Abdominal Obesity - Where To Begin?

Iceman2016

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Hi everyone,

Being a regular lurker here for over a year now, I thought I'd jump in and ask for some help/advice.

I'm male, mid 40s, and since adopting a "peat" oriented diet about six months ago, I have gained approximately 20lbs with virtually all of it being in the stomach area. It's actually freaking my out a little as from my understanding abdominal/android fat accumulation is particularly dangerous with it being highly correlated with heart disease, diabetes, and other metabolic syndrome related health issues. I am about 5'11 and my waist measurement is currently 46 inches (as measured by measuring tape, not by my pant waist size). I was about 175-180lbs when I started peating and am now at 200lbs.

In addition to the weight gain, I have also been experiencing the following other issues:
  • Extreme exhaustion all the time -- I have never been this constantly tired/fatigued in my entire life.

  • Extreme lack of libido -- I have never been as disinterested in sex as I am now. I would "engage" about 1-3 times a day 6-7 days a week for most of my 20s and 30s (honestly, this is not an exageration). Now, I either don't have the desire or am too exhausted to follow through or a combination of both.
There are other health issues I'd like to address but I'll save those for other separate threads. Suffice it to say, in my 20s I took finasteride for hair loss for a 6-7 years straight along with multiple courses of accutane at various times for reducing sebum, minor acne, and hairloss and I'm sure these two drugs have had some part to play in the some of the issues I am now facing. I have been off of both drugs for about 14-15 years.

I haven't been keeping track of my temperature throughout the day but I normally feel cold all the time with cold hands and feet. My resting pulse is definitely low from a peat perspective ranging from the mid 50s to mid 60s.

I unfortunately don't have any lab results to post either though although I know that my testosterone and DHEA have been showing low normal to slightly below normal on and off for the last 15 years or so. Everything else was always "normal" according to the reference ranges however, I have no idea if TSH, prolactin, etc. have been within acceptable ranges from a peat perspective. I plan on getting a full panel of tests done soon and will be posting the results for feedback when I get them.

The only supplements I have been taking consistently have been 2 Alka Seltzers (for the ASA), 500mg niacinamide, and a tablespoon or two of gelatin before bed. I also take vitamin e (400iu gelcap) a couple times a week if I eat out and have a high PUFA meal. I have also taken taurine sporadically anywhere from 1-3g per day 3-5 days a week. I stopped taking the niacinamide about 4 weeks ago.

My diet consists of lots of milk and dairy, orange juice, fruit, occasional liver and oysters, various peat friendly seafood such as shrimp, lobster, mussels, crab, white fish, etc., occasional beef or other muscle meats (which have been reduced to improve phosphate to calcium ratios), gelatin, coffee, limited amounts of rice and potatoes, and occasional amounts of bread and pasta. I have also severely restricted PUFA as much as possible.

Any ideas as to where to begin to reverse this abdominal weight gain and the extreme fatigue? Should I be focusing on defatting my liver before I do anything else as seems to be discussed in this thread: Improving Liver Function Before Going Full Peat? Dealing With Abdominal Fat I remember seeing a post where Haidut has recommended his supplement Lapodin as being particularly effective in connection with reducing abdominal fat. Has anyone had positive experiences in this regard using Lapodin? Are the fatigue and libido issues related to or even caused by the abdominal fat or are they separate issues that need to be dealt with separately?

Any advice or input would be much appreciated!
 
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.

They talk about abdominal fat here.

My diet consists of lots of milk and dairy

"If you eat lots of butter or cream, it can make you fat"-RP

The cream in milk is still cream.

limited amounts of rice and potatoes

If it's limited then it's not the starch that's causing your abdominal fat gain.

“Some muscle-building resistance exercise might help to increase the anabolic ratio, reducing the belly fat.”-RP

Positive Peat Quotes On Exercise

It's actually freaking my out a little as from my understanding abdominal/android fat accumulation is particularly dangerous with it being highly correlated with heart disease, diabetes, and other metabolic syndrome related health issues.

If you have metabolic syndrome, that means what you're doing isn't working so you have to do something else to start to reverse it. The sooner the better. I'd lower my dairy fat intake and do resistance training.

Extreme lack of libido -- I have never been as disinterested in sex as I am now. I would "engage" about 1-3 times a day 6-7 days a week for most of my 20s and 30s (honestly, this is not an exageration). Now, I either don't have the desire or am too exhausted to follow through or a combination of both.

I think libido has more to do with how attracted you are to your partner(s) than anything else.

.
 
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Iceman2016

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.

They talk about abdominal fat here.



"If you eat lots of butter or cream, it can make you fat"-RP

The cream in milk is still cream.



If it's limited then it's not the starch that's causing your abdominal fat gain.

“Some muscle-building resistance exercise might help to increase the anabolic ratio, reducing the belly fat.”-RP

Positive Peat Quotes On Exercise



If you have metabolic syndrome, that means what you're doing isn't working so you have to do something else to start to reverse it. The sooner the better. I'd lower my dairy fat intake and do resistance training.



I think libido has more to do with how attracted you are to your partner(s) than anything else.

.

Thanks you for the links.

I'll definitely be incorporating some weight training into my schedule.

Do you think there is a difference between abdominal fat and gaining fat more evenly distributed across the rest of the body? I've seen many people who have gained weight everywhere but have retained a relatively flat stomach. Has Ray Peat ever commented on the difference between the two?

I have definitely been consuming saturated fat liberally without much thought. The thing that is odd is that I've always consumed a lot of fat but never experienced this level of abdominal weight gain till now. The only things I can think of that are obviously different is my decrease in PUFA consumption and dramatic increase in sugar consumption.

Any thoughts?
 
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Try to limit all your fat intake

Sugar as i believe will be converted to saturated fat

So you dont need any type of fat to be eaten

I have the problem since peating

Im trying now
 

DrJ

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@Iceman2016 It sounds like you're actually under the influence of cortisol. That would explain the fatigue, cold extremities, lack of libido, and storage of abdominal fat. A possibility is that your liver needs to get rehabilitated in order to store plenty of glycogen so that you don't exhaust your glycogen stores quickly and turn to cortisol for energy. I've had similar problems and it helps me to constantly sip juice all day, like a sip every 5-10min. This keeps your glycogen stores replenished if your liver is bad at storing glycogen and should inhibit the cortisol response. You should find that doing this helps keep your temperatures up if it's related to poor glycogen storage.

If you still can't get your temps and heart rate up, it may very well be that you won't get anywhere until you supplement T3.
 
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Iceman2016

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@Iceman2016 It sounds like you're actually under the influence of cortisol. That would explain the fatigue, cold extremities, lack of libido, and storage of abdominal fat. A possibility is that your liver needs to get rehabilitated in order to store plenty of glycogen so that you don't exhaust your glycogen stores quickly and turn to cortisol for energy. I've had similar problems and it helps me to constantly sip juice all day, like a sip every 5-10min. This keeps your glycogen stores replenished if your liver is bad at storing glycogen and should inhibit the cortisol response. You should find that doing this helps keep your temperatures up if it's related to poor glycogen storage.

If you still can't get your temps and heart rate up, it may very well be that you won't get anywhere until you supplement T3.

Thanks for the suggestion. Along with reducing my fat intake, incorporating some weight training, and walking more, I'm going to give sipping on juice throughout the day a shot. Since I've also read about having protein consistently throughout the day helps as well, would it possibly be a good idea to try sipping on some skim milk with or without some added sugar in place of or in addition the sips of juice? Just an idea... What do you think?

I recently acquired some of Haidut's supplements and am going to see if one oral dose per day of each of Energin and Estroban helps. I just took my first dose of each with lunch today.
 

DrJ

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Thanks for the suggestion. Along with reducing my fat intake, incorporating some weight training, and walking more, I'm going to give sipping on juice throughout the day a shot. Since I've also read about having protein consistently throughout the day helps as well, would it possibly be a good idea to try sipping on some skim milk with or without some added sugar in place of or in addition the sips of juice? Just an idea... What do you think?

Yeah definitely. Have you heard of the salted fruit milk?

Salted Fruit Milk

I sip that throughout the day when I have it, and otherwise I do orange juice.
 

beta pandemic

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stop drinking so much milk. i would say stop drinking fluid milk completely and stick to milk products like cheese if you think you really need it. i learned this the hard way.
 
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Iceman2016

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stop drinking so much milk. i would say stop drinking fluid milk completely and stick to milk products like cheese if you think you really need it. i learned this the hard way.

Beta, what is the reasoning for stopping liquid milk? It's basically the been the only easy, consistent way for me to be getting any significant amount of calcium and makes up a good amount of my protein intake without having to turn to muscle meats. What experiences made you turn away from liquid milk?

I only started drinking milk again since I started eating peaty. Before that, I hadn't really drank milk since I was a teenager.

What do you think of low/no fat cheeses, cottage cheese, and yogurt in terms of meeting protein and calcium needs?

Is calcium even as big an issue as I'm thinking it is? I can't say I've noticed anything positive about getting as much calcium as I have been.
 

beta pandemic

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i will try to keep this as short and to the point as possible. as a man im sure you will appreciate practicality and directness.

so according to your post you've been getting protein + calcium from milk mainly for a few solid months now what has that done for you? seems like hasnt done much good. for your waistline libido etc. which is why i suggest you stop the large quantities of milk. i did the whole 2 quarts of cows milk + orange juice and failed. most people fail with this. it simply doesnt work and is not practical to consume that much fluid day in day out.

i agree with mr peat that protein is extremely important especially for (chronically) ill individuals.i think the best source of protein is seafood. regardless of what rays (or the community/'science') opinion is on naturally occuring pufa in seafood my personal experience is that it is superior to dairy for me. sardines are a great source of calcium if you're worried about that. vegetables are good too but they are not worth the cost:calorie so i dont bother to eat them.

its important to eat 3-4 solid filling/satisfying meals a day. note how you feel after each meal. do you feel good? or do you feel ***t/bloated/unsatisfied? go from there.
 

DaveFoster

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Thanks for the link. Is the inhibition of HSD11B1 and therefore corticosteroids a tested mechanism by which to reduce belly fat? Is licorice an acceptable substance to use to achieve this effect?
Emodin inhibits 11-beta HSD1; niacinamide inhibits the former enzyme as well as 11-beta HSD2.

You have a low pulse, low temp, and no labs, and you're wondering how the "Peat diet" made you fat. Take your pulse and your temp at least. And get your pulse above 80, ideally 85-90, and get your temp to 98.6.
 
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Iceman2016

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Emodin inhibits 11-beta HSD1; niacinamide inhibits the former enzyme as well as 11-beta HSD2.

You have a low pulse, low temp, and no labs, and you're wondering how the "Peat diet" made you fat. Take your pulse and your temp at least. And get your pulse above 80, ideally 85-90, and get your temp to 98.6.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

The reason I dropped the niacinamide recently and have contemplated dropping aspirin as well has been from what I have read recently from a few threads about how using niacinamide and aspirin should be postponed until ones liver function has been restored. Do you agree with this? One the threads is in my original post.

In any case, I started taking my temps and resting pulse and seem to be averaging a temp of 97-97.5 and a resting pulse of 70-75. I'll be tracking both of these closely moving forward.
 

Drareg

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Thanks for the link. Is the inhibition of HSD11B1 and therefore corticosteroids a tested mechanism by which to reduce belly fat? Is licorice an acceptable substance to use to achieve this effect?

No but good to keep in mind as research unfolds ,liquorice root is not a plus in your case I think.
 

DaveFoster

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Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

The reason I dropped the niacinamide recently and have contemplated dropping aspirin as well has been from what I have read recently from a few threads about how using niacinamide and aspirin should be postponed until ones liver function has been restored. Do you agree with this? One the threads is in my original post.

In any case, I started taking my temps and resting pulse and seem to be averaging a temp of 97-97.5 and a resting pulse of 70-75. I'll be tracking both of these closely moving forward.
Niacinamide can elevate your enzymes, as it raises liver poly (ADP-ribose). They used 9.6 grams to induce damage, but smaller doses will also do some damage. Doses under 500 mg/day should have no noticeable effect unless you have liver disease, and certainly 25-300 mg should be beneficial and very safe in the absence of liver disease.
 

Tarmander

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You can focus on lots of different things, it's tough to know where to start. The question isn't so much where to start to lower abdominal fat, but where to start to lower stress so your body doesn't not want the abdominal fat. Make no mistake, your body wants it there in its current condition

I have found focusing on digestion to have immense gains in health associated with the gathering of new information. Start a food journal, find safe foods, safe combinations, that kind of thing. Use experiences like bloating or diarrhea or constipation as indications of unsafe things, at least for the moment. Sometimes it takes day, weeks, or even months to nail down exactly what is doing what. So having a very predictable food schedule is needed if you want to learn this stuff in any kind of quick manner. I know it's not you, but I wonder how people who eat out a lot can tell anything at all.

My experience has been that you can take all the different substances and vitamins, but until you get the digestion the best it can be, you'll always feel pulled down on any progress you make. Start stop start stop.
 
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Ya... its more simple then u think. Check ur vit d its prob low. Then get enough potassium magnesium and sodium. Your prob lacking in potassium I think the numb is 4700mg a day.
 

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