Body fat, stress hormones and CO2

[nikotrope]

I have too much weight and even if I don't gain weight anymore I don't lose it (I've lost 4 pounds recently but it's more an inexplicable up then down then up...). Not being able to lose the weight when you feel really good is just obsessing me and I can't really focus on my work so I really want to find some answers to be able to work better.

In France, doctors never wanted to make blood tests about my hormones and I never thought about doing a blood test directly to the lab. I will try to do that now but my wife is too busy and I don't speak Japanese, so it will probably be hard to do a test anytime soon.

My temp and pulse are fine, I don't really have any health problems anymore. I had dry eyes, and it's getting better. I have gynecomastia but it's getting better. My nose used to be congested and it's now better. I think my estrogen is getting lower but as long as I have fat I will have to do big efforts to keep it low.

I have had eye twitching for two months though. I tried some magnesium supplements, epsom baths, chocolate but it didn't do anything. I tried only for a few days so maybe I didn't more magnesium or for a longer time. This is the only problem I think can be concerning (magnesium deficiency could have an impact for my health).

And I don't have depression (just the opposite). I used to have headaches sometimes (a few times a week) and I don't have any anymore. So I don't feel like I have high serotonin nor endotoxin (I went to the restaurant a few days ago and ate ramen, I slept awfully and got flu-like symptoms the next day so if it is what endotoxin does I know it's not my problem because I never feel like that anymore). I don't have gas, normal digestion, no stomach pain or heartburn anymore.

I don't feel stressed or jittery or anything related to cortisol and/or adrenaline. Caffeine made me jittery when I started taking high doses and I never felt like that so I don't think I ever had very high adrenaline (and I now understand why people around me who are probably with high stress hormones seems to be easily get angry and react without thinking when they are hungry or tired). Rarely have cold hands and feet. My sleep is very good and even better than before.

I walk 5km on average. I stopped weight lifting a few months ago though. I think I will begin to sprint soon (my inability to run on even short distances bothers me a lot). My CO2 levels are probably very low (I can't hold my breath very long and my VO2 max is really bad).

I eat whole milk (it was low-fat milk until this week), juice, coke and some seafood/meat/eggs. I don't have problems with liquids anymore. I normally eat when hungry. I did a few days of calorie restriction and have eaten a calorie surplus before and nothing really change except my hunger.

I supplement with fat-soluble vitamins, caffeine, aspirin, niacinamide and thiamine (on and off for the last two, just to experiment and see if it makes a difference).

Are my stress hormones normal, or am I asymptomatic for some things I should react to? Doctors have been so incredibly bad at doing anything for me that I really don't want to spend money on them unless there is something wrong with me that I can't resolve myself.

Is my low CO2 the problem? Should I test my blood sugar? Could I still have a problem with stress hormones or endotoxin? How do I lose my body fat?

 

[panda]

I'm in the same boat as you, feeling better, but with much more abdominal fat.

And my intuition tells me, it can not be healthy to carry too much abdominal fat in the long run.

 

[nikotrope]

I forgot to say that I had new stretch marks a few months ago. It might be related to estrogen. And I read somewhere that if I can't pinch my skin in the fatty areas, it's probably water retention so maybe it's more water retention than fat. But I am careful with my fluid intake, I don't drink hypotonic beverages.

If my weight surplus is related to estrogen, and this same surplus produces estrogen, what can I do to get better? Also I take vitamin e and aspirin regurlarly which should inhibit the aromatase but maybe the doses should be higher?

 

[Peata]

I can relate to many things you said - gained weight, can't lose any. Even some eye twitches over the last few weeks, but I've been supplementing magnesium at least since the new year, so i don't think it's mag. deficiency in my case.

I'm not as far along in my health recovery as you, no doubt my estrogen is much more troublesome.

I've also tried different thing with my foods and macros and supplements and nothing has worked so far. I guess we are stuck in the strange world that is insulin resistance.

I had an adrenaline attack yesterday evening, guess I didn't eat enough for dinner, and it took a while to get calmed down. I had a hopeless feeling at the time like the sugar/energy i was taking in wasn't getting to where it needed. I ate oranges and sipped some low fat milk with sugar and ate some baking soda. I find baking soda pretty useful when I'm upset like that. I go to sleep sometimes with a fear in the back of my mind that I will wake up with one of those nightmarish adrenaline attacks. I keep something by the bed to eat/drink if it happens. When it doesn't happen, I wake up so relieved. Anyway...

I can't give up hope.

I've eliminated starch for now and am using B1 at sugar-heavy times to help process it. Are we supposed to reduce fat intake as well until things get under control?

 

[messtafarian]

Hi there:

For the eye twitching I would try to increase your b vitamins. There are all kinds of odd not-very-urgent problems that go along with B vitamin deficiencies. Magnesium and B vitamins go together -- Magnesium is the salt channel/pathway nutrients use to get where they're going but all the B vitamins nourish the nerves.

For the weight problem what Peat would probably say is stop all starches. They produce endotoxin and are more slowly digested than pure sugar. If that didn't work, then stop all fat -- just meat, milk and fruit. Unfortunately I can't do either one of these things. I love starches. I've tried to go even a day without them and felt *very* deprived. I also get hypoglycemic ( or at least anxious) without fats -- so the next and only option left is to cut calories.

Which I am not very good at doing either...

 

[Peata]

Thanks for the B vit. tip, Mess, for eye twitches. Just this week, i started making sure to get more of those vits. like i used to.

I'm experimenting with no starch now. The last time I tried to stop all starches about a year ago, I felt very bad. I probably feel without starches what you do without fat. Because sugar/fruit didn't seem like enough substantial food (even paired with other nonstarch foods) when I was hungry, and i would get adrenaline attacks and feel like i was on a roller coaster of blood sugar. Felt even more dependent on snacking. With starch, I feel like I'm fuller. But I guess i know more about this stuff now than i did then. So, I'm going to try it again.

I can't cut too many calories because it only results in a few pounds off, which come right back. And I get weird symptoms when I try to cut too low. As you know, it's not very sustainable to go too low on calories. I use to do some intermittent fasting which worked, but now, I think it probably damaged my system more.

just to clarify, do you think it may not be necessary to lower fat if the no starch approach is working... but if it doesn't work, then going very low fat + low starch may be the next step? I was getting less than 20% fat, but now that I've stopped starching, I seem to be eating more fat.

 

[messtafarian]

It depends on what the underlying problem is I think. If you stop eating starch ( by the way, I think part of the key to stopping starch is getting enough salt: trying salting your fruit to see if that holds you over longer) then that ends the problem of endotoxin which increases serotonin, inflames the gut, clogs the liver, and ultimately slows the thyroid - so *theoretically* it seems that stopping starch would not only increase metabolism but also improve liver function and lead to overall faster fat metabolism as well as stop general inflammation -- theoretically losses that would show on the scale. And then that should be enough to solve the problem.

Stopping *fats* means that one, you are ingesting *no* PUFA whatsoever and the only extra calories you can possibly burn ( outside of what you eat) are going to come right off of you. There are pluses and minuses to that -- our fat stores have lots of PUFA. However Peat seems to think that stopping both is the key to a megafast metabolism.

I think eating that way is for superdisciplined people though. I've tried it a thousand times, just can't do it. Like even for a day.

Peat would tell you -- protein and sugar, then fat, and then if *you need the calories* -- starch. They're filler calories, nonessential weight gainers. For most people eating more fat and less starch seems to work for weight loss exponentially better than the other way around.

 

[dd99]

Yes! This is why I love this forum! I was just thinking on the way home from work that I should log in to look up what could be causing my month-long eye twitching and BAM I am not alone and there's a possible solution. Thank you.

 

[sunmountain]

Hi Peata

I am also struggling with no starch and low fat. Being able to drink fluids again definitely helps. But too much fluid also leads to diarrhea. Remembering to eat a bit of solid such as cottage cheese with fluids helps.

Anyhow, this is what I'm doing right now, more or less:
- Almost a quart of low-fat goat milk (this has more fat than I want, but there's no non fat goat milk to be found)
- 3 T fructose and 3 T glycine in above milk
- 6-8 oz cottage cheese (Nancy's organic low fat)
- A cup or so of dried fruit (raisins, apricots, dates)
- A can of coke
- Fresh fruit (apple, orange)
- 8 oz broth with lots of salt (mixture of chicken, bone, vegetable broths, usually Pacific brand or TJs)
- An egg

Yesterday, I got the courage to check into Crono, and of course it is below 2000 calories, though if I do everything above then it's close. Fat is higher than I want due to the goat milk.

Do you want to share how you plan to eliminate starch? I added the cottage cheese only very recently after I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of Nancy's. I'd love some more non-starchy non-fatty snack ideas.

thanks

 

[nikotrope]

Thanks for you replies!

I received energin from haidut so I just started supplementing b vitamins. I will see if it fixes my eye twitching. Thanks for the tip messtafarian!

I went low fat (10% of calories) and no starch. I lost a few pounds, but I struggle too much to get enough calories so I just reintroduce more fat and still as little starch as possible. I don't have any problems anymore to eat no starch but when I am too hungry then it's hard to resist, so I hope more fat would solve this issue and I will substitute the fat for sugar, fruit and dairy by little steps.

by the way, I think part of the key to stopping starch is getting enough salt: trying salting your fruit to see if that holds you over longer

I thought about adding more salt to see if it helps so I think I will start today to see how it goes.

 

[Peata]

Hi Peata

I am also struggling with no starch and low fat. Being able to drink fluids again definitely helps. But too much fluid also leads to diarrhea. Remembering to eat a bit of solid such as cottage cheese with fluids helps.

Anyhow, this is what I'm doing right now, more or less:
- Almost a quart of low-fat goat milk (this has more fat than I want, but there's no non fat goat milk to be found)
- 3 T fructose and 3 T glycine in above milk
- 6-8 oz cottage cheese (Nancy's organic low fat)
- A cup or so of dried fruit (raisins, apricots, dates)
- A can of coke
- Fresh fruit (apple, orange)
- 8 oz broth with lots of salt (mixture of chicken, bone, vegetable broths, usually Pacific brand or TJs)
- An egg

Yesterday, I got the courage to check into Crono, and of course it is below 2000 calories, though if I do everything above then it's close. Fat is higher than I want due to the goat milk.

Do you want to share how you plan to eliminate starch? I added the cottage cheese only very recently after I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of Nancy's. I'd love some more non-starchy non-fatty snack ideas.

thanks

So far, these are things I've eaten over the last two days:

coffee
2% milk
sugar
scrambled eggs
orange juice
apple juice
carrot
low fat mozzarella (or string cheese)
turkey breast (deli sliced stuff)
oranges
tangerines
canned fruit
blueberries
nonfat Greek yogurt
dates
Gatorade
applesauce

also, i've had some higher fat things..
a couple colossal black olives
3 oz ice cream
cheddar cheese

in addition to those things, some other foods I'm planning to have in the future:
oysters,
lowfat cottage cheese
chocolate
chicken breast
tilapia
steak
cola
hard-boiled egg

Thanks for the reminder about cottage cheese. i get Daisy brand. Also, a warning about yogurt but maybe you won't have the problem - even though i'm not lactose intolerant, i get bad GI probs from Greek yogurt if i eat very much. i just do a few ounces at a time with fruit (fresh or canned) and honey.

Also, I use Cronometer and I've eaten 2000 calories yesterday and today, which is about what I always try to get or a little less.

 

[aquaman]

I think part of the key to stopping starch is getting enough salt: trying salting your fruit to see if that holds you over longer)

Also important to either cook the fruits to remove water or have a lot of dried fruits.

The water in fruits and juices means it's hard to feel full and get warm.

 

[aquaman]

Yesterday, I got the courage to check into Crono, and of course it is below 2000 calories, though if I do everything above then it's close. Fat is higher than I want due to the goat milk.

Do you want to share how you plan to eliminate starch? I added the cottage cheese only very recently after I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of Nancy's. I'd love some more non-starchy non-fatty snack ideas.

thanks

Dried cherries have some of the highest carb ratios - a cup is around 500 calories with 125 grams of sugars.

Eat an extra cup a day!

 

[messtafarian]

That's a good tip, Aquaman. Sweet fruits were great for me this summer in the Florida heat but generally eating fruit has made me feel hungry and unsatisfied and chilly. As soon as it gets cooler out I'm back to eating my usual chocolate and gummy bears :)

 

[sunmountain]

Thanks, Peata, for your list! I don't eat meat, but it reminds me I can eat white fish more which I like. Your canned fruit reminds me I used to cook fresh fruit and sprinkle with fructose. So I will be getting those back in the menu.

Aqua, I love dried cherries, but they're very expensive for the organic ones. Maybe I won't worry about the organic part.

Thanks!

 

[Peata]

Thanks, Peata, for your list! I don't eat meat, but it reminds me I can eat white fish more which I like. Your canned fruit reminds me I used to cook fresh fruit and sprinkle with fructose. So I will be getting those back in the menu.

Aqua, I love dried cherries, but they're very expensive for the organic ones. Maybe I won't worry about the organic part.

Thanks!

if i recall what i read, occasional lowfat fish such as cod was OK.

 

[nikotrope]

I have again seen improvements this week when I started taking more salt. I've taken 1g for every cup of liquid I drink, I don't mix it with the liquid I just take it like a supplement. I take 15g of salt each day. I've done this dosage in the past without results when I was drinking broths and adding salt in my salty meals. Timing seems important.

It had a tremendous effect! I had dry hands since I moved and it was fixed a few hours after I began taking salt. I've had difficulties with motivation/focus and it's gone like in a few hours too. My nose is clear all day, first time in my life, no more tissues! I think it's due to improved CO2 because I have other improvements related to improved CO2 levels.

I still didn't lose weight but if my CO2 levels are up, my stress hormones are lower and my health condition is almost perfect, I think I am not that far from losing.

 

[panda]

I have again seen improvements this week when I started taking more salt. I've taken 1g for every cup of liquid I drink, I don't mix it with the liquid I just take it like a supplement. I take 15g of salt each day. I've done this dosage in the past without results when I was drinking broths and adding salt in my salty meals. Timing seems important.

It had a tremendous effect! I had dry hands since I moved and it was fixed a few hours after I began taking salt. I've had difficulties with motivation/focus and it's gone like in a few hours too. My nose is clear all day, first time in my life, no more tissues! I think it's due to improved CO2 because I have other improvements related to improved CO2 levels.

I still didn't lose weight but if my CO2 levels are up, my stress hormones are lower and my health condition is almost perfect, I think I am not that far from losing.

Could you elaborate?

If you didn't get results before, how are you sure is the salt now?

You think mixing it with liquid or not plays a role? what about timing?

 

[nikotrope]

I have again seen improvements this week when I started taking more salt. I've taken 1g for every cup of liquid I drink, I don't mix it with the liquid I just take it like a supplement. I take 15g of salt each day. I've done this dosage in the past without results when I was drinking broths and adding salt in my salty meals. Timing seems important.

Could you elaborate?

If you didn't get results before, how are you sure is the salt now?

You think mixing it with liquid or not plays a role? what about timing?

I am pretty sure the salt had this effect because this is the only thing I changed in my diet this week and it had immediate effects.

It's been 2 months since I've stopped eating large amounts of salt, but I was still getting something like 2g of sodium (instead of 5g). In these 2 months I had some stressful days (which could have made me lose some sodium) and I started supplementing caffeine which improved my health but may have messed my stress hormones a little bit at the beginning. So my body may have dumped too much sodium.

In the past I would drink broth containing several grams of salt 3 times a day while putting something like 100mg of salt in each cup. Now it's 1g of salt with each cup of liquid. But I am not mixing this gram of salt in my liquid because it would taste terrible. I think getting small amounts of salt (like any other supplements) through the day is better than lots of it 3 times a day. Big doses have some effects but the body may run out of supply before the next meal if health is not good enough.

I have been peating pretty strictly for the past few months and some of my problems while being strict (even when eating large amounts of salt) has been solved this week as soon as I started taking regular small doses of salt.