hello, new to Peat

catan

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Aug 22, 2013
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Hello!

I only heard about Ray Peat a couple of months ago from mda forum, and am very intrigued by all this info. A lot of it is completely opposite to what I've been told by doctors, but makes sense to me.

I'm 31 years old, female, nursing a toddler. I'm at ideal weight for my height, but could be healthier. I was vegetarian for 7 years, never had regular periods, was eventually diagnosed with PCOS at 25. The bloodwork was all normal but I was infertile. I started eating meat again, saw a traditional chinese medicine doctor, and got pregnant soon after. During my pregnancy I read the Primal Blueprint and I was eating low-carb high fat moderate protein, which I followed for 2 years while nursing my daughter. Eating this way helped me overcome disordered eating, which I'd been struggling with for the past 10 years.

I started feeling sluggish and stressed last year (we moved to another country), and found that I had lost my appetite for high fat high protein foods during this period of stress. I ate a lot of fruit, starch, and sugary foods to cope. For someone who strictly avoided sugar for so many years, and accidentally found how effective sweetened ice coffee was in taking the stress away, made me think that sugar and carbs aren't the devil. I began to ask around forums about this, and stumbled onto Ray Peat.

Now I'm slowly incorporating his principles into my diet. Avoiding PUFA, eating more fruits and sugar, adding salt, decreasing meat intake, drinking bone broth, etc. It's a peculiar way of eating, but I'm feeling great so far-- steady energy, no cravings, improved digestion (I have a long history of constipation and hemorrhoids).

I have some questions--

- I have no access to raw milk or organic milk. Is UHT milk okay? I used to be lactose intolerant, but I've been drinking low-fat UHT milk for days now and am perfectly fine. Seems to depend on the brand.
- What are the best cheeses to get, and how much to consume? I find that regular cheese increases fat intake very quickly, and also, a lot of cheese in the stores have a long list of ingredients. Cottage cheese is difficult to get.
- How is Greek Yogurt?
- How often to eat meat? I'm avoiding chicken and pork now, occasionally eating beef/deer/lamb. Liver once a week. I used to think I should eat more red meat to get more iron (as advised by my ob/gyn during my pregnancy.... and my baby was indeed born w/ jaundice).
- I have no access to shellfish except in restaurants, but because of expense, I only have oysters and such maybe once a month..
- I read in one of Peat's articles that fermented foods are not good? This includes kimchi, yogurt, and kombucha? I made an effort previously to add these to my diet.
- What other vegetables to meat besides carrot?
- Homemade bone broth vs gelatin?

I plan to get a blood test soon so have some way of tracking progress.

Thanks everyone, I'm so glad this forum is here.
 
J

j.

Guest
Regarding milk, Ray Peat says to find milk that tastes good, and mentions that some people do better on UTH milk, and that's fine.
 
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catan

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Aug 22, 2013
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Thanks..

I'm not sure I understand low fat vs fat free vs full fat except for the fat content. Does one have more health benefits than the other?
 

HDD

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Welcome, amucc!

Here is a good link to a thread discussing dietary guidelines:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20

Fermented foods aren't good because of the lactic acid. Strained Greek yogurt is good because the whey is strained out.

Milk that you can digest without problems is what you want. Some need to drink lower fat because of weight gain.
 
J

j.

Guest
If you gain a lot of undesirable weight, low fat might be better. Otherwise I don't see why avoid it.
 

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
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Welcome to the forum.

If you do not have access to seafood you can get required selenium from
milk, egg yolk, liver, fish, meat etc. You can use cronometer to track your intake.
Selenium is essential for conversion of T4 to T3 in liver.

Weekly liver with coffee minimizes iron absorption. He usually recommends
3-6 oz of liver every week . Liver is a rich source of Vitamin A ,B and Copper.
You can make our own farmers cheese by adding lemon juice to warm milk.
Cooked Potato juice has high concentration of vitamins,Minerals and protein.
It also has keto acid, which has many therapeutic values. There is a thread on
potato juice.
80 grams of protein and 33 to 50 percent of carbohydrate in sugar form is recommended.
Using 250 to 500 watt clear incandescent light or heat lamp is very helpful in
increasing metabolism and lowering stress. There is a thread on light therapy too.
Here is a list of safe fruits
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=588
 

Dan W

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Jan 22, 2013
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Hello ammuc, and welcome to the forum.

Regarding bone broth vs gelatin, I think either one is considered helpful. There's some debate about how the broth should be made here:
viewtopic.php?p=454
 
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catan

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Aug 22, 2013
Messages
225
Hi everyone-- Thank you for your replies and advice.

I have some more questions:
1. How is pastured chicken compared to ruminants? Or should chicken be avoided completely?

2. I get gassy after milk & cheese, although I feel good with them instead of meat everyday. I am careful to get both without additives. Should I stick to milk & cheese despite the gassiness?

3. If one doesn't eat eggs, what is the best way to avoid missing nutrients?

4. Does too much sugar cause problems for teeth?

5. How bad are foods like pancakes and wheat? My kid loves bread and asks for it all the time. She also asks for sugar, rice, chocolate, eggs, liver, carrots, okra... I just let her have whatever she wants since the foods seem harmless.

6. Is supplementing vitamin K necessary? I notice it's always low when I track food in cronometer.

Thank you :)
 
J

j.

Guest
1. I think Peat said chicken is ok once every 10 days.

Avoiding the parts with more fat, having some coconut oil and vitamin E will make it less harmful.

2. I don't think so. Reduce the amount you eat until you get no discomfort, then gradually increase. Have a raw carrot daily to reduce digestive discomfort. Orange juice is a good source of calcium. You could also try greek yogurt.

3. Liver, orange juice, potatoes, shellfish are nutrient dense.

4. I would do my best so that your kids consume as little polyunsaturated fats as possible. As for wheat, try to have fruits and simple sugars in the house always, so that hopefully they choose them over wheat on their own.

5. Apparently, vitamin K2, in the form of MK4, is one of those substances that doesn't cause trouble, even at very high doses. Good sources of vitamin K2 are tongue, spleen, pancreas, tripe, some brands of ghee and butter.
 

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
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1 RP recommends against chicken for it's high PUFA content. He also later added that
fat is not deposited in chicken's muscle tissue due to it's high body temperature
If you trim skinless chicken breast the amount of PUFA is less than that of beef.
Other parts of chicken without skin has more PUFA than breast. Check nutritiondata.com
PUFA content. You can also boil chicken and skim off the fat from top.

2 It takes about 3-4 weeks for body to get adjusted to new food. If you have gas problem
after a month it would be a good idea to scale back and slowly increase over time.
Try to avoid old cheese with high histamine content.

3 One of the main reason RP recommends egg yolk is for it's vitamin A content.
Weekly serving of liver provides all the vitamin A needed. Try vegetable and bone broths
for vitamin and minerals.

4 I have noticed that my teeth sensitivity went away when i started eating beef liver weekly .
It is possibly the vitamin K in liver is protecting my teeth. Calcium plays a big role too.
I think acidic food causes more damage than sugar. RP recommends rinsing mouth after eating
sugary food and OJ.

5 Well cooked white rice is way safer than wheat. There is so many problems in wheat i think
it is a good idea to remove wheat and build habit on non-wheat foods. I think wheat is very addictive
and there are so many tasty food made of wheat. This is the only food i miss.

6 RP has said that beef liver is very rich in vitamin K and he also has recommended eating
well cooked kale every other day for vitamin K. If you are taking Aspirin you have to have good amount of
vitamin K. Vitamin K is very important in reversing calcification of soft tissues and arteries.
 
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catan

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Aug 22, 2013
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Thank you j. and Mittir for your replies.

A question about vitamin k-- my understanding is there are 2 types, from leafy greens and dairy like butter. Are both necessary? For example, if I eat spinach or spinach broth (I don't get kale here.. ), do I still need the type found in butter/ghee? The brands of butter and ghee are limited here so I don't use them. I can work in tripe though.

Mittir, what are acidic foods?
 
J

j.

Guest
The better kind is that from animal source. It for example reverses arterial calcification in rats. K1 doesn't do that. Some K1 is converted to MK4, but the amount is highly variable. I think just like vitamin A and carotene, the vitamin K from animal sources is superior.
 
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catan

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Aug 22, 2013
Messages
225
j. said:
The better kind is that from animal source. It for example reverses arterial calcification in rats. K1 doesn't do that. Some K1 is converted to MK4, but the amount is highly variable. I think just like vitamin A and carotene, the vitamin K from animal sources is superior.

If you don't supplement, how often should one eat sources of vitamin K? For example, Peat recommends liver no more than once a week because liver consumption is high iron and depresses the thyroid, right?
 
J

j.

Guest
ammuc said:
If you don't supplement, how often should one eat sources of vitamin K? For example, Peat recommends liver no more than once a week because liver consumption is high iron and depresses the thyroid, right?

I'm not sure that there is research on what's the ideal amount. Probably it's not known at the moment. Liver it not the only animal source of vitamin K, tongue and pancreas also have it. But they have iron as well, but maybe having coffee with it will be good enough. Butter and ghee also contain it, but the amount is highly variable from one brand to another, so it's hard to be sure you're getting significant amounts.
 

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