I feel great eating the Ray Peat way, so I thought I would share a post explaining my understanding of Dr Peat’s views, and what I have done to implement them.
I’ve read (mostly) all of Ray Peat’s work (books and articles both) but I’m not a scientist, and find it all quite challenging to comprehend. Below I have attempted to outline what I understand of Ray Peat’s dietary principles (of which I may be quite wrong), and describe my experience.
What I think Ray Peat says:
1. Low consumption or elimination of PUFA will promote an environment where the organism inclines toward a hyperthyroid state, where the metabolic rate quickens, body temperature increases, mitochondrial respiration is optimal, and available energy is used properly throughout the body.
2. Consumption of easily digestible simple sugars support the complexity of mitochondrial efficiency (as opposed to glycation processes, which are in Peat’s view better suited to “less advanced” organisms, and can be attributed to the formation of ‘advanced-glycation-end-products’, aging and degeneration).
3. Sufficient protein enables proper liver function and amino acid balance, preferably with supplemental use of glycine/gelatine.
4. Sufficient aversion of heavy metals, thyroid-suppressing environmental factors and serotonin-raising foods will make us function better.
5. Sufficient promotion of B-vitamins, fat soluble vitamins, magnesium, and additional ‘mitochondrial uncouplers’ such as aspirin, caffeine, magnesium, fructose, progesterone, thyroid, etc. will also make us function better.
My experience:
1. Carbohydrate: I consume many pieces of fruit a day (sometimes over 10) from sources that are FODMAP safe and/or don’t create digestive discomfort. At the beginning, I gave myself a yeast infection by eating too many fruits that were unripe, and which severely disturbed the balance of bacteria in my gut. Now I just stick to kiwi fruit, oranges, mandarins, and dates. Any other fruits I cook. I also drink orange juice – pulp or no pulp doesn’t seem to bother me. I eat white rice, no pasta, and little potato or sweet potato (even though it doesn’t bother me at all). I eat rice at dinner only, the rest of the day is fruit.
2. Protein: Consuming protein is easy for me. I only eat grass-fed meat (nothing processed, no sausages, no bacon, no sandwich meats) and don’t worry about it as much as Peat does. I don’t eat pork because it has a tendency to give me a stuffy nose (perhaps too much methionine or cysteine in pork, I don’t know?). I consume 1500 – 3000mg of glycine per day, and it makes me feel great – a subjective sense of being calm, even when doing heavy weightlifting. I used to eat four eggs a day, now I don’t. Now it’s more about cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast. I drink full fat milk because skim is gross. I eat cheese, but not heaps. It’s hard to get authentic rennet-based cheese. I’m a big believer in organic micellar casein. As a supplement, it is not denatured and has no additives. I would never consume whey or any other protein powder; I also avoid powdered milk because of the oxidised cholesterol. I hardly eat fish, but I do eat prawns a couple of times a week. Prawns make me feel warm. I experimented with very low protein once, and it didn’t work out. I did however feel happy and euphoric for a few days, as the residual protein left my body. Perhaps protein elimination could be good once a week?
3. Vegetables: I concentrate mostly on well-cooked vegetables, but in recent weeks, I have to admit that peas are the absolute best. No other vegetable (in my opinion) comes close to the awesomeness of peas, except maybe asparagus. I highly recommend eating peas. Broccoli and cauliflower well-streamed and fried brussel sprouts are also good, but I don’t bother with much else. I eat a raw carrot every day – maybe it does something, I don’t know. I feel healthy doing it and it goes well with cheese and dates! I used to eat a lot of sauerkraut, but I don’t think it ever did anything much. There is a link between lactobacillus and the production of DHEA, so it does demand more investigation.
4. Fats: I don’t bother with coconut oil, or much olive oil. I used to eat a tonne of grass-fed butter, but didn’t notice much health benefits. I understand Weston A Price’s research on butter for good teeth.
5. Supplement experiences: I consume glycine in my coffee. I’m going to experiment soon with adding taurine. I consume creatine twice or three times throughout the day – I don’t know why Peat doesn’t place more emphasis on the value of creatine, as it is proven to increase testosterone very effectively. I try to remember to take vitamin D daily. I will take niacinamide with B1 and B6 at night, if I am feeling abnormally stressed (but I never am). I will take aspirin if I have a headache, but I never do. I have a bottle of diosgenin which is a topical precursor to pregnenolone. I’ve applied it a couple of times only to feel hotter, and get a headache. I understand I could probably eat a bit more sugar around the time of applying it and avoid the headache. I have yet to see any biological changes from pregnenolone. I hardly drink any tap water – just mostly juice, coffee and milk (and sparkling water). I will take zinc if I notice any spots on my face (generally above my eyebrows), and this makes it go away again. Once when I had bleeding gums, I took B12 and it vanished overnight. I had a dentist appointment the next day, and even the dentist couldn’t detect anything wrong with the gum, which shocked me. I haven’t found a good quality vitamin E supplement – so can’t report anything. I drink about three cups of strong instant coffee every day with about three sugars.
6. Calories: I don’t notice the difference between consuming high calorie or low calorie – I seem to be OK in any case. If I notice that I start to breathe through my mouth during exercise, I stop and get something calorific and sugary to give me energy. This hardly happens though – even doing hill sprints, which is very surprising to me.
7. Thyroid/progesterone: Have not used at all, except for the topical diosgenin, which I need to experiment with more. However I feel so good, I wonder what the benefits could possibly be.
Overall, I feel great. My blood test is immaculate. I have no fillings in my teeth, and no cavities on the come-up. I have no physical injuries, and am gaining strength and muscle quite quickly doing only a little bit of exercise every day. I sleep like a log, feel extremely calm, and surprisingly confident in intimidating situations. Furthermore, for one of the first times in my life I actually feel like I really like being the “sense” of the person that I am – I feel very good in my own body – a truly positive sense of vitality and abundance. Can’t even remember how bad my anxiety and panic attacks used to me – and I’m glad I’ve forgotten.
My own non-scientific thoughts: We are all different. Peat is clearly an older man, and as such, we can’t put too much faith in his own anecdotal experiences. My girlfriend has had far different experiences to me on a Peat protocol, and her experimentation continues. I don’t encourage anyone to go too hard on any imagined Peat-style of eating. I did, and I got a yeast infection.
Hope this record helps someone.
I’ve read (mostly) all of Ray Peat’s work (books and articles both) but I’m not a scientist, and find it all quite challenging to comprehend. Below I have attempted to outline what I understand of Ray Peat’s dietary principles (of which I may be quite wrong), and describe my experience.
What I think Ray Peat says:
1. Low consumption or elimination of PUFA will promote an environment where the organism inclines toward a hyperthyroid state, where the metabolic rate quickens, body temperature increases, mitochondrial respiration is optimal, and available energy is used properly throughout the body.
2. Consumption of easily digestible simple sugars support the complexity of mitochondrial efficiency (as opposed to glycation processes, which are in Peat’s view better suited to “less advanced” organisms, and can be attributed to the formation of ‘advanced-glycation-end-products’, aging and degeneration).
3. Sufficient protein enables proper liver function and amino acid balance, preferably with supplemental use of glycine/gelatine.
4. Sufficient aversion of heavy metals, thyroid-suppressing environmental factors and serotonin-raising foods will make us function better.
5. Sufficient promotion of B-vitamins, fat soluble vitamins, magnesium, and additional ‘mitochondrial uncouplers’ such as aspirin, caffeine, magnesium, fructose, progesterone, thyroid, etc. will also make us function better.
My experience:
1. Carbohydrate: I consume many pieces of fruit a day (sometimes over 10) from sources that are FODMAP safe and/or don’t create digestive discomfort. At the beginning, I gave myself a yeast infection by eating too many fruits that were unripe, and which severely disturbed the balance of bacteria in my gut. Now I just stick to kiwi fruit, oranges, mandarins, and dates. Any other fruits I cook. I also drink orange juice – pulp or no pulp doesn’t seem to bother me. I eat white rice, no pasta, and little potato or sweet potato (even though it doesn’t bother me at all). I eat rice at dinner only, the rest of the day is fruit.
2. Protein: Consuming protein is easy for me. I only eat grass-fed meat (nothing processed, no sausages, no bacon, no sandwich meats) and don’t worry about it as much as Peat does. I don’t eat pork because it has a tendency to give me a stuffy nose (perhaps too much methionine or cysteine in pork, I don’t know?). I consume 1500 – 3000mg of glycine per day, and it makes me feel great – a subjective sense of being calm, even when doing heavy weightlifting. I used to eat four eggs a day, now I don’t. Now it’s more about cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast. I drink full fat milk because skim is gross. I eat cheese, but not heaps. It’s hard to get authentic rennet-based cheese. I’m a big believer in organic micellar casein. As a supplement, it is not denatured and has no additives. I would never consume whey or any other protein powder; I also avoid powdered milk because of the oxidised cholesterol. I hardly eat fish, but I do eat prawns a couple of times a week. Prawns make me feel warm. I experimented with very low protein once, and it didn’t work out. I did however feel happy and euphoric for a few days, as the residual protein left my body. Perhaps protein elimination could be good once a week?
3. Vegetables: I concentrate mostly on well-cooked vegetables, but in recent weeks, I have to admit that peas are the absolute best. No other vegetable (in my opinion) comes close to the awesomeness of peas, except maybe asparagus. I highly recommend eating peas. Broccoli and cauliflower well-streamed and fried brussel sprouts are also good, but I don’t bother with much else. I eat a raw carrot every day – maybe it does something, I don’t know. I feel healthy doing it and it goes well with cheese and dates! I used to eat a lot of sauerkraut, but I don’t think it ever did anything much. There is a link between lactobacillus and the production of DHEA, so it does demand more investigation.
4. Fats: I don’t bother with coconut oil, or much olive oil. I used to eat a tonne of grass-fed butter, but didn’t notice much health benefits. I understand Weston A Price’s research on butter for good teeth.
5. Supplement experiences: I consume glycine in my coffee. I’m going to experiment soon with adding taurine. I consume creatine twice or three times throughout the day – I don’t know why Peat doesn’t place more emphasis on the value of creatine, as it is proven to increase testosterone very effectively. I try to remember to take vitamin D daily. I will take niacinamide with B1 and B6 at night, if I am feeling abnormally stressed (but I never am). I will take aspirin if I have a headache, but I never do. I have a bottle of diosgenin which is a topical precursor to pregnenolone. I’ve applied it a couple of times only to feel hotter, and get a headache. I understand I could probably eat a bit more sugar around the time of applying it and avoid the headache. I have yet to see any biological changes from pregnenolone. I hardly drink any tap water – just mostly juice, coffee and milk (and sparkling water). I will take zinc if I notice any spots on my face (generally above my eyebrows), and this makes it go away again. Once when I had bleeding gums, I took B12 and it vanished overnight. I had a dentist appointment the next day, and even the dentist couldn’t detect anything wrong with the gum, which shocked me. I haven’t found a good quality vitamin E supplement – so can’t report anything. I drink about three cups of strong instant coffee every day with about three sugars.
6. Calories: I don’t notice the difference between consuming high calorie or low calorie – I seem to be OK in any case. If I notice that I start to breathe through my mouth during exercise, I stop and get something calorific and sugary to give me energy. This hardly happens though – even doing hill sprints, which is very surprising to me.
7. Thyroid/progesterone: Have not used at all, except for the topical diosgenin, which I need to experiment with more. However I feel so good, I wonder what the benefits could possibly be.
Overall, I feel great. My blood test is immaculate. I have no fillings in my teeth, and no cavities on the come-up. I have no physical injuries, and am gaining strength and muscle quite quickly doing only a little bit of exercise every day. I sleep like a log, feel extremely calm, and surprisingly confident in intimidating situations. Furthermore, for one of the first times in my life I actually feel like I really like being the “sense” of the person that I am – I feel very good in my own body – a truly positive sense of vitality and abundance. Can’t even remember how bad my anxiety and panic attacks used to me – and I’m glad I’ve forgotten.
My own non-scientific thoughts: We are all different. Peat is clearly an older man, and as such, we can’t put too much faith in his own anecdotal experiences. My girlfriend has had far different experiences to me on a Peat protocol, and her experimentation continues. I don’t encourage anyone to go too hard on any imagined Peat-style of eating. I did, and I got a yeast infection.
Hope this record helps someone.
