Where To Turn Next

[tara]

post 110279 I've been looking at the SCD diet. For a lot of the meals, it is starch and almond flour goods. That's not to say I have to eat those but for a base point, perhaps this isn't the right way?

That's not the description of SCD I've come across - I thought it excluded all grains including rice, all starchy veges, and all disaccharides (including sucrose and lactose)? Which leaves most fruit and veges, except the starchy ones, included? Honey is included.

 

[Nstocks]

post 110289

post 110279 I've been looking at the SCD diet. For a lot of the meals, it is starch and almond flour goods. That's not to say I have to eat those but for a base point, perhaps this isn't the right way?

That's not the description of SCD I've come across - I thought it excluded all grains including rice, all starchy veges, and all disaccharides (including sucrose and lactose)? Which leaves most fruit and veges, except the starchy ones, included? Honey is included.

Hmmm, I must have found a bad pint rest page.

I think all fruit is out for me, at least uncooked fruits. Meat and Veg might work, but not too often and I like quick snacky foods. Also not sure about going high fat which will lower carbs but this time I'll keep it more balanced. They have a few types of beans listed, which along with olives and herbs make a good salad but beans tend to ferment in the gut.

You are very knowledgable and I respect you very much!, if you had the same issues as I do (and maybe you do) would the SCD be a considered starting point for you?

 

[tara]

I don't think you have to go low carb to try SCD. Stewed fruit + lots of honey can supply a lot of carbs.

I read a bit about GAPS and SCD a couple of years ago. Cutting out grains for a while seemed helpful. I now eat way less grains than I used to for most of my life, but I can only do that by eating a lot more sugar (fruit/juice/sucrose/honey). I just wasn't up for being as restrictive as either of those prescriptions. I'm not anorexic enough to override my appetite that much. :)

I don't have the same issues as you. My guts give me very little obvious distress. I used to eat a lot of fibre and starch have a lot of gas. Now I eat less fibre and starch (still eat carrot salad and some fruit and veges) and more sugar, I get a lot less gas, and have slower motility. So I use just a little cascara sagrada regularly. But it could be that I have gut irritation that I am not so aware of that is contributing to my issues. My most obvious intolerances are to too much wheat and milk in any form I've tried yet.

 

[Nstocks]

This weeks' shopping list:

Apple Juice
Cauliflower (baked with herbs to make "Paleo bread sticks"
Courgette (with ghee/coconut oil and salt to make crisps)
Carrot
Coconut water
Pineapple (grilled with lamb Dolmas )
Peach (with coconut oil frozen to make snacks)
Eggs (I need protein other than meat)
Lamb
Grape Vine leaves

We have Quorn in the freezer but that's a really questionable food source and is "allowed other" on SCD.

There are loads of delicious recipes, but most are going to be low carb. I've found that sweeter things are plain fruit unless I bake which would need Almond flour and other nuts which I'm 100% avoiding. (they seem hard to digest - not sure why they are used so much on SCD)

I could blend dates with CO and shredded coconut with honey and raisins to make a high carb snack too since I want to avoid as much commercial candy as possible. (very hard over Christmas, I'm not going to stress about it)

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Hi thebigpeatowski,
I can totally see why laxatives will make the colon lazy. Not too long ago I manually removed my poop. Yep, I'd put on a glove and scrape it out - it was the only way

Years ago I was right where you are as far as constipation goes...literally, been there done that. It was an awful time and it still makes me wince. I feel your pain.

I started on cynoplus 17 months ago but more recently have had to move to Novotiral because Cyno isn't available. 1.5 grains per day now. (morning, mid, and night). I don't really understand T3 and T4 dosages anymore so wouldn't know why to take one on its own. Since I'm trying magnesium and perhaps mastic gum, I don't want to change other supplementation for a while.

Changing ONE THING AT A TIME is great advice, you'll have a far better idea of what's working and what isn't. I'm two years in to my Peat experiments and I require far less thyroid medication now than when I began. In fact I don't seem to be tolerating any exogenous T4 at all any more (caused a bizarre combination of hypo/hyper symptoms such as muscle weakness/tremors, low body temps and brain fog)....not sure why, but at any rate I'm only taking T3 for now.

Experimenting is quite liberating. I love change but so far it has just been a huge waste of time and money. Well, that is until everything has been tested and I find a solution!

What would you eat in my situation? I'm eating a lot of rice and feet get colder often but I do like the habit of eating the same thing ever day.

Having been there and knowing what I know now about my own body/digestion I would cut almost all starch, certainly NO wheat/oats. Well-cooked potatoes with salt and ghee or coconut oil is nice and warming and a better nutritional profile compared to rice.

I would gradually/incrementally increase my magnesium intake....and perhaps well-cooked greens, if you tolerate them. Maybe just drink the broth from them if the fiber still bothers your intestines.

And I would be sure to eat very salty bone broth, even if only a cup a day to start.

I also think apple cider vinegar is wonderful for aiding digestion. Pineapple and lamb sounds divine and very nutritious!

 

[EIRE24]

post 110774

Hi thebigpeatowski,
I can totally see why laxatives will make the colon lazy. Not too long ago I manually removed my poop. Yep, I'd put on a glove and scrape it out - it was the only way

Years ago I was right where you are as far as constipation goes...literally, been there done that. It was an awful time and it still makes me wince. I feel your pain.

I started on cynoplus 17 months ago but more recently have had to move to Novotiral because Cyno isn't available. 1.5 grains per day now. (morning, mid, and night). I don't really understand T3 and T4 dosages anymore so wouldn't know why to take one on its own. Since I'm trying magnesium and perhaps mastic gum, I don't want to change other supplementation for a while.

Changing ONE THING AT A TIME is great advice, you'll have a far better idea of what's working and what isn't. I'm two years in to my Peat experiments and I require far less thyroid medication now than when I began. In fact I don't seem to be tolerating any exogenous T4 at all any more (caused a bizarre combination of hypo/hyper symptoms such as muscle weakness/tremors, low body temps and brain fog)....not sure why, but at any rate I'm only taking T3 for now.

Experimenting is quite liberating. I love change but so far it has just been a huge waste of time and money. Well, that is until everything has been tested and I find a solution!

What would you eat in my situation? I'm eating a lot of rice and feet get colder often but I do like the habit of eating the same thing ever day.

Having been there and knowing what I know now about my own body/digestion I would cut almost all starch, certainly NO wheat/oats. Well-cooked potatoes with salt and ghee or coconut oil is nice and warming and a better nutritional profile compared to rice.

I would gradually/incrementally increase my magnesium intake....and perhaps well-cooked greens, if you tolerate them. Maybe just drink the broth from them if the fiber still bothers your intestines.

And I would be sure to eat very salty bone broth, even if only a cup a day to start.

I also think apple cider vinegar is wonderful for aiding digestion. Pineapple and lamb sounds divine and very nutritious!

That's all brilliant advice. I'd love to know what you feel helped you improve the most in health when you transitioned to a more peat recommended foods diet?

 

[Nstocks]

What's everyone's thoughts on coconut flour? (not used daily or in huge quantities)

 

[cout12]

post 109948 Nstocks,

Have you tried Magnesium? With fatigue, headaches, bloating and fatigue I would wager that it would really help you. It's such a simple solution for so many things and people often overlook Magnesium. Without it you can't properly digest food. Also, the digestive tract is basically one long muscle, which cannot function properly without magnesium, leading to constipation.

Please try it out if you haven't. I used Magnesium Glycinate and Magnesium Malate. I dearly hope you find the answers you're looking for!

Interesting. Magnesium is one of the thing I can never get enough of on a ray peat diet and I'm always constipated. I thought it was the lack of fiber but maybe magnesium is the cause. Is there peat friendly food that have magnesium? Also why exactly is magnesium important?

 

[EIRE24]

What's everyone's thoughts on coconut flour? (not used daily or in huge quantities)

Interestingly I just started using this as well. I love the taste of it and would think it's much better than wheat or any other grain flour? It's also surprisingly high in protein.

 

[Nstocks]

What's everyone's thoughts on coconut flour? (not used daily or in huge quantities)

Interestingly I just started using this as well. I love the taste of it and would think it's much better than wheat or any other grain flour? It's also surprisingly high in protein.

I'm having a hard time finding good things to eat at breakfast, except eggs or soup. Baked goods with coconut flour (SCD) could work well and I'm cutting out so much stuff already, coconut four opens the doors a bit with more options. And yes, another benefit is protein.

Magnesium came today so I'll start taking 400mg of that. Also Mastic gum which states 4 capsules before bed for two weeks! Then half the dosage. I think that's my limit will supplements: mag, mastic and thyroid. Anything else has to come from food.

EDIT: Oh! I've been drinking cascara and peppermint drink (1 capsule and 1 tea bag in a cup of water that lasts 2-3 days) and I've had 2 BM in 3 days

 

[Nighteyes]

post 110893 Is there peat friendly food that have magnesium?

Green broth made from kale is awesome.. I use it when boiling potatoes and make a mash/soup. You could also just drink it - it should have some calcium and K as well.

 

[vb2005]

Please keep in mind what peat says - if you have gut problems the starch in your diet should be zero grams - exactly what SCD says.
I think if you have problems with gelatin this means you have SIBO. You can try dextrose or glucose - no gluten/gliadin, no fodmaps, no dissacharides, no starch - just rapidly absorbing carb - bacteria will not be able to ferment it. WHen you tried paleo diet - what were your carb sources?

 

[Nstocks]

post 110909

post 110893 Is there peat friendly food that have magnesium?

Green broth made from kale is awesome.. I use it when boiling potatoes and make a mash/soup. You could also just drink it - it should have some calcium and K as well.

I use to make broccoli and lemon broth which was vile but I had the mindset of "must eat greens all day" and just drank it. It gave me zero energy. A green soup of sorts might work, with tomatoes (but they are nightshades)

post 110911 Please keep in mind what peat says - if you have gut problems the starch in your diet should be zero grams - exactly what SCD says.
I think if you have problems with gelatin this means you have SIBO. You can try dextrose or glucose - no gluten/gliadin, no fodmaps, no dissacharides, no starch - just rapidly absorbing carb - bacteria will not be able to ferment it. WHen you tried paleo diet - what were your carb sources?

From what Ive read, coconut is mostly considered starch free, but I can understand why it may still be a problem. The thing is; I'm cutting out a huge amount of food options which essentially leaves me with meat, fish, eggs, fruit (fruit being poor quality and poor taste) and vegetables. I can eat meat and fish once a day (dinner) but I find that I need to eat as soon as awake up, or be frozen cold for the rest of the day. That where baked goods come in.

Paleo days were extremely strict. My carb sources, when I had them were sweet potatoes and occasional baked goods with loads of almond flour and honey. Absolutely zero fruit and juices. I'm talking less than 50grams of carbs per day here. That was 2 years ago. I've gone through Matt stone's approach where I gained 2 stone and the past year is ray peat where I've gained another stone. (now 13 stone at 6' 2" 25 years old male)

What would I eat dextrose/glucose with, or is this just a drink to get carbs only?

 

[cout12]

Personally I eat 0 starch. It's true that it warms me up but it messes with my ability to digest milk. I'd rather be colder than not be able to digest milk. Also isn't the warmth from starch stress hormones or something? I feel like I've read that before somewhere.

I get carbs from milk, OJ, and sugar, and i'm still experimenting with the safe fruits sometimes, I always add sugar to my milk and sometimes put coke in my OJ. It doesn't warm me up but it gives me enough carbs to feel good all day, probably like 400-500g of carbs.

And I do like to eat solid food twice a day so I eat beef, cheese or safe fruits twice a day to fill me up, and carrots. Beef usually boosts my temp 1 degree for a while.

Definitely take that with a grain of salt though cause my digestion and temp still sucks, I just feel like no starch is better, even if it still sucks.

 

[Nstocks]

I hear you with the starch and warmness. It doesn't happen all the time, but a hot starchy meal gets me warm. Until later on when I get bloated and gassy with brain fog.

Ditching liquids has helped me too. I used to drink around 4L of fruit juice and 2L of milk per day. Sure it's calories, but that made me bloated too. Eating a load of candy gives me a buzz but there's no nutrition there and I still want real food.

 

[Nighteyes]

post 110922 Also isn't the warmth from starch stress hormones or something

A quick surge of insulin from a large starchy meal could produce the effect you mention (sudden heat). Personally I do well with potatoes as long as I add some sat fat and protein with the meal. Balanced meals just seam "right" to me.. If I eat only one food group in a meal I start to crave the others.. Starch seems to be the only thing that can keep me warm in the cold scandinavian winter... During the summer I had little to no starch.

 

[Nstocks]

Lamb Dolams was delicious, but not I can't move. Perhaps I could also have low stomach acid?

I performed that baking soda test and it didn't have any effect last year... Also took 6 HCL capsules for a week at one meal per day and still nothing.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

That's all brilliant advice. I'd love to know what you feel helped you improve the most in health when you transitioned to a more peat recommended foods diet?

Thanks EIRE24, underlined items in bold are what helped me the most....just adding lots of carbs back in to my diet was a huge factor. I'd been low-carbing for years, eating only meat, TONS of fat (lots of it PUFA) and a few vegetables. I could no longer sleep, was massively stressed out, freezing cold all the time, had zero libido, etc, etc, etc.... Lots of carbohydrates helped me to calm the f*ck down and begin to re-think my entire lifestyle.

Removing PUFA to less than four grams per day was the second BIGGEE, the transition back to oxidizing glucose was a rough road but worth every bump along the way. Getting more calcium and less phosphorous made me feel waaaaay netter too, I had insane CRAVINGS for very salty cheese and bone broth. Salt cravings lasted a good year and a half.

Magnesium was also very beneficial, but I was having chronic gut issues (diarrhea) so taking it orally was making things worse. I had to use the Epsom salt baths and mag chloride spray (which I'm not fond of cuz it makes me feel sticky). Removing anything and everything that could possibly cause gut irritation, for me that means no wheat and very little grains...I was a bread eater for years and constantly constipated until my appendix ruptured in 2010.

Simply getting enough thyroid medication in while going through all of this too...I don't think I would have made it without T3.

I took TONS of progesterone too (really insane quantities) because I had a breast lump, that's gone now and I take waaaay less Progest-E, but I still take vitamin E daily, definitely helps with estrogen.

And B vitamins, I supplement most of them daily (B1, B3, Biotin). They give me energy.... I think perhaps I have lingering absorption issues or lack the gut flora that manufacture B vits (history of massive antibiotics).... I dunno, I feel better when I take them and I think they help me to use all the sugars better.

Even though I eat liver weekly, I must supplement vitamin A daily or my skin will break out....I don't know why I need so much A, but I feel better when I take it. I need around 30,000 IU daily, perhaps I don't convert beta-carotene well? Hopefully this won't be forever...

Removing as much stress as humanly possible, this one is tough because just being ill is a such a stressor and you can't escape yourself....My brain went through really some bizarre stuff during all of this, felt like it had simply checked out. I wasn't sure if it would ever come back online, it did! Maintaining HOPE and DETERMINATION was crucial. Peating isn't a quick fix, but I feel SO MUCH BETTER, profoundly more nourished that I'm certain that this is the way I will eat for the rest of my life.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

post 110955 Lamb Dolams was delicious, but not I can't move. Perhaps I could also have low stomach acid?

I performed that baking soda test and it didn't have any effect last year... Also took 6 HCL capsules for a week at one meal per day and still nothing.

Nstocks, do you burp a lot after eating? Like your food is just sitting there fermenting instead of digesting? Hypothyroid peeps are notoriously low in stomach acid which further exacerbates the poor gut motility(constipation) already present due to a sluggish thyroid. This also contributes to bacteria growing in your small intestine where it does not belong (more bloating). Do you eat enough salt and potassium to make hydrochloric acid? Salty OJ!!!

 

[Nstocks]

post 110962

post 110955 Lamb Dolams was delicious, but not I can't move. Perhaps I could also have low stomach acid?

I performed that baking soda test and it didn't have any effect last year... Also took 6 HCL capsules for a week at one meal per day and still nothing.

Nstocks, do you burp a lot after eating? Like your food is just sitting there fermenting instead of digesting? Hypothyroid peeps are notoriously low in stomach acid which further exacerbates the poor gut motility(constipation) already present due to a sluggish thyroid. This also contributes to bacteria growing in your small intestine where it does not belong (more bloating). Do you eat enough salt and potassium to make hydrochloric acid? Salty OJ!!!

I virtually NEVER burp. Everything just sits there and I get lots of really stinky gas. Sitting is often painful, so I tend to lean on my left size or kneel whist at my computer. No idea on salt and potassium intake and I salty OJ make me vomit.

I wonder if a course of anti bionics would do anything? If food isn't being digested, would supplements even be absorbed?