A New Day, A New Start

Luann

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I wanted to make a new blog so I don't have to muddle through all the pages I wrote when I started here at the RPF.

I've been on the forum and incorporating diet and lifestyle ideas from it, for something like five years now.

My environment: I am privileged to be able to lead a pretty healthy lifestyle, and I make an effort to simplify life, take it easy, and seek out activities and atmospheres that make me feel creative, curious, or relaxed.

Things that I am here to improve: sleeplessness, dental health, and occasional migraines.

I hope to see you guys around both in my updates and on your logs and new findings. I've learned so much from this community. Will be back soon to make updates.

This is an edited version of my first entry on this log, since I am trying to shrink my online presence a little bit. Feel free to message or post with questions.
 
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Blossom

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I wanted to make a new blog so I don't have to muddle through all the pages I wrote when I started here at the RPF. A lot that I wrote about back then, doesn't apply to my life anymore. I've worked on myself as a person, as a Christian, and as a woman. But as far as I'd like to think I've come, there's a long way to go. So here is a mile-marker of where I am and what I'm doing these days.

Diet: I am open to many foods. I get about 2100 calories a day from several glasses of skim milk, as well as vegetables and root veggies, salted white rice, mushrooms, liver, fruits, orange juice, sodas, and my favorite: fruit slice candy. Not to mention fat-free cheese and yogurt.

The supplements I take: K2, biotin, copper, glycine, silica, and mixed tocopherols.

Cosmetics and chemicals: I try not to use unhealthy things on my skin. I have a couple makeup tricks, like artist's charcoal for my eyes and coconut oil "chapstick". I use shampoo but want to make my own using less ingredients and incorporating collagen or glycine. Baking soda is a great deodorant and toothpaste.

Other influences: Some tense family relationships but mostly things are pretty normal. Not in a relationship right now, my fiance and I broke up, am interested in dating again. I work full time retail, which means lots of blue light and WiFi fields, but that's about the least healthy part of my life. I listen to positive music and try to avoid degrading or offensive stuff.

General health:
My dental health could be better, and I have some cavities. Hopefully they will improve with my diet. Other than that, everything's good. I am at a healthy weight and I eat enough and have a pretty good memory.

The most helpful things I have done for myself since starting the Ray Peat diet:

Buying a car. The esteem boost and the independence of getting more foods and supplements when I need them, has been immeasurable. Starting silica: my skin is better, my mouth feels cleaner, and I feel that so much harmful stuff is being released from my body. Washing my hair and ending no-shampoo. There really is nothing that replaces feeling clean and attractive.

I hope to see you guys around both in my updates and on your logs and new findings. I've learned so much from this community. Will be back soon to make updates.
I'm excited about your new blog! Congratulations on all the positive changes.
 

Aaron

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Thanks for your update and I'm glad life is going well. I agree that being able to drive is great - I had a DUI car crash and lost my driving privileges for a few months. It was psychologically torturous.

I'm curious - how much silica do you take and why do you take glycine instead of something like a collagen hydrosylate supplement? Also, I'm taking a multi EOD that has 2mg copper (cupric oxide) with my 50mg zinc sulfate. I always think about copper in the context of balancing with zinc. Do you think this is enough copper?
 

michael94

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I see you've taken to the digital confession box, I can respect that...

Nice to see you post again Liubo
 

InChristAlone

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What things do you think could be improved upon? (I don't know your history at all). Sounds like you are doing well.
 

Blossom

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Haha. Well I hope I don't sound too works-based, I know I reference my personal growth but I have to give the credit and the glory to God.

It's nice to be back.
:claporange:dancenanner:partydance
That's beautiful.
 

meatbag

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The supplements I take: K2, biotin, copper, glycine, silica, and mixed tocopherols.

I'm not sure if you had seen what Peat had to say about silica, I think he said a person can get all the silicon they need from liver, eggs, etc I think same with copper and biotin. Have you checked out that supplement interview from awhile back, I thought it was really good;


Silica:
RAY PEAT: Well, the FDA recognized that problem 60 years ago. And the literature is full of published reactions to all of those gums Carrageenan and alginate from seaweed are probably the worst of them. Carrageenan is recognized to be carcinogenic to the intestine and liver and it produces information. It’s a standard lab method for producing arthritis or inflammation of any organ that they want to study, but the assumption, I guess, is that if it only irritates the intestine and causes cancer in the liver that is tolerable, but what they’re neglecting is that these particles or fibers, even much bigger than the molecules that have the gum function, particles of that size are fairly massively passed through the intestine. If you imagine that when a person is under stress, even bacteria and larger particles, up to size of a red blood cell or larger, can go right from the intestine into the bloodstream where then the immune system has direct interaction with them. And if the particle is big enough, it can stop the flow through a capillary or arterial. So small additives aren't going to stay entirely in the intestine. The particles of silicon dioxide, people say, ‘oh, that’s just harmless, sand-like material,’ but when it's produced by vaporization or precipitation, they might call it fumed silica or colloidal silica.
JOHN BARKHAUSEN: What’s it used for?
RAY PEAT: Almost everything. They can use it to create a viscous consistency in cosmetics and soaps and any food that needs a new texture. It’s almost all vitamins and drugs are now using that or something like it to make the powder flow nicely when they run it through the machine. And it’s basically a very finely powdered glass. With the powder, it’s much smaller than the particles of starch, for example, that can be preserved across into the bloodstream. And at a certain size, they very easily go from the blood into tissue cells. And at a certain size range, they are very able to cause sensitization, so that something like silicosis – even though it’s supposedly being amorphous rather than crystalline, supposedly they aren’t going to cause the silicosis -like reaction, the things that people get from the silicone implants and so on. But there is an actual immunological similarity and overlap when the particles are of a certain size. And there are various names for that, but silicon dioxide or silica is the basic description.
JOHN BARKHAUSEN: Yeah. And so, that gets into your tissues and it causes...
RAY PEAT: Chronic inflammation.
JOHN BARKHAUSEN: Okay.
RAY PEAT: Degenerative inflammatory changes such as lupus-like symptoms, scleroderma is probably the most common thing caused by the silica reaction.

From Email Advice:

"i asked dr peat about silicon" :

Dr Peat said:
"I recommend many foods containing considerable amounts of silicon, such as meats, liver, shell fish, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms, but there are many products on the market that contain silicon in forms that can be harmful."

-Ray Peat Email Advice Depository

"asked him about silicon's nutrition value for connective tissue health and he replied":

"I don’t think silicon is safe, or has value as a nutrient".-RP

-Ray Peat Email Advice Depository

Copper:

ANDREW MURRAY: How about graying hair? Most commonly you see that as a sign of aging but not necessarily so?
RAY PEAT: Yeah, I have seen DHEA correct it pretty quickly. The enzyme that creates the melanin pigment uses copper as a catalyst. Probably the best food for increasing your copper, while decreasing your iron — which competes against the copper — is shellfish. Shrimp, clams, lobster, crab, squid — all of those have a high copper content, not an excess of iron.
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: I think contrary to popular opinion about shellfish they’re actually lower on the food chain, so they’re lower in heavy metals and other contaminants than fish are. Just from a personal note since I started eating a serving of shellfish once a week three years ago, I haven’t noticed any new gray hairs starting — the same ones that had already started, unfortunately when I was 30, are still there, they haven’t reversed. I haven’t noticed it continuing to spread, so it does work, making sure you get your copper intake balanced. In the form of shellfish it’s quite balanced. RAY PEAT: Iron accumulates with aging. If a person is going to eat foods that are very high in iron, such as meat or liver, I think it’s helpful in the long run to have some coffee right at the same time you’re having meat so you don’t absorb all of the iron.
ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, iron is a quite damaging iron itself, isn’t it, it’s very pro- inflammatory and oxidative…
RAY PEAT: Yeah, it attacks and interacts with the polyunsaturated fats, and it tends to increase your serotonin.
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: Isn’t that, you’ve mentioned lipofuscin.
RAY PEAT: Oh, yeah, it’s formed by the oxidation, chronically, of polyunsaturated fats interacting with iron and estrogen are the main…
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: Just for our vegetarian listeners- -are there vegetables that are particularly high in copper? A vegetable source?
RAY PEAT: None that I know of.
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: What about eggs, do eggs have any copper in them?
RAY PEAT: Not enough to count.
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: What about seaweed, does it have any copper?
RAY PEAT: Yeah but you would probably get a toxic amount of iodine.
SARAH JOHANNESEN MURRAY: Lead and heavy metals and too much of that.
RAY PEAT: Yeah, the seaweed is not very discriminatory.
-Ray Peat

RAY PEAT: Yeah. And taking a supplement of free metal – iron, zinc or copper in the form of a free metal – it can interact with nutrients in your digestive system and oxidize them. But iron is the worst one to take as a supplement.
Ray Peat
 
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Luann

Luann

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I do remember watching that video, but unfortunately I just didn't get a feel for why he didn't think that copper supplements weren't safe? Anyway, the copper I take is usually bound to an amino acid...I highly value your warning, though, and actually I"m looking for more information on the safest ways to get more copper.

I'd be taking liver except I can't get any good stuff right now.
 

meatbag

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I do remember watching that video, but unfortunately I just didn't get a feel for why he didn't think that copper supplements weren't safe? Anyway, the copper I take is usually bound to an amino acid...I highly value your warning, though, and actually I"m looking for more information on the safest ways to get more copper.

I'd be taking liver except I can't get any good stuff right now.

Yeah I know what you mean, bad liver sucks. I think he is saying that supplements of the metals can be dangerous and its safer to get them from food. It seems like shellfish and seafood might be a good source, I think mushrooms had decent amount o actually if you eat the amounts Peat recommends to some people.

"HD: How about graying hair? Most commonly you see that as a sign of aging but not necessarily so?

RP: Yeah, I have seen DHEA correct it pretty quickly. The enzyme that creates the melanin pigment uses copper as a catalyst. Probably the best food for increasing your copper, while decreasing your iron — which competes against the copper — is shellfish. Shrimp, clams, lobster, crab, squid — all of those have a high copper content, not an excess of iron.

HD: I think contrary to popular opinion about shellfish they’re actually lower on the food chain, so they’re lower in heavy metals and other contaminants than fish are. Just from a personal note since I started eating a serving of shellfish once a week three years ago, I haven’t noticed any new gray hairs starting — the same ones that had already started, unfortunately when I was 30, are still there, they haven’t reversed. I haven’t noticed it continuing to spread, so it does work, making sure you get your copper intake balanced. In the form of shellfish it’s quite balanced.

RP: Iron accumulates with aging. If a person is going to eat foods that are very high in iron, such as meat or liver, I think it’s helpful in the long run to have some coffee right at the same time you’re having meat so you don’t absorb all of the iron.

HD: Yeah, iron is a quite damaging ion itself, isn’t it, it’s very pro-inflammatory and oxidative…

RP: Yeah, it attacks and interacts with the polyunsaturated fats, and it tends to increase your serotonin.

HD: Isn’t that, you’ve mentioned lipofuscin.

RP: Oh, yeah, it’s formed by the oxidation, chronically, of polyunsaturated fats interacting with iron and estrogen are the main…

HD: Just for our vegetarian listeners--are there vegetables that are particularly high in copper? A vegetable source?

RP: None that I know of.

HD: What about eggs, do eggs have any copper in them?

RP: Not enough to count.

HD: What about seaweed, does it have any copper?

RP: Yeah but you would probably get a toxic amount of iodine.

HD: Lead and heavy metals and too much of that.

RP: Yeah, the seaweed is not very discriminatory.

HD: On what metals it picks up?

RP: Yeah."
-KMUD: Hair Loss, Inflammation and Osteoporosis (2012)
 
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Luann

Luann

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I really find the last part of this interview amusing.

The interviewer is talking about vegetable copper, like..."well what about"...

Ray Peat: NOPE. And nope again.

I also have to say that veggies aren't a great source of copper without a pill, or liver, to supplement. And at some point I get sick of mushrooms.

Actually meatbag, I followed advice I saw on RPF yesterday to soak the liver in lemon juice for a couple of hours before cooking, and then use adequate C.O. to fry with onions. You wouldn't believe what a difference it made! It actually tasted decent, and I 10 / 10 would it eat like this again.
 
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Luann

Luann

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Recipe I want to try! -

I'm going to call it Feijao rice.

1 cup of short grain rice
broth from a can of black beans
2 tablespoon of salsa
little bit of lettuce
some low-fat cheese or sour cream
1 tbsp of chicken or beef broth
tsp of coconut oil
an egg or egg white

Cook rice, add your bean and meat broths and simmer. Fry your egg or egg white in coconut oil, then chop and stir into your rice. Add cheese or sour cream, salsa, and lettuce. Can't wait to try this!
 
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Luann

Luann

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What experience do you members have with vitamin C deficiency?
I don't love orange juice but I drink it sometimes. It has been my only real source of vitamin C for probably a year and a half now. I also just found out that its vitamin C content may be lower than I thought due to the processing. I think my ceruloplasmin or copper status is still low and I'm looking for answers, or confirmation that vitamin C is a cofactor I'm missing.
 
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Luann

Luann

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Hi members.
I'm switching from a B-complex I was taking that had niacin, to one with niacinamide. It's a little more expensive but the complex I took for a week (with niacin) made me feel so tired that I couldn't make decisions, didn't want to get out of bed etc. All else seems equal so the niacin seems likely culprit? Well, let's hope I have a little more energy this week.
 
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Luann

Luann

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First day result from the niacinamide B-complex: I woke up with a headache again! :( I'm taking the supp in the early evening. Maybe should take it during the day so I can eat while it is in my system.
Caffeine and glycine took the headache away thankfully. Also I don't feel as tired as yesterday after taking the B-complex with niacin.
I also wonder if being dehydrated has something to do with my morning headaches. Just a hunch.
 
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Luann

Luann

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My above post was about getting headaches, but I wanted to check in to say I haven't needed a sick day from work all year.
(I called in a couple times, but not because I was sick.)
I have had headaches, colds, sinus issues, and mild depression / depersonalized feelings at times. I've had fatigue and stomach aches. I pulled a shoulder muscle twice.
But not once have I needed the whole day to recover.
I should also add that the highest dose of painkiller I took this year, for any problem, was 2 tablets or 400mg of Ibuprofen.
I have really been blessed.
 
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Luann

Luann

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"I wonder honestly what we did till we loved. Were we just kids til then?"
john donne, not quite word for word.
 
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Luann

Luann

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I've been meeting calorie needs much better the last week or two. Foods that have helped me: instant mashed potatoes, applesauce, pop, beer, rice Krispies, tomato soup. There are these great wasabi coconut chips at my grocery store too. These foods have been really convenient for mid-day, mid-work, mid-whatever snacks that don't take long to eat.
 
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Luann

Luann

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Good temperatures,but no appetite!
I've been very busy at work, and I feel good most of the time and sleep deeply! But a small plate of food fills me up :/
 

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