Absolutely No Desire To Eat But Intense PUFA Cravings

[lampofred]

I am a 20-year old male who weights 160 pounds, and I can't force myself to eat more than 15oo calories a day, which is pathetic. I force myself to cook, but as soon as I take the first 2-3 bites, I am sick of it, and can't eat anymore. My daily diet basically just consists of coca-cola and milk. I am not anorexic because I don't care about weight gain, but I get hungry very rarely and whenever I do get hungry, my appetite completely disappears after 1 glass of milk/a few bites of potates/a glass of coca-cola/etc.

This is unhealthy because I am often cold and stressed with dry skin, but I can't force myself to eat. I do have these insane cravings for PUFA, though, and could eat buckets of those if I wanted to do so. The thought of hash browns, curly fries, chicken wings, is literally making me salivate as I'm typing this. Also, my cravings are definitely for PUFA and not anything else. Fries are PUFA + potato + salt, but mashed potatoes with loads of butter and salt do nothing for me. Chick-fil-a waffle fries are not nearly as appealing as Arby's/Jack-in-the-box curly fries fried to a crisp and dripping with oil (I looked up the fat content of all commercial fries, and guess what... Arby's and Jack-in-the-box have the highest fat content). Before anyone says "if you're actually craving the oil, then you'd want to drink it from the bottle," consider that people who crave sugar crave soda/dessert and not white sugar, people who crave salt crave chips/crackers/popcorn and not raw salt, people who crave iron crave red meat but don't want to bite pots and pans.

Peat mentions cravings are a good guide as to what to eat, but does he ever talk about PUFA cravings? My PUFA cravings remind me of how most people crave sugar but deprive themselves because they think it's terrible for them. And how does one increase appetite? I suspect estrogen/serotonin are the issues, but I can't figure out how to lower them.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Such_Saturation]

Have you tried eating just curly fries and chicken?

 

[lampofred]

Have you tried eating just curly fries and chicken?

I used to when I had these cravings, and they went away whenever I indulged. But they come back every week/two weeks, and I don't know if it's just inertia that my body is trying to suppress any improvement in metabolism because of low resources/nutrients or if Peat is wrong and PUFA really is essential.

 

[encerent]

cook your own fries and chicken in coconut oil?

 

[grenade]

Try the following:

pork rinds fried in its own pig fat,

homemade nachoes (split up corn
tortillas fried in coconut oil or beef lard, layered with ground beef, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, pepper slices, lots of salt),

homemade hashbrowns using coconut oil, butter, or lard,

homemade fries cooked in one of the aforementioned oils,

a nice fatty steak like rib-eye.

You can get the savory, greasy, salty foods without venturing into PUFA-laden dishes.

 

[lampofred]

cook your own fries and chicken in coconut oil?

I tried making fries with coconut oil, but it's just not the same...

 

[theLaw]

Hey Lampofred,

It sounds like you are basically starving yourself.........something that I did for over a year until I figured out what was going on.

If I were in this situation, here is what I would do:

1. Eat whatever you need to fight another day. A week's worth of gorging on PUFA is not going to kill you, and it's better than starving. Just try to feel normal again. Small meals throughout the day (very limited starch)

2. Salt (T per day - making salt pills with gel caps is the easiest way to take it spread throughout the day each hour) - this will help lower your adrenaline, and increase your appetite + improve digestion

3. Buy some of Idealabs Vitamin E (Tocovit) and start taking it to convert unsaturated fats to saturated fats while you transition from high-pufa to low-pufa

4. Activated charcoal to clear out your gut bacteria (this bacteria might be causing your cravings)

5. Give yourself a break, and don't worry about diet all the time - You'll notice that Peat is not a food nazi when asked for advice,and actually suggests non-Peat foods to improve health

Cheers!

 

[Such_Saturation]

I tried making fries with coconut oil, but it's just not the same...

Have you tried with peanut oil or canola oil? (spoiler still won't be the same)

 

[tankasnowgod]

The thought of hash browns, curly fries, chicken wings, is literally making me salivate as I'm typing this. Also, my cravings are definitely for PUFA and not anything else. Fries are PUFA + potato + salt, but mashed potatoes with loads of butter and salt do nothing for me. Chick-fil-a waffle fries are not nearly as appealing as Arby's/Jack-in-the-box curly fries fried to a crisp and dripping with oil (I looked up the fat content of all commercial fries, and guess what... Arby's and Jack-in-the-box have the highest fat content). Before anyone says "if you're actually craving the oil, then you'd want to drink it from the bottle," consider that people who crave sugar crave soda/dessert and not white sugar, people who crave salt crave chips/crackers/popcorn and not raw salt, people who crave iron crave red meat but don't want to bite pots and pans.

Dude, that's not necessarily PUFA, it's fried food. You can cook all those things in tallow or coconut oil, or fry up hash browns in butter. Almost all restaurants just happen to use high PUFA oils because they are "healthier." Although at this point, it's prolly cause they are cheaper or more subsidized.

 

[lampofred]

Hey Lampofred,

It sounds like you are basically starving yourself.........something that I did for over a year until I figured out what was going on.

If I were in this situation, here is what I would do:

1. Eat whatever you need to fight another day. A week's worth of gorging on PUFA is not going to kill you, and it's better than starving. Just try to feel normal again. Small meals throughout the day (very limited starch)

2. Salt (T per day - making salt pills with gel caps is the easiest way to take it spread throughout the day each hour) - this will help lower your adrenaline, and increase your appetite + improve digestion

3. Buy some of Idealabs Vitamin E (Tocovit) and start taking it to convert unsaturated fats to saturated fats while you transition from high-pufa to low-pufa

4. Activated charcoal to clear out your gut bacteria (this bacteria might be causing your cravings)

5. Give yourself a break, and don't worry about diet all the time - You'll notice that Peat is not a food nazi when asked for advice,and actually suggests non-Peat foods to improve health

Cheers!

Thank you for this, this is a good plan. I really need to eat and it seems like PUFA is the only way I can do it, and you outlined a nice way to transition out of it

 

[lampofred]

Have you tried with peanut oil or canola oil? (spoiler still won't be the same)

True. Maybe it's just purely psychological in that I just want what I "can't" have.

 

[Such_Saturation]

True. Maybe it's just purely psychological in that I just want what I "can't" have.

I have a thing where I take a tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil and put lots of fine salt on it and eat it. It's extremely tasty and has both fat and salt. I find it helps me separate those cravings from other cravings that might be going on.

 

[Tarmander]

Are you on stimulants or anything like that?

Do you go to bed at a reasonable hour, like 8pm - 10pm and wake up 6-8am, getting 8 hours of sleep a night?

Do you get sun light during the day, or are you stuck in front of a screen?

I have seen people crave pufa before and they seem to be on some weird stressful loop and PUFA makes them feel better by slowing them down.

 

[passivity]

Dude, that's not necessarily PUFA, it's fried food. You can cook all those things in tallow or coconut oil, or fry up hash browns in butter. Almost all restaurants just happen to use high PUFA oils because they are "healthier." Although at this point, it's prolly cause they are cheaper or more subsidized.

Exactly! I eat fries made on butter and ice cream (peaty) everyday and pork/ homemade fried chicken every two weeks

yes, I know I should use coconut oil instead but f*ck the police

 

[lampofred]

Are you on stimulants or anything like that?

Do you go to bed at a reasonable hour, like 8pm - 10pm and wake up 6-8am, getting 8 hours of sleep a night?

Do you get sun light during the day, or are you stuck in front of a screen?

I have seen people crave pufa before and they seem to be on some weird stressful loop and PUFA makes them feel better by slowing them down.

I guess a lifestyle change is necessary. I pull all-nighters multiple times a week just because I want to. My circadian rhythm is completely messed up.

But one of the reasons I avoid PUFA is so my body can handle those erratic stresses better, since I hate having to stick to a routine. That, and I absolutely love the nighttime even though apparently darkness is a huge stress according to Peat. But maybe messing with your circadian rhythm is just too stressful to the body. I'll definitely try reducing stress and seeing how that affects my PUFA cravings.

 

[passivity]

I guess a lifestyle change is necessary. I pull all-nighters multiple times a week just because I want to. My circadian rhythm is completely messed up.

But one of the reasons I avoid PUFA is so my body can handle those erratic stresses better, since I hate having to stick to a routine. That, and I absolutely love the nighttime even though apparently darkness is a huge stress according to Peat. But maybe messing with your circadian rhythm is just too stressful to the body. I'll definitely try reducing stress and seeing how that affects my PUFA cravings.

Try some chicharrones! (pork rinds)

 

[Such_Saturation]

I think @tyw has talked about a method to reset the clock using food

 

[Tarmander]

My circadian rhythm is completely messed up.

Bingo bango

Your natural appetite will come back with your relaxation and natural tiredness. You are a tired guy, it's probably too scary to face. Staying up late and through the night excites you, makes things not seem so bad. I am guessing a regular schedule would be maddening to you, like withdrawals.

If you can go camping for like 5 days, it would be very helpful to get your reset with the sun, and then incorporating that back into your life. Question is, do you want to change it before it really hurts? Or wait?

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Peat mentions cravings are a good guide as to what to eat, but does he ever talk about PUFA cravings?

It's impossible to crave pufa just like it's impossible to crave any other fat. If you really craved pufa you would just swallow a cup of safflower oil. It's not pufa you crave, it's salt. We only crave two things: salt and sweet. We can have salty or sweet fat, salty or sweet protein and salty or sweet sugar. Ice cream is a sweet fat while butter and salted nuts are salty fats. Fat without salt would make most people vomit like salt free butter and no salt nuts or trying to swallow pure oils. Compare salty pickles vs. salty potatoes and both can satisfy a salt craving but the potatoes will satiate sugar needs and glycogen replenishment and sugar for the brain whereas the pickles will not because they are just fiber.

.

 

[lampofred]

Staying up late and through the night excites you

I am guessing a regular schedule would be maddening to you, like withdrawals.

Piercingly accurate...

I need to fix my sleep schedule asap.