Dear members of this forum,
like many other new members I have been reading a host of threads for the last several weeks and months (Charlie, this explains the increased traffic ;-)), and would now like to become part of this great community. Given the risk that this lengthy post will not be read completely, I would like to thank all of you in the first place. I think I have learnt a lot which I would not have been able to distill from Peat's articles and interviews unless spending further 5 years or so. The kind of condensed forum knowledge with its direct connections between relevant aspects, combined with your willingness to help, is really impressing. I would also like to thank Haidut in particular for sharing his seemingly infinite knowledge and providing supplements I trust!
And here is a "brief" introduction of myself - what has brought me to Ray Peat/to this forum?
I am male, aged 32, and 190 cm in height, with a history of nutritional experiments since 2002, always motivated by improving skin conditions. In adolescence I had pretty good skin for that age. Things changed, however, after a longer period of daily PUFA-rich food in my 18s/19s. First, I developed only seborrheic eczema lateral to my nose, which could be brought under control using an ointment (Parfenac). About 1.5 years later, I experienced the first time in my life a severe acne flare in the area of my neck and back. On the internet they claimed that low-carb nutrition would ultimately fix skin problems. LOL. Furthermore, a physician gave me freely available benzoyl peroxide for skin peeling. Over the subsequent 10 years I had the low-carb idea always in my mind, and also continued to rely on skin peeling to control my skin conditions. As to the low-carb thing, there were episodes where I took it very seriously (only raw veggies and beans) but most of the time I also ate white rice, pasta, bread, oats, etc. It more or less depended on my skin. Good skin meant room for upping carbohydrates. But I was chronically low in protein. Mostly plant derived, I assume I did not get more than 40-50 g per day. In 2013, when my skin was very bad, I ended up with green smoothies, and reached the border of underweight (74 kg; my normal weight might be about 82 kg.
In early 2014, I made an even bigger mistake: I read the book "The clear skin diet" by Logan & Treloar, thus, over the next 10 months, I ate oily fish on a daily basis and also took omega-3 capsules. I did everything to get as much omega-3 fatty acids as possible because they were supposed to help my skin soooo much. This episode was accompanied by even worse skin: many bumps, especially after sun exposure; what a surprise ;-) As a side effect, I likely have accumulated toxic heavy metals. So, again, I looked on the internet (like literally 100 times before, in all those years), but this time I LUCKILY found Ray Peat's ideas. This was in November 2014. Next day I went shopping: beef liver, milk, quark, eggs, ingredients for bone broth, coconut flakes. 180° turn, probably too fast, and with major gaps in knowledge, leading to different problems. But after a few days I discovered that I did not have difficulty with bowel movements and flatulence anymore. This was very unusual!!! Also, my skin changed: acne-like things were rare, however, hyperkeratosis got worse over time. So I still have to fight hard to keep things under control. I guess, this will be the case for another few years until I find a way of restoring my metabolism (see below).
Unfortunately, my first year on a Peatish diet was misled in that I used a lot of refined sugar (up to 200 g per day) without adequate micronutrients. Though I supplemented a higher-dose vitamin B complex it was very naive to assume that this may work. I gained about 10 kg and ruined some of my teeth (some crumbling) probably by drinking orange juice without rinsing, etc., leaking minerals. I read this problem is well known on the forum.
Another mistake: I drank about 5 to 8 liters extra water daily which I had started in 2010 after my fourth temporary hearing loss (luckily recovered each time). I thought drinking water beyond thirst was necessary to keep my blood thin.
Well, the first year should not have been completely lost since I deliberately avoided PUFAs (besides those contained in two daily eggs, milk, and coconut oil).
Just two weeks ago, I made the followowing adjustments: Virtually no refined sugar anymore (except for a negligible teaspoon with coffee every other day, otherwise: zero). All carbohydrates come from orange juice (about 1.5 - 2 liters), 1.5% milk (about 2 - 2.5 liters), fruit, potatoes and sometimes white rice (when eating liver). No apples anymore. No extra water anymore. Two eggs daily. Introduction of oysters into my diet: Six oysters (should equal about 100 g?) per week in divided doses (every other day). Beef liver intake per week: 3 slices (on different days). My supplementing regimen now consists of one serving of EstroBan and Energin each, and 4 drops of Oxidal (1.6 mg methylene blue). In order to get enough magnesium, I use daily footbaths with magnesium chloride and take 200-400 mg magnesium glycinate orally; plus green-leaf broths once or twice a week. On some days I take 250 mg aspirin. When drinking a cup of orange juice I immediately drink (and rinse with) a cup of milk, so orange juice will only have about 10 seconds or so to demineralize my teeth, and the carb/protein ratio is higher. I got a pH meter to more closely investigate the pH of my saliva, milk, other food, and related pH time courses. A project for the next weekend. Gelatine is lacking. Once after eating gelatine, I got two very deep bumps the day after, which was very unusual in several respects, so I do not belief in coincidence here. I bought glycine a few days ago but did not dare to take it yet.
Since I am chronically deficient in sunlight (especially the last 2 years) and experience accelerated hair recession I started to use Red Light Man's 100W red light device featuring 610/630/660/680 nm wavelengths and a 14W 850nm security LED device (for thyroid/joints) one week ago. I have also been using a 250W heat lamp for two afternoons/evenings now. Moreover, all my energy-saving bulbs will be replaced by 100W incandescents in a few days. I thought they had been banned in Europe, but no problem to order them via Amazon. Of course, I am also going to use regular sunlight after winter, since I no longer reduce sun to mere synthesis of vitamin D3.
My post is already quite long, so for now I would only like to add that I am hypo-metabolic. I have been measuring my basal body temperature for several months. One month after starting the pseudo-Peatish diet ("pseudo" due to the high amounts of unbalanced white sugar) I usually had a basal body temperature of about 97.2° F (measured according to Barnes). I do not know how it was the years before. Temperature did not rise in the course of the next 7 months despite excess carbohydrates, which is why I started supplementing NDT (and later synthetic T3 only) back in June 2015. Two weeks ago I needed to stop altogether. I will write about that in another thread soon. Though having been on thyroid supplements until recently, my body temperature has always remained at about the same level. It was, and is again, about 97.2° F on average. I will attach a chart next time.
Particularly inspired by VoS's and Haidut's posts, I am now trying to fix my problems using alternative ways (methylene blue, niacinamide, even more coffee and caffeine tablets). But maybe it will simply be the recently refined diet, together with sunlight and red light, that might give me better health after so many years of struggling which I am increasingly tired of.
Thank you very much for reading!
like many other new members I have been reading a host of threads for the last several weeks and months (Charlie, this explains the increased traffic ;-)), and would now like to become part of this great community. Given the risk that this lengthy post will not be read completely, I would like to thank all of you in the first place. I think I have learnt a lot which I would not have been able to distill from Peat's articles and interviews unless spending further 5 years or so. The kind of condensed forum knowledge with its direct connections between relevant aspects, combined with your willingness to help, is really impressing. I would also like to thank Haidut in particular for sharing his seemingly infinite knowledge and providing supplements I trust!
And here is a "brief" introduction of myself - what has brought me to Ray Peat/to this forum?
I am male, aged 32, and 190 cm in height, with a history of nutritional experiments since 2002, always motivated by improving skin conditions. In adolescence I had pretty good skin for that age. Things changed, however, after a longer period of daily PUFA-rich food in my 18s/19s. First, I developed only seborrheic eczema lateral to my nose, which could be brought under control using an ointment (Parfenac). About 1.5 years later, I experienced the first time in my life a severe acne flare in the area of my neck and back. On the internet they claimed that low-carb nutrition would ultimately fix skin problems. LOL. Furthermore, a physician gave me freely available benzoyl peroxide for skin peeling. Over the subsequent 10 years I had the low-carb idea always in my mind, and also continued to rely on skin peeling to control my skin conditions. As to the low-carb thing, there were episodes where I took it very seriously (only raw veggies and beans) but most of the time I also ate white rice, pasta, bread, oats, etc. It more or less depended on my skin. Good skin meant room for upping carbohydrates. But I was chronically low in protein. Mostly plant derived, I assume I did not get more than 40-50 g per day. In 2013, when my skin was very bad, I ended up with green smoothies, and reached the border of underweight (74 kg; my normal weight might be about 82 kg.
In early 2014, I made an even bigger mistake: I read the book "The clear skin diet" by Logan & Treloar, thus, over the next 10 months, I ate oily fish on a daily basis and also took omega-3 capsules. I did everything to get as much omega-3 fatty acids as possible because they were supposed to help my skin soooo much. This episode was accompanied by even worse skin: many bumps, especially after sun exposure; what a surprise ;-) As a side effect, I likely have accumulated toxic heavy metals. So, again, I looked on the internet (like literally 100 times before, in all those years), but this time I LUCKILY found Ray Peat's ideas. This was in November 2014. Next day I went shopping: beef liver, milk, quark, eggs, ingredients for bone broth, coconut flakes. 180° turn, probably too fast, and with major gaps in knowledge, leading to different problems. But after a few days I discovered that I did not have difficulty with bowel movements and flatulence anymore. This was very unusual!!! Also, my skin changed: acne-like things were rare, however, hyperkeratosis got worse over time. So I still have to fight hard to keep things under control. I guess, this will be the case for another few years until I find a way of restoring my metabolism (see below).
Unfortunately, my first year on a Peatish diet was misled in that I used a lot of refined sugar (up to 200 g per day) without adequate micronutrients. Though I supplemented a higher-dose vitamin B complex it was very naive to assume that this may work. I gained about 10 kg and ruined some of my teeth (some crumbling) probably by drinking orange juice without rinsing, etc., leaking minerals. I read this problem is well known on the forum.
Another mistake: I drank about 5 to 8 liters extra water daily which I had started in 2010 after my fourth temporary hearing loss (luckily recovered each time). I thought drinking water beyond thirst was necessary to keep my blood thin.
Well, the first year should not have been completely lost since I deliberately avoided PUFAs (besides those contained in two daily eggs, milk, and coconut oil).
Just two weeks ago, I made the followowing adjustments: Virtually no refined sugar anymore (except for a negligible teaspoon with coffee every other day, otherwise: zero). All carbohydrates come from orange juice (about 1.5 - 2 liters), 1.5% milk (about 2 - 2.5 liters), fruit, potatoes and sometimes white rice (when eating liver). No apples anymore. No extra water anymore. Two eggs daily. Introduction of oysters into my diet: Six oysters (should equal about 100 g?) per week in divided doses (every other day). Beef liver intake per week: 3 slices (on different days). My supplementing regimen now consists of one serving of EstroBan and Energin each, and 4 drops of Oxidal (1.6 mg methylene blue). In order to get enough magnesium, I use daily footbaths with magnesium chloride and take 200-400 mg magnesium glycinate orally; plus green-leaf broths once or twice a week. On some days I take 250 mg aspirin. When drinking a cup of orange juice I immediately drink (and rinse with) a cup of milk, so orange juice will only have about 10 seconds or so to demineralize my teeth, and the carb/protein ratio is higher. I got a pH meter to more closely investigate the pH of my saliva, milk, other food, and related pH time courses. A project for the next weekend. Gelatine is lacking. Once after eating gelatine, I got two very deep bumps the day after, which was very unusual in several respects, so I do not belief in coincidence here. I bought glycine a few days ago but did not dare to take it yet.
Since I am chronically deficient in sunlight (especially the last 2 years) and experience accelerated hair recession I started to use Red Light Man's 100W red light device featuring 610/630/660/680 nm wavelengths and a 14W 850nm security LED device (for thyroid/joints) one week ago. I have also been using a 250W heat lamp for two afternoons/evenings now. Moreover, all my energy-saving bulbs will be replaced by 100W incandescents in a few days. I thought they had been banned in Europe, but no problem to order them via Amazon. Of course, I am also going to use regular sunlight after winter, since I no longer reduce sun to mere synthesis of vitamin D3.
My post is already quite long, so for now I would only like to add that I am hypo-metabolic. I have been measuring my basal body temperature for several months. One month after starting the pseudo-Peatish diet ("pseudo" due to the high amounts of unbalanced white sugar) I usually had a basal body temperature of about 97.2° F (measured according to Barnes). I do not know how it was the years before. Temperature did not rise in the course of the next 7 months despite excess carbohydrates, which is why I started supplementing NDT (and later synthetic T3 only) back in June 2015. Two weeks ago I needed to stop altogether. I will write about that in another thread soon. Though having been on thyroid supplements until recently, my body temperature has always remained at about the same level. It was, and is again, about 97.2° F on average. I will attach a chart next time.
Particularly inspired by VoS's and Haidut's posts, I am now trying to fix my problems using alternative ways (methylene blue, niacinamide, even more coffee and caffeine tablets). But maybe it will simply be the recently refined diet, together with sunlight and red light, that might give me better health after so many years of struggling which I am increasingly tired of.
Thank you very much for reading!
