Is the Ray Peat "diet" a difficult diet?

[j.]

thanks for that long post narouz. thought i'd say that my only allowable starchy "perversion" would be potatoes. i wouldn't eat rice, even before peating, i didn't like it, and i felt like i could taste its lack of nutrients. i understand that you like them though.

 

[Ray-Z]

You mention mashed potatoes in another post.
Yes, I agree!-
Alas--and it seems you agree--
I don't think mashed potatoes are really a good food,
in terms of their constituting a big part of a Peat diet.
1. They are filled with starch and fiber
2. Usually people want/need to add a lot of yummy butter to them
(and Peat even says you Should to mitigate that starch and fiber),
and so they end up being quite fattening.
And starch, Peat writes, increases appetite and accelerates fat synthesis.
Here's another thing: unless specially treated (like juicing them and getting the extract/soup),
they are not high bang-for-the-buck protein,
and not really a great source of carbs either.
So if you eat a lot of them,
and potatoes and white rice and masa harina constitute A big part of your diet...
you will be filled up with low-quality stuff,
at the expense of what one should be eating on a healthy Peat diet.
So...I consider a (supposed) Peat diet
with the "Peat preferred" starches at the center
to be kinduv a perversion of a healthy Peat diet.

I wish I didn't!
I love mashed potatoes with butter and sour cream,
as I love white rice with lots of butter!

Narouz: Like you, I am hypothyroid, enjoy mashed potatoes a lot, and am presently trying to avoid them for the reasons you described.

I wonder if we are both craving salt and saturated fat. I get more salt than the average non-Peater, but probably much less than I did when I ate potatoes and rice.

I wonder what might be a more Peat-friendly vehicle for salt and saturated fat? Fried gelatin?

 

[narouz]

I wonder what might be a more Peat-friendly vehicle for salt and saturated fat? Fried gelatin?

Yummmmmmyyyyy.

 

[Ray-Z]

I wonder what might be a more Peat-friendly vehicle for salt and saturated fat? Fried gelatin?

Yummmmmmyyyyy.

Salty fried tomatoes? (Technically fruit, no?) Salty chocolate? Salty fried organ meats? Salty fried...applesauce?

 

[Birdie]

I wonder what might be a more Peat-friendly vehicle for salt and saturated fat? Fried gelatin?

Yummmmmmyyyyy.

Salty fried tomatoes? (Technically fruit, no?) Salty chocolate? Salty fried organ meats? Salty fried...applesauce?

Salty baked zucchini slices? Done on a cookie sheet with butter/CO. ?? I used to do yams the same way but, staarrchh. If you don't mind starch, masa corn tortillas in the oven with CO and salt...

 

[narouz]

Salty baked zucchini slices? Done on a cookie sheet with butter/CO. ?? I used to do yams the same way but, staarrchh. If you don't mind starch, masa corn tortillas in the oven with CO and salt...

I like it, Birdie!

 

[narouz]

Other thoughts, or perhaps just groups of words masquerading as such:

1. It's possible that tastes evolve.
It might be that,
as a person heals and begins to metabolize food efficiently,
appetite changes.
Maybe orange juice and milk etc
is what one will really Want when Peat-evolved...?

2. You've probably seen arguments
that wheat is addictive.
I think it is the gluten that is the addictive agent,
and as I recall it happens because the gluten molecules react with some opiod receptors or something.
Maybe those gluten molecules mimic opiod molecules...?
Something like that.
Anyway:
So here's the general notion:
Maybe a lot of our (Peat-UnEvolved) appetites
are not, as we often like to imagine,
signals guiding us to healthy foods.
Rather, maybe a lot of our appetites are simply addictions
to not-so-good foods or even downright bad foods.
So maybe, as our bodies change and adapt to Peat foods,
we also go through a period of withdrawal from our old, addictive foods.
If this theory is true,
one day, instead of whining and bombarding you guys with food-porn,
I will be telling you how absolutely Delicious and Satisfying
orange juice and milk and gelatin and bone broth are....

 

[Ray-Z]

Salty baked zucchini slices? Done on a cookie sheet with butter/CO. ??

Sounds delicious. Thank you.

I used to do yams the same way but, staarrchh.

This sentence made me laugh, perhaps because it hints that unPeaty people are really zombies shambling joylessly in search of PUFA and starch. Staaaaaarrrrrrch!

 

[j.]

So maybe, as our bodies change and adapt to Peat foods,
we also go through a period of withdrawal from our old, addictive foods.

I described part of how I went through that in a post in the previous page. Link

I wonder if something similar happened to others.

 

[charlie]

narouz you could be onto something there. I had been off gluten for at least 3 years before I started Peat due to gluten intolerance. Even though I already loved milk and OJ, it truly is very satisfying for me. The only thing I do crave every now and then is sushi.

 

[narouz]

narouz you could be onto something there. I had been off gluten for at least 3 years before I started Peat due to gluten intolerance. Even though I already loved milk and OJ, it truly is very satisfying for me. The only thing I do crave every now and then is sushi.

Dang, Charlie.
You wouldn't even be cheatin' that badly if you had a little sushi like once a week.
Get the less fatty, warmer-water fish (or eel or whatever).
The white rice is borderline okay.
Have to avoid the avocado...

 

[charlie]

I give into my urge every month or two. Mostly for a break from preparing a meal. Then, I usually feel guilty afterwards.

 

[narouz]

I give into my urge every month or two. Mostly for a break from preparing a meal. Then, I usually feel guilty afterwards.

Well, as long as you feel guilty, you're okay.

 

[charlie]

Sweet!

 

[gretchen]

Actually, it's probably the easiest diet I've ever done. Certainly it's the best tasting.

 

[Jenn]

Potatoes do not contain any fiber/cellulose if you peel them. Potatoes with a little coconut oil and salt is a complete meal. (Homemade french fries!) Potatoes are an excellent source of potassium and minerals. Potatoes are low tryptophan. Potatoes are not just starch (storage form of glucose), they also contain glucose and fructose. You can lose weight eating potatoes because they supply so much potassium (unlike other grain based starches). You do have to chew.

Anyway, you can eat whatever you want on a "Ray Peat" diet, just slather it in coconut oil and salt.

 

[narouz]

Oy vey.

 

[charlie]

narouz

 

[charlie]

Stay hungry for potatoes, my friend.

 

[peat415]

Just starting to eat this way so I'm sure I'm not there yet, but I do have some observations. First of all I love to cook, bake, ferment, preserve etc. so I will probably won't be able to continue to eat all those things if I keep with RP dietary guidelines. But it seems so far that it's far easier to have 2-4 oz of cheese, a glass of Orange juice and/or milk for dinner than to cook something right when I get home from work. So I like this part. I already had a habit of making food everyday and prepping for large cooking projects each morning. Now I just add things like extra gelatin to a lamb osso bucco to make it more "Peaty" In fact gelatin is one of my favorite things to make this way of eating work. Vanilla Panna Cotta, Yum! Gelatin in my tea. Coconut milk jello. Coffee and cream jello. Bring on the gelatin. It's the best part so far. I will probably still cook a lot but will focus on braises rather than steaks. I can make certain cheeses RP seems to recommend which will be fun for a DIYer like myself. All in all this way of eating is not too hard on a cook...you just have to find ways to use the foods he likes the best in all your meals.