My Journey To Optimal Health

[Cirion]

What made you stop eating lots of blackstrap molasses? Any particular reason?

I'm wondering if I might be deficient in Iodine now that I'm looking more into various minerals. In the vertical diet, Stan efferding seems to be a big fan of cranberry juice to get your daily iodine requirements. I may hit up some cranberry juice and see if its beneficial for me at all. Cronometer doesn't seem to track iodine so I'm not sure.

I think what may have contributed to my magnesium problem was also the fact I have calcium fortified OJ now, so I have way more calcium which could cause magnesium deficiency. The calcium fortified OJ is here to stay though (probably), because I am quitting dairy, and it's very difficult to get the calcium I need relative to phosphorus with just blackstrap molasses.

 

[Jennifer]

I stopped having it when I started getting strict about Peating because it's high in iron. I actually don't care for the taste of it (too metallic tasting for me), but used it because I thought minerals were king. I much prefer sugarcane juice instead. Not easy to find, though. Goya carries it in their frozen line, but no stores here carry it.

Yep, cranberries are a good source of iodine. Strawberries and carrots (especially California carrots like the Bunny brand), too. Actually, be right back...

Okay, here's a good list of high iodine foods:

Foods High in Iodine

Mm...yeah, it could be the fortification. Have you ever thought about getting your calcium from greens? You could make a concentrated broth from them and use it as a supplement. It will come balanced with magnesium, potassium, sodium etc. That's what Ray does with kale to supplement magnesium.

 

[Cirion]

Understandable. I find myself confused with iron now though. Stan efferding seems to be a big fan of iron, though he doesn't explain why. I understand the reasonings behind why its bad for the most part. I like to hear the counter arguments too though, rather than just assume the anti-Iron folk are correct (not saying they aren't) which is why I was hoping he'd write about why he likes iron - but I didn't see it in there. For me, I'll just probably make sure I get plenty of syrup and whatnot to balance the iron with manganese. I think copper is also antagonistic to iron too right?

I do think balancing minerals is another big key to health. I do remember the Dr. who performed my blood test awhile back said that mineral deficiency is probably why my free testosterone was low-ish. Now I think I understand. I wish there was a "minerals guide for dummies" book or diagram. Maybe I'll have to make one. It's very difficult to look at one mineral in isolation - context matters, you must balance them all simultaneously whilst also obtaining sufficient daily values.

 

[Jennifer]

Yeah, I'm not sure if copper is antagonistic to iron. I only know it is to zinc. Are you still drinking coffee? That blocks iron absorption, if I'm not mistaken.

Oh, and I don't have an opinion about iron. Not that that means anything. lol

 

[Cirion]

I've actually been getting most my caffeine from gum. I am about to make the switch to actual coffee. I also have reduced my caffeine intake from 600 mg a day to 300-400mg. 600 was too much. I think 300 is about my upper limit to maximize benefits while minimizing the drawbacks.

I can't believe some people here have even 1000+ a day, it's just way too much... Starting to feel like caffeine should be treated much like all the other supplements. Something that you should be wary of because it can mask deficiencies.

 

[Jennifer]

Huh, I had no clue there was such a thing as caffeinated gum.

Yeah, 1000mg is wild. Caffeine and I are not the best of buds. I feel it's better that I heal my adrenals and thyroid instead of resorting to external stimulants for energy. They only weaken my glands further.

 

[Cirion]

Every time I try really high sugar it just doesn't seem to be the answer. Going back to high fat (as much saturated as possible). I believe I'm fighting an impossible battle trying to be super high carb, like some other members here (Kreese, JamesIV to name a couple) I'm a fat metabolizer and that's just how it is, just have to accept it.

A macro setup that seemed to work decently on the weekend was 15% protein 30% carb 50% fat. I seem to be able to make it through the night without any crazy stress responses now. Fat just seems to help me hold on to glucose a lot better. I do wake up once or twice but able to get back to sleep without eating anything, which is good because I'm trying to lose some weight here lol.

I also came up with my own home-made smoothie recipe that proved useful in getting fat macros in. I put the butter and coconut oil in a bowl and melt them first so they have better mixability.

Just so I don't lose this recipe later, posting here for the record...

32-40 oz of blended watermelon
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 lemon (juiced)
2 limes (juiced)
1 tsp baking soda

It's a great saturated fat bomb + getting some vinegar/lemon/limes to help the gut, also a generous helping of fruit (watermelon being one of the top fruits recommended by RP). It's not necessarily the most appetizing smoothie ever, but it gets the job done. I give it maybe a 5-6/10 out of flavor. Just appetizing enough to be drinkable, not disgusting, but not gonna win any awards either lol.

Think I will start adding parsley to the mix. Just one cup of parsley has over 1000% DV of vitamin K (which seems hard to get without supplementing normally).

Now I just need to figure out what I want to add to boost vitamin E, and I'll have a mega hormonal boost smoothie!

Apparently Acerola fruit/juice has an obscenely high Vitamin C content. I need to find where to find this stuff and maybe add it to my (Patent Pending, Lol) "Mega Hormonal Boost Smoothie"

Maybe add some spirulina powder too. Seems like that's a good Vitamin E source. Just to track what I have so far, this puts me at the following recipe (definitely need that huge 64 oz ninja blender lol):

32-40 oz of blended watermelon
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 lemon (juiced)
2 limes (juiced)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (Himalayan pink)
Acerola fruit/juice 1 cup? (May have to just have this separately, this smoothie is already getting HUGE lol)
1/2 cup parsley
2 TBSP of spirulina powder

What I think makes my smoothie stand out, is not only is its high vitamin content, but the fact that its also high SFA, and all the fat will make the vitamins absorb amazingly (fat-soluble after all...) plus its blended into liquid form which makes it yet even easier to absorb. Plus, SFA directly improve the hormonal environment (for me at least). Trying to make sure that all ingredients I have in this have a very clear defined purpose rather than just add stuff just to add it.

 

[Jennifer]

Aww...sorry it was a rough weekend! Having your protein earlier in the day and your last meal high in fat and carbs didn't work, huh? Well, you certainly were hitting the carbs like a champ so you can't say you didn't give it a valiant effort. I don't think your body is wrong for wanting more balance rather than too high or too low in either macro, especially given your history, but I'm partial to the slow and steady approach to healing so...

I recall reading one of James' posts where he mentioned that he was eating a large seafood omelet with guacamole, some meat, lots of buttered veggies, and fruit with a nut butter while writing his post. It was nice to see someone else here was enjoying avocado. lol Anyhow, I could be wrong but it seemed to me he was more about balance, not high this or low that. Regardless, you do you. If that means high fat, rock it! Haha!

Your smoothie must have a bit of a zing to it from the apple cider vinegar, huh?

This is so funny. I just got done posting about parsley in an other thread. It's also great for the kidneys. I love the herb!

 

[Cirion]

All good, just being decisive on what I want. Perhaps I was being impatient, but I just wasn't seeing the results I wanted. For me, fat seems to be key for hormonal production, and not so much for carbs. I feel like it should not take 2-3 months. I do agree healing takes time, but I find with the right macros, libido, energy in the morning, and whatnot (should) come back within a week or even a day or two (it does with Keto for me, not that I'm necessarily going back to keto though. Not necessarily ruling out another keto attempt though (if I did do it, it'd be without PUFA's, as that's something I have not tried before). Definitely though, the saturated fats are gonna go way up from now on though.

Anyhow, RP does support fat up to around 50%, from what I recall from some of his email exchanges, so what I'm doing, I think is still endorsed, and I'm following just about all the principles such as avoid pufa as much as I can while raising fat and for now still getting most/all carbs from sugar etc.

 

[Jennifer]

I find with the right macros, libido, energy in the morning, and whatnot (should) come back within a week or even a day or two

Yep, me too! I notice effects within a day of switching up my carb and fat intake, particularly on my mood and energy. What I mean by healing is the regeneration of any damaged/weakened tissues. That to me can take time. Anyway, I'm glad you're feeling confident with your new approach. I wish you luck! :)

 

[Cirion]

Oh gotcha about the healing, I was a little confused on what you meant.

Keep in mind that my %'s may be misleading too - since my caloric intake is very high, even though I am only 30% calories by carbs, I still easily get as many carbs as Ray Peat does (400g) which is more than enough to top off glucose stores without the stress response of converting either protein or fat into glucose.

The beauty of sugar/fructose, is that it basically "Ignores" the problems of the randle cycle, even if the context of any insulin resistance, the fructose will still top off glucose stores - even in the face of high fat intake (and since almost all fat I do get is SFA's, it should reduce the damage).

I think the real danger with the randle cycle is when you combine PUFA's and starch, from what I've learned here, I think that's the case. Combining SFA's and sugar is way better on your body, even in the context of the randle cycle. At least, that's my current stance on this matter, as I think it's more complicated than just "mixing fats and carbs is bad". It's not an inherently wrong statement, but it's too simplistic of a statement.

I'm keeping my SFA/PUFA ratio something like 10-15:1, which should be more than plenty high enough, considering the research shows that something like 6:1 is more than sufficient to keep hormone levels healthy.

 

[Jennifer]

I'm sorry for any misunderstanding. My online communication skills stink I think. lol When I said balanced, I meant your particular balance, James' particular balance etc. What makes you feel balanced, personally. You don't do well on super high carb/low fat, but also suffer with some negative symptoms on keto so 30% carbs and 50% fat seem to me to be a good balance for you. You get plenty of fat, good fat – very important distinction :), to have the positives you experienced while following keto, while getting enough carbs to hopefully fuel your workouts and prevent the joint pain and flat muscles.

When I think of a Peaty diet, I mostly think of certain types of food and not specific macro percentages other than getting a certain minimum amount of protein and enough carbs to balance it out to prevent a stress response. When Ray told me in an email what he recommends to people dietary wise, nowhere in it did he mention an ideal fat and carb percentage. The only amount he mentioned was for protein. The rest he just listed the basic foods he recommends. So just to be clear, I don't see it as you not doing the diet right. I mean, I eat a fruitarian diet so if anyone here isn't following Ray's advice, it's me. lol

Your plan seems solid to me and it sounds like you're in tune with your body so you'll probably know soon enough if it's working for you or if it needs a little tweaking.

 

[Cirion]

I'm sorry for any misunderstanding. My online communication skills stink I think. lol When I said balanced, I meant your particular balance, James' particular balance etc. What makes you feel balanced, personally. You don't do well on super high carb/low fat, but also suffer with some negative symptoms on keto so 30% carbs and 50% fat seem to me to be a good balance for you. You get plenty of fat, good fat – very important distinction :), to have the positives you experienced while following keto, while getting enough carbs to hopefully fuel your workouts and prevent the joint pain and flat muscles.

When I think of a Peaty diet, I mostly think of certain types of food and not specific macro percentages other than getting a certain minimum amount of protein and enough carbs to balance it out to prevent a stress response. When Ray told me in an email what he recommends to people dietary wise, nowhere in it did he mention an ideal fat and carb percentage. The only amount he mentioned was for protein. The rest he just listed the basic foods he recommends. So just to be clear, I don't see it as you not doing the diet right. I mean, I eat a fruitarian diet so if anyone here isn't following Ray's advice, it's me. lol

Your plan seems solid to me and it sounds like you're in tune with your body so you'll probably know soon enough if it's working for you or if it needs a little tweaking.

Haha, that's the downfall of internet communication. I understand now what you mean, and agreed, everyones' balance is going to be different.

I agree, Peat tends to promote certain foods / nutrients / lifestyle choices rather than a fixed optimal macro breakdown. He has never suggested the "optimal macronutrient breakdown" other than to say it's "probably around 33/33/33" in one exchange one time, but the fact is, everyone's' optimal macronutrient breakdown will differ depending on many factors such as:

1.) Current health, deficiencies
2.) Current activity level (sedentary, hitting the gym a lot, playing sports, etc) - higher activity tends to require higher carbs for example
3.) Genetics (like it or not, to some degree, I think some of us will be more predisposed towards certain macro %'s than others, though this can be changed/reversed to some degree)

For a couple of updates... with all the fat, I actually feel like I have too much energy in the evenings lately and have trouble getting to sleep at a reasonable hour, which has led to me getting (slightly) sleep deprived, argh... haha. Maybe I need to tone down the caffeine intake another notch or two. I feel like my mood has improved subtly, hopefully this trend continues. It'd probably be better if I could sleep lol.

I think all the sunlight/tanning bed exposure has exposed a magnesium deficiency. Was reading posts from another thread suggesting that lots of vitamin D can cause magnesium deficiency. Something I definitely need to be aware of.

 

[Jennifer]

For a couple of updates... with all the fat, I actually feel like I have too much energy in the evenings lately and have trouble getting to sleep at a reasonable hour, which has led to me getting (slightly) sleep deprived, argh... haha. Maybe I need to tone down the caffeine intake another notch or two. I feel like my mood has improved subtly, hopefully this trend continues. It'd probably be better if I could sleep lol.

I've noticed this, too. Over the past two weeks I've only had avocados twice when I went to Trader Joe's (I like theirs the best this time of year) and no young coconut meat because I ran out and by 8pm I'm fighting to keep my eyes open whereas before, I was noticing I was still wide awake come 11pm. I thought it might be due to all the sun I've been getting, but nope. I need to isolate if it's something specific to the avos, coconut or olives, or fat in general. Do you think if you have most of your fat earlier in the day that you might sleep better?

Huh, vitamin D depletes magnesium? Not just through supplementation, but the sun too?

 

[Cirion]

I've noticed this, too. Over the past two weeks I've only had avocados twice when I went to Trader Joe's (I like theirs the best this time of year) and no young coconut meat because I ran out and by 8pm I'm fighting to keep my eyes open whereas before, I was noticing I was still wide awake come 11pm. I thought it might be due to all the sun I've been getting, but nope. I need to isolate if it's something specific to the avos, coconut or olives, or fat in general. Do you think if you have most of your fat earlier in the day that you might sleep better?

Huh, vitamin D depletes magnesium? Not just through supplementation, but the sun too?

I've kinda programmed my body to get a lot of my food in the evenings now, lol. I dislike preparing anything heavy in the morning so I tend to have minimal calories in the morning, a little more in the afternoon, and a large amount in the evening. Part of it may simply be the body starting to actually get energy, I'm so used to having to sleep a long time that maybe, this is in fact it normalizing itself.

Yeah I read that it was through supplementation, but I see no reason why getting it from the sun would be different, but I could be wrong.

Still struggling with Iron intake. Will try an experiment today where I have beef for lunch, but try to chelate the Iron from it via coriander (dried cilantro) & apple cider vinegar - both of which are supposed to be heavy metal chelators. Will also have maple syrup, while its not a direct iron chelator, manganese does compete with iron. If I still feel good after lunch (no fatigue etc) then I will know that the chelators are doing their job (beef tends to make me sleepy otherwise, I'm guessing due to the iron overload). I should probably start donating blood too.

I do notice a subtle yet noticeable increase in testosterone so far since increasing fat. I find that I am more aggressive in some of my goals for example my job hunt. Supposed to be getting a call any day regarding a FL job, I'm also considering a TX job, even though the TX job is not on the beach, TX is still nice and warm/sunny & if the TX job offers me a 20-30% pay raise and relocation benefits, it'll be hard to justify saying no to it. I'll probably take it if that ends up being the case and the FL opportunity falls through.

More than ever I find that some of my goals like retiring early are more desirable than ever to me. A 20-30% pay raise coupled with lowering my expenses will make saving so much quicker. I plan to downsize to a smaller home (my current one is 132k, hoping to find one that is <100k if/when I move). I only really need at max a 2 bedroom, 1 car garage, only really need 1 floor as well (a basement will still be nice to have though). Right now I have 2 bedroom 3 bath 2.5 floors 2 car garage, not really necessary for a single dude lol. I love my condo for ease of maintenance, but the HOA fees are insane (260$ a month) so I may opt for an actual house this go around instead, unless I can find a condo with cheap fees (say $150 or less a month).

I find myself thinking more self-loving thoughts too with higher fat intake, used to brood over things like my ex, now I find that I think things like "her loss, I'm awesome" lol. I definitely prefer that line of thinking haha.

 

[Jennifer]

Ah, okay. I thinks it's normal for some to want something lighter in the morning. I'm not usually very hungry in the morning so I tend to just have juice or coconut water and about an hour or two later I'm usually hungry for a larger meal.

I'm not so sure the supplemental form acts in the same way as the sun. I had this conversation with a friend not that long ago. This is a blog post, but I found it interesting:

https://www.mommypotamus.com/vitamin-d-supplements/

How did your experiment with the beef, coriander and apple cider vinegar turn out?

Oh, excellent! I hope you get the job in Florida but even though Texas isn't on the beach, like you said it's still sunny and warm. Have you been to either State before?

Smart man! My goal was always to retire early, too. My brother just bought a town home for a hair more than what you payed for your condo. He lucked out in that his HOA fees are only $150 a month, though he gets hit with the high property taxes since New Hampshire's are some of the highest in the country. My parents pay over $8,000 a year and we have a friend who is paying over $14,000 and his house isn't even completed yet.

LOL Yes, that line of thinking is much better! It's wild how something as simple as fat or carbs can have such a dramatic effect on our thoughts. I prefer not having to work so hard to change my thinking. :)

 

[Cirion]

Results have been spotty lately, hence why I haven't posted in a little while...

Unfortunately, my current experiment with the typical Peat way of eating is going to have to end. Was fun while it lasted. I got another body fat check from my personal trainer yesterday and I'm up yet again, and I am noticeably fatter for sure. I like how carbs make me feel, specifically sugar, but it's not worth getting obese over.

At least for me, sugar really is fattening - no matter what Ray Peat has to say about it. It made me gain an incredible amount of fat in the 2 months of doing it. He says that sugar is not addictive, but I definitely would argue it is. I can easily eat sugar non stop if I don't control myself, as indicated in some of my 1000+g carb days.

Now, at the recommendation of my PT, I'm probably going to try out the Auto Immune diet which is a hyper restrictive diet - and I am thinking of doing a few tests like fructose malabsorption, SIBO, hair analysis (to check for deficiencies etc) to see where the problems lie. I feel like I have some undiagnosed condition that is making my work a lot harder than it needs to be. Hopefully the AI diet will help resolve some issues like the bloating and also help me lose some fat.

So this n = 1 experiment is kinda a failure lol. I have a suspicion its the dairy/fructose that are both not agreeing well with me in particular, we'll see if I'm right after some testing. Basically, FODMAP. Unfortunately, these are two of the key tenets with RP.

PUFA is banned on the AI diet, so that's the one thing I'll still be adhering too. Also no grains/starch basically, so in some ways, I suppose there are some similarities. The main differences, as I mentioned, is fruit/dairy basically banned on AI diet. (They do allow for a SMALL amount of fructose, no more than 20g a day). Because almost all sources of carbs are banned on the AI diet, this basically means I'll be going keto again more or less... or at least "Very" high fat (probably less than 100g carb a day)

 

[Sobieski]

Results have been spotty lately, hence why I haven't posted in a little while...

Unfortunately, my current experiment with the typical Peat way of eating is going to have to end. Was fun while it lasted. I got another body fat check from my personal trainer yesterday and I'm up yet again, and I am noticeably fatter for sure. I like how carbs make me feel, specifically sugar, but it's not worth getting obese over.

At least for me, sugar really is fattening - no matter what Ray Peat has to say about it. It made me gain an incredible amount of fat in the 2 months of doing it. He says that sugar is not addictive, but I definitely would argue it is. I can easily eat sugar non stop if I don't control myself, as indicated in some of my 1000+g carb days.

Now, at the recommendation of my PT, I'm probably going to try out the Auto Immune diet which is a hyper restrictive diet - and I am thinking of doing a few tests like fructose malabsorption, SIBO, hair analysis (to check for deficiencies etc) to see where the problems lie. I feel like I have some undiagnosed condition that is making my work a lot harder than it needs to be. Hopefully the AI diet will help resolve some issues like the bloating and also help me lose some fat.

So this n = 1 experiment is kinda a failure lol. I have a suspicion its the dairy/fructose that are both not agreeing well with me in particular, we'll see if I'm right after some testing. Basically, FODMAP. Unfortunately, these are two of the key tenets with RP.

PUFA is banned on the AI diet, so that's the one thing I'll still be adhering too. Also no grains/starch basically, so in some ways, I suppose there are some similarities. The main differences, as I mentioned, is fruit/dairy basically banned on AI diet. (They do allow for a SMALL amount of fructose, no more than 20g a day). Because almost all sources of carbs are banned on the AI diet, this basically means I'll be going keto again more or less... or at least "Very" high fat (probably less than 100g carb a day)

What are the fat sources you shall be using on this diet?

 

[Cirion]

From what it sounds like, the main fats that are allowed are olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil (no butter). Also fat from beef or other meats/fish.

I will also be meeting up with a nutritionist next week to discuss some of this in a little more detail (alongside prescribe some tests, probably).

In some ways, the AIP diet is similar to whole 30 - something that more people are probably familiar with (whole 30 seems to be the latest rage these days, a lot of my friends have done it with successful results).

 

[Cirion]

Update: Been doing AIP/no fodmap for a couple of days now.

My weight does seem to be dropping. What's great is I don't feel deprived either. I think vegetables get too bad of a rap here especially from RP who throws out his leaves generally. I am eating more veggies than I have in my life, feel full on much less calories, and yet still energetic, and having weight slowly come back down.

In addition, I'm forced to learn how to cook now. Which is also awesome, not just for myself, but for example also yesterday when I had a date visit me and she loved some of my stew I made (super simple though, just threw meat and veggies in a slow cooker).