Coldness, Fatigue And Boosting Body Heat

[Elron]

Hi, I've been studying Ray Peat ideas for a bit now and taken a lot of them into active action.

My problem currently is constant coldness although my past blood test showed high levels of t3 and t4 (higher than the range) and I was not taking a thyroid supplement at the time. However, my hands and feet are always cold and sometimes I wake up cold as well. Currently I am wearing 1 shirt, a sweater, a jacket and two sweatpants. It is almost as if my body doesn't produce any heat.

What I currently do health wise is:
microdose 1p-lsd, sometimes take a macrodose
Take vitamin E, taurine, aspirin, caffeine all of these are usually daily
I also take b-6 and occasionally a multi b formula by jarrow
sometimes I take ashwgandha to boost t4 and lower cortisol
occasionally take pregnenolone at 10mg

I wonder if DHEA could help? I am 21, male. Maybe I need more pregnenolone or should I obtain some t4? I have niacinamide on the way, and am contemplating getting glycine and more l-theanine.

Eventually I want to obtain cyproheptadine, and deprenyl (perhaps, not sure on this one).


I generally almost always consume at least 600mg of caffeine and around 300mg, or more of aspirin. Vitamin E, I generally have around 400 IU although it is in a soybean oil base. I also try to consume taurine and pregnenolone at the same time. Most of these things should boost metabolism in some way, which would hopefully raise my body heat yet they seem not to be working.


My diet consists of a lot of milk (maybe 1/2 gallon a day) and coffee, along with whatever my family is having for dinner. I try to stay away from PUFA, and if I do eat any, I increase my vitamin E. It is worrisome my metabolism is so low; for example, for a while I was eating 1500 calories a day~ estimated, and wouldn't even lose weight. Conversely, people like RP who seem to have a good metabolism can eat 4000 calories.

 

[tara]

Welcome Elron :)

Can you spell out a bit more what and how much you are eating?
It looks as though you are getting through most of your day with just milk, and not much else till dinner? Any fruit/juice?
I hope you don't mean you are only eating 1500 cals? If you are 21, you are supposed to be still growing, not losing weight.
If so, it's not surprising you are cold. Heat requires fuel.
Taking caffeine to boost metabolism while withholding fuel seems likely to cause more stress. High adrenaline can make hands and feet cold.

Have you been measuring your body temps? Resting heart rate?

Don't suppose you have had reverseT3 measured? I don't know what the T3:rT3 ratios are supposed to be, but some people here have more of an idea. Not saying you have to have this tested, just that if you already have it can give more clues.

 

[Elron]

It's really variable exactly what I eat. I don't tend to eat much due to not being hungry and I sit on my arse a lot. And yes, often times all I eat is milk/coffee until dinner although lately I've been eating more food. I don't eat much fruit. My calorie intake is also variable, when I was trying to lose weight it would've been around 1500 cals although that is a wise guess. I'm pretty sure I'm done growing. Now it is closer to 2000 calories, although I am trying to eat more. Whenever I have caffeine I will have milk/coffee with added sugar.

There have been times when I boost my calorie intake up to 3000 or more, and I don't notice any temperature changes from a subjective experience.

I haven't been measuring my body temps or resting heart rate. Although I imagine they must be pretty low if I wake up in the morning and am shivering. Nor do I know what my rT3 is, although I think I will schedule a doctor's appointment soon and ask him to check it.

 

[tara]

I'm pretty sure I'm done growing.

AFAIK, most people keep growing and maturing till around 25 years - broadening and strengthening. Undereating may interrupt this.

There have been times when I boost my calorie intake up to 3000 or more, and I don't notice any temperature changes from a subjective experience.

Did you manage to persist with this for several months at a time? What did you notice?

There's a thread with thoughts on recovery from undereating and references to youreatopia here:
Recovery from undereating - Youreatopia

I'll be surprised if you can recover your metabolism and temps without more food. I would not favour supplementing thyroid in this context, at least until the more basic nutrition is more generous.

 

[Elron]

No, it was for about a week. I guess I will try to eat more. Part of my problem is now I don't know what to eat seeing how many foods I once thought as ok now seem bad.

 

[marikay]

I'm thinking salt…..how much do you get everyday?

 

[Elron]

Probably not enough, and it actually came to mind to me too. I notice a slight warming of my hands when I ingest around 120% of the RDA of salt in one meal as I did earlier today. Is it possible I am chronically deficient? Could I essentially salt debt?

 

[tara]

What foods do you like?

Seems to me the most important thing to avoid overdoing is PUFAs, since it can undermine metabolism in several ways. And anything you have a nasty allergy or intolerance to. And then soy (phytoestrogens).
If milk agrees with you that's great.
Go for at least 80-100 g protein, but there's a good chance you'd do better with more.
How about trying out adding in some cheese, eggs, fruit/juice (Peat favours fresh strained OJ if you have that available and it agrees with you), stewed or dried fruit, honey?
Some here seem to do better keeping starch down, and that seems to be what Peat generally favours, but there are also quite a few of us who do well with potatoes, or maybe white rice.

Probably not everyone here agrees with me, but I tend to think eating is more important than eating perfectly.

A number of us find we do better if we eat more for breakfast and lunch.

For people who have driven down metabolism by under-eating and are recovering by consistently eating what the body needs, Olwyn at youreatopia says there are some other things that generally happen before full metabolism (and I assume temps) are restored. It seems it varies how long it takes, but not unusual for it to take a year or two, but hopefully there would be noticable warming before then. And hopefully taking into account some of Peat's ideas can help.

Probably not enough, and it actually came to mind to me too. I notice a slight warming of my hands when I ingest around 120% of the RDA of salt in one meal as I did earlier today. Is it possible I am chronically deficient? Could I essentially salt debt?

Maybe - easy to test if eating more of it regularly helps. The RDA may not be enough for everyone. When metabolism is low it can be harder to retain sodium and magnesium at least. Peat usually recommends salting food to taste. If you are not eating food that you can salt, you still need to get some somehow. Some people add salt to their drinks. Personally, I like salt on potatoes, eggs, meat, liver, etc.
Have you had a go at running your typical day's diet through cronometer or similar to see roughly how you are doing with the other minerals too? (Don't believe it on calories - likely too low.)

 

[Elron]

I've found I really like toasted sourdough bread with 2-3 eggs, with salt and butter along with a glass of milk in the mornings. Lunch I'll usually have more milk, sometimes I'll have yogurt. Recently I found the fruit I like to snack on, figs, isn't good because it raises serotonin. Honestly a lot of food doesn't sound too good to me. Maybe if I get cypro my appetite will increase. Sometimes I'll eat nalley's chili which isn't very good due to soy and sub-par ingredients. Then I'll finish the day off with some type of big dinner, potatoes, chicken, broccoli and milk.

I'm probably going to use protein powder because I have too much (I bought 15 pounds of it before I knew it wasn't good due to trytophan content) and don't really want to waste the money.


I supplement a lot of my minerals too. Magneisum glycinate often at night, and k2. I might use the cronometer; might do me well.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

I think serotonin is the main thing to focus on in cases of chronic coldness. See how you do with taking some BCAA whenever you drink milk, something like 3-5 grams per 8oz glass or more if you can afford it. Some extra vitamin A always makes me feel/look better no matter what state I'm in, and if you aren't eating liver, it's probably worth considering.

 

[Strongbad]

How is your stomach acid? Sometimes nutritional issues can be solved simply by adding some Betaine HCL to help your stomach break apart your food for full absorption. I think that should be the first thing to investigate amongst the rest.

You are what you absorb, not what you eat.

 

[Elron]

I'll get some betaine hcl or what do you think of conjugated ox bile/TUDCA?

 

[Strongbad]

I have and used some ox-bile supplement myself. It helps my digestion in terms of lower gut creating solid stool and constipation. But unlike Betaine HCL, ox-bile is not for breaking down food for absorption.

Our health always start from our gut. Starting from stomach acid area then intestines, lower gut, liver + heart, kidney. Endotoxin, serotonin, cortisol etc. originate from the gut.

Your stomach acid is the first line of defense against sickness and crucial to breakdown your food for absorption. You can eat all the healthy stuff in the world but if your gut doesn't absorb it, it's all useless. Also, if you have strong stomach acid, you're practically immune to seasonal allergies, cold and flu. With strong stomach acid, you also won't have any food intolerance issues, such as milk or potatoes or starches or whatever.

If your gut is compromised, so is your hormonal balance. Hence hypothyroid.

Your thyroid is only as good as your brain, heart, liver and kidney. And they're only as good as your gut.

 

[Strongbad]

I'd also suggest you to eat more "cooked" greens (not too cooked that the nutrition diminish. It should be just enough to kill the bacterias).

Kale, spinach, brocolli, mustard greens etc. They have a lot of folate, vitamin K, magnesium and other minerals.

Based on your diet you seem to lack minerals and not balance. IMO, nutrition-dense is more important than calorie-dense.

That's why I'm currently a fan of Asian diet (minus PUFA, soy sauce, sesame oil and legumes in order to stay with Peat's philosophies). Their diet is not exactly calorie-rich but very nutrient-rich. Everything is balanced. They even include ingredients such as ginger and garlic which are antifungal / antiparasites for your gut health.

But I'm not talking about the Americanized Asian food with tons of MSG. I'm talking about the real Asian food that I have to go to Youtube to find the authentic recipes for lol

Notice how they like to use coconut in their dishes?

 

[Elron]

I never get sick, it's been 8 years since the last time. I don't notice any food allergies either. I'll try betaine hcl, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Strongbad]

If you haven't gotten sick in 8 years without any noticeable food allergies, then your stomach acid is most likely in good condition.

But it won't hurt to try it out for awhile and see if you notice any improvement at all. You can always stop using it if you feel like not going anywhere. At the very least, you test it out first.

 

[tara]

I'd also suggest you to eat more "cooked" greens (not too cooked that the nutrition diminish. It should be just enough to kill the bacterias).

Peat's usual recommendation is to cook greens well and drink the broth - lots of the minerals are released into the water when cooking.

 

[Strongbad]

Peat's usual recommendation is to cook greens well and drink the broth - lots of the minerals are released into the water when cooking.

Yes, that's very true :)