Hey everyone, Ray here.
I'm 29, male.
I know many of you here, and elsewhere, involved in the 'Peatsphere' are extremely skeptical of this low toxin/low 'vitamin a' diet and lifestyle, and I understand your reservations, because I had them too.
I was very skeptical at first, primarily because this seemingly new approach contradicted many things that I believed to be true, from Peat's philosophies and my own 'scientific' understanding. Now to preface, I just want to share some of my story, and my goal is not necessarily to convince anyone to embark on this route indefinitely, but maybe to offer a perspective that would allow some to just give this a chance, perhaps. I'll try to summarize as best as I can and be somewhat brief. I don't wish to bore anyone.
I've been lurking, and at times personally involved in the Peat community since roughly ~2015-2016, and at that time I was extremely desperate to solve many health-related issues that I was having. I followed many philosophies and recommendations over the years from Peat and Georgi, who I still have incredible respect for. I made incredible progress in the beginning, or so I thought, but in recent years I felt almost as though I was going backwards. My experience was corroborated often by those who were going on this 'low vitamin a/toxin' endeavor. I was hesitant but intrigued.
Vitamin A, a poison? Never. I was in disbelief. I used to frequent scientific studies and reports of retinol, and how amazing it was for androgens, overall health, cognition, dopamine, etc. You could say I was in the pro-A crowd for many years. I've used, off-and-on, arguably toxic amounts of vitamin a, combined orally with T3, and even at times used it on the scrotum topically (I don't really want to go down that rabbit hole, as many here were already divided on how that could be unsafe/lowers LH, etc.). I made mistakes along the way and was never perfect, but overall, I followed a diet and lifestyle inspired by Peat principles for many years, that eventually seemed to hurt me.
Last year, especially the last quarter of 2023, I started to notice a decline in my health and wellbeing, that led me to the low toxin community, which I've been "peeking" into for the last couple of years to gain perspective. Thus, in January 2024, I went all in, to give it a try. I felt that if it didn't end up working well, I could just return to Peat's principles, and my former way, and not be much worse off.
I regret nothing.
Many things that I thought I knew were being challenged, and I accepted, and gave this approach a whole-hearted try. For the past 1.5-2 months, I've been doing a strict low a/low toxin diet and lifestyle, to an absolute tee, modeled after information from Dr. Garrett Smith, and @charlie as well. I've cut out all major sources of copper, vitamin a, dairy, caffeine, vitamin d3 (food/supplements), PUFA (was already doing this), spices, excessive fructose, nicotine (was already doing), alcohol, amongst some other nuances. My diet currently consists of (all organic/grass fed, etc.):
- Beef, Bison, Lamb, Venison
- Organic White Rice
- Organic Japanese Udon Noodles
- Iceberg Lettuce (Organic heads)
- Peeled Cucumber
- Capers
- Pad Thai/Rice Noodles
- Homemade sourdough bread
- Apples (1-2 daily)
- Bananas (1 or less a day)
- Pure White Sea Salt
- Purified/Distilled Water (the only liquid/beverage that I consume) **I add dextrose to my water from time to time.
This seems restrictive, but that's only by choice. The low toxin lifestyle has many options for those seeking more variety than me.
So far, this diet approach has been incredible. After the first week and a half, I felt fully transitioned (YMMV). My energy and well-being have been much better than they've been in quite some time.
Many involved in the low toxin community have mentioned phenomena like the liver "unlocking" and expelling massive quantities of toxin, after years of doing this approach. I don't know how, but I think I'm already entering those stages of detox.
After taking some dextrose with water last night before I slept, I woke up today with quite an experience. I've had some massive bile dumps this morning, and early afternoon, that I've never really experienced before. Literally out of nowhere, I had several instances of diarrhea, and one instance of vomiting. What was out of the ordinary, was that what was coming out of both ends has been nothing but pure thick yellow (bile/vitamin A I'm assuming) and absolutely no other substances or material; no food, nothing. It's just been this pure thick yellow liquid. It actually goes along with everything that I've been hearing and learning about this low toxin lifestyle. It 100% corroborates with the low toxin philosophies. It was hell at first, but now going into the evening, it has calmed down, and I feel absolutely incredible. I literally feel as though I've expelled some stored vitamin a/toxin, that may have been in my body for quite awhile. I feel an internal weight has been lifted after today. I know there will be more to come.
Not everyone will have the exact same experience as me, as I understand. I know some have been doing this approach for years and have yet to experience something of the likes at which I did. Maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know. I can't really explain this myself, but I'm seeing tangible results, and I can feel them too. Please, hear me out.
Kind of a tangent, sorry. I will finish by saying that God is good, always, and I'm thankful for this forum, @charlie, and this great awakening. I know to some it sounds crazy, but what do you really have to lose by giving this a shot? Seriously.
Edits: I seemed to be repeating myself some.
Edit 2: I failed to mention I'm also using (sparingly)
-Niacin + Sodium Bicarbonate or Potassium Bicarbonate
-Molybdenum, Zinc, Selenium, Topical Magnesium
-Hardwood Activated Charcoal
These are all tools, not staples. The diet overall is the key, for me.
I'm 29, male.
I know many of you here, and elsewhere, involved in the 'Peatsphere' are extremely skeptical of this low toxin/low 'vitamin a' diet and lifestyle, and I understand your reservations, because I had them too.
I was very skeptical at first, primarily because this seemingly new approach contradicted many things that I believed to be true, from Peat's philosophies and my own 'scientific' understanding. Now to preface, I just want to share some of my story, and my goal is not necessarily to convince anyone to embark on this route indefinitely, but maybe to offer a perspective that would allow some to just give this a chance, perhaps. I'll try to summarize as best as I can and be somewhat brief. I don't wish to bore anyone.
I've been lurking, and at times personally involved in the Peat community since roughly ~2015-2016, and at that time I was extremely desperate to solve many health-related issues that I was having. I followed many philosophies and recommendations over the years from Peat and Georgi, who I still have incredible respect for. I made incredible progress in the beginning, or so I thought, but in recent years I felt almost as though I was going backwards. My experience was corroborated often by those who were going on this 'low vitamin a/toxin' endeavor. I was hesitant but intrigued.
Vitamin A, a poison? Never. I was in disbelief. I used to frequent scientific studies and reports of retinol, and how amazing it was for androgens, overall health, cognition, dopamine, etc. You could say I was in the pro-A crowd for many years. I've used, off-and-on, arguably toxic amounts of vitamin a, combined orally with T3, and even at times used it on the scrotum topically (I don't really want to go down that rabbit hole, as many here were already divided on how that could be unsafe/lowers LH, etc.). I made mistakes along the way and was never perfect, but overall, I followed a diet and lifestyle inspired by Peat principles for many years, that eventually seemed to hurt me.
Last year, especially the last quarter of 2023, I started to notice a decline in my health and wellbeing, that led me to the low toxin community, which I've been "peeking" into for the last couple of years to gain perspective. Thus, in January 2024, I went all in, to give it a try. I felt that if it didn't end up working well, I could just return to Peat's principles, and my former way, and not be much worse off.
I regret nothing.
Many things that I thought I knew were being challenged, and I accepted, and gave this approach a whole-hearted try. For the past 1.5-2 months, I've been doing a strict low a/low toxin diet and lifestyle, to an absolute tee, modeled after information from Dr. Garrett Smith, and @charlie as well. I've cut out all major sources of copper, vitamin a, dairy, caffeine, vitamin d3 (food/supplements), PUFA (was already doing this), spices, excessive fructose, nicotine (was already doing), alcohol, amongst some other nuances. My diet currently consists of (all organic/grass fed, etc.):
- Beef, Bison, Lamb, Venison
- Organic White Rice
- Organic Japanese Udon Noodles
- Iceberg Lettuce (Organic heads)
- Peeled Cucumber
- Capers
- Pad Thai/Rice Noodles
- Homemade sourdough bread
- Apples (1-2 daily)
- Bananas (1 or less a day)
- Pure White Sea Salt
- Purified/Distilled Water (the only liquid/beverage that I consume) **I add dextrose to my water from time to time.
This seems restrictive, but that's only by choice. The low toxin lifestyle has many options for those seeking more variety than me.
So far, this diet approach has been incredible. After the first week and a half, I felt fully transitioned (YMMV). My energy and well-being have been much better than they've been in quite some time.
Many involved in the low toxin community have mentioned phenomena like the liver "unlocking" and expelling massive quantities of toxin, after years of doing this approach. I don't know how, but I think I'm already entering those stages of detox.
After taking some dextrose with water last night before I slept, I woke up today with quite an experience. I've had some massive bile dumps this morning, and early afternoon, that I've never really experienced before. Literally out of nowhere, I had several instances of diarrhea, and one instance of vomiting. What was out of the ordinary, was that what was coming out of both ends has been nothing but pure thick yellow (bile/vitamin A I'm assuming) and absolutely no other substances or material; no food, nothing. It's just been this pure thick yellow liquid. It actually goes along with everything that I've been hearing and learning about this low toxin lifestyle. It 100% corroborates with the low toxin philosophies. It was hell at first, but now going into the evening, it has calmed down, and I feel absolutely incredible. I literally feel as though I've expelled some stored vitamin a/toxin, that may have been in my body for quite awhile. I feel an internal weight has been lifted after today. I know there will be more to come.
Not everyone will have the exact same experience as me, as I understand. I know some have been doing this approach for years and have yet to experience something of the likes at which I did. Maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know. I can't really explain this myself, but I'm seeing tangible results, and I can feel them too. Please, hear me out.
Kind of a tangent, sorry. I will finish by saying that God is good, always, and I'm thankful for this forum, @charlie, and this great awakening. I know to some it sounds crazy, but what do you really have to lose by giving this a shot? Seriously.
Edits: I seemed to be repeating myself some.
Edit 2: I failed to mention I'm also using (sparingly)
-Niacin + Sodium Bicarbonate or Potassium Bicarbonate
-Molybdenum, Zinc, Selenium, Topical Magnesium
-Hardwood Activated Charcoal
These are all tools, not staples. The diet overall is the key, for me.
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