New to Peat

Sunjoy

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Hi Everyone,

I am a brand new Peatarian, having discovered Ray Peat only late yesterday. Since then I have consumed much of his literature, pouring through the articles on his website, visiting a slew of forums and websites (Danny Roddy, ARK of Wellness etc.) and have decided to jump in and give it all I've got. After posting this, I'm going to make potato soup and juice a bunch of mandarin oranges. And have coffee with cream.

I'm a former journalist so the intensely focused research and information gathering yesterday is not new to me and neither is the pursuit of a healthy and appropriate diet for my body. I happened upon Peat by chance, having come across his name on a forum discussing the benefits of green coffee. I'm still not sure about the green coffee but I'm sure loving having found Ray Peat.

There is so much that I like and resonate with and I must confess what sold me was knowing I can eat my most favorite food in the world - Haagen Dazs coffee iced cream. Heaven. I had the sense that God was giving me the nod, saying "this is it kid."

All kidding aside, my health is an absolute mess and it's all due to poor diet. I don't have labs or anything to prove it but after a long history of doing every diet on record, from paelo to raw vegan and everything in between my physical well being is well, just not well. My last attempt was another go at raw vegan where I ate green smoothies for nearly a month and I didn't lose an inch or a pound. So, definite metabolic and blood sugar issues in the extreme.

That being said, something tells me, I may have finally stumbed upon the answers I have been looking for, for as long as I can remember.

Thanks Charlie for suggesting the questions, which I will answer below. You have helped me as have others. I've read a number of threads already and find the atmosphere here to be one of genuine care and concern and a true desire to help oneself and others. Nice. Many folks here already have helped and inspired me, Peatarian, Birdie, Naroux (hope I got that right), Ark, Cliff and others. Thank you.

OK here goes for my answers.

What's your age? 51

How did you find the forum? Googled Ray Peat

How did you find Ray Peat's work? Web search for green coffee his name came up during a forum discussion about benefits of coffee. No mention of him having an opinion on green coffee, however.

How long have you been Peating? Today is my first day.

What is your favorite part about Peating? Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream is allowed. I'm new. :D

What is the worst part? I have no clue how to find or work with chicken feet and oxtail, nor organ meat for that matter (liver included) and I need to avoid overwhelm on that stuff.

What are your health issues? Oh boy. Severe blood sugar issues, obesity (about 50 pounds overweight, concentrated in the gut), depression-mood swings, problems with eye sight (new), chronic pain especially in left neck, shoulder and back, constant feeling of fullness in left ear, frequent nose bleeds (only left side), feeling of inner shaking.

What other questions should we ask?.......The ones you asked are great.

I do have 3 questions for now.

1. Is Knox gelatine OK to use? I heard of Morton's Canning along the way and of course making one's own is best. It may take me some time to get up to that level. For now, I'm keeping it simple and will start with potato soup, freshly squeezed OJ, coffee, coconut oil, milk and cream, meat and cheese. If you have other suggestions for me given my health issues, please let me know.

2. Are there recipes posted anywhere? I've not yet come across a dedicated area for that. That guidance would very much help me.

3. What is the low down on green coffee? Good, bad, no big thing?

Thank you all!

Best,
Nancy aka Sunjoy
 

gretchen

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Nov 30, 2012
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Welcome!

Knox gelatine is fine. As far as I know, there isn't a recipe section. I would assume green coffee is ok also. I would not worry about oxtails; I have not figured out where to buy them either.
 
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Sunjoy

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gretchen said:
Welcome!

Knox gelatine is fine. As far as I know, there isn't a recipe section. I would assume green coffee is ok also. I would not worry about oxtails; I have not figured out where to buy them either.

Thank you Gretchen. Your counsel is greatly appreciated!

I'm not even sure what an oxtail is! :lol:
 

cliff

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Ray-Z

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Welcome, Sunjoy! :D

After you feel like you have the diet more or less under control, you might want to consider trying a good vitamin E supplement to reduce inflammation and stress hormones. Down the road, you might also consider reading the threads on progesterone and aspirin if you haven't already, as well as Peat's articles on these topics. But diet is a good place to start! No need to do everything at once.
 
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Sunjoy

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Ray-Z said:
Welcome, Sunjoy! :D

After you feel like you have the diet more or less under control, you might want to consider trying a good vitamin E supplement to reduce inflammation and stress hormones. Down the road, you might also consider reading the threads on progesterone and aspirin if you haven't already, as well as Peat's articles on these topics. But diet is a good place to start! No need to do everything at once.

Thanks Ray-Z. Sound advice methinks.

I have browsed a few threads that mention taking aspirin and will definitely check the ones on progesterone as well especially since my hormones are in a wild state of fluctuation not only due to dietary issues but I am in the early stages of menopause as well.

Interestingly, my mother (now 92!) was diagnosed in her 40s with overactive thyroid and has taken iodine since then. She was very sick but I was very young so don't recall too much. She has also taken a single aspirin every day of her life for as long as I remember and always refused to take drugs the doctors wanted her to take. My dad on the other hand always did what the doctors told him and though his health was always much better than my mom's over the years, he died 7 years ago at 84 (still a long life) and was taking medication for a number of issues, among them high cholesterol and blood pressure.

Thanks again.
 

charlie

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Sunjoy, welcome to the forum! :welcome

Go easy on the Haagen Daz, it will catch up with you quick on calories. :mrgreen:

Knox gelatin is OK, your home made broth would be best, I just made some with cow feet and holy cow (pun not intended, really), that stuff was super thick with gelatin! Most people seem to prefer Great Lakes Gelatin due to Ray Peat suggesting it, and most prefer the green can because it's organic and also hydrolysate so it mixes better and reports of better absorption. You can get the hydrolysate in 10 pound bulk and that will save you a bit of money. I just ordered some of the Now Beef Gelatin due to suggestions on this forum and am going to try it out.

Looking forward to seeing you around!
 
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Sunjoy

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Charlie said:
Sunjoy, welcome to the forum! :welcome

Go easy on the Haagen Daz, it will catch up with you quick on calories. :mrgreen:

Knox gelatin is OK, your home made broth would be best, I just made some with cow feet and holy cow (pun not intended, really), that stuff was super thick with gelatin! Most people seem to prefer Great Lakes Gelatin due to Ray Peat suggesting it, and most prefer the green can because it's organic and also hydrolysate so it mixes better and reports of better absorption. You can get the hydrolysate in 10 pound bulk and that will save you a bit of money. I just ordered some of the Now Beef Gelatin due to suggestions on this forum and am going to try it out.

Looking forward to seeing you around!

Thanks Charlie! And yes, I understand about the Hagen Dahgen - but it's just so nice to know I can, ya know. It was the most wondrous paradigm shift I've ever made. :eek:

Here is another wonderful thing. I have two daughters and one whose body chemistry is exactly like mine. The other one has a much easier time but still needs to watch - suffice to say, she can low carb more successfully but my younger daughter who is like me doesn't do well - we suffer much more because we really need the sugar and yet our blood sugar is out of whack. You know the story.

So today, I began her on it and she is glowing already - just being armed with the knowledge of what she can have and be healthy eating has made a difference. At lunch today, she had 2 cups of OJ with gelatin and sugar (first time) and she loved it! Plus a couple of ounces of cooked ham.

I think PEP (BTW, I like this as a name Peat Eating Plan because I can use it in so may ways. Give myself a PEP talk, feel full of Pep etc. grin Sorry I can be goofy too! HA) Anyway, what I mean to say is that transitioning to PEP has been the easiest shift in eating I have ever made - it's as though I have finally found the holy grail of eating!

I like especially that it is about energy and our whole body and that it is up to me to find what works best for me - all the while learning more about the basic tenets provided to us by Ray Peat.

Pretty cool stuff.

Best,
Nancy
 

charlie

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Yeh, just knowing I can eat all these things I truly love, ice cream, OJ, mexican coke, gummy bears, etc etc is already enough to make a person feel better. :lol:

I am with you also on the PEP deal. It really is cool, easy, fun, and can be thrown around so many different ways. It's a tough sell on getting a name, or even a "plan" around here sometimes though. :lol:

Ray Peat has cautioned about kids getting too much gelatin. Gelatin does not build muscle, and kids are in the growing and building state. So they do need a little more of tryptophan(spelling?) that comes in milk and meats. Adults can get away with it better though.
 

charlie

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Ray Peat said:
When we eat animal proteins in the traditional ways (for example, eating fish head soup, as well as the muscles, or “head-cheese” as well as pork chops, and chicken-foot soup as well as drumsticks), we assimilate a large amount of glycine and gelatin. This whole-animal balance of amino acids supports all sorts of biological process, including a balanced growth of children's tissues and organs.

Ray Peat said:
In some of the older studies, therapeutic results improved when the daily gelatin was increased. Since 30 grams of glycine was commonly used for treating muscular dystrophy and myasthenia gravis, a daily intake of 100 grams of gelatin wouldn't seem unreasonable, and some people find that quantities in that range help to decrease fatigue. For a growing child, though, such a large amount of refined gelatin would tend to displace other important foods. The National Academy of Sciences recently reviewed the requirements for working adults (male and female soldiers, in particular), and suggested that 100 grams of balanced protein was needed for efficient work. For adults, a large part of that could be in the form of gelatin.

Gelatin, stress, longevity
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=158
 
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Sunjoy

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Charlie said:
Yeh, just knowing I can eat all these things I truly love, ice cream, OJ, mexican coke, gummy bears, etc etc is already enough to make a person feel better. :lol:

I am with you also on the PEP deal. It really is cool, easy, fun, and can be thrown around so many different ways. It's a tough sell on getting a name, or even a "plan" around here sometimes though. :lol:

Ray Peat has cautioned about kids getting too much gelatin. Gelatin does not build muscle, and kids are in the growing and building state. So they do need a little more of tryptophan(spelling?) that comes in milk and meats. Adults can get away with it better though.

Hi Charlie,

I hear your on the name thing but hey I just love saying my eating style is PEP cause that's what it does - it gives me PEP! :lol:

Thank you so very much for the tip on gelatin for kids. She is 13 and certainly still growing. This is why I love it here already - those with experience can provide this type of guidance and information well ahead of me getting fully armed with all the wisdom. For her, we can indeed focus more on milk and meat - and awesome sweet treats!

Cheers!
 

charlie

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You are very welcome. :)
 

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