their teens and have only taken once. That wouldn’t probably have happened if it had been up to me but they were staying with a relative while I was in the hospital giving birth and they did it without my consent because like many people they don’t know there is another option or how to do it. One thing that can be done to drastically reduce getting sick in the first place is to improve vitamin a and d levels. When u get good amounts of these and minerals and enough calories and macronutrients you just don’t get sick much. I think that is a big factor for us. Vitamin a and d can be taken in larger amounts in acute situations. Vitamin d is important in the production of antimicrobial peptides, an antibiotic made by your own body that is vey powerful.
Homeopathy
Hit submit too soon there! Homeopathy can work wonders on acute infections. But if you don’t have familiarity with it, or a skilled homeopath (NOT naturopath) to work with, you may not get the right remedy, which is critical, so I wouldn’t advise you to use it this time. It’s something that is better planned ahead for, for next time.
Since strep throat can be very dangerous if not arrested quickly (can cause heart damage), if it were me, I would try to treat it quickly. One of the few conditions I would choose to take antibiotics for rather than “ride it out.” But it is, of course, your body and up to you.
Thomas it’s not always as simple as just “take the antibiotics.” All of these things have potentially very serious side effects (which I have personally suffered – why I use homeopathy as a first step now), so it’s always a personal decision to be weighed. Antibiotics can be life saving, but there’s always a price to pay – it’s a tradeoff in all cases.
Thanks for the advice. I have never tried it, but it’s nice to know about this option for acute infections. Yes hopefully the strep does not get too dangerous, I will have to wait 2 days to see the doctor though.
True, antibiotics do have long term effects, particularly its affect on the digestive tract. Tylenol can be traced in the gut 4 months after consumption. So I can only imagine, amoxicillin remains longer and is more damaging.
I have just read that strep only very rarely becomes a lot worse and that if you can wait it should resolve itself within 7 days. In January I had a bacterial throat infection and didn’t want the antibiotics but succumbed because I couldn’t handle the pain. Can you get some good pain meds and try to wait it out?? I wish I had of done that but I was staying with a friend and she wouldn’t let me buy codeine!! Was so annoying, she thought it was addictive but I would have gladly used it and tried to get through without anti’s.
If I had strep I would probably do absolutely nothing. If it didn’t go away and started worsening I would fast until it was gone.
The Bernar McFadden approach. Fasting clears up my acne as well.
Suck on zinc tablets or lozenges and keep sucking on themtill pain subsides. Usually it has taken 4-6 depending on what I was using and it works incredibly fast, like an hour or less. It isn’t a pain reliever it just kills the germs causing the pain really fast. I have had this result like 2-3 times now. Just let the zinc tablet or lozenge slowly dissolve down your throat. Doesn’t seem to matter what kind of zinc. Once I did this with zinc gluconate tablets cause it was all I had. I was in excruciating pain but it completely stopped within 30-60 minutes. It has been a while so don’t remember exactly but that is close it was very quick. High dose zinc is not going to hurt you for a day or two either.
Thanks guys for the advice. Looks like I will wait until Tuesday for my doctor’s appointment. If it gets better I will cancel it. Suzy: Sounds cool, but I do not have any iodine. Alyssa: Thanks! Yes I ate 2 cloves raw the other day and the pain of eating them makes me not want to try that. Troy and Thomas: Yes, I can only get an appointment on Tuesday, so I will just have to hold on for now. NMFM: Yeah I read similar things and hopefully in the next days it will heal. Matt: Crap, I just ate a lot, mac and cheese with haagen dasz, lol. Fasting begins as of now.
I will update you guys Tuesday and tell you if I feel better. Then update Friday to tell you if the antibiotics work out.
Vitamin C.
Frequent doses.
In this case, about 2g every 30 to 60 minutes, until you start experiencing gas and cramping. This means, the current dose needs to be reduced. Then take it every 2 h or so. No need to take it while asleep.
It will take few days to clear up, but i can promise you that vitamin C works for any kind of infection, regardless of severity.
Also, continue gargling with salty water even though it seems to help only temporarily. Gargle about every 2-3 hours.
If you have fever, you can add some vitamin A as it is quickly depleted by fever.
Inform yourself on the antibiotic and antiviral properties of vitamin C. It can be used to cure polio, what else should i say? I started reading about it at the doctoryourself.com (okay, okay, ignore his dietary advice).
That’s another great tip Msanjap.
I’m still confused about vitamin C and Linus Pauling to this day…Would we be better off with several grams in our bloodstream at all times like a lot of other mammals? Is that even true?
But I also remember a post or something about how Vitamin C can fuck with your iron and stuff and people taking large doses isn’t a good thing. I’m just as confused about everything as the day I started reading. LOLOLOL
Can a bunch of niacin really cure schizophrenia like Abram Hoffer said?
Can hash oil get rid of certain cancers?
Is taking a hot shower putting flouride deposits in my pineal gland?
I CANT BELIEVE HOW MUCH SHIT PEOPLE CAN BE FULL OF =D
I go back and forth on C.
On the one hand, it’s fascinating that primates don’t manufacture it. And if you believe that we live in more stressful times than cavemen, you can convince yourself that modern humans have greater need for vit C than we’d get naturally because stress may deplete it.
On the other hand, the body’s not stupid, and humans have been around for a long time without fruits being the staple. We probably have evolved at least a partial compensatory mechanism. And I wonder if people would crave citrus fruits if they were low on C — and I rarely if ever crave fruits.
Bottom line: Who knows? I pop a 500mg Vit C tablet once a week or so and call it good.
There are a lot of foods as high or higher in vitamin c than citrus. And we’re not talking about the proper amount to take on a regular basis. We’re talking about using it as a medicine for acute illness. That is a different thing altogether. It has powerful antimicrobial properties and also boosts immune function such as macrophage activity yet is nontoxic and harmless and without significant side effects even in high doses. As much as I like vitamin c I found that taking multiple things at once is most effective. The most effective dosages of vitamin c as a single remedy are much larger than many people could tolerate orally. I can only take up to 10,000 mg before I get diarrhea and discomfort with gas so that I have to back down or be miserable. At the dose I can take vit c definitely slows down a bug and I feel better to a certain extent, but it doesn’t nip it really quickly like a bunch of things combined. To be able to get high enough dosages for vitamin c alone to work really quickly many people would have to get in in an IV. Andrew Saul is into orthomolecular medicine. The doctors who specialize in it give their patients 10s of thousands of mgs. Via IV in order to bypass the GI tract and be able to better saturate them.
I know that palm sugar contains vit.c,as do bell peppers and corn salad,so you dont necessarily need fruit for it. i also wondet about some of the cultures WP visited,such as the Swiss….they have no citric food around,but probably also less stress.
Have you heard of andrographis? My kids and I use it every time we feel sick. I’ve used it for strep and flu, even just a cold. Works in 3 days by disrupting the virus’ communication. I buy Solaray brand andrographis at my local health food store- $10 per bottle. We take 3 capsules 3xs per day following food for 3 days. I’ve also added raw chopped garlic – 3 cloves 3xs a day when my teen had strep. The garlic can be swallowed easily when it’s chopped. Two other things I add in are homemade chicken broth and if there’s sun outside, then my kids go lay in the sun. (It’s pretty funny in March in Md.) I’ve never had this protocol fail. I was really nervous trying this for the first time with a very sick 8th grader, bc I’ve always run her to the dr at the first sign of strep, especially. But it worked that time, and every time since. That was 3 yrs ago and we hvnt been to the dr since for antibiotics.
“Yes I ate 2 cloves raw the other day and the pain of eating them makes me not want to try that.”
that was how i first tried raw garlic too! now i crush a clove several times with a “garlic rocker” and add that to an ounce of 50/50 “fresh pressed” cranberry juice (lakewood brand) and local honey. it pretty much tastes like cranberry sauce.
lemon juice could also be used instead of cranberry juice, but it tends to take several days longer to knock out a cough. i do try to limit raw garlic to one clove a day, since too much could cause anemia and other issues.
Hey gilded,
Just curious, why can raw garlic cause anemia? And what ‘other issues’ does it cause? Thanks!
cats and dogs are much more sensitive to garlic, but a high enough amount could also produce hemolytic anemia in humans.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15671698/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemolytic_anemia
when i first tried raw garlic, i had way too much. the cough quickly went away, but i had severe spleen pain.
the blood pressure lowering effect may also not be good for some, and good bacteria could be killed as well.
there is also a long tradition of garlic being avoided by spiritual groups. supposedly it strengthens the lower self and disrupts higher level brain activity. there is a legend that pilots avoid it because it slows reaction time.
perhaps the anti-vampire and anti-mosquito/tick effects are due to making oneself anemic or the vamps anemic.
Huh, interesting! Thanks for the info!
The best way to use it is by combining with other things. Maybe take two or three medium cloves per day, but take with hourly or every other hour vitamin c, oil of oregano, vitamin a and d, zinc, etc. You could spread your garlic out more by juicing it into some juice and drinking a little every hour or two along with your other stuff, rather than taking whole cloves at a time
I cut garlic cloves in half and submerge them in apple cider vinegar for several months. Makes the garlic easier to handle raw.
Gargling with apple cider vinegar every hour kills it in 24 hours for us, no antibiotics needed. Good luck!
Sucking on zinc tablets or lozenges one right after another until pain is gone may be even faster. It stops the throat pain in an hour or less for me.
I recently had strep. I was only susceptible to begin with because of stress really. If I was able to sleep when I wanted and listen to my body I wouldn’t of gotten sick. But anyhow, I nebulized ionic silver 20pmm a couple times a day, and sprayed it in the back of my throat, and under my tongue, and used emergen-c (I just mix and dilute with water, and ONLY drink when I’m thirsty) and zinc as well. There are a thousand things you can do to get better faster. But don’t go over your head, just pick a few…I could’ve used a couple drops of garlic juice in the nebulizer. Some say it works, others say garlic is toxic to the body. Like Bob Beck with his colloidal silvers and blood electrification. Ionic silver isn’t always the best to use, it binds with stuff. But nebulizing etc…is fine. Some stuff called Respiratory support seems pretty badass.
But ya the antibiotics will work, but I’m not half as smart enough to know what the hell that’s doing to us. When I had my appendix removed they gutted me like a fish and pumped me full of all kinds of stuff. I had some weird things happen to me. My back never sweat before this. It doesn’t that much anymore, but for a couple years I sweat from my back. Sure, that’s not scientific, and could be attributed to something else, but I mean come on…I know I don’t sweat from my back, and started all of the sudden while in the hospital and continued when I got out.
IT FUCKING PISSES ME OFF THERE ARE MUCH BETTER THINGS TO USE AGAINST INFECTION ETC…AND WE USE DUMB SHIT THAT SOMETIMES WE’RE ALLERGIC TO, SOMETIMES IT CAN KILL US (I.E, renal failure etc… ) AND GENERALLY MESSES US UP. just had to get that off my chest… =)
Hey guys thanks again! I am feeling much better and my throat is not sore anymore. I am still very congested and am producing yellow mucus. Troy & Matt: Yeah, fasting sounded appealing. But I was so hungry. So I ate. I am doing no exercise but feel more hungry than normal.
Some things I tried in the past day: naps, 3 hours straight of leisurely piano playing, reading health blogs, gargling with vodka, eating my favorite food (mac & cheese and ice cream) and minced garlic smothered in honey (Anon7 and gilded) and oranges and lemon juice (msanjap and Bob D).
Yeah true, Bob, stress is a huge factor. I got 10 hours of sleep over 3 days studying for a physics midterm exam and working on assignments. (The exam turned out to be nothing like I expected and was ridiculously easy. Needless to say, I went full retard.) The day after my exam I got to wait in 35 degree windy weather waiting for an hour for a bus. Man, that sucks how the meds or surgery fucked with your back sweat. I would be very interested to hear anyone’s story about back sweat and medications. One professor I had, would come in with a dry tee at the start of class. It would be a Rorschach 5 minutes later and soaked through another 5 minutes later. He has been taking many painkillers for the past decade. It’s fascinating though, because despite the meds he is the most genius theoretical math profs. Crazy shit though.
Glad u r feeling better! When I was sick as a kid I wanted vanilla ice cream, mac n cheese, and green grapes, ice cold. Love that intuitiveness I had.
Lately i womder,if one is best of trying to remember what ones favorite foofs/staples were say till the age of 5?and then trying to copy that,ofcourse with the homemade versions.
It’s what’s happening to me, I remember what I used to like :) Great stuff. More and more childhood food memories return.
this just happened to me too. i had some Sovereign Silver tincture in my med cabinet so i started holding a tsp in my mouth and slowly swallowing a few times a day and now i’m on the third day and it’s almost gone. i’m not a salesperson or anything..
i could really feel it working… it kills germs
The Milk experiment that people talk about with Silver really works. I did it. It would be hilarious if it only didn’t mold as fast because of some mechanism in which the silver prevents the milk from seperating. Two cups of milk. One cup silver, one cup no silver. I just used a dollop of ionic silver 20pmm and after five days it was still completely milky. After a week or two, they both were molded, but the one without silver was completely consumed. Giant Difference. There are so many things that kill bacteria, viruses, pathogens etc…But it’s hard to determine when it actually bad for us ya know?
People always say oh this won’t harm your gut flora and yada yada but how the hell do they know and I’m sure it depends on all kinds of factors. If we lived in a perfect world we’d all know the best remedies and exactly what and what not do to do, or not even get sick at all in the first place =)
Woohoo! Thanks guys!
Yeah I am alright now.
I did take two tylenol pills over the sickness.
If you can find a good homeopath locally they can be amazingly effective
My daughter had a massive staph infection(I know not the same) and the pediatrition said there was no way she wold get rid of it naturally, despite this I decided to give the homeopathics(specifis for staph) a couple of days to work, in that time the rash and pustules were completely gone.
Zinc and vit C in massive doses for a couple of days and garlic can also be useful, Also probiotics taken in the same way as an antibiotic is great too
Good luck
My favorite is Scott Abel’s article. Wow!
I put my son on a diet as soon as his pediatrician told me that because he had bags under his eyes, he might have allergies. We did an elimination diet. I couldn’t pinpoint anything, except that fruit made him energetic (which sugar DOES). He was 3 at the time.
From then, we did a few Candida diets and Paleo.
He’s 8 now and I’m trying so hard to break the diet mentality with him. When sees or hears ads on the radio, he asks a lot of questions about why people want to be lose weight and be skinnier. He seems to understand that many diets are or turn into eating disorders and that people are starving themselves. I’m glad he asks questions, because it gives me some indication of what he’s thinking.
He’s a little overweight and I wonder if he gets concerned about that. He doesn’t like physical exercise or being outside. I also think he’s dealing with a lot of stress and I don’t know how to turn down his “stress volume”.
We are eating the food. My health has gotten worse and I think it’s largely due to stress, having hardly any fun, and not getting a lot of sleep at night. I have a low thyroid and am doing lab work for Hashi’s. I am fighting the urge to eat gluten free (which seems to be always recommended for Hashimoto’s) because I worry about food restriction issues that I had before. And I am trying so hard to help my kids have a good relationship with the food they eat and with how they view their own bodies.
I never talk bad about my own obese body. I just wish I didn’t have so much edema and adverse health. I love my body more so now than I ever did when I super skinny and that’s been a huge blessing.
I appreciated reading Scott Abel’s article. Thank you!
Hi Beth!
I have an idea for you that is working for me, and perhaps it can work for you too, and perhaps for you and your son: start something a little bit challenging physically, like some kind of gymnastics or a dance class. Perhaps there is something you can both participate in, something fun, in an openminded ambience. Could be horse back riding, or volunteering in a dog shelter (walking/grooming), something that requires movement and togetherness (team) and fun. Also, if it’s a physical challenge, you at home can prepare for next week (and try to improve) by for example, doing stretching / weights / jumps / carry heavy things from food shopping, et c. And see that the body is for doing things.
Canooing, building tree houses, snorkeling, tree climbing, playing the drums, baking bread, planting trees :)
Just some thougths! I’m just starting to do a stretch program, and it is so rewarding. It gives a lot of energy throughout the day. I do a little in the morning and some more before bed time.
I hope you’ll have more fun! And more fun together!
Does he like music? Maybe getting him to sing and dance will get him active AND lower his stress. Also, I find that playing guitar really lowers my stress. Maybe you could make some home made musical instruments as a craft project and write your own Opus. Music is healing and kids who play music are better at math and reading.
Yes please guitar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3Vbn1c6v4
My older cousin Robert went through a pudgy phase when were kids. He came out of it through riding his bike and jiu jitsu. Maybe your son would like jiu jitsu. That would provide confidence and a physical activity.
These are all wonderful ideas! Thank you so much!
My son wants to be a ninja and I have thought of taking some kind of martial arts class as a family. I think the stretching and some of the exercises would be fun too! And making musical instruments would be a great idea! These are all wonderful thoughts. :)
One thing I have to remember is that both of my brothers were a bit pudgy when they were little. They were also pretty inactive and one of them even had quite a bit more pudge than the other (I hope they’re not reading this, LOL). Now, they are in their 30s and in fantastic shape. One of them works out regularly at a gym and the other is always outdoors, doing something. And they are super muscular and trim.
I have good hopes for my son now. ;) I’ll do something easy going with him…just some fun movement that he’ll enjoy. It gets hot here in AZ during the summer, so I might also take my kids to go roller skating every week.
Thank you again!
Someone pointed out in a recent thread (I think EmmaW) that kids often get a little pudgy as they’re gearing up for a big growth spurt. Just nature’s way of preparing the body. Her son had got a bit pudgy, and he did nothing and is now very lean as a teenager, with a great appetite.
I. P. Freelea
The Real Amy…
Thank you so much for the reminder. Yes, that’s highly possible that he’s getting ready to go through a growth spurt. :)
that’s great – i was going to suggest skating!
Hello Matt,
I’m a huge fan of your work.
I have just wanted to share this video with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b3ld8bcw_k
At least twice a night is when she feels best. It means you’re hydrated. Keep at it, Freelea!
Her pee must be as clear as angel tears…
p.s. My favorite was the Terrible Tragedy. Especially this part:
“As you read more you begin to understand that grains are fine but before you eat them you must prepare them in the traditional way: by long soaking in the light of a new moon with a mix of mineral water and the strained lacto-fermented tears of a virgin.”
She tried giving Durianrider a golden shower once, but failed, and it wasn’t from lack of peeing but lack of gold rather.
” it wasn’t from lack of peeing but lack of gold rather.” LOL!!
That does beg the question: Is Human Urine acceptable on a Raw Vegan diet??
Yeah, those guys say that in a lot of videos. Never gets old though.
Oliver,
Thanks for posting that video, I love Freelea vids, they are comical (plus with the fake boobies and flat stomach,she’s kinda hot in a hot/wacky sort of way). BTW, did anyone check out the other “classic” Freelea vids in which she talks about POO being “fruity” on her diet and the other vid about how she doesn’t need to wash (umm…ewwwweeee)?
Yeah, I saw the one where she claimed her shit doesn’t stink. What I got from that is that she no longer has the capacity to digest her food, so it still smells like fruit on the way out. Perhaps more disturbing, she has managed to thin her intestinal walls to the point that she can see partially digested food move through her colon.
Wow, where does she say that Nira??? That is completely insane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikqjdE5J728
Great links. Especially Abel’s piece – should be recommended reading for all parents. Unfortunately doctors are giving totally opposite advice these days. I hope we get some sanity, soon. I think we will, though it may take another decade or so.
The problem with how we seem to think now is that more control is better, and freedom is the enemy – it stems from out puritanical roots. Once the next generation of kids all have eating disorders, there will be new regulations and ‘ideals’ to teach them.
As someone who once was an educator and had to quit because I hated how many freedoms of my childhood were being denied the kids I taught (they were supposed to be reading at 4! When I was that age, I was memorizing colors and eating sand!). Now, I make food for people and it makes me sad to watch then all deny themselves the things they want – all because they have decided that they know what healthy eating is. It’s like everyone I meet has some kind of borderline eating disorder, often made worse by things like office weight-loss competitions.
It makes me so sad. I’m grateful to people like Matt and Abel and the others for being another voice of reason.
Hear, hear. In How To Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor, famed pediatrician Robert Mendelssohn says do nothing but rest and fluids for strep. “The Mythical Menace” he calls it.
Yes, our puritanical roots. I totally agree they are at the root of much of this nonsense. Probably one of the reasons Europeans have been able to maintain more normality with eating (and life)! The irony is that the more you restrict freedoms, the more people rebel. True in all areas of our lives.
I am not a fan of puritanism, but I am not sure that the problem results entirely from “our puritanical roots”. Compared to other “modern” civilizations, European civilization is the least codified. Although it is interesting to note from the previous discussion on feminism how some people would like to return to previous modes of static identity. There is some kind of flight from freedom into codified behavior. In some cases, there is a draconian dialectic..more repression, leads to more desire for freedom. However, the opposite is also true in some cases(as we saw in the former thread): the more freedom, the more desire for restriction. I think the diet religion has more to do with this latter fear of freedom and existential dread than puritanism per se. The diet religion is akin to all of the other political and religious fundamentalisms we see about us.
The more I look at this quest for perfect health, the more it starts to resemble mythology ..and like any mythological theme, it contains a Trickster element. Just when you think you’ve found the truth, out comes the Trickster to pull the rug from under your smug worldview and hubris.
love the Trixter
Yes, it is true that fear of freedom plays a role. And I certainly agree that this quest for perfect health is misguided. Like so many things in life, it’s when you let go and stop searching that you find it.
“Although it is interesting to note from the previous discussion on feminism how some people would like to return to previous modes of static identity.” – Just to set the record straight here, I was one of the anti-feminists and I disagree with this statement. My argument is for being allowed to freely express femininity as it biologically exists, and not denying biology. I believe that women are more repressed now than they were before, pushed to go against their nature.
I agree with this too. If anyone thinks that Women’s Studies programs at universities are just about giving women more “choices” then that is just totally naive. I think we can all agree women should be able to vote, to leave an abusive spouse, have equal pay for equal work, etc.
I have a friend who is strongly religious and has known her entire life that what she wanted most was to be a wife and a mother. I saw her roundly mocked and criticised and made fun of (we worked together in an academic setting). I think she is probably one of the strongest women I know for just cheerfully going on with how she wants to live her life.
Interesting thoughts. I have never been totally convinced that our puritanical roots play a large role in modern life, although I am not denying them. But a lot of other cultures have diluted most of the puritanism out. the freedom/restriction dilemma is clear though- on one hand we’re a nation of chronic dieters, on the other hand is what I think of as the “Ben and Jerry’s” syndrome, where something already as decadent as ice cream has to be stuffed with 10 different kinds of candy.
btw I am not sure how much your comments about the feminism thread have to do with what I said, but I think you and I simply define feminism very differently. I don’t think of it as “equal rights” for women. Saying you belive in equal rights for women is pretty much like saying you’re against rape or against slavery- it’s a rather meaningless statement because pretty much everyone is going to agree with you.
It seems to me that the eating disorders stem from a cultural worship of extreme thinness as well as a lot of lies that people are being indoctrinated with regarding the relationship of weight to chronic diseases and the relationship of certain foods to weight and degenerative diseases. People have been doubly indoctrinated that they can only be attractive or healthy if they are skinny. They are also indoctrinated that the way to achieve vein thin and healthy is to restrict calories, food groups, etc. all this has created sick, unhealthy attitudes toward food and eating. Don’t blame the problem on the puritans! They probably wouldn’t relate. I’m sure they worked hard and had hearty appetites and didn’t think much about how much they ate or trying to restrict food groups. The Amish I know are like this. They even eat their fair share of junk food as a trip to some of their little grocery stores will prove. I used to buy lard from this Amish butcher. He packed it for sale in the left over gallon party pail ice cream buckets that were from what his family eats. That is the cheapest most chemical laden HFCS ice cream you can buy in our area.
Oops that was supposed to be under Matt’s comment saying he would do nothing for strep. My phone hates this site.
These are great articles. I have to bring attention to some of the reactions in the comments section to the first article. You can just tell who 75% of her readership seem to be and on them the satire is completely lost. It’s not only ‘not funny’ to them– they’re so very indignant about the suggestion they’ve taken food phobia too far. I have some facebook feed for nourishing home traditions yada yada and a reader poses the question of whether to just serve ‘regular food’ for her child’s birthday party– gluten laden cake, sugar- filled sodas and juice-boxes, etc… The answers run the gamut of ‘never compromise!’ and ‘people must understand when they come into my house…..”. Religious much?
Also– I have to point out in the Andrew Kim article– buried between increase magnesium and prefer fruit to starch, he casually tells the reader to reduce any excess fat as if it’s as simple as popping a supplement and having an apple. It’s still a really interesting read.
I am starting to become really sensitive to carbs at dinner time. I used to make a meal of french toast (so much milk and eggs!) and now I get really shaky and bad-feeling if I eat that. I had a cookie last night after dinner and thought I was going to pass out. What is going on? I have never restricted carbs but they are making me feel terrible!
Fruit seems to be fine though. Maybe I need to re-visit Peat.
Have you tried avoiding wheat at dinner and seeing whether or not it was just that and not the carbs? French toast and cookies are both wheat based. I’m not antiwheat but I wonder whats going on with you. I take gymnema sylvestre for excess blood sugar (works great) but many years ago (over 15 now) I pretty much cured my carbohydrate intolerance by eating homemade tapioca pudding (made from the true yam root) every morning. I learned about that from a Chinese dr. I don’t know if it would work for you. I just ate about 1/4 of a cup prepared and then I would supplement any time I felt shaky or passed out.
I have tried a 8-month GF diet a couple years ago that did nothing for me… and wheat doesn’t seem to bother me any other time, for instance I have been eating pizza a lot for lunch. I forgot to say that also if I eat a high-starch dinner I am really hungry again an hour later. It’s annoying, because I usually want something fast and easy, but I am having to rule out a lot of options now.
Thank you for the tapioca tip. Where do you buy the real stuff, is it hard to find? I looooove tapioca.
Do you take the gymnestra every day or just when you have problems?
Are you eating enough the rest of the day? The only times I’ve ever had issues like this was when I wasn’t eating enough, and then the blood sugar shoots up and crashes back down again (reactive hypoglycemia). Additionally, not eating enough salt. During my horrible RBTI experiment I had epic blood sugar roller coaster rides, and both likely played a part.
Also, I think you said you were making a medication change? Could be due to that and have nothing to do with food.
Amy, that’s very true (med change.) I hadn’t really thought of it for some reason.
And it’s possible I’m not eating enough in the middle of the day. I’m really struggling to find foods that are appetizing (where the pleasure of eating it outweighs the trouble it takes to make it, or to go out.)
and thanks for reminding me, I have a big bag of Real Salt on my desk and I’m eating some now!
Alisha, I found some real tapioca at the store and ate it for dinner. It was really tasty. I was still a bit hungry afterwards, it wasn’t really a complete meal, but I didn’t have any blood sugar issues. I think I am just going to keep a big batch around to eat or mix into smoothies every day.
This tapioca, is it a root veg that you boil? I found some ground up flour: http://www.allergimat.com/produkt.asp?id=84 what do you recon. I want to hear how you cooked.
I think tapioca starch is mostly used as a thickener. Search for “tapioca pearls.” They look like pearls when they are dry and when you cook them, they swell a bit and turn gelatinous. I have been cooking them in plain water (like, 1/2 c pearls to 4 c water- they absorb a LOT) and then eating a bit with cream and honey. I think you can also cook them in milk and add sugar and you get more of the classic tapioca dessert.
Tierney, thank you so much, I will try that recipe!
I went on a cassava / Tapioca hunt and found the pearls in the Oriental store. They’re called Fairytale Pearls (Sago-gryn). I hope they’re true.
I also bought Cassava roots. I’ll see what I can do with them.
Interesting… let me know how that goes! Are they dried, or fresh?
Sort of fresh, sealed with wax over the whole tuber. I peeled it and chopped it, boiled it and fried it, after having googled a few recipes. It tasted mostly of butter and salt that I had added.
oops, my mistake, the word sago comes from the plant sago, not the word saga (fairy tale) http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sago
I just buy it in bulk from the Winco. Its not hard to make.
I only take gymnema when I’m having problems, I used to take it more often, but in a lot of ways I’m a lot better.
Right now I’m taking it to see if it will lick my lingering cellulitis infection. The doctor said I got it from a bug bite in October. I have had two courses of antibiotics. It occasionally flares up (literally turns red, hot, and puffy.) Now, it won’t stay red for more than an hour. I treat it with triple antibiotic ointment, ice, and I take extra vit. C. It seems to help.
I started taking the gymnema this time because my Mom had significant success with using it on her cellulitis infection in her leg. They told her that it was an infection that only diabetics have, but she is not diabetic. That was where I originally got the idea was to use an herb for diabetics. I thought: what the hey, the infection is killing her and is antibiotic resistant, what harm if it doesn’t work? but what an advantage if it does. So, her infection is pretty much licked. And now I have my own infection but in a different body part. The problem with any and all advice from western medical doctors is that almost invariably the data did not include native americans. We are native. My mom is native. My Dad is native on his mother’s side. We don’t always respond to western medicine in the same way they expect us to. Drugs that normally put people to sleep wire my mom for days. My Dad and I are impervious to many drugs. I am capable of remembering parts of surgical procedures where they told me ‘You won’t remember this’, and guess what? I do. My Mom and I don’t respond in the ‘typical’ fashion to hormonal therapy; HRT made her suicidal, birth control made both of us put on a 15 pounds each (the doctors tell us we are over eating, puh-lease.) Any way, my point is that one’s heritage does matter and if you are native you might not respond the way a caucasian might.
If it were me with the blood sugar problems, I would take the gymnema in the AM with your carb heavy meals. I used to take one for every 10 grams of simple carbohydrate. I don’t know if that dosage is right for you, you want to start going easy with it. It can drop your sugar if you take too much and cause a problem. But, here is the thing, its supposed to be good and helping repair an nonfunctional pancreas. I found that part to be particularly helpful. Also, if you are suffering from any fungal infection, it will kill that too.
I hope that helps.
Alisha, what are the ingredients for your tapioca pudding?
Also, it turns out berberine lowers blood sugar and reduces insulin resistance quite effectively.
Thanks Alisha, very interesting. I’m about as caucasian as they come (mostly scandinavian) but I also have some atypical reactions to drugs. For instance Vicodin makes me speedy. One time I cleaned my house for 4 hours while on Vicodin.
I’ve eaten tapioca the last 2 nights and not had any problems. In fact it is remarkably satisfying and filling. Next I am going to try it with some other carbs like bread and see what happens.
caucasians have these same reactions. it’s that the doctors are full of it and don’t know anything about what they prescribe. my family gets speedy from morphine, instead of sleepy… and hrt makes most people gain weight.
Yup. Most every woman I know gained weight from going on the pill, even though doctors claim it doesn’t cause weight gain. When I went off I “magically” lost 5 lbs in a month (and felt amazing in other ways, too – no one ever told me the pill could affect your behavior and whole sense of self.). I’ve had some crazy drug reactions, too. Doctors just like to imagine their pills work the way pharma companies say they will and not cause any side effects. In reality they all cause side effects in pretty much everyone because they work by overriding the body’s systems, which has many varied reverberating effects.
French toast and cookies are equal parts fat and carbs. Fruit is 90% carbs, or what I call a pure carbohdyrate. Pure carbohydrates are usually much better tolerated.
That’s true. I was thinking more in fructose v. glucose terms…
wait, Matt, I am confused (again.) Are you saying that fat will make reactive hypoglycemia worse?
Yesterday I crasched* after drinking lemonade :) I’m still learning. It was very tasty, mostly lemon and grape juice. I’ll dilute it 1:1 lemonade:water next time I drink it. Crasching is very interesting. I get really sleepy, then “must lie down for just one minute”, then sleep for an hour or so, and wake up with heartbeats racing like mad. After being awake for 5-10 min, I can get up, and then I go have some food. *my reply to Beth was just minutes before crashing, isn’t the writing actually quite incoherent? (worse than this?) I’m 1h post Hagen Dasz now, good state.
I used to have a strange reaction to orange juice. On the one hand, it made me calm, tired and weak. On the other hand, I would have to pee literally every 20-30 minutes for an hour or so.
When I started to ETF, I would get exhausted. Like, really exhausted. Youreatopia describes it as “fatigue like getting hit by a freight train.” I think that’s accurate. Nothing to be done except curl up on the couch or take a nap.
The body has a couple of different ways to regulate energy, and all of these strange effects are probably the result of some being turned on, and some being turned off, when you eat during recovery.
Thank you zogby for writing this – I guess it’s mostly interesting for those who are in the middle of it, trying to figure out what to do and what not to do. Or perhaps I’m just that right kind of nerd. I appreciate your thoughts! Funny about your reaction to orange juice.
This is OT, but the strep post got me thinking about it. Matt, in an old post of yours you said getting an appendectomy is not the best cure for appendicitis. What do you believe is the best treatment?
Ask Ray Peat. He has some thoughts on this and mentions an alternative but doesn’t give details.
I actually cried a little reading the Terrible Tragedy article. But they were tears of joy, too.
I just wanted to say, thank you, Matt Stone, for turning my 4 years of cyclical diet mentality into something that resembles normality. For the first time in a long time, I feel free. And I don’t mean the kind of freedom that comes with puritanism, either.
Honestly it’s fucking spiritual. RAARF here we go.
RRARF!
I live in an area filled with orthorexic helicopter parents. It’s starting to get really annoying. There’s a listserve I belong to where people are constantly stressing over whether to give their kids dessert and the obesity epidemic OMG. I sometimes answer queries about same with links to Ellyn Satter and other resources I have found helpful. I told one parent (via the group so as to possibly help others) not to worry so much about giving her kid ice cream in part because its nutritional profile is similar to breastmilk (thanks Matt Stone) and some other person wrote me saying it’s irresponsible to condone frequent ice cream eating!! I feel like I will go out of my mind. Anyone have strategies to suggest to save my sanity other than turning away from this community?
Yeah, I feel this way sometimes. Many of my friends are orthorexic. It’s tough because all of society is pushing them towards these orthorexic thoughts, so it appears to them that research backs it up. I just try to ignore it and model normal eating and honestly, if they are eating a salad and watching you enjoy a cheesebuger, guess who’s more miserable? If they see you feeding your family normally, and your family is happy and healthy, it may sink in eventually.
It’s not going to sink in. That would be like saying an alcoholic is going to give up drink because he sees you sober. Like an alcoholic, the orthorexic just has to hit rock-bottom before waking up. At least that’s usually the case, IMHO.
Amanada, the only option for you is to either stop looking at that listserve or ignore the topics that have to do with nutrition.
I don’t know what it will take for people to realize how deep the indoctrination about food in our society is. My thought is to ignore the online conversations, lead by example and offer a safe haven to your child’s friends when you can. Having grown up with a crazy food environment, I sometimes want to warn parents who go down this path. I think the risks to a child’s health are debatable, depending on the strategy and so this is not worth engaging unless you really are emotionally involved. What parents are really risking however, is their future relationship and no diet is worth that.
Thanks for the replies – it sounds like just returning the focus to myself and family and not feeling like I have to be a spokesperson for another pov is the action to take.
BTW I’d mentioned the fat girl in a prior post’s comments and wanted to update that I learned that her family is kind of inconsistent about eating – it is very catch as you can at her place. They eat, but at odd times.
That makes a lot of sense. A body would definitely store fat under those conditions.
Our grandparents (or maybe at this point great-grandparents) were pretty smart about food. 3 balanced meals a day, eaten regularly, of real food. I think if parents did nothing other than that approach, most kids would come out ok.
Are there people here who started to eat whatever/massively 3times a day,preferably women,while starting lifting and not experience massive fatgain/hypothyroidism but above all the negative cathelomine/depressed shithole? (And if you have a blog/instagram/pinterest of your meals could you please link it?!)
I wish
I’m not a lass, but i did have somewhat similar symptoms at first after doing a u-turn from my health-nazi days. What helped me was to switch out fructose for refined carbs, stop all exercise for a bit and to really work on general stress reduction.
@Limey….yeah I find that fructose does me in too,which is a shame bc I actually like tomatoes&tomatosauces/condiments,bell peppers,baked apple with cinnamon,dont know about banana&plantain and still on the fence regarding Manuka honey&coconut(milk&products except CO)….etc. Or do u still eat them?
Do you have a good list of high free fructose foods?
According to Billy it begins with the rigth mineral uptake/balance…..also in order to tolerate sugar.
I eat no fruits, but take a vit C supp & have some raw salad now and then. I may be an outlier though, I’m not sure I would recommend that most people follow me down the path I’ve gone down. But fructose for me really does mess things up, I get terrible joint and lower back pain like someone is stabbing me.
It’s mainly the refined fructose though, I don’t think I get any reaction from tomatoes or bell peppers (providing they are well cooked)
I thougth,from what I’ve read,that tomatosauce is high in fructose?and read that some of the fructose converts to glucose when very ripe….
From what I see with many that have fructose intolerance,is that ripe banana is few of the very fruits they can eat. Don’t know about plantain though. I actually suffer from some fructans too,such as all in the allium family,which is too bad bc I always loved onion soup with lots op melted cheese on top as a child. I wonder if I’m ever able to get out of that shithole anymore.
With me it mainly causes IBS/obstipation and depression.
2 additional things I would recommend you look into (seeing as you seem quite similar to me) that I’ve had success with are:
A SAD Lamp – very important if you live in the Northern Hemisphere imo. It’s a life saver for me, literally a mood regulator in my experience.
Magnesium Oil – very affordable and amazing. Has stopped my back and neck spasms, and I swear has helped with insulin control.
Thanx,yeah I have magnesium oil but rarely use it as I for a while have no spasms/legcramps anymore luckily.
Actually,according to the energetic therapist the Lyme should be gone for quite a while now.
SAD Lamp?Do you mean those therapy Vit.D stimulating lamps?bc I’d very much like to have one of those but they are so f’ing expensive!and I hardly can get by on wellfare so there’s no saving for it either as is for the waterfilter I need….and lots of other non-luxury things.So,I’m trying to find cheap alternative lamps that produce the same effect,but really don’t know what to look for. Bc I definitely notice a difference at my voluntary job working outside on sunny days,mood&energywise but also digestion&sugar/carb handling.
Any day now I can get a phonecall from a paviour/road-building company for a 3month sorta internship and when they’re happy/confident I can pull off the work (as a 30yo female:s ) , I get hired&schooled into becoming a paviour myself. But….it’s really a hard job,which some guys even can’t pull off,and everybody in my surrounding tells me the same bc I’m so thin&frail/probably underweigth,so I keep going to the gym trying to increase strength(simultaneously struggling still with fear of becoming too fat, food/eating much/macro’s etc.) to be able to be up to the task bc after 2years on wellfare it’s really the only shot I have at getting a paid job again.
Is it common to wake up smelling like alcohol after starting this diet? I haven’t been low carb in at least a year, but I did at least 2 or 3 times as many carbs the last couple of days and had a headeache and woke in a sweat that smelled of alcohol.
Is this all common at the beginning until my metabolism speeds enough to get rid of the yeast/bacterial infections that are lingering? Then I will be feeding me and not the infections.
I had to do ginger tea last night to get over the stomach ache. Any other suggestions for this?
You could try bet drone and or olive leaf to improve the microbial balance of your gut. It worked well for me. It is best to start with very low dosage like half a cap of berberine once a day and take for several days and then take a half cap twice a day then after a few days go to half cap three times a day. The best price I’ve found for berberine in capsules is from swansonvitamins.com. You can get bulk somewhere cheaper if u google but I wouldn’t recommend it. The stuff is yellow and stains stuff so trying to make your own capsules would suck. Of course if you get caps it would be best if u open the cap and just take half of one or you could get some nasty die off. Warning it is very bitter but this taste is part of the medicinal use and has benefits to the liver and gallbladder.
you may want to check for a hidden mold problem where you sleep
Has anyone here heard of MTHFR? It is supposed to becoming a real health problem. It’s really hard to explain what it is, that is why I hope someone here knows about it so I don’t have to explain. If so, do you have an opinion about it.
Yeah, I have hear of MTHFR. People call me that all the time.
What the hell is that? Are u joking? It seems like u are joking and your acronym or whatever you call it stands for mother f’er.
It’s a rather unfortunately-named gene.
I have some anomaly on that gene. Still don’t understand a thing about it :(
It’s the gene that codes for an enzyme (of the same name) which makes the active form of folic acid (folate). The folate in turn does several things including recycling homocysteine back to methionine (via yet another enzyme.) So a mutation in MTHFR can result in increased levels of homocysteine, which is a risk factor for several diseases. Do you know which mutation you have?
I think I have it in a file I can’t find right now. It was pregnancy related genetic testing. I had a couple of things and one was related to thrombophila (blot clotting tendency) and I have a history of PCOS (currently fairly regular periods)
Commenting on the tragedy of the healthy eater: while there probably is truth to a lot of these things such as wheat being higher gluten than it used to be and being less easily digested than it was when it was prepared via a long fermentation rise process rather than the modern factory mass produced quick rise yeast I non fermented method, and that modern agricultural methods are depleting the soil resulting in produce 30 percent or more lower in micronutrients than 40 or fifty years ago and on a on the list goes, people overlook the fact that the stress caused by trying to control and overcome all these problems, some real, some just fear monte ring probably, is worse for their health than if they would just relax and not worry about or go to huerculean efforts to do everything just right. I’ve been there and figured this out myself. I got so tired and stressed from trying to do all that stuff. I still do some things that are not too much for me but I’ll only go so far with it. I like the 24 hour soaked and fermented in buttermilk freshly milled breads. I used to make loaf bread but it just got too burdensome so now I just make pancakes cause that is super easy. All I have to do is throw some wheat in the mill, dump the flour in a bowl mix in some buttermilk and leave it to sit. Then later mix in eggs baking soda salt and butter and there ready to fry. I buy some organic stuff when I can and the price is reasonable. I have figured out what is doable for me and go no further. I don’t make special trips to farms to buy things or go to lots of stores to get organics or special foods which I would have to do to afford mostly organic where i live. I just always remember the study in the Malcolm glad well book outliers where the Italian immigrants who ate the same sad diet as everyone else were living longer without disease. It turned out to be from lower stress because of their close knit community that they had kept together like the little village they had come from in Italy. I think stress is the biggest problem for Americans. Americans are often lonely and isolated and there isn’t much community left. Neighbors in a lot of places stay to themselves. I saw a PBS special about a family who came to America for the husband to go to school. The wife talked about how much she hated it here because people are closed off and keep to themselves. She said in her opinion we are very poor. We have more stuff than the people in her country but we have no community which is real wealth. She said in her village they all knew each other and saw and helped one another almost daily. In America you are on your own she said. I would agree with that. In the neighborhoods
I have lived in it wasn’t easy to be friends with people. Usually hospitality was not returned. It was just difficult to engage people. Usually it is a one sided effort. So Americans have to work pretty hard to form a healthy close knit community.
Oh i agree with you….
I don’t like to say this, but i really hate it here in the US; can’t wait to go. My main problem is lack of community. And…going everywhere with a car. Walking to a park is a lot more interesting than being in the park itself…but when you’re the only one walking towards the park, it’s not so interesting after all, but still something nice for kids to experience.
Another problem, or the subproblem of the first point, is the lack of play between neighboring kids, in my case at least. Don’t want to go into particulars, but how many times did my daughter cry because next door neighbor’s kids are not allowed to play together much because there isn’t someone actively watching over them or because one kid is sick, or because there is a little clash between some of them so they better stay separated.
I think kids here are really lacking the beauty of childhood and close friendships which develop between neighboring kids. When i was a child, i barely spent any time home. I don’t even remember doing homework. But i remember so very well the beautiful fun time playing with my neighbors, all day, every day.
Yes, I agree with you both. And I think all of this leaves an empty hole that we try to fill with other things. I live in New York, where walking around is definitely interesting, but it’s still a big city where you can feel lonely even surrounded by a big crowd. People are so busy going about their business, there’s little time for community. I wish I knew what to do about it. I try to support small neighborhood businesses, be a good neighbor, etc.
It definitely leaves an empty hole as you say, and therefore kids here have so many toys in their house. I have this same problem now and it pains me. But it was far from this while living in Europe and Syria.
We had so little money, so few things, but spent lots of time outside with other kids. Again, the lifestyle is different. Moms are not rushing everywhere taking kids to gazillion activities. Simply, it’s not needed: kids are playing together everyday and don’t need many things to play happily as long as they are together and outside.
And…you see smallest kids( 2 yo) out playing among the bigger ones, and all without parental interference and supervision. There is nothing freaking dangerous about that. They all manage just fine. But try to explain that to an overzealous, helicopter parent….
I’m not trying to be negative about it and criticize, but just pointing out how seriously lacking today’s childhoods are. And i don’t think it’s going to change for the better.
We just try to push their boundaries and have kids play together whenever possible. And it feels horrible to always keep asking for play, but it’s better than being alone.
I so much agree with you, but I’m afraid my 2 year old will wind up in the street hit by a car if I’m not there and he’s with the older kids. In cities I think it’s more complicated.
Yeah, cities are more complicated, but then kids can play on balcony or something, as long as they are together and playing.
I had two friends who did not like to let their kids play in front of the building (cars), but then their kids were playing together in the building and going from one apartment to another all day long, doing stuff i don’t even know what. The thing is, they were free to play and hang out as much as they wanted and whenever they wanted, and it wasn’t some kind of a playdate or there was an allotted time for playing. They were just hanging out all the time, and this is so great for moms…it gives us time to efficiently complete tasks in home and spend some time with our neighbors.
I was actually talking about my situation where i can’t send my daughter to play in neighbor’s backyard (they have 4 kids) because they can’t “actively” watch them. My God, so the kids are separated by the fence and are just playing separately. So.very.sad.
We don’t have a TV, and my kids are not allowed to use computers, so they just wanna plaaaaay with someone else other than just themselves :)
Maybe you could find some neighbors who have immigrated here? I find people from Europe, South America, etc. to be much more social than native-born Americans. I wonder what happened exactly to make this country so prone to isolation. A strong community used to be one of America’s best strengths. Something happened around the 70s/80s/90s, but I’m not quite sure what.
Maybe one factor is being a relatively new country on a vast tract of land. Cities here can naturally expand into suburbs, which in their current incarnation are not very conducive to community. Combine that with the fact that most moms are at work and kids are in day care all day(thanks, feminists! lol)
I’m in NYC too :) Hey neighbor!
Brooklyn in the house. 180 party, anyone? Pizza eating contest maybe? Hah
Grimaldis!!
I still haven’t been there- let’s go.
Seriously, NYC 180ers, I’ll kick it with y’all. Is anyone really up for this?
We can plan a meetup.
Yes!
Brooklyn here. Just post the when and where.
Ok party people- 3pm next Sunday March 31. We meet in front of the shop, and can eat over by the water nearby. Find a bench and can test our pizza eating mettle. Reply here or email me rob at 180 degreehealth dot com to RSVP.
UPDATE: Holidays are afoot- new date: Saturday April 6. Email me to RSVP or reply here. Also, look for a footer in an upcoming post inviting anyone who isn’t following this comment thread.
I’m away next weekend! That sounds like an awesome meet-up!
I tried the potato hack for a couple days and couldn’t hack it. I ate as many potatoes as I could and it just wasn’t enough calories to keep my metabolism up I guess cause I got weak and couldn’t think very well and my hands and feet got cold by morning of day three. So for Lunch I had baked potato with butter cheese sour cream and some ground beef sprinkled in top with salt and garlic powder. I felt much better but still felt cold even with the heater set on 74 degrees so I ate a bunch of dry cereal with cinnamon and then I started feeling warm. I only quit low carbing about four months ago and started rrarfing. After I have experienced the potato hack making me feel bad I have a hard time seeing how a restrictive diet like that could ever be a good idea. I wanted to try it because potatoes seem like such a hearty satisfying food and so filling. That combined with the effects of resistant starch seemed like it might be possible to lose some weight on the potato hack without being too hungry or crashing my metabolism. Not. It didn’t work for me at all. I suspect that Matt knew it would do this to people and that is why he wasn’t too positive about it.
Yup. I’ve been visiting 180 for quite some time, and have seen many diets come and go here – milk diet, ray peat, etc. It’s always gone back to eat a lot of mostly wholesome food. I really don’t think there are many shortcuts. I don’t doubt that a potato diet could be really helpful short-term for people in certain conditions (people just transitioning from no-carb, etc., and apparently it’s been prescribed for diabetes, etc.). Maybe it’s a great addition to a diet. But for most people, it won’t be some miracle diet.
Lisa, i reacted quite badly to the potatoe thing. I almost lost conscience on the second day and it cannot be the lack of calorie. I had to eat some chocolat? and I dislike chocolate, but I craved it badly at this moment and It helped. I tempt to think that it might work for man , but it is bad for women.
elina, i’m a woman in my late 30’s, and the hack is working for me, but only because i added a feast at night, with plain potatoes only by day.
lisa, i got very cold as well on the second day of the potato hack. i also had complete insomnia without being tired the next day, which probably meant i was running on adrenaline.
when extreme hunger kicked in, i ate cheese, sardines and ice cream. warmed back up. after that, i kept eating salted baked potatoes every four hours or so during the day, with an unrestricted feast at night. i also had sugar and half & half in my morning coffee. my body quickly adjusted, similar to when i tried the warrior diet, fasting all day and feasting at night. the main benefit that potatoes have over fasting is that i am energized after the evening feast, rather than crashing. i’m also not thinking about food, because i’m satisfied.
i am happy to now have the time and energy to walk in the sunshine during my lunch hour, and also have the energy to go for a swim after work without being wiped out the next morning. my one regular meal is so much more enjoyable and better digested when i have true hunger, the kind you feel in your throat rather than stomach. in a matter of days, inches have disappeared from my waist with no apparent muscle loss.
so there may be some benefit to just substituting a regular meal or two with plain potato, but it probably shouldn’t have added fat, protein or even fiber. on the mark’s daily apple thread “EAT MOAR TATERS! Huh? page 105,” gopintos quoted hyperlipid:
“The theory why people are calling this a “diet hack” isn’t because of calories. That would just be normal dieting. The reason why potatoes are the chosen food is because they’re basically zero fat and come with high quality protein, something very rare in a vegetarian protein source, and a lot of nutrients. The theory is because your body needs fat to manufacture insulin, if you are eating ZERO fat, it has to pull fat out of storage to manufacture insulin.Because white potatoes are so highly insulogenic and create such a massive, high GI response, it needs A LOT of insulin – which requires a significant portion of fat. Since you aren’t eating fat along with it, it is forced to go to adipose tissue as a source – and needs quite a bit – to make all that insulin.”
“So when you start combining potatoes with outside sources of protein and fiber – like egg whites, fish or vegetables – you are destroying the”hack.” You are greatly reducing the insulin spike you’re supposed to get, which lessens the immediate fat need from your fat cells to manufacture insulin. The whole point is because potatoes are so massively insulinogenic. If you add stuff, it doesn’t work. It has to be all potatoes.”
You could surely do it with white rice too, but it’s not recommended because there’s virtually no protein (certainly no high quality protein) and far less nutrients. Potatoes were chosen because of the very high quality protein, the nutrient density, the high glycemix index and the fact that someone can survive a very long time eating simply potatoes – it is nearly a complete food – you will become ill much faster eating just white rice than eating just white potatoes.”
If this is true, it seems like a normal high-carb, low-fat diet would work just as well but maybe not so fast. I was always leanest on a very low-fat diet. Whenever I added fat back in I would gain weight. The problem now is I just don’t have the discipline (or neurosis) to be that strict. I like whole raw milk (probably 6% fat?) and lots of egg yolks… and beef.
Also, how quickly would you get ill on a “rice hack”? I bet it would take a while. This is supposed to be a short-term hack. I’m puzzled as to why rice wouldn’t be even better.
Maybe I should try a rice hack. I can’t stand even the thought of plain potatoes.
i don’t think a complete low fat diet is necessary for it to work, just some fat free, high carb meals. i’m still eating plenty of fat at my one main meal. rice might work too. i’ve hated the consistency of potatoes since childhood, but after a few days of eating so many, i like them. salt is essential for me though.
If you’re still eating one regular meal a day, I really can’t see running into any nutrient deficiencies with rice. I would do so much better with rice. Unless maybe potatoes are higher GI? I know rice is high, and when I used to check my blood sugar even a few pieces of sushi would send it through the roof. Never checked potatoes though.
Do you have any thoughts as to meal timing, like is it better for the normal meal to be morning or evening? Seems to me like evening would be best, so you can do the hack during the day with all the fat and protein and fiber cleared out over night…
Interesting that you are liking them more after days of eating them, too!
according to my experience and the logic of the “warrior diet,” it’s best to have the big meal at night, especially if your job requires mental focus. someone with a physically demanding job may do better having the big meal in the morning.
but if you try the hack with white rice, it would be good to brush up on the symptoms of beriberi and pellagra, since both have been observed in people living primarily on white rice, even though pellagra is more often seen in people eating corn-based diets.
somehow i developed symptoms of pellagra after only a few weeks of eating large amounts of mac & cheese that supposedly had niacin added to it. the pasta was also prepared high in fat and low in protein, simliar to the “three m’s deficient diet” in the south of the u.s., where pellagra was widespread, so that could have been a factor. i was still eating at least one regular balanced meal during that time, which should have also kept niacin deficiency from happening, but it didn’t.
after reading through some of a translation of armond marie’s 1910 book on pellagra, i think the causes are more complex than the simple explanation that has become accepted. apparently the outward signs may appear and vanish, leaving only the mental symptoms. in many cases where high doses of niacin cures mental illness, it may simply be curing pellagra.
Really! Well that is scary. Maybe I will do it with potatoes then. I just have to get my mind around it.
glad to hear! i hope you don’t risk it with rice.
the first day, i was so disgusted that i would have rather starved. eating very small bites spaced widely apart, and in a pleasant outdoor setting, such as a porch swing, helped. something had to replace the memory of being made to stay at the dinner table by my lil self until i could force down potatoes, beans or anything with that type consistency.
oh and i’ve been waking up at 4 or 5am, hyper and starved, which i used to do when i felt good. not wanting to wait for potatoes to cook, i’ve started eating unlimited fruit first thing in the morning, plain taters from 8 to 4, then the main meal at night.
fruit is better motivation for me to get out of bed than cold taters, and i get the benefits of an all-fruit meal, several all-starch meals, and a protein/fat/veggie based meal.
I forgot to say that it was tater tots convincing arguments in favor of the potato hack that caused me to try it. I guess I’m still susceptible to falling prey to weight loss schemes. It is hard because as much as I try accepting myself and focusing on health rather than size, deep down I really want to lose the extra Thirty or forty pounds. I know I need to be patient and it might eventually come off, but I also need to be prepared if it doesn’t that I won’t diet and make things worse. That’s tough.
Hi Lisa,
there are so many “diets” that promise to slim ones body, it’s almost silly. One thing I’m focusing on now that I’m a pugdy rrarfer*, is to stretch my muscles. Just mainly the legs, touching the toes from standing, and from sitting on the floor, legs forward, legs to the side, some split-prepping (I’m not very elastic yet), always gently, softly and with support from a wall, a chair, or a pillow. When I can rest my head on a chair, it helps me to relax and breathe. I try to have my legs strong and not wobbly while I stretch. Some inspiration here: http://cheerochgymnastik.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/stretcher-for-spagat-och-split/
It makes so much more sense to me mentally to focus on the function of my body rather than the thickness of my fat layer. Also, I know I will float pretty well, should I have to swim these days. I also believe that when my body has done it’s healing, the swelling will go down. And it can take as long as it may. Meanwhile, I’m getting more elastic. My goal is to sit in splits 180 degrees :) right now I’m at 90 degrees, I would guess. I’m also doing some sit-ups with support from a big pillow, so only the last 2-3 inches. Just until I feel the abdomen muscles get a little burn. Less than 2 minutes/ day. *I was 154 pounds pre rrarf, now I’m 187 and possibly still gaining (haven’t weighed myself in a week). I do the three meals a day gig.
The trackback function of where people link your site is really cool. I love that someone English speaking get help from my tutorial written in Swedish. Good luck on stretching.
Tack Karolina :) Jag har b?rjat lite med din stretching (s? gott jag kan) och det ?r j’ttekul! Jag tittar ocks? p? http://emeliewase.se/2012/12/min-stretching-mjukgoring :)
This might seem off topic, but I figure this is appropriate for a post titled Terrible Tragedy of the Healthy Eater: If anyone is familiar with Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Executive Diet, you may want to check out this new blog by his former assistant/ chief cheerleader Armi Legge…go to the comment section of this article and you’ll see comments made indicating Dave Asprey may be providing inaccurate (dare I say Fraudulent?) information on his Bulletproof blog..hmmmm??
http://impruvism.com/simple-weight-loss/
I find myself incredibly confused. Admittedly, I’ve only read the RRARF ebook and some blog posts. Upon reading it, I was so excited! I’ve lost around 80 lbs over the last couple of years through intermittent fasting, then low-carb, then paleo. I felt gross and would gain weight when I ate too many veggie carbs. It was completely unsustainable. Then, I found Paul Jaminet’s PHD. I’ve been doing well, and while I’ve only lost a little weight, my body seems to have changed (many, many people comment that I’ve lost SO MUCH weight when in reality it hasn’t been much at all) for the better.
BUT, BUT, BUT. I’m freezing all the time and weight loss has stalled. So, when I read the RRARF book, I got excited. The idea of finally fixing my broken metabolism, resting, and healing rang so true. The book emphasizes a low omega-6, low sugar, low refined starch, whole foods approach which is really similar to PHD. My main changes when doing RRARF would be more sleep, less stress, and more eating of the whole foods I’m already eating. But reading the blog I find so many confusing things about eating sugar and refined starches while on RRARF, I’m not really sure how to approach things now. Also, while I’m willing to gain a few pounds repairing my metabolism, I’m terrified of gaining a lot of weight back because I’ve worked so hard to get it off.
Help? Thank you so much.
Taryn, people have RRARFed in different ways. Probably best to just start off with exactly what you’re doing – just add in more sleep and less stress and more of the food you’re eating. Maybe that will be enough, and if it is, then great! Some people need to add in more processed foods and sugar to get in enough calories to boost their metabolisms, but then weight gain is more likely. Maybe just adding the sleep and less stress, and eating to appetite with the whole foods will be enough for you. It’s enough for some people. Over time, you can adjust if needed.
While people here tend to focus on getting lots of food, the stress and sleep components are equally important. Just that part alone will help a LOT.
Potatoes seem warming to me, but probably because I am coming from such low temps.
I see that Lisa needed a sugary cereal to get her warm again. What other foods have worked for others hear to get them out of the hole? I found that my temps do not stay up long after meals and they are usually only getting to the low 97’s anyway.
I am thinking I need some snacks laying around to help.
DianeJ,
Potatoes with salt and white rice with salt/soy sauce brought my temps up to a more consistent 98.5/98.6 F (from 96.1 – 97.5 range), but to get a little higher such as 98.8 F consistently, I found fruit to be beneficial especially Dates with Maple Syrup and OJ with Baking Soda added (approx 1/4 teaspoon). The OJ/Baking Soda combo makes me feel like a human blast furnace :)
wow. how does that taste???
Tierney, are you asking about the OJ with Baking Soda? If so, the baking soda doesn’t really affect the taste,but the awesome part about it is that the OJ will “Fizz” up and it will be like drinking the best tasting Orange Soda :)
ok, I have to try that!
Will have to try the OJ/baking soda thing. I crave OJ from doing the Ray Peat thing, but have tried to cut down on all drinks.
I have been doing potatoes and rice. My temps are at least up to 97 now (I was often 95-96 before).
salt, sugar, sleep, starch, cheeze, cream, french fries, nachos, jello, milk, bread, butter, Haagen Dasz vanilla ice cream, potato hash browns, jam, candy, soft drinks, veggies+cream+starches.
Christ if i read one more article about spinal column fatigue or eyeball exhaustion or kidney depression or ovary flombosis i may scream. I will over-engage my larynx at a near inaudible pitch until i reach a state of self-induced hyperemesis. AAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!