feeling much better on a very low calorie diet

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ive been growing more and more annoyed at food. i just felt like i was never satisfied in the right way. then i lost my appetite one day. i spent a week eating 1000 calories or so. then my appetite returned, not fully but i was more hungry. the thing is i was feeling better during this fast. so i thought i would continue eating less food and im feeling much better. im waiting for any sort of sign i need to stop but its not coming. ive also started eating much less fat, so that could be it too. ive never been on a diet this low in fat since i started dieting 2 years ago. im eating very frequently. its been 2 weeks or so now i think. im eating less than 2000 calories a day, averaging 1700 id say. my blood sugar is more stable than ever, and i just have this nice pleasant feeling in my gut. i feel calm and at peace. perhaps after 2 years of eating so damn much i just needed a break. i dont wanna do anything stupid here but i feel just fine so im going to continue for the time being. thoughts? could this be sibo?yester day i ate 1 liter of milk, 3 clementines, an egg and a few bites of lean meat. usually id do 2 eggs, 50g cheese, 300g meat, gelatin broth, 6 cooked apples, 2 liters of milk, lots of sugar, 5-6 clementines and whatever else i had available.
my fat is disappearing pretty quick. i dont have much fat to loose. some belly fat and some love handles. other than that im fairly skinny. im also worried about my metabolism slowing down but i also feel like it could be time for some change, some flexibility should be good? my stomach has not been growling.
 
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TheSir

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I think periods like these are normal if you are listening to your body, i.e. following an intuitive eating pattern. Once you reach a certain point in your fat loss your hunger signals should begin to wake up again. If something your body tells you to do ends up making you feel well, there is usually a good reason to listen to it.
 
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I think periods like these are normal if you are listening to your body, i.e. following an intuitive eating pattern. Once you reach a certain point in your fat loss your hunger signals should begin to wake up again. If something your body tells you to do ends up making you feel well, there is usually a good reason to listen to it.
i havent really lost any fat since i started dieting 2 years ago (which is when i first put on some fat on my belly). i imagine this will speed up pufa detoxing? ive been on a fairly low pufa diet for 2 years now.
 

TheSir

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i havent really lost any fat since i started dieting 2 years ago (which is when i first put on some fat on my belly). i imagine this will speed up pufa detoxing? ive been on a fairly low pufa diet for 2 years now.
Oh, you said your fat is disappearing pretty quickly?
 
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ive been growing more and more annoyed at food. i just felt like i was never satisfied in the right way. then i lost my appetite one day. i spent a week eating 1000 calories or so. then my appetite returned, not fully but i was more hungry. the thing is i was feeling better during this fast. so i thought i would continue eating less food and im feeling much better. im waiting for any sort of sign i need to stop but its not coming. ive also started eating much less fat, so that could be it too. ive never been on a diet this low in fat since i started dieting 2 years ago. im eating very frequently. its been 2 weeks or so now i think. im eating less than 2000 calories a day, averaging 1700 id say. my blood sugar is more stable than ever, and i just have this nice pleasant feeling in my gut. i feel calm and at peace. perhaps after 2 years of eating so damn much i just needed a break. i dont wanna do anything stupid here but i feel just fine so im going to continue for the time being. thoughts? could this be sibo?yester day i ate 1 liter of milk, 3 clementines, an egg and a few bites of lean meat. usually id do 2 eggs, 50g cheese, 300g meat, gelatin broth, 6 cooked apples, 2 liters of milk, lots of sugar, 5-6 clementines and whatever else i had available.
my fat is disappearing pretty quick. i dont have much fat to loose. some belly fat and some love handles. other than that im fairly skinny. im also worried about my metabolism slowing down but i also feel like it could be time for some change, some flexibility should be good? my stomach has not been growling.
It may be SIBO. If you eat less, there is less endotoxin being produced, therefore, less inflammation, especially in the gut. That explains why your gut is feeling better eating less calories. Also, you may not be producing enough digestive juices, and eating more than your digestive system could handle will just stress it out, not to mention that the food which wasn't digested would feed the bacteria in the gut. Thyroid is absolutely essential for proper digestion for me. I won't even feel hungry without taking thyroid. I think that, if you fix the SIBO( much easier said than done) and take some thyroid, my guess is that your appetite will increase a lot, simply because the gut will feel capable of digesting more food, and it won't be hindered by the huge amount of endotoxin every time you ingest a lot of food.

I was reading some older threads about sterile gut, bacteria and such, and a recurring thing that people say is that, after an antibiotic cycle, they feel better for a while (a few weeks to months), but then they develop SIBO again, and have to re- do the cycle. What I got from those threads, in terms of solution for this, is that, if you have bacterial overgrowth, you should wipe out your existing microbiome with a cycle with antibiotics( a combination of them to ensure as much intestinal sterility as possible), then introduce certain strains of bacteria which are less harmful, which will hopefully repopulate your large intestine and establish a healthier/ less harmful microbiome. Doing this while taking thyroid and making sure your digestive juice output is improved should, theoretically, take care of SIBO.


This is, by no means, a complete picture and I've got many more questions than answers. I would think that doing an enema with the probiotics would be a much better option then taking them orally. Doing some antibiotics in an enema as well as orally to kill as many bacteria as possible also sounds like a promising approach.
 
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Tansia

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It may be SIBO. If you eat less, there is less endotoxin being produced, therefore, less inflammation, especially in the gut. That explains why your gut is feeling better eating less calories. Also, you may not be producing enough digestive juices, and eating more than your digestive system could handle will just stress it out, not to mention that the food which wasn't digested would feed the bacteria in the gut. Thyroid is absolutely essential for proper digestion for me. I won't even feel hungry without taking thyroid. I think that, if you fix the SIBO( much easier said than done) and take some thyroid, my guess is that your appetite will increase a lot, simply because the gut will feel capable of digesting more food, and it won't be hindered by the huge amount of endotoxin every time you ingest a lot of food.

I was reading some older threads about sterile gut, bacteria and such, and a recurring thing that people say is that, after an antibiotic cycle, they feel better for a while (a few weeks to months), but then they develop SIBO again, and have to re- do the cycle. What I got from those threads, in terms of solution for this, is that, if you have bacterial overgrowth, you should wipe out your existing microbiome with a cycle with antibiotics( a combination of them to ensure as much intestinal sterility as possible), then introduce certain strains of bacteria which are less harmful, which will hopefully repopulate your large intestine and establish a healthier/ less harmful microbiome. Doing this while taking thyroid and making sure your digestive juice output is improved should, theoretically, take care of SIBO.


This is, by no means, a complete picture and I've got many more questions than answers. I would think that doing an enema with the probiotics would be a much better option then taking them orally. Doing some antibiotics in an enema as well as orally to kill as many bacteria as possible also sounds like a promising approach.
When you're saying "then introduce certain strains of bacteria which are less harmful" do you know which strains in particular?
 

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I do something very similar. My wieght is 140lbs. I consume 2200-2300 cals per day. My diet is mainly sugar, skim milk, OJ, bananas, potatoes, white rice. Very little fat. Less than 1g PUFA a day. 2.5g total fat. I weigh all my food and enter into cronometer. I do some walking and very modest strength exercise. I really believe that a high carb diet and very low fat is the key to good health. My only advice to you would be to make sure you are getting enough calories. Underconsuming calories will help initially, but will lead to other problems later.
 

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Even a single poorly digested meal leads to a loss of appetite for me. Betaine hcl, thiamine, raw garlic, warm salt water usually help to restore appetite for something easy to digest like fruits or rice.
 
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^this

Sounds like you may have been forcing yourself to eat for metabolic/Peat reasons?
no, not at all. ive just been following my appetite. however i have eaten a diet much higher in fat than i would like, because i cant source the foods i want. there are no ripe plantfoods around.
 
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It may be SIBO. If you eat less, there is less endotoxin being produced, therefore, less inflammation, especially in the gut. That explains why your gut is feeling better eating less calories. Also, you may not be producing enough digestive juices, and eating more than your digestive system could handle will just stress it out, not to mention that the food which wasn't digested would feed the bacteria in the gut. Thyroid is absolutely essential for proper digestion for me. I won't even feel hungry without taking thyroid. I think that, if you fix the SIBO( much easier said than done) and take some thyroid, my guess is that your appetite will increase a lot, simply because the gut will feel capable of digesting more food, and it won't be hindered by the huge amount of endotoxin every time you ingest a lot of food.

I was reading some older threads about sterile gut, bacteria and such, and a recurring thing that people say is that, after an antibiotic cycle, they feel better for a while (a few weeks to months), but then they develop SIBO again, and have to re- do the cycle. What I got from those threads, in terms of solution for this, is that, if you have bacterial overgrowth, you should wipe out your existing microbiome with a cycle with antibiotics( a combination of them to ensure as much intestinal sterility as possible), then introduce certain strains of bacteria which are less harmful, which will hopefully repopulate your large intestine and establish a healthier/ less harmful microbiome. Doing this while taking thyroid and making sure your digestive juice output is improved should, theoretically, take care of SIBO.


This is, by no means, a complete picture and I've got many more questions than answers. I would think that doing an enema with the probiotics would be a much better option then taking them orally. Doing some antibiotics in an enema as well as orally to kill as many bacteria as possible also sounds like a promising approach.
great post, very clearly written. i am TERRIFIED of antibiotics because ive talked to too many people who have antibiotic horror stories. what foods can you recommend that increase production of digestive juices? papaya has an amazing effect on my digestion unlike anything else, but it is not available here.
 
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I do something very similar. My wieght is 140lbs. I consume 2200-2300 cals per day. My diet is mainly sugar, skim milk, OJ, bananas, potatoes, white rice. Very little fat. Less than 1g PUFA a day. 2.5g total fat. I weigh all my food and enter into cronometer. I do some walking and very modest strength exercise. I really believe that a high carb diet and very low fat is the key to good health. My only advice to you would be to make sure you are getting enough calories. Underconsuming calories will help initially, but will lead to other problems later.
how tall are you? im 184cm 74kg before i started eating less, i could never eat so little (before this happened)
 

ursidae

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great post, very clearly written. i am TERRIFIED of antibiotics because ive talked to too many people who have antibiotic horror stories. what foods can you recommend that increase production of digestive juices? papaya has an amazing effect on my digestion unlike anything else, but it is not available here.
Do you have access to pineapple or kiwi
 

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i'm pretty sure I saw an email from ray somewhere saying with good thyroid function, a person only needs to eat like 1700-2300 calories. The only reason to eat more is if you can't store glycogen, your in the lactic acid stressed metabolism, your an athlete, or you have an extremely uncoupled metabolism. I'm not sure how this forums started assuming that 3-4000 calories is normal
 
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Do you have access to pineapple or kiwi
yes but they are very unripe in the store. ripe pineapple makes for great digestion. the kiwis are very sour. they sell some sweet golden kiwis in the summer though.
 
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When you're saying "then introduce certain strains of bacteria which are less harmful" do you know which strains in particular?
My understanding of that is quite poor. I know that you really don't want bacteria like E. Coli, C. Diff, etc. populating your gut, which is the main reason why having a completely sterile colon doesn't work in real life( although it may be its ideal state, as Ray has mentioned in some interviews that babies are born with sterile colons). Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria are much less harmful than those bacteria I mentioned above, since they will prevent bad/ worse bacteria from taking hold of your colon, which could be life threatening. But even these "safe" probiotics aren't really safe when it comes to SIBO. I think the goal is to replace the intestinal flora with safer types, while also reducing the total amount of bacteria in the colon. This may be why lots of people try out probiotics with some type of Lactobacillus and end up with more bloating, more brain fog, worse digestion and so on.

Just remembered something very important which Amazoniac has mentioned multiple times on the forum: gut motility is key for avoiding excessive bacterial growth in the colon. If the food remnants are stagnating in the colon, not only will the bacteria produce more compounds( stuff like skatol, which is toxic), but they will multiply due to the presence of more food. And SIBO tends to cause constipation, so it's vicious cycle which the person needs to break somehow. Avoiding constipation, as I see it, is an essential aspect of avoiding or treating SIBO.
great post, very clearly written. i am TERRIFIED of antibiotics because ive talked to too many people who have antibiotic horror stories. what foods can you recommend that increase production of digestive juices? papaya has an amazing effect on my digestion unlike anything else, but it is not available here.
I know people who got bad side effects from antibiotics too, but it wasn't from the first generation ones( penicillin, amoxicillin, doxycicline, etc.). That's not to say it's impossible to get side- effects from these safer ones, but they are more related with fungal overgrowth after a cycle. Do you know if the antibiotics they used were the first generation ones or the second/ third generation ones?

Papaya is indeed great for digestion. As ursidae has said, pineapple and kiwis also should help, as do figs. I believe they aid digestion not through increased digestive juice production, but because they themselves have digestive enzymes. As for increasing digestive power, bitters are known for stimulating bile release, which aids fat digestion. The brand Doctor's best sells a product with bertaine hcl, pepsin and gentian bitters and I've seen people on the forum report benefits from enzymes and hcl. I myself haven't tried that product I mentioned, but I did try just pepsin with hcl( from a national brand here in Brazil) and it does help with digestion, but it gave me some low level depression for some reason.
 

Memento

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he brand Doctor's best sells a product with bertaine hcl, pepsin and gentian bitters and I've seen people on the forum report benefits from enzymes and hcl. I myself haven't tried that product I mentioned, but I did try just pepsin with hcl( from a national brand here in Brazil) and it does help with digestion, but it gave me some low level depression for some reason.
Well betaine is a methyl donor, which is the reason haidut seems to not recommend using it. I wouldn't use it long term either, but it is very helpful for getting out of temporary states of indigestion. Hans spoke on RPF comments of his latest "Furnace within" article about balancing methyl groups while using niacin, could be something to consider if plain betaine or niacin gives unwanted side effects.
 

ursidae

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You might have digestive issues or whatever if those proteolytic enzymes are making a difference but I’m just going to say repetitive diets lower appetite

“In both obese and nonobese women, daily presentation of food resulted in faster habituation and less energy intake than did once-weekly presentation of food.”
 

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