More Calories and Sugar = Brittle Nails and fungus?

[firebreather]

After reading Matt Stones Diet Recovery 2 I've been eating a lot more food including sugar in just about all forms. I've actually been cutting way back on nuts and seeds though.

However after only about 2 weeks my fingernails are becoming noticeably brittle and breaking off.

Also after 4 days of the changed eating I had some previously scheduled bloodwork. My ALT was highat 57. Reference range is 7 to 35.

Last but not least I seem to have a smelly fungus between on the inside of one of my pinky toes.

I have been trying to eat mostly calorie dense foods to get my temp up. Morning has been 96.8ish

Any thoughts?

 

[tara]

There may be other possible explanations for the brittle nails, but the one that comes to mind for me is that I wonder if your mineral intake has kept up with your calorie intake? If you raise your metabolism by eating more sugar, you increase the need for many other nutrients, too. I don't know all the minerals that are important for nails. Hopefully someone else will.

If you can stop the fungus quickly, before it gets into the nail bed, you can save yourself a harder problem. Fungus doesn't like acid. If it is in the early stages, you might find that simply applying straight vinegar - any kind - morning and night for a few days gets rid of it. Probably worth continuing for a week after it looks as though it's gone, and maybe repeating every now and then eg after clipping nails. I've found tea tree oil diluted with olive oil effective on skin, but tea-tree is pretty irritating and a bit poisonous, so it's not great to use it a lot. I'm currently trying flowers of sulphur (sublimated sulphur) mixed with coconut oil. Seems effective on skin. Hot sweaty enclosed feet are more prone, and breaks in skin leave an opening for it. I suspect that if metabolism and nutrition and pH levels are are all optimal it would be less likely to happen, but once it's taken hold, it probably needs effective topical treatment. Not sure how important it is to also eradicate fungus from shoes to reduce risk of recontamination, or how to do it effectively.

 

[marcar72]

Could be a fatty liver due to increased carbs and not enough choline, would be my best guess on the elevated ALT.

Brittle nails and constantly being cold could be a sign of protein deficiency. I read you're pretty sure you get 100 grams of protein a day, AND you're taking thyroid supplementation. Thyroid supplementation is only going to increase your required protein even higher than what's recommended for hypothyroid people. (80-100 grams)

Taking thyroid supplementation pretty much automatically implies that your body is actually operating in a euthyroid state, although artificially. Therefore you should be getting 130-150 grams of protein a day, even more if you're really active.

You also probably got some damage to repair due to your Paleo low calorie, high exercise regimen you're coming from, which could also imply a higher need for protein.

You can get good choline from liver, egg yolks, and dairy. Are you consuming these items adequately in your diet? These items would also help to increase your protein if you find out you're needing more. :2cents

 

[firebreather]

Thank u so much for the input.

I'm not really sure how much of an increase my metabolism has seen. I feel slightly warmer but my temp seems to still be pretty low.

I am using plenty of sea salt.

I will start the vinegar right away

There may be other possible explanations for the brittle nails, but the one that comes to mind for me is that I wonder if your mineral intake has kept up with your calorie intake? If you raise your metabolism by eating more sugar, you increase the need for many other nutrients, too. I don't know all the minerals that are important for nails. Hopefully someone else will.

If you can stop the fungus quickly, before it gets into the nail bed, you can save yourself a harder problem. Fungus doesn't like acid. If it is in the early stages, you might find that simply applying straight vinegar - any kind - morning and night for a few days gets rid of it. Probably worth continuing for a week after it looks as though it's gone, and maybe repeating every now and then eg after clipping nails. I've found tea tree oil diluted with olive oil effective on skin, but tea-tree is pretty irritating and a bit poisonous, so it's not great to use it a lot. I'm currently trying flowers of sulphur (sublimated sulphur) mixed with coconut oil. Seems effective on skin. Hot sweaty enclosed feet are more prone, and breaks in skin leave an opening for it. I suspect that if metabolism and nutrition and pH levels are are all optimal it would be less likely to happen, but once it's taken hold, it probably needs effective topical treatment. Not sure how important it is to also eradicate fungus from shoes to reduce risk of recontamination, or how to do it effectively.

 

[firebreather]

I'm definitely getting 100 grams of protein but I'm not sure I'm getting 150.

I just find it so strange that the brittle nails are so prevelant since I changed the eating.

I haven't done the crazy exercising for at least a ur and have hardly done any exercise in the past 8 months. But my calories were probably around 2000 before I changed a couple weeks ago.

I am eating liver, eggs and dairy. Probably not enough dairy as causes me congestion and some constipation

Could be a fatty liver due to increased carbs and not enough choline, would be my best guess on the elevated ALT.

Brittle nails and constantly being cold could be a sign of protein deficiency. I read you're pretty sure you get 100 grams of protein a day, AND you're taking thyroid supplementation. Thyroid supplementation is only going to increase your required protein even higher than what's recommended for hypothyroid people. (80-100 grams)

Taking thyroid supplementation pretty much automatically implies that your body is actually operating in a euthyroid state, although artificially. Therefore you should be getting 130-150 grams of protein a day, even more if you're really active.

You also probably got some damage to repair due to your Paleo low calorie, high exercise regimen you're coming from, which could also imply a higher need for protein.

You can get good choline from liver, egg yolks, and dairy. Are you consuming these items adequately in your diet? These items would also help to increase your protein if you find out you're needing more. :2cents

 

[treelady]

Re: fungus - Oregano oil topically will take care of it too.

 

[firebreather]

Perfect. Gonna try alternating the vinegar and oregano oil

Re: fungus - Oregano oil topically will take care of it too.

 

[messtafarian]

High ALT can be caused by a viral infection. Usually it's not a *bad* virus and sometimes these things are just weird or wrong, but what I would do about that is immediately ask for a Hepatitis C screen just to make sure nothing is going on with that. It will probably be negative and you will probably hear some further thoughts from your doctor, but if it's not hepatitis then it's likely an anomaly.

Brittle nails are sometimes caused by anemia. Get an iron panel or check the CBC you just got to see if your hemoglobin is at a good level. Supplementing with the B vitamins is safe and might be something to think about. A lot of strange symptoms with the "protein ends"of you like hair skin and nails have to do with an increased demand or low absorption of B6 and B12.

What Peat says is that all fibrosis ( such as changes in the liver) originates in an imbalance of the essential salts, which are calcium, potassium, magnesium and chloride.

 

[Blossom]

I went through an adjustment period in my first couple of months coming off the paleo diet that seems quite similar to what you describe. I think it just took my body a little time to start using sugar/carbs effectively for fuel. I don't know if it is the same for you though. After 3-4 months things started to dramatically improve but before that it was rough and I wondered if I was broke beyond repair. The old me would have blamed the sugar for the return of fungal issues but Peat's work made perfect sense to me and avoiding sugar/carbs had nearly destroyed me so I persevered and I'm so glad I did! I realize I'm not offering any specific suggestions for your issues but hope my experience might give you some things to ponder since you are coming from a low carb background.

 

[firebreather]

Thank u I will ask for the hep c screen when I go in Tues.

I just started a whole food b vitamin a few weeks ago so hopefully that will help

Does Peat give suggestions about dealing with that mineral imbalance?

High ALT can be caused by a viral infection. Usually it's not a *bad* virus and sometimes these things are just weird or wrong, but what I would do about that is immediately ask for a Hepatitis C screen just to make sure nothing is going on with that. It will probably be negative and you will probably hear some further thoughts from your doctor, but if it's not hepatitis then it's likely an anomaly.

Brittle nails are sometimes caused by anemia. Get an iron panel or check the CBC you just got to see if your hemoglobin is at a good level. Supplementing with the B vitamins is safe and might be something to think about. A lot of strange symptoms with the "protein ends"of you like hair skin and nails have to do with an increased demand or low absorption of B6 and B12.

What Peat says is that all fibrosis ( such as changes in the liver) originates in an imbalance of the essential salts, which are calcium, potassium, magnesium and chloride.

 

[firebreather]

Blossom, that it's very encouraging.

I have wondered the same about being broke

I went through an adjustment period in my first couple of months coming off the paleo diet that seems quite similar to what you describe. I think it just took my body a little time to start using sugar/carbs effectively for fuel. I don't know if it is the same for you though. After 3-4 months things started to dramatically improve but before that it was rough and I wondered if I was broke beyond repair. The old me would have blamed the sugar for the return of fungal issues but Peat's work made perfect sense to me and avoiding sugar/carbs had nearly destroyed me so I persevered and I'm so glad I did! I realize I'm not offering any specific suggestions for your issues but hope my experience might give you some things to ponder since you are coming from a low carb background.

 

[Blossom]

Blossom, that it's very encouraging.

I have wondered the same about being broke

I went through an adjustment period in my first couple of months coming off the paleo diet that seems quite similar to what you describe. I think it just took my body a little time to start using sugar/carbs effectively for fuel. I don't know if it is the same for you though. After 3-4 months things started to dramatically improve but before that it was rough and I wondered if I was broke beyond repair. The old me would have blamed the sugar for the return of fungal issues but Peat's work made perfect sense to me and avoiding sugar/carbs had nearly destroyed me so I persevered and I'm so glad I did! I realize I'm not offering any specific suggestions for your issues but hope my experience might give you some things to ponder since you are coming from a low carb background.

I didn't even join the forum until 3 months in because I was afraid I would fail yet again and wanted to see how things would develop. I haven't talked much about my rough start but I thought I'd mention it in light of your situation. I knew in the beginning that my problems were not a reflection on Peat's philosophies but a result of the deep whole I'd gotten myself into over decades of following conventional and alternative medical advice. I'm glad it is encouraging for you. I feel I'm living proof that almost anyone can turn things around. Best of luck to you!

 

[firebreather]

Wonderful!

I'd love to hear more.

Blossom, that it's very encouraging.

I have wondered the same about being broke

I went through an adjustment period in my first couple of months coming off the paleo diet that seems quite similar to what you describe. I think it just took my body a little time to start using sugar/carbs effectively for fuel. I don't know if it is the same for you though. After 3-4 months things started to dramatically improve but before that it was rough and I wondered if I was broke beyond repair. The old me would have blamed the sugar for the return of fungal issues but Peat's work made perfect sense to me and avoiding sugar/carbs had nearly destroyed me so I persevered and I'm so glad I did! I realize I'm not offering any specific suggestions for your issues but hope my experience might give you some things to ponder since you are coming from a low carb background.

I didn't even join the forum until 3 months in because I was afraid I would fail yet again and wanted to see how things would develop. I haven't talked much about my rough start but I thought I'd mention it in light of your situation. I knew in the beginning that my problems were not a reflection on Peat's philosophies but a result of the deep whole I'd gotten myself into over decades of following conventional and alternative medical advice. I'm glad it is encouraging for you. I feel I'm living proof that almost anyone can turn things around. Best of luck to you!

 

[tara]

Does Peat give suggestions about dealing with that mineral imbalance?

This is some of wat he has said: It's mostly about getting enough sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium. To some extent they can cover for each other, and you don't need to be precise about the ratios. He has said to get more calcium than phosphorus.
Salt food generously for sodium and/or add baking soda.
Fruits are a good source of potassium.
Coffee has magnesium.
Milk has calcium.
Epsom salt baths have magnesium.
Broth from well-boiled leafy greens, eg kale, can provide useful minerals.
If you don't get enough calcium from food, he recommends eggshell powder.