Log / Day One

[Luann]

Hi everyone, first full day on Peat starts today.
I'll be updating about how Peat's diet affects specific health complaints I face, like
Back pain upon waking up: I'm WAYY too young for this (23)!
Migraines that mostly stopped with eliminating wheat and dairy,
Energy throughout day,
Brain fog / focus with schoolwork,
and perhaps most importantly, social functions: how positive, in charge, relaxed I feel when I'm around people. This is a huge deal to me, because I hate being nervous and consider myself very outgoing, when my esteem is good. My family and friends mean more than anything to me and I'd like to maximize that enjoyment.

One last thing I want to track is motivation to run, to sprint, to jog. As a kid I loved to chase, be chased, play soccer, chase frisbees, I was like a puppy. Now I'll be on a walk and get tired on a hill. Hopefully my old energy will return and I can go running again.

End of day one report: feeling good, eggs fried in coconut oil, raw slaw fried with it and eaten with a vinegar sugar sauce, also some latte's from Starbucks, fat free, and a chocolate milk (gluten and corn syrup free, reduced fat). I still eat black beans (with tomato chunks, bell peppers) and don't plan to completely eliminate them, but successfully limited peanut butter today, my old addiction. My plan is to adjust to dairy by putting it into cold-brewed homemade coffee with sugar. So far the energy from the sugar feels very natural, even filling.

 

[Luann]

Day two: TERRIBLE sleep, probably because of carageenen in chocolate milk from last night. Like four hours worth.
On the plus side, downed some Starbucks lattes this morning to celebrate being allergic to carageenan INSTEAD of milk (yey dairy): 600 calories before 10 a.m.? that's a personal best

 

[charlie_]

Liubo, hoping the best for you and looking forward to watching seeing progress.

 

[Luann]

Notes:

Floor sleeping helped my back-ache
Natural gummy bears are EXPENSIVE
Does anyone substitute potatoes for orange juice (potassium, carbs)??

 

[Luann]

check-in.

Headaches and anxiety seem reduced after following a VERY low-fat diet (as close to fat-free as I can make it, except for around a tablespoon of coconut oil a day. I was putting the coconut into my coffee but have since read somewhereabouts on here that it's better to only do sugar / milk - which I sub out for fat-free milk - in coffee. The coconut oil now goes on my food.)

I would like to go low-tryptophan after seeing some people on here with good results doing that. Here are wikipedia's results for foods with low tryptophan that still have some protein (low tryptophan/protein percent):

1. tamarind. i'm not sure what this is.
2. bananas.
3. potatoes
4. beans.

so it looks like I'll be not eating much milk, which was my main protein, and instead eating some beans. But not too many beans because they are still higher in tryptophan than, say, rice and fruit. Raw chickpeas are listed as having 0.96 percent of tryptophan in their protein and I read two articles that studied bean protein after cooking and found it would be lowered. Here's one of those articles http://www.pjbs.org/pjnonline/fin1041.pdf

P.S. I have lost four pounds in my first three or four days back on Peat after a break. This must be the effect of a very low fat diet; also not drinking as much Pepsi and milk as last time helps. I love them but can find sugar in a solid form too which seems to fill me up more.

 

[Luann]

Time to try a new thing.

I want to keep tabs on my basic diet which right now is not much more than root veggies. I eat all roots like onions, carrots, potatoes, yams, and beets, and will eat fruit and pop for more carbs and to switch it up. I like the idea of the potato hack and it seems like it helps a lot of people. For more protein I'll use DRY skim milk, since I like the taste and I like how it feels on my potatoes :P What else: just coffee and salt.

After a month when I have less PUFA I'll add palm kernel oil.

I've done this for a day and a half now and have pros and cons. Pro: no back pain, head or neck pain. Cons: a bit stressed, and when I didn't add the dry milk I could NOT sleep like at all. I had this need to puke (but didn't) earlier today but now it's passed. Mood is fair. I will post as I go.

 

[lindsay]

Interesting start! I will say right off the bat that if you are limiting tryptophan, ignore what Wikipedia says about bananas because they just contain flat out serotonin, so unless you are cooking them, they may be problematic for you. I cannot eat bananas unless they are REALLY ripe and even then they usually cause me problems.

Also, if you continue getting nausea, take note. I went super low fat high carb for a few weeks two summers ago - eating mainly cooked white rice and mashed potatoes - after three weeks or so I got appendicitis and had to have major surgery. I could eat starch again while on the antibiotics, but then after that, I noticed I would get UTI issues whenever I ate a potato or something starchy, so I quit eating starch and started following what my body was craving. I no longer eat low fat or starch. I'm not saying that was what caused my appendicitis, but I think the infection had been creeping up for awhile and I had been eating a ton of starch at the time. I also had changed my thyroid brand, but the problems didn't arise until the starch pounding began. I was eating everything though - well cooked oats and homemade sourdough too.

Potatoes are delicious though and sometimes I will eat them if they are covered in butter, sour cream and other deliciousness :)

Hope you will find the balance you need! P.S. How do you like the cold brew coffee? I've been meaning to try it, but I love hot beverages.

 

[DaveFoster]

You have a balanced version of the Peat diet. I'd drop the beans; they're really not optimal due to their phosphorous content. Some people prefer to keep cooked vegetables and meats (especially organ meats) in their diet, along with eggs of course. I'd recommend an egg white allergy test.

Potatoes can help, but I haven't heard many good arguments in favor of starch. A carrot salad (look up Peat's recipe) helped me a lot with gut health. Make sure to include the salt, vinegar, coconut oil, and a larger amount of carrot fiber (1 - 2 carrots should be enough), along with lemon juice for flavor.

Getting enough salt is key.

 

[Amazoniac]

Liubo, hi. Track cognitive function also, maybe with those online typing tests..
I'll step by and follow some of your updates on this log, I probably won't comment much though, good luck!

 

[mt_dreams]

I'm not sure how much milk powder you're using, but it's possible your diet is low in quite a few minerals & vitamins. Off the top of my head I would imagine it might be low in selenium, zinc, vit e, k, d, a, b2, & b12. To be sure, you may want to log it into cronometer to see what it's lacking. this might be why you are experiencing some cons, especially when you don't add in the milk powder.

 

[Luann]

Interesting start! I will say right off the bat that if you are limiting tryptophan, ignore what Wikipedia says about bananas because they just contain flat out serotonin, so unless you are cooking them, they may be problematic for you. I cannot eat bananas unless they are REALLY ripe and even then they usually cause me problems.

Also, if you continue getting nausea, take note. I went super low fat high carb for a few weeks two summers ago - eating mainly cooked white rice and mashed potatoes - after three weeks or so I got appendicitis and had to have major surgery. I could eat starch again while on the antibiotics, but then after that, I noticed I would get UTI issues whenever I ate a potato or something starchy, so I quit eating starch and started following what my body was craving. I no longer eat low fat or starch. I'm not saying that was what caused my appendicitis, but I think the infection had been creeping up for awhile and I had been eating a ton of starch at the time. I also had changed my thyroid brand, but the problems didn't arise until the starch pounding began. I was eating everything though - well cooked oats and homemade sourdough too.

Potatoes are delicious though and sometimes I will eat them if they are covered in butter, sour cream and other deliciousness :)

Hope you will find the balance you need! P.S. How do you like the cold brew coffee? I've been meaning to try it, but I love hot beverages.

Bananas make my head hurt, which must be the serotonin. Thanks Lindsay. That is awful - so sorry you went through that - will keep in mind!!!! The cold brew is good hot too, but I make it cold - which does not use electricity or paper filters, so it's great. I like it a lot, it's said to be a strong way to brew it but I don't find it different at all.

You have a balanced version of the Peat diet. I'd drop the beans; they're really not optimal due to their phosphorous content. Some people prefer to keep cooked vegetables and meats (especially organ meats) in their diet, along with eggs of course. I'd recommend an egg white allergy test.

Potatoes can help, but I haven't heard many good arguments in favor of starch. A carrot salad (look up Peat's recipe) helped me a lot with gut health. Make sure to include the salt, vinegar, coconut oil, and a larger amount of carrot fiber (1 - 2 carrots should be enough), along with lemon juice for flavor.

Getting enough salt is key.

Just did some salt & onion broth I made. It perked me up and drove out the ill feeling. I eat carrots, like a few a day (raw), and yes I've dropped the beans since I read this:
Menopause and its causes . Beans are so high in iron that they don't seem to fit the way of Peat.

I think I may have brought my estrogen in check these last few days, which would curb serotonin, which might cause me to feel a bit down & out? That's my guess.

 

[DaveFoster]

I think I may have brought my estrogen in check these last few days, which would curb serotonin, which might cause me to feel a bit down & out? That's my guess.

Good guess. Lowered serotonin in the context of hypothyroidism can bring on feelings of disassociation and depersonalization.

 

[Luann]

Not feeling so good right now, yesterday I ran into some problems. To start off with: at work some of the staff made racy comments to me and that just seemed to throw things off for the whole day. There's nothing like thinking you can trust someone and then finding out you can't. That night, we held a work meeting that was fine until we had to try food off of our new menu and I got stuck with several mouth fulls of mayo, chicken, beans, and avocado, all of which I try not to eat right now.
I self medicated with a long shower and lots of pepsi so my brain could have the carbs it needed to get over a crappy day. There was a definite consequence to the stress this morning, and that was that it was hard to get out of bed, even though I am a morning person any other day of the week. And no this wasn't due to the Pepsi and caffeine intake, because I slept all night; it was just my body's response to stress.

 

[Makrosky]

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[Luann]

Day nine of being nearly fat-free, excepting that piece of mayo salad last night at a work meeting (don't remember what salad it was, it just sounds funny to say mayo salad. If the shoe fits, and all that.) Don't feel well: migraine, shaky, fast heartbeat, lethargic. It's hard to tell if I'm suffering from low estrogen and serotonin, which would be a good thing, or from a mix of the PUFA and the stress from yesterday when I got workplace-harassed.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

Don't feel well: migraine, shaky, fast heartbeat, lethargic.

Could be low blood sugar. Do you have frequent feedings throughout the day? It's hard not to eat starch when going low fat, and it's hard to keep blood sugar steady when eating starch, so I suggest having a good solid feeding of starch every hour, best paired with some protein too, but obviously not a full blown meal every hour. Maybe make a big pot of rice or potatoes and maybe some eggwhites and bring it to work in a tupperware and snack on it all day. Also maybe a piece of whole fruit per feeding, as well as juice/skim milk. Are you going for th sub 10g range for fat? Aspirin and vit E can help keep your liberated pufa stores from causing too much damage, but you should take k2 with that as well, as both thin the blood.

 

[javin]

Cool log! Have you tried goat milk? It's supposed to be easier to digest, so it might be worth a try. I do fine with all milk, but lately I've been having goat because I enjoy the taste.

I just started on a Peaty diet about a month ago, so I'm in the early stage along with you. I've already gotten quite a few benefits from it including warmer extremities, better digestion, no anxious feelings, etc. Still a few other things I'm working on; one being sleep. I often wake up once or multiple times throughout the night. Have you found anything that helps your sleep yet?

 

[Luann]

Fun anecdote

So here I am yesterday raising this big bowl of sweet corn, fresh from microwave, up to my nose to smell it. "Silly Peat-ers who don't eat corn," I think, "little do they know it's absolutely free of iron and PUFA! It's the perfect food to lower estrogen," well check the package girl - because by the time you finish that bowl of corn and another one like it, you'll have eaten like 4g of PUFA. Yeah I think I know a little bit more about my headache right now. It loosed its grip slightly this morning after eating a lot of carbs like green beans, a potato no-skin, a bit of rice, sugar in my coffee, and bbq sauce, so it must have been a blood sugar headache. I ate like a bear yesterday, but it is true that fat in the diet diet will cause you to experience blood sugar swings, to a greater extent than a fat-free diet. And going for a time without food, during and after class yesterday, which usually works okay when I'm fat-free, must have set up a big ol' blood sugar pendulum given the fat in my body from eating corn. Still can't believe corn has fat in it, though, always thought it was pure starch.​

 

[Luann]

Could be low blood sugar. Do you have frequent feedings throughout the day? It's hard not to eat starch when going low fat, and it's hard to keep blood sugar steady when eating starch, so I suggest having a good solid feeding of starch every hour, best paired with some protein too, but obviously not a full blown meal every hour. Maybe make a big pot of rice or potatoes and maybe some eggwhites and bring it to work in a tupperware and snack on it all day. Also maybe a piece of whole fruit per feeding, as well as juice/skim milk. Are you going for th sub 10g range for fat? Aspirin and vit E can help keep your liberated pufa stores from causing too much damage, but you should take k2 with that as well, as both thin the blood.

doorknobrob I should have brought some starch to class last night, I didn't eat after 2:30 in the afternoon or so, just some raisins before bed!! And this usually is okay when I follow a fat-free diet because my blood sugar won't drop as fast, but as I said above, I had eaten some fat unknowingly that gave me glycemic problems.

Cool log! Have you tried goat milk? It's supposed to be easier to digest, so it might be worth a try. I do fine with all milk, but lately I've been having goat because I enjoy the taste.

I just started on a Peaty diet about a month ago, so I'm in the early stage along with you. I've already gotten quite a few benefits from it including warmer extremities, better digestion, no anxious feelings, etc. Still a few other things I'm working on; one being sleep. I often wake up once or multiple times throughout the night. Have you found anything that helps your sleep yet?

Thanks Javin, I feel better since Peating too, I think my sleep in general is better and definitely with you on the less anxiety. Sorry to hear you suffer from the Insomnia who Must not be Named as well, for me protein calcium and sugar. If you read a few posts back on my log I describe a day when I slept bee-yoo-tifully, and my take-away from that day was: strawberry fat free milk and a can of tuna, not to mention easter candies

Thanks for bringing up goat milk, btw, I truly have wondered if (cow) dairy messes with me so maybe goat milk can save the day.

 

[Luann]

Headache went away yesterday evening, so it lasted about 24 hours. It also started raining outside around that time, and I have sensitivity to the air pressure & weather change. That specific headache may have had something to do with low blood sugar too, since it was somewhat relieved by eating, although it could have just been relieved by starting to walk around and cook while the acetominophen got a chance to circulate & do its job. My iron levels are probably quite high, because of missing a period for around 16 months (it still hasn't come back yet) - not sure if that would store iron? A doctor six months ago tried to prescribe me estrogen for this, which is, just, shudder-worthy. Does anyone know if giving blood at a blood bank can lower iron? - someone on a high-iron forum mentioned that that is one of his coping methods.