Metabolic Rate, Pulse And Yucatan

schultz

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A quote by Ray was mentioned in the thread titled "How Crucial Is Getting Enough Calories? How Destructive Is Inadequate Calories?" by forum member @johnwester130 in which Ray mentions the people in the Yucatan having high metabolic rates. Here is the quote that was posted...

"G. W. Crile and his wife found that the metabolic rate of people in Yucatan, where coconut is a staple food, averaged 25% higher than that of people in the United States. In a hot climate, the adaptive tendency is to have a lower metabolic rate, so it is clear that some factor is more than offsetting this expected effect of high environmental temperatures."

I recall being interested in this a few years back because Ray had mentioned that G.W. Crile had travelled to different areas in the world to test the metabolic rates of various racial groups. It reminded me of Weston Price but with a respiratory apparatus, which definitely sounded cool! I did eventually find information on several ethnic groups but what I found left me with questions, especially in regards to pulse. Ray often mentions a high pulse and temperature as being possible indicators of a high metabolic rate. In some of the papers I read, men with higher than average metabolic rates had pulses that were pretty low, which appeared to me to contradict what Ray has talked about. However, things are not always so simple. Ray discusses the metabolic rate in this article and explains that...

"The metabolic rate is very closely related to thyroid hormone function, but defining it and measuring it have to be done with awareness of its complexity."

"The basal metabolic rate that was commonly used in the 1930s for diagnosing thyroid disorders was usually a measurement of the rate of oxygen consumption, made while lying quietly early in the morning without having eaten anything for several hours. When carbon dioxide production can be measured at the same time as oxygen consumption, it's possible to estimate the proportion of energy that is being derived from glucose, rather than fat or protein, since oxidation of glucose produces more carbon dioxide than oxidation of fat does. Glucose oxidation is efficient, and suggests a state of low stress."

It is therefore hard to determine if a group of people who have been tested actually have a healthy metabolic rate, considering the way they were tested or the diet they typically consume (not to mention a few other factors Ray mentions in the article I linked). There were also a few different standards used for comparison by different researchers. Ray mentions that adrenaline can raise the metabolic rate in hypothyroid people. Here is a quote from this paper...

"Heinbecker, for example, reported in 1931 that the metabolic rates of four Eskimo women living on a mixed diet were similar to normal standards, whereas in 1928 he had reported rates about 33% above normal standards with Eskimos (third day of fasting) who had been living on a purely meat diet."

I would guess that in the case above these people had high stress hormones considering they were in a state of fasting and had been living on a pure meat diet.

Here is a chart showing populations all having a higher than average basal metabolic rate:

BMR averages.jpg


This chart lists the metabolic rate of people from the Yucatan collected by 3 different researchers. The paper by Steggerda and Benedict says this at one point...

"It may be concluded that these male Maya undoubtedly have a metabolism higher than that of white men
of the same age, weight, and height. Coincidental with these high metabolism values, it was noted that the pulse rates of these Maya were much lower than the rates commonly observed with whites, and in some cases phenomenally low.
In the Steggerda series in some instances the pulse rate was 45 or below. One subject had an average rate for three days of 45 and another of 43. Two others had pulse rates on one day of 43 and 45, respectively. The most striking case was that of a man whose pulse rate on three successive days was 39, 35, and 34 beats per minute. Similarly low values were recorded by both Shattuck and Williams, although we believe that since the Steggerda data profited by the experience of the first two expeditions, they are to be considered the most reliable."

None of these papers are by Crile however (though he could have published this data in a book or something). Crile did publish some data on the K'Iche' people (spelt Quiche in his paper). Here is a chart from the paper which shows body temperature, pulse, BMR, etc. Sorry for the quality, it's clearer in the study.

Quiche1.jpg

Quiche2.jpg


Interestingly the 3 white guys at the end of the chart have higher pulses than the Maya-Quiche people but have lower metabolic rates. One of them has a body temperature of 96.7. Pulse, body temperature and metablic rate are all over the place without any clear pattern with all of the people tested, although the person with the highest pulse listed @ 96 BPM also has the highest body temperature listed @98.6 and one of the highest BMRs @+14%.

To be honest, I am not completely clear on whether or not the pulse is actually a good indicator of metabolic health. At the very least, there doesn't seem to be any clear pattern between pulse and metabolic rate in a lot of these studies. It's possible that there is a correlation between pulse and metabolic rate that requires more information on an individual basis to properly assess.

I am curious what other forum members think on the whole pulse, body temperature + metabolic rate concept? Is pulse really a useful diagnostic tool?

I have attached 3 papers that people may find interesting. The one by Wilson has a large chart of populations with both lower and higher than average metabolic rates. It's interesting to think about the kinds of foods each population eats in relation to their BMR (like bean eating populations).
 

Attachments

  • wilson1945.pdf
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  • benedict1932.pdf
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  • Crile Quiche.pdf
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LUH 3417

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Does anyone know if Peat ever mentioned the different pulses in Chinese medicine and the value of taking them? I know he taught at the National University of Natural Medicine which has a school of ancient Chinese medicine. I'm curious because anytime I do acupuncture consistently and take my pulses I am 98.6 and above throughout the day and lose a ton of water weight, but I'm not necessarily eating a ton of sugar or 3000+ calories everyday either.

I recently spoke to a friend from Russia who told me that in the 1950s many Koreans set up stands in Moscow to sell salads. The salad they sell is called Korean carrot salad and it is very salty. If you go to an Uzbek or authentic Russian restaurant you will see it on the menu.

I wonder if this is where Ray got his insight into the value of daily carrot salad, from his Russian research travels.

from wikipedia:

Korean carrots (Russian: Морковь по-корейски, tr. Morkov' po-koreyski) or Korean carrot salad (Uzbek: Koreyscha sabzili salat) is a spicy marinated carrot salad, a Koryo-saram variant of kimchi.[1][2][3] Koryo-saram (ethnic Koreans located in post-Soviet Russia) created the dish as they did not have supplies of Baechu cabbage, the main ingredient in traditional kimchi. The salad was unknown in South Korea until recently. However, it has gained an international following, being served in most cafeterias throughout post-Soviet countries, sold in many supermarkets, and featured regularly as zakuski(appetizer) and a side dish on dinner tables and in holiday feasts set by all ethnicities of the former Soviet Union.[1][2]

The typical ingredients are finely julienned carrots, garlic, ground red pepper, ground coriander seeds, vinegar, vegetable oil, salt and pepper. It may also include sesame seeds.[1]
 

Sunrise

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Jun 7, 2018
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Yucatan has à différent magnetic field as proposed by Jack Kruse. Because of the meteorite falling there Yucatan is closer to the magma of the earth.
 

Nebula

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May 30, 2018
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Isn’t low body temp and high pulse usually just high adrenaline and cortisol? Usually low thyroid. I would guess it’s common in populations raised in a modern developed nation with all of its unnatural stresses for generations since the industrial revolution.
 

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