L
lollipop
Guest
Very thoughtful post @stevensmith.To the OP, your experience resonates with mine a great deal. Over the years I have tried dozens of diets to fix my hormonal problems. My metric of whether something works or not has to do with the quality of my erections. Back when I had low testosterone, I would never wake up with morning erections. One day I noticed that whenever I went camping I almost always woke up with strong morning erections. I slept in a warm sleeping bag at the time, which really held the heat in. Realizing this, I tried sleeping in a sleeping bag at home, along with wool socks and pajamas- it worked! I also noticed that sleeping with the window cracked to bring fresh air in helps improve sleep for me (but not really an option in the winter). Indoor air quality diminishes after only a few days, so regularly airing out your bedroom can help. Taking a warm bath before bed can lower cortisol and help you sleep better and warmer.
Sleeping warm shifts the nervous system to the parasympathetic, lowering cortisol and moving blood into the periphery of the body. Blood flow in the periphery of the body is regenerative to vital tissues/organs. According to Haidut, people hundreds of years ago considered cold temperatures a risk to health. They would try to avoid it at all costs, bundling up, putting towels at the base of doors, covering up windows that have drafts, often having sleep wear with socks and caps. Back then it was just common knowledge. People also slept much longer in the winter like up to 14-16 hours per day. The longer you are in bed, the more time you have to become and stay warm. Sometimes the ambient cold temperatures can make it difficult to fall and stay asleep, especially in those prone to insomnia or hypothyroidism. Some people take longer to warm up. For these people having extra time to sleep can help a great deal. Poor sleep duration is a common cause of low morning temperatures. Even the though of having to wake up in a short period of time (like six hours for example) can prevent normal sleep rhythms and cause anxiety, impairing REM cycles.
Years ago, my low T was induced by both inadequate calories and insomnia. Increasing calorie intake and learning not to give a **** were some of the best things I've ever done. I learned to shift my thoughts from "great it's 2:30am and I'm here lying in bed unable to sleep, and I have to wake up in three hours," to "this bed is so comfortable, I don't give a **** if I sleep only two hours tonight, those two hours are going to be amazing." So in many ways metabolism is not just about diet strategies but also lifestyle and even our thoughts. Since thoughts have an effect on our cortisol levels, it's no wonder why so many people have thyroid problems today. People are not prioritizing down time at night without television. Blue light at nigh stimulates cortisol release and prolongs the onset of REM sleep.
Orthomolecular diet strategies never really worked for me. Pretty much the only main things I follow pretty religiously from Peat are eating as little PUFA as possible and striving to control endotoxin levels through various means (raw carrots, easily digestible foods, fasting occasionally). After I gravitated to Matt Stone, things began to improve for me a great deal. He has been wrong about a lot of things over the years, but his most recent work (before he retired from writing health articles and books) worked for me. Focus on your urine color. If your urine is clear, drink less fluids. Your urine should have some yellow in it. This goes against what Peat talks about with drinking so much milk and orange juice, but it really works. So many people who follow Peat are drinking a ton of fluids and ignoring their bodies talking to them. I suspect that this is one of the main reasons why people fail to bring their temperatures up following Peat's work.
Try eating solid foods (heck even bread and pasta if you have to). Ensure adequate sodium intake as well. Making sure that your pee is yellow should make you feel a lot warmer and bring your temperatures up. When you drink less fluids, you actually don't need to eat so many calories to increase your metabolic rate. The water content of food increases the need for calories for thermogenesis. So no, you don't have to erroneously chase a high calorie diet and get fat in the name of health. I suggest checking out Matt's book "Eat for Heat" if you are interested in bringing temps up through food. It was a real eye-opener for me, and most of it is pretty obvious, but you will see the errors in drinking copious amounts of fluids and not eating enough solid food.
P.S. I no longer sleep in a sleeping bag in my bedroom. I have a space heater in my room to ensure the room is warm in the winter. I also have fleece/flannel sheets. And believe it or not, making your bed, and curling the top sheets under the mattress help keep the heat in- go figure! I guess our mothers were right about the importance making our bed.
