Freely Eating Sugar Ruined Me

[Mary Pruter]

This Thread is really depressing to me. I'm doing all the supplements and eating well lots of fresh fruit throughout the day and even though I've lost weight and I feel good my blood sugar is Sky High. It may be due two infection I'm fighting and stress I'm dealing with because I'm my mother's caregiver and she's 91 years old with dementia and she got so stressed out that she develops shingles and is now dealing with nerve pain. However I'm doing the same thing for her as I am myself and she has come back about 80% at least that was until she got stressed out and develop the shingles.

 

[whodathunkit]

I don't think it's constructive to blame the sugar in any case - the problem is inflammation. Chronic inflammation will result in chronic excitation which without proper therapy will cause a cascade of dis-ease. Inflammation will block the utilization of sugar, and the spectrum of temporal-metabolic processes that rely on a highly potentiated "sensitive" state (re; alive,) offered by proper sugar metabolism, will be progressively attenuated. Increasing dysregulation of cortisol and circadian rhythms, manifesting in chronic nervous tension and nervous system imbalance will lead to the disruption of entire temporal-metabolic "bands." The entire metabolic ebb-and-flow will be choked at several major points. This will manifest in several ways, one of which is a reduction in Glutamic-acid decarboxylase (GAD.) In certain cases severe disruption to the timing system, for example from viral interference, can cause vacancies in the patterns that encode the GAD enzyme. This can trigger an immune response and generation of antibodies to the GAD cascade.

Nice post.

But basically what you're saying is that some people should probably avoid sugar, or an excess of it. Especially those who could be harboring unseen inflammation. Unseen inflammation often manifesting as chronic and/or weird metabolic problems instead of acutely noticeable/visible things like eczema, rosacea, arthritis, etc.

I do agree about people blaming the sugar...that's like blaming an opioid for people who get addicted. It's not about the drug, it's peculiar to the individual whether or not someone gets addicted. Opioids are very useful and it would be a shame if they were universally condemned because of the unfortunate experiences of a minority of users.

However, this post does highlight the fact that the "blame the person" mindset that some have around here is as unfair as blaming sugar. Problems arise not because someone didn't "do it [Peat] right", they arise because the person's current (and sometimes permanent) physiology can't handle the sugar.

 

[nikolabeacon]

I used to eat a lot of eggs, beef, and gelatin along with moderate amounts of cheese. Eggs, beef, and gelatin (especially gelatin) all make me extremely nauseous now. So cheese is my only source of quality protein currently, and I can't get 100g of protein from cheese every day, so my protein intake is low.

Ok.

" (downregulation of D1/2 receptors with opioid-like withdrawal symptoms)."

Peat said it took him two years to get away/of from starch.


If you have enough vital energy and not so severe metabolic issues most problems are corrected literally in a couple of weeks or even days if everything is done strictly if you know whats main underlaying issue.
Of course....Unless u have serious problems with thyroid , poor health and stress from childhood , years long life stress and dieting and then with stomach acid and gut health and SIBO and congested liver..


This has been already explained very well by Peat and elsewhere by other members in the past threads but this is my interpretation whats happening when cortisol starts to rule ower your thyroid

Trust me I too blamed sugar and Ca and got frustrated for some minor issues that I started to notice at the end of third year of peating and it was related to some minor changes and some other private life stressors as usually is the case that are allowing the cortisol to go ahead and make a circle of unwanted reactions that shift the balance into an chaotic drug-like state unless i made very small changes and those issues I had with appetite for sweet and with sleep and teeths literally cleared in a week and everything came back in normal.

In your case maybe it is not about minor issues that entered cortisol circle and maybe you have very high cortisol because of low thyroid with sluggish liver or some life stress. And even if u have SIBO it can be corrected fully only with thyroid and liver health and adequate nutrition which will enable strong acid and digestion .

Your cortisol is surely high for some reason which can be seen in loss of appetite and muscles and gain in weight around abdomen. Cortisol can be elevated from several reasons one of which is poor thyroid, sluggish liver, lack of nutrients needed for activation and transport of thyroid hormone or for detoxifying the overburdened liver or from life or job stress.

In such situation body doesn t crave sugar and normal nourishing pro metabolic food sources of protein(it will lower blood sugar and body doesnt want that since it trying to stay alive) and fat because it will lower cortisol and body is not craving and do not signal appetite for it because it tries to commpensate poor stressed undernourished metabolism with pumping more cortisol for missing nutrients or low thyroid or poor liver and other mentioned stressors ....

Cortisol eats your muscles to provide high blood sugar since everything failled and puts fat reserve and it is a common mechanism to keep you alive when thyroid, liver and overall metabolism cannot function properly.

And body normaly is seeking high cortisol inducing things to keep that state such as Starch, pufa fried junk foods etc.

And of course you will feel great on cortisol boosting foods because you are satisfying body's atempt to increase cortisol and you will also keep serotonin levels high and will accelerate aging. And some even lose excess weigh on starch withoit losing muscles since glucose from starch prevents that but I think its also cortisol related and not good long therm.

In such situations eating sole table sugar and coffee will make it worse as in his case because those two will not be used properly because of high cortisol state and they will increase stress and serotonin further instead of lowering it.


So I also think that a lot of people who start eating Peaty have not so ideal thyroid and liver health as Haidut figured out and have high cortisol at the begining and so they gain weight easily, have blood sugar issues, have liver and SIBO problems , crave starch to keep body's strivings for cortisol satisfied...and even for people that are eating like this for longer time there are always periods of increased unavoidable stress and cortisol and sugar and Ca are not doing what they should, it can worsen SIBO and overburdens the liver and craving for starch and street junk food starts to appear in such situations.

That is why Peat says we need to have constantly high thyroid and progesterone/pregnenolone(and sometimes supplement them) to keep us more resistant to stress and not to fall in trap and circle of cortisol and starch cravings where sugar and Ca can not do their job.


I also blamed sugar and milk but For sugar isses and Ca In my case as i said in previous posts i was just missing some nutrients and proteins and a higher fat dairy to stabilize Ca excitation effects and probably enhance soluble vitamins metabolism esspecially vit K. Now i can eat 500 g of table sugar without any issues.

I found being less ignorrant in trying to watch for symptoms and new things is good instead of criticizing Peat as I did in one recent period when trying to correct minor issue with eating starch and being confused with Tyw theory


And my opinions that table sugar is perfectly fine if other nutrition is good as Peat also said and i wonder how Peat prepares his coffee con leche, gelatin dessert, marmelade or ice cream . He enjoys mexi Coke too.

I must say one thing....To be honest and not disrespectfull in any way but Tyw's evidences, that are valuable for sure and should be appreciated , against some of Peat recommendations and any others who tried (including me) to prove it wrong without strong evidence are still very weak and NOTHING compared to Peats complete image of an organism in articles and books.

He connects so many things andvpresent them as simplest as he could that sometimes some of our interpretations and strivings to "prove it wrong" about his recommendations sounds very funny and stupid. :)

I would advise all members to read Peats books and articles that are not only related to strictly nutrition since they give insight to his whole vision and complete process of understanding of the nature as a wholeness and us as an organic part of it and what his work really is about.

 

[Matt1951]

"I've donated blood quite a few times recently, and all my minerals/blood cell counts/etc. are always very good. So physically, there is nothing wrong (although severely under-eating is making me lose my hair again after a long time of no loss), but mentally it feels like a lot is off."

Whoa, you need a ferritin test. When you donate they check for hemoglobin, which is the last iron measurement to go low. But you need iron for more than creating hemoglobin. It also is required for metabolic functions. If your ferritin, or stored iron, is less than 50, you could well have low metabolism and feel like crap. It also can cause your hair to fall out. No where does Peat say you should be "donating blood quite a few times recently". This has become an issue in Canada, where they are contemplating making the serum ferritin test mandatory for blood donation.

 

[Drareg]

"I want to burn you alive, what is so wrong with screaming I hate you all? Why can't I? Show me the person who hates humanity more than me and I'll kill him so I'll be the one who hates humanity the most".

Blinkyrocket claims Peats ideas are the problem for making him feel bad,did blinky ever consider his own stream of consciousness and personal meanings might be be the issue, more so than sugar? I'm speculating because I get a slight vibe from the tone of the above quote..........

His quote and behaviour are an example of how people will project out "feelings" without considering what the real suppressed issue might be,in blinkyrockets case he wont address his underlying hatred for others and himself,rejection he perceives etc ,instead he looks for energy sinks like Peat.

No amount of sugar or pills can help someone who is writing messages like this(based on our current understanding of humans).
Difference between blinkyrocket and the other angry males who feel socially/sexually rejected on this forum (many said males in this thread) is blinky has no energy the keep face,the others have touch more energy to keep the trolling up. Similar patterns at work.
Their personal meanings won't change,nor will they change context ,they expected Peat to have magic pills like dopamine boosting fat burners and Peat to have the justification to use them while eating what you want,Peats ideas about meanings and your behaviour in the world send them into a rage,they want pills like limitless and to dominate other humans.

 

[Constatine]

Since your blood work shows no problems, you probably haven't been "ruined," just temporarily challenged. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I, on the other hand, HAVE been metabolically ruined by this WOE. I now require daily insulin injections if I want to live.

Arguing about whether sugar is good or bad doesn't get anywhere -- obviously lots of people, most of those on this forum, do great with a high carbohydrate intake. For an unfortunate few, however, people who like me are predisposed to have problems with it for various reasons, it can be a disaster. I had issues with reactive hypoglycemia my whole life, since childhood. I don't know what it was that made me disregard everything I knew about how sugar affected me and go all-in with this diet. It was likely a combination of things, which I have detailed in other posts. I'm trying to move on from the self-flagellating stage of this, but it's hard sometimes.

As I've detailed elsewhere on the forum, it took about 5 months in my case for the metabolic breakdown to fully manifest into diabetes. Eating more sugar, mostly in the form of fruits, didn't seem to have any negative consequences at first, other than maybe sensitive teeth. Looking back now, it was only when I started DRINKING more sugar, in the form of orange juice and occasional cokes/redbull, that the problems really started. I was so stupid that I thought, since my teeth were getting sensitive, I should probably drink any sugary drinks fast, so they wouldn't be in contact with my teeth for too long. Not a good idea. Sofa king stupid.

I'm still trying to understand how this translated into me developing Type 1 diabetes. Obviously when you take in more energy than your body needs, it has to do something with it. Most people will just store it as fat, with the help of insulin. My body did the opposite -- it stopped making insulin. More specifically, my immune system got confused and started attacking and killing my pancreatic beta cells, which make insulin. I recently had this confirmed with a GAD-antibodies test, which came back very positive.

I also wanted to say that I have been communicating privately with a young man from this forum who reached out to me to say that he has had the same experience. He is now Type 1 diabetic, and having such a hard time accepting it. I've encouraged him to put his experience out here on the forum, because I believe it's important for people to learn about what can possibly happen. If I hadn't put my experience out here, he wouldn't have known about it, or been able to contact me. He says he's still just trying to wrap his head around what has happened, and he'll post about it when he's ready. I really hope he does. Here I was thinking maybe it was just me, a 52 year old woman who should have known better, and thinking this diet is probably great for young men.

I hardly ever post, but I do check in occasionally, because I like most of the peeps here, and I have to keep up to date with all of haidut's supplements, because I love them!

Many people embrace a high sugar diet devoid of nutrients on here. I don't think it is a good use of Peat's ideas. Sugar is very much not the enemy of man but it is also not a panacea. One should be cautious and listen to the body's cravings and reactions to everything he/she does. This is the most important aspect of Peat's ideas (perceive, think, act). I think a diet high in organ meat and shellfish can reverse many ailments because of how nutrient dense the food is. As for sugar it's benefit or detriment much depends on what you eat with it.

 

[tara]

If I get a jones for starchy carbs I often use white rice + Kerry Gold or some other grassfed butter.

I've been known to do that too.

Many people embrace a high sugar diet devoid of nutrients on here. I don't think it is a good use of Peat's ideas. Sugar is very much not the enemy of man but it is also not a panacea. One should be cautious and listen to the body's cravings and reactions to everything he/she does. This is the most important aspect of Peat's ideas (perceive, think, act).

+1

@lampofred
I think I've read that when someone is seriously undereating, blood mineral levels can look as though they are OK because the body is breaking down and releasign minerals into the bloodstream, even though there really are serious nutrient deficiencies.
It looks as though you interpreted Peat or this forum as suggesting a very narrow variant of a diet and then when you didn't react well to it, you swapped out the micronutrients to make it even more narrow. Peat himself has spoken in favour of variety, and of eating foods one enjoys, and that taste good, as well as the importance of generous nutrition.

If you need to eat some junk food on order to not starve, then i'm in favour of you not starving.
But I'd also really like to see you not get stuck in a narrow junk food diet.
There are lots of things you could try.
How about googling soup recipes for inspiration?
The only things I'd recommend avoiding completely at least at the beginning while getting yourself out of this narrow depleted state, are refined PUFA seed oils and any thing that gives you personally really bad symptoms, and where possible avoid non-food additives.
Other than that, emphasise fruit and veges over grains and beans, include some liver, shellfish, eggs and dairy, gelatinous cuts of meat unless they give you bad symptoms, and generally go for variety and expand your range.

It's easy to make meat taste like leather. A slow cooked casserole made with some nice veges an herbs and served with a pile of creamy mashed potatoes or baked sweet potato chips might melt in the mouth more easily?

 

[vb2005]

-Gained 25 pounds
-Lost muscle, gained a massive amount of stomach fat, now have a double-chin
-Lost all motivation, even to eat
-Have not eaten anything in 5 days, only drank coca-cola b/c I have no appetite for anything else (never hungry no matter how little I eat)
-No appetite, no motivation at all, super low energy, sleepiness, etc. are all a sign of massive dopamine receptor downregulation from sugar binging
-400mg of caffeine at once and I feel nothing
-Too lazy to type complete sentences (compare w/ the massive paragraphs I used to write when I first embarked on the Ray Peat journey when I hadn't begun to feel the after effects of replacing starch with sugar and instead felt hypomania like I was high)
-In short, I am a recovering addict
-Sugar really is a drug

I NEED my D2 receptors back, but they take months and years to regenerate even partially and most likely will never fully come back

There are so many problems with Peat's ideas that it is time someone to make a summary of his wrong ideas and post them on popular sites to prevent further damage for many people.
The sugar idea is so stupid that i can't believe someone with decades of experience can say it - the whole idea of speeding the thyroid with carbs is BS - the thyroid is about minerals - if you are missing some of the minerals /vitamins needed for thyroid the more carbs you eat the worse the deficiency will be. Fruits are also bad but they at least have some nutrient unlike sugar. Mr Peats claims about pufas are also not correct - pufas only lead to selenium deficiency because when you make oil from corn /or when the soil where corn was grown is deficient/ you leave the selenium in the corn and take only oil, also raw pufas are not the same as heated pufas - eskimos eat pufas but they were mostly raw - it is not the same as cooking with canola oil. It is similar with so called goitrogens - they just lead to iodine deficiency - just eat them away from iodine containing foods and you will be fine. All these people reading this forum 99% have low HCL and are protein deficient so they should eat raw eggs and raw milk but mr Peat never tells them to do it because he have no idea that raw eggs dont need enzymes for digestion - just check review under any site selling HCL supplements - you will see people cured from many deseases - something you rarely see here.

 

[Xisca]

I have seen the claims against PUFA twice elsewhere with no reference to RP, but they were mentionning an excess PUFA from mainly oil, not from eating some nuts. This part of RP idea is one of the best, if you take into account the excess of omega 6 in western countries.
I know fruitarians that feel good....
Also vegan.
I also know ex vegans who tuerned excessively paleo, better result but not good either.
1 excess often leads to the reverse excess, same when reintroducing sugar after paleo!

The quality and the cooking are important.
Raw yolk and raw honey were my fuel when ill.
I take betaine HCl for tomach acid and it helps a lot.

 

[tara]

There are so many problems with Peat's ideas that it is time someone to make a summary of his wrong ideas and post them on popular sites to prevent further damage for many people.
The sugar idea is so stupid that i can't believe someone with decades of experience can say it - the whole idea of speeding the thyroid with carbs is BS - the thyroid is about minerals - if you are missing some of the minerals /vitamins needed for thyroid the more carbs you eat the worse the deficiency will be. Fruits are also bad but they at least have some nutrient unlike sugar. Mr Peats claims about pufas are also not correct - pufas only lead to selenium deficiency because when you make oil from corn /or when the soil where corn was grown is deficient/ you leave the selenium in the corn and take only oil, also raw pufas are not the same as heated pufas - eskimos eat pufas but they were mostly raw - it is not the same as cooking with canola oil. It is similar with so called goitrogens - they just lead to iodine deficiency - just eat them away from iodine containing foods and you will be fine. All these people reading this forum 99% have low HCL and are protein deficient so they should eat raw eggs and raw milk but mr Peat never tells them to do it because he have no idea that raw eggs dont need enzymes for digestion - just check review under any site selling HCL supplements - you will see people cured from many deseases - something you rarely see here.

Please do not associate the OP's difficulties with Peat's ideas. He was not following Peat's ideas.
Please do not attribute to Peat the idea of eating carbs to speed the thyroid without addressing mineral needs. Peat has frequently discussed the importance of adequate minerals.
If you think that selenium deficiency is the only problem with PUFAs, then I think you may be missing quite a lot of the known research in the area. I don't think Inuit life expectancy particularly supports your point.
It is quite possible that low HCL is a factor for some people here. Amongst other factors, I gather that low thyroid function can contribute to this.
Some do eat raw eggs and milk, and it works well for them. Not everyone has access to or tolerates raw milk, and there are also some risks associated with raw milk and eggs, which individuals get to weigh up for themselves. Peat has suggested trying different forms of milk to see which works for the individual.
Some people on this forum have found ways to make use of some of Peat's ideas and have much improved health, others have not. I rather doubt raw milk, raw eggs and HCL are the whole solution for everyone either. Reviews on any site selling any supplement are frequently selectively favourable - it's a common part of the marketing on retail sites. This is a site for discussing ideas and experiences. Peat is not selling supplements.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Peats ideas about meanings and your behaviour in the world send them into a rage,they want pills like limitless and to dominate other humans.

Ah you mean the anarchocapeats

There are so many problems with Peat's ideas that it is time someone to make a summary of his wrong ideas and post them on popular sites to prevent further damage for many people.
The sugar idea is so stupid that i can't believe someone with decades of experience can say it - the whole idea of speeding the thyroid with carbs is BS - the thyroid is about minerals - if you are missing some of the minerals /vitamins needed for thyroid the more carbs you eat the worse the deficiency will be. Fruits are also bad but they at least have some nutrient unlike sugar. Mr Peats claims about pufas are also not correct - pufas only lead to selenium deficiency because when you make oil from corn /or when the soil where corn was grown is deficient/ you leave the selenium in the corn and take only oil, also raw pufas are not the same as heated pufas - eskimos eat pufas but they were mostly raw - it is not the same as cooking with canola oil. It is similar with so called goitrogens - they just lead to iodine deficiency - just eat them away from iodine containing foods and you will be fine. All these people reading this forum 99% have low HCL and are protein deficient so they should eat raw eggs and raw milk but mr Peat never tells them to do it because he have no idea that raw eggs dont need enzymes for digestion - just check review under any site selling HCL supplements - you will see people cured from many deseases - something you rarely see here.

gbolduev is that you?

 

[Scenes]

There are so many problems with Peat's ideas that it is time someone to make a summary of his wrong ideas and post them on popular sites to prevent further damage for many people.
The sugar idea is so stupid that i can't believe someone with decades of experience can say it - the whole idea of speeding the thyroid with carbs is BS - the thyroid is about minerals - if you are missing some of the minerals /vitamins needed for thyroid the more carbs you eat the worse the deficiency will be. Fruits are also bad but they at least have some nutrient unlike sugar. Mr Peats claims about pufas are also not correct - pufas only lead to selenium deficiency because when you make oil from corn /or when the soil where corn was grown is deficient/ you leave the selenium in the corn and take only oil, also raw pufas are not the same as heated pufas - eskimos eat pufas but they were mostly raw - it is not the same as cooking with canola oil. It is similar with so called goitrogens - they just lead to iodine deficiency - just eat them away from iodine containing foods and you will be fine. All these people reading this forum 99% have low HCL and are protein deficient so they should eat raw eggs and raw milk but mr Peat never tells them to do it because he have no idea that raw eggs dont need enzymes for digestion - just check review under any site selling HCL supplements - you will see people cured from many deseases - something you rarely see here.

So what are the critical minerals/vitamins we're likely missing? And do we just megadose them and expect to be healthy again?

 

[artemis]

That sucks... if you keep experimenting though I'd like to read your log if you keep one.

Thanks, Such. It does suck. Thoroughly. Of course I keep a hand-written log, but I wouldn't think it would be of much value to y'all on here. Of course I keep experimenting, with the full (and totally irrational) expectation that one day I will wake up and this will all be over, my body will stop attacking my beta cells, and everything will be back to normal. I'll go "Phew, that was crazy!" and my life will be as it was before, with no insulin injections or finger pricks or chasing a normal BG number.

I don't think it's constructive to blame the sugar in any case - the problem is inflammation. Chronic inflammation will result in chronic excitation which without proper therapy will cause a cascade of dis-ease. Inflammation will block the utilization of sugar, and the spectrum of temporal-metabolic processes that rely on a highly potentiated "sensitive" state (re; alive,) offered by proper sugar metabolism, will be progressively attenuated. Increasing dysregulation of cortisol and circadian rhythms, manifesting in chronic nervous tension and nervous system imbalance will lead to the disruption of entire temporal-metabolic "bands." The entire metabolic ebb-and-flow will be choked at several major points. This will manifest in several ways, one of which is a reduction in Glutamic-acid decarboxylase (GAD.) In certain cases severe disruption to the timing system, for example from viral interference, can cause vacancies in the patterns that encode the GAD enzyme. This can trigger an immune response and generation of antibodies to the GAD cascade.

Thanks for this post. If I had chronic inflammation when I began this WOE, I wasn't aware of it. I suppose my pancreas could have gotten a virus and I wasn't aware of that, either. You seem to know a lot about this -- any elaboration or suggestions would be appreciated. What major points would be choked? It's all a riddle to me. I do keep trying to learn more about metabolic processes, because I obviously only know enough to be dangerous!

 

[InChristAlone]

I recall a thread where someone had a panic attack after taking Ritanserin and I just had to respond but couldn't. As it turns out serotonin has acutely anxiogenic effects in the amygdala, and chronically anxiolytic effects there. However, serotonin (5-HT2a agonism) in the Periaqueductal Grey serves the opposite purpose, it excites GABAergic neurons (oddly enough resulting in inhibition of course) there while also provoking the local release of endorphins, and the subsequent activation of the Mu receptor there which all results in an inhibition of the fight or flight/ defensive/ freezing response to a predator, and panic in response to CO2 challenge. So, 5-HT2a antagonists in particular can worsen panic attacks and will not have any benefit in panic disorder whatsoever. So, the recommendation for these anti-serotonin drugs to treat panic attacks here is just another one of those cringe inducing things for me. Obviously off-topic, but interesting since this thread also reminds me of that, I.E. not blaming sugar for something it's likely to have caused.

This is interesting. I have a history of panic attacks, 3 yrs now, but I've been mostly cured by going off caffeine. I did have 2 months of on and off panic attacks from the withdrawal, but after that it's just been getting better and better, and all during that time I've been on cyproheptadine. It doesn't cause panic at all for me. Also i should mention I've decreased my white sugar consumption also concurrently with the caffeine withdrawal.... I did do haagen dazs but wasn't doing soda, much, candy or chocolate, and no dumping sugar in my food. I had a day of bad anxiety and I chalked it up to soda and skittles.

 

[Diokine]

@artemis

Check out the video series on type 1 diabetes by Gershom Zajicek

How to boost Insulin in Type 1 Diabetes


@ecstatichamster posted the series by Dr. Zajicek some time ago, and it's pretty fantastic.

 

[lampofred]

@lampofred
I think I've read that when someone is seriously undereating, blood mineral levels can look as though they are OK because the body is breaking down and releasign minerals into the bloodstream, even though there really are serious nutrient deficiencies.
It looks as though you interpreted Peat or this forum as suggesting a very narrow variant of a diet and then when you didn't react well to it, you swapped out the micronutrients to make it even more narrow. Peat himself has spoken in favour of variety, and of eating foods one enjoys, and that taste good, as well as the importance of generous nutrition.

If you need to eat some junk food on order to not starve, then i'm in favour of you not starving.
But I'd also really like to see you not get stuck in a narrow junk food diet.
There are lots of things you could try.
How about googling soup recipes for inspiration?
The only things I'd recommend avoiding completely at least at the beginning while getting yourself out of this narrow depleted state, are refined PUFA seed oils and any thing that gives you personally really bad symptoms, and where possible avoid non-food additives.
Other than that, emphasise fruit and veges over grains and beans, include some liver, shellfish, eggs and dairy, gelatinous cuts of meat unless they give you bad symptoms, and generally go for variety and expand your range.

It's easy to make meat taste like leather. A slow cooked casserole made with some nice veges an herbs and served with a pile of creamy mashed potatoes or baked sweet potato chips might melt in the mouth more easily?

Thanks for all the ideas and recipes... you are one of the most helpful members on here. I definitely need to take action to start bouncing back from my situation, so tomorrow I'm going to start keeping a log of my food intake so that I ensure I'm getting 3500 calories daily and all my necessary nutrients by ensuring that I'm eating a variety of foods.

Yeah, @lampofred, @tara has some really good ideas for making food taste good. And this:



My own number one thing, too.

If I get a jones for starchy carbs I often use white rice + Kerry Gold or some other grassfed butter. It's not precisely Peaty but it's low PUFA and occasional white rice has the "Peat stamp of approval" if one must do starch. Beats hell out of processed french fries, and gets you satisfied without entirely ruining what you're trying to do. So, some OJ with that, while it's all still kind of a liver bomb , can keep you from going off the rails into processed french fries and coke. White rice being so much easier and less messy to cook than home-made french fries. I usually keep some white rice in fridge for such occasions.

I also do baked potatoes with butter to keep things switched up.

And I do homemade fries in coconut oil occasionally. But it's a PITA and messy so usually opt for the easier alternatives. If I had a cook and a maid I might do it more often, though. LOL

I'm not a starch phobe. I usually eat some daily. Other's mileage may vary. And I may change that because Peat may be right about endotoxin and starch, although so far it hasn't been my experience that I notice a real difference when I'm eating starch v. not eating it. I'm still monitoring my body for changes and mulling things over. Some compelling arguments on this board both for and against starch. Right now I'm in the "for" group.

So I'm not a pure Peatist, although his ideas have informed my "world foodview" to the point that I do consider myself a Peatard. :p

Losing weight requires less fat but when you're trying to kick a junk/processed food/PUFA addiction, the main thing is to choose a better alternative (like white rice and butter) so you don't fall off the wagon entirely. I've about kicked my own crap food addiction using Peat and these strategies, so there's hope. Still working, but I just don't want to eat the same stuff and especially all the sugar I used to. Real progress.

But when you can, lower fat is best.

Also agree with @Westside PUFAs about blood donation. Iron is NOT the enemy. *Too much* iron is, but frequent blood donation without monitoring blood cell counts or without a known hemachromatosis problem probably isn't wise even if you're not in a depleted nutrient state.

Anyway, again, good luck. Let us know how you do. :)

Edited: I also had difficulty with some Peat strategies at first. I think if we're in a bad place metabolically, his favorite things (fruit, gelatin, thyroid, etc.) rev us up too much. Baby steps. Took me a while to be able to tolerate gelatin, for instance...it seemed to exacerbate my gut problems. Gelatin being a prebiotic, not unlike starch. Some bacteria love it. But now I'm seeing benefit from it and believe it's benefited my gut and digestion immensely. So some strategies that don't work at first, it's okay to leave them, try other things, and circle back around later, if you want. I've done a lot of that, with everything (not just Peat) on this journey to optimize my health.

Thanks for the helpful post. I am definitely going to start freely eating starch again. I love white rice. But I'm going to have to wait for a while before I can handle gelatin again...

This Thread is really depressing to me. I'm doing all the supplements and eating well lots of fresh fruit throughout the day and even though I've lost weight and I feel good my blood sugar is Sky High. It may be due two infection I'm fighting and stress I'm dealing with because I'm my mother's caregiver and she's 91 years old with dementia and she got so stressed out that she develops shingles and is now dealing with nerve pain. However I'm doing the same thing for her as I am myself and she has come back about 80% at least that was until she got stressed out and develop the shingles.

Be careful...

"I've donated blood quite a few times recently, and all my minerals/blood cell counts/etc. are always very good. So physically, there is nothing wrong (although severely under-eating is making me lose my hair again after a long time of no loss), but mentally it feels like a lot is off."

Whoa, you need a ferritin test. When you donate they check for hemoglobin, which is the last iron measurement to go low. But you need iron for more than creating hemoglobin. It also is required for metabolic functions. If your ferritin, or stored iron, is less than 50, you could well have low metabolism and feel like crap. It also can cause your hair to fall out. No where does Peat say you should be "donating blood quite a few times recently". This has become an issue in Canada, where they are contemplating making the serum ferritin test mandatory for blood donation.

Not donating to get rid of iron, but just because I want to. I didn't know about the ferritin test, though, so I probably won't donate for a while until I start feeling better.

 

[lampofred]

Since your blood work shows no problems, you probably haven't been "ruined," just temporarily challenged. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I, on the other hand, HAVE been metabolically ruined by this WOE. I now require daily insulin injections if I want to live.

Arguing about whether sugar is good or bad doesn't get anywhere -- obviously lots of people, most of those on this forum, do great with a high carbohydrate intake. For an unfortunate few, however, people who like me are predisposed to have problems with it for various reasons, it can be a disaster. I had issues with reactive hypoglycemia my whole life, since childhood. I don't know what it was that made me disregard everything I knew about how sugar affected me and go all-in with this diet. It was likely a combination of things, which I have detailed in other posts. I'm trying to move on from the self-flagellating stage of this, but it's hard sometimes.

As I've detailed elsewhere on the forum, it took about 5 months in my case for the metabolic breakdown to fully manifest into diabetes. Eating more sugar, mostly in the form of fruits, didn't seem to have any negative consequences at first, other than maybe sensitive teeth. Looking back now, it was only when I started DRINKING more sugar, in the form of orange juice and occasional cokes/redbull, that the problems really started. I was so stupid that I thought, since my teeth were getting sensitive, I should probably drink any sugary drinks fast, so they wouldn't be in contact with my teeth for too long. Not a good idea. Sofa king stupid.

I'm still trying to understand how this translated into me developing Type 1 diabetes. Obviously when you take in more energy than your body needs, it has to do something with it. Most people will just store it as fat, with the help of insulin. My body did the opposite -- it stopped making insulin. More specifically, my immune system got confused and started attacking and killing my pancreatic beta cells, which make insulin. I recently had this confirmed with a GAD-antibodies test, which came back very positive.

I also wanted to say that I have been communicating privately with a young man from this forum who reached out to me to say that he has had the same experience. He is now Type 1 diabetic, and having such a hard time accepting it. I've encouraged him to put his experience out here on the forum, because I believe it's important for people to learn about what can possibly happen. If I hadn't put my experience out here, he wouldn't have known about it, or been able to contact me. He says he's still just trying to wrap his head around what has happened, and he'll post about it when he's ready. I really hope he does. Here I was thinking maybe it was just me, a 52 year old woman who should have known better, and thinking this diet is probably great for young men.

I hardly ever post, but I do check in occasionally, because I like most of the peeps here, and I have to keep up to date with all of haidut's supplements, because I love them!

I'm so sorry about your situation... I remember reading your "did I diabetes myself" thread when my blood sugar first skyrocketed when I began following Peat. I definitely agree that everybody's body is different and that sucrose might not be ideal for everybody even though Peat thinks it is a quality source of calories overall.

 

[Xisca]

ensure I'm getting 3500 calories daily

start freely eating starch

Please build it slow! And mix your stach with fat sat and well cooked veg, fruit veg are best digested like squash family.
It is about metabolism, yes, but 1st comes digestion!
And adaptation is a process you cannot speed up, so the best is to listen to your body, remembering that any excess will make a pendulum effect.
I hope you have found some use to my posts, I really was posting 1st for you even when answering to others.

 

[Mary Pruter]

Start at the beginning:

+ Clean the Liver

Caffeine Reverses Stress, Insulin Resistance, Hypertension

High Protein Diet Prevents & Reverses Fatty Liver Disease (steatosis)

+ Fix Digestive Issues

Amino Acid Supplementation For People With Poor Digestion

Ray Peat Potato Protein Soup (RPPPS)

Cyproheptadine - A Wonder Drug?

+ Reduce PUFA in Tissues down to almost nothing

PUFA Depletion Can (probably) Be Accomplished In 30 Days!

Haidut's Summary Of PUFA

VoS uncoupling thread

Cheers!

Thank you for this!

 

[Mary Pruter]

Let me guess, 50 grams of protein a day?

How many grams of protein is recommended? A meal or day? I really don't eat a lot of meat myself. Uncontrollable desire to have bacon with breakfast. I cut back for 4 to 5 pieces to just 2. I simmer it on water first and drain it, then cook it to crispy and blot it. Always organic without nitrates or nitrites. Munch on fresh fruit most of the day, grapefruit, grapes, blueberries, pineapple and watermelon. The only refined sugar I have is in my coffee in the morning, 1 and a half teaspoons and once in a while in a Hershey bar. Other than that it's all fruits.