Steve Richfield - Fixlowbodytemp.com

[Kamran]

http://www.fixlowbodytemp.com/

I've been reading this website and I find it scary but fascinating.

Apparently, this guy is saying that you can fix low body temp by "manipulating" the hypothalamus in your brain to raise your temperature setpoint.

I'll let you guys kinda go through this, it's late and it's been a long day for me. Cheers!

 

[jyb]

Wow, really interesting. It's quite relevant too, he talks about thyroid supps including T2 and the importance of fixing the temprature at 98.6.

His protocol is described in the "How can I apply model based..." document.

Since Peating I never saw mentioned the role of the central metabolic control system. It would be interesting to know why, if it has scientific evidence etc.

 

[jyb]

What would RP say about this? That the usual things, especially progesterone help raise the set-point in the thermostat cells. No mention of the thermostat being "stuck" - it will just change as one supports metabolism. This seems in contradiction with FixLowBodyTemp.

Increased estrogen causes an animal to lower its temperature, and it probably does this by increasing the "structural temperature" of the thermostat cells, "melting" their internal structure. Progesterone causes the animal to increase its temperature, and it apparently does this by increasing the structure/decreasing the structural temperature of the thermostat cells. If you put ice in the thermostat, the room gets hot.

Protein, salt, thyroid, and progesterone happen to be thermogenic, increasing heat production and stabilizing body temperature at a higher level. Prolactin and estrogen lower the temperature set-point.

Progesterone’s effects on nerve cells include favoring the high energy resting state, and this is closely involved in progesterone’s “thermogenic” effect, in which it raises the temperature set-point.

 

[Kamran]

Hmmm very interesting.

I mean, Steve's method is an option. It seems like a very rigorous option if you are in the gutter (or pretty easy if you're fairly healthy otherwise) but it's an option nonetheless. I've done a bit of reading here and there on the site. It's just weird because it seems like such an experimental method that so few people have done, yet it seems to work.

I wore a little bit warmer clothes, turned on the heater, and took a midly uncomfortable hot shower. Managed to raise my temp to 100.7 in the shower. I've done this for three days so far and for a couple times a day, it seems my appetite had returned to normal and I felt full after meals for the first time in a while.

Good to know RP kinda touched on this. I think it would be interesting to send him an email about this website and see what he thinks in depth. What exactly are thermostat cells though?

I was really upping my salt and carb intake about a week ago and got my body temperature way up for a few days. However, it slid back down again. It's kinda been doing this for a while, I wish there was a way to just keep it set there.

 

[charlie]

Can anyone provide cliff notes as to what the protocol is for this?

I got so much on me right now just cant get to reading it at this point.

 

[Kamran]

Some basic points of Steve's body temp hypothesis:

The "hormone control theory" of metabolism and body temperature is useful in a lot of cases but ultimately inaccurate. He believes that rather than altering the levels of various thermogenic hormones in the body that "resetting" the central metabolic control system (CMCS), which is located in the hypothalamus in the brain, to regulate body temperature to cycle normally throughout the day is what permanently resolves the condition of low body temperature. He suggests resetting this point by interrupting the current operation of the CMCS regulating at a lower temperature by forcibly bringing up your body temperature with external means for a certain period of time, enough until your CMCS "realizes" that operating at its low setpoint is not as good as operating at a higher setpoint during the day.

From reading around, it seems a popular method to do this is to eat well, but also drink some coffee before taking a hot shower, hot enough to raise your temp to 98.6 and possibly higher for a period of time, and then attempting to keep your temp at around 98.6 for increasingly longer periods as a days go by. Eventually, your CMCS apparently recognizes that it should regulate at that temperature during the day...possibly by the physiological benefits that are experienced. Some people may need thermogenic drugs (He says T2 is the best because you don't need to ween yourself off of it and it does a good job at generating heat, but it isn't really available anywhere. T3 can be used, and T4 can be used as an "antidote" if things get bad...you should really read his own work however for a better explanation if you decide to go this route.)

This is probably very oversimplified, and it is best that you read some of his documents and the forum (bodytemp.eu) for a more thorough explanation.

My own experiences have been interesting. I've been trying to get some dessicated thyroid, but i'm questioning whether that will be necessary or wise for me at this point. I've taken like 2-3 showers where I raised my temp enough. My heart was racing and I felt really awake, but also tired. The past few days have been a lot nicer in terms of the health problems I've been going through recently. Not too many bouts of hypoglycemia. My appetite has been returning, and i've been getting full after meals again, which helps with me not overeating which was contributing to the large amount of body fat i'd been gaining.

Honestly though, I'm reading around a lot of this information before I commit to this path. I have a lot of questions to ask Steve. I want to know what I'm getting into when I start this. I'm relatively young and all my problems seem to get corrected when my temp is normal, so this may be easier for me to do.

He warns that if you half-**** this method, your CMCS works to make the process harder for you. In a way, he kind of demonizes the CMCS...I'm thinking that it may not be so. The CMCS is always working for your benefit, but it may be mistaken...in that way I don't feel like it is an enemy and this process is more like meditation. I'm removing the mental barriers between my body and I, which I feel can only help. But this is a bit of a digression.

At the moment, I'm just doing all the research I can about this method before I make any conclusions. Seems promising though.

 

[charlie]

Hmmmmm interesting.

I think, if this were the case. Then people in hot climates wouldn't have low body temperatur problems. Yet, they do. That's just a thought off the top of my head though.

 

[kiran]

I believe you can get T2, it's not considered a drug, unlike T3.

My thoughts:

The CMCS may be responding to excess estrogen or PUFA to keep temperature relatively low.

What mechanism does the CMCS use to bring temperature up apart from Thyroid, is it Peat friendly?

Could forcing the temperature up be counter intuitive in the long term?

("My heart was racing and I felt really awake, but also tired.")
The racing heart suggests that stress hormones are being raised.

 

[Kamran]

Hmmmmm interesting.

I think, if this were the case. Then people in hot climates wouldn't have low body temperatur problems. Yet, they do. That's just a thought off the top of my head though.

That's what I thought. I live in Arizona so most of the year is t-shirt weather and the summers are brutal. If you think about it though, there's a lot that people do these days to cool off. Here, we're always in an air-conditioned building or car, with only a few bouts of being in the blistering heat in between.

I believe you can get T2, it's not considered a drug, unlike T3.

My thoughts:

The CMCS may be responding to excess estrogen or PUFA to keep temperature relatively low.

What mechanism does the CMCS use to bring temperature up apart from Thyroid, is it Peat friendly?

Could forcing the temperature up be counter intuitive in the long term?

("My heart was racing and I felt really awake, but also tired.")
The racing heart suggests that stress hormones are being raised.

I'm not sure of the mechanisms, you would probably be better off trying to email Steve. One problem I find with his writings is that he presents one of his own conclusions often times without really going into how he got to that conclusion and just goes from there.

The stress hormone thing is definitely plausible, I thought my heart speeding up was the increasing pulse associated with an increased metabolism, but that is another explanation.

Forcing the temperature may or may not have negative effects long term, this is a very experimental procedure. My understanding is that after a while of breaking the CMCS's "habit" of regulating at low temperature that it will begin to regulate at a higher temperature by itself. A lady on their forum has had cancer and had her body ravaged by chemotherapy. After about 2 years of intensely following this regimen (she had nothing to lose and nowhere else to go but down, I think) she says she managed to raise and regulate her setpoint.

Steve has ALLEGEDLY helped ~100 people with this.

I find it compelling only because i've managed to get some results the past few days. It's been nice having an appetite and feeling full after meals.

 

[gretchen]

I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but I thought that was generally the goal-- with food or thryoid or whatever-- to force the body to warm up. My body temp hovers around 96-97.5 degrees. I don't take thyroid yet but am parachuting salt, coffee and aspirin all day mostly to no avail. I feel so faaaatttt.

 

[jyb]

I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but I thought that was generally the goal-- with food or thryoid or whatever-- to force the body to warm up. My body temp hovers around 96-97.5 degrees. I don't take thyroid yet but am parachuting salt, coffee and aspirin all day mostly to no avail. I feel so faaaatttt.

Stress can warm you up. I think warming up by whatever other means has some benefits, but the goal is healthy metabolism, and the high temp is only a bonus and way to check your metabolism.

 

[Janey Hood]

Hello All
I am new to the group and joined because I stumbled on this important thread about Steve Richfield's work..

I have been through Steve's resetting protocol. I had had a low body temperature for 51 years. In my 51st year I had a diagnosis of cancer. My TSH was normal but my body temperature was low. I had spent about a year chasing the pseudo-hypothyroid route, trialing many different glandulars to get my temperature up, but nothing worked. I decided I was looking in the wrong place.
After reading about Steve's work, I decided his method was the way forward for me. I reset mid winter 2010 from my old daytime temperature of 35.8C to 37C and have maintained my 37C ever since.

I have noticed many age related cumulative idiopathic subset ailments and illnesses simply disappear one by one as they are now being slowly fixed systemically by my immune system.

I don't know if I will have recurrence of cancer, and I am making no claims that resetting is a cure for anything, it is simply optimising my immune system and enabling healing, whereas before my immune system was struggling.

Steve's methods are logical. Homeostasis relies on and is underpinned by temperature and alkalinity. Nothing within the body operates optimally, including the thyroid if it is colder than optimal ie. the set point selected is incorrect. The list of low body temperature set point idiopathic and chronic illnesses reads pretty much the same as the hypothyroid list. I had most of them!
If central hypothermia can be identified then fixed by resetting and the symptoms go away happy days! Residual ailments are much easier to deal with at 37C.

Low body temperatures are not always as a direct result of low ambient temperature or genuine low thyroid function, they can be as a result of pre or anti-natal inheritance, ancestral history of famine, and there is a condition known as inadvertent central hypothermia as a result of infantile anaesthesia.

I have written a great deal on this subject since my reset because I have been so delighted with the results and I feel incredible lucky to have found Steve and have his support. Indeed I truly believe he has given me a life extension, please feel to look my ramblings up!
Janey Hood

 

[jyb]

I have been through Steve's resetting protocol. I had had a low body temperature for 51 years. In my 51st year I had a diagnosis of cancer. My TSH was normal but my body temperature was low. I had spent about a year chasing the pseudo-hypothyroid route, trialing many different glandulars to get my temperature up, but nothing worked. I decided I was looking in the wrong place.
After reading about Steve's work, I decided his method was the way forward for me. I reset mid winter 2010 from my old daytime temperature of 35.8C to 37C and have maintained my 37C ever since.

What is puzzling is that you write on your website that you eat only 20g of fat and 40g of carb daily. Are you sure about that? Because that's maybe 10% of what seems needed to support a high metabolism and temperatures.

 

[Peata]

I'm thinking about trying a few of these things to "supplement" what I'm doing with the Peat foods and supps. Hot coffee, wait a bit and have a hot shower*, then dress warmly. Is this too radical, or might it help me along, especially since I'm not using thyroid supps.

*Hot bath with epsom salt, baking soda, aspirin, etc. in place of shower.

 

[Janey Hood]

jyb -
I am interested to understand why you think I have a high metabolism? My metabolism is low. A high metabolism = shorter life. I no longer use adrenaline to keep warm and now feel cold when my temperature drops below 37C, so I know to wear more clothes. I can raise my metabolism in very cold weather to sustain my set point until I can go somewhere where the ambient temperature is warmer. As a result of my low metabolism I am eating less than I used to, my diet is not strict, I tend to eat when I am hungry, but I try to keep my carbs to 40g and I incorporate plenty of fat, I am just on the cusp of ketosis, above that and my brain feels foggier.

peata

It really depends whether a low temperature is simply a low temperature or central hypothermia. Most people who have reset never get out of their morning shower unless they have got to 37C or a little above. This pulls the set point to 37C as well. My set point comes up now without the hot shower, but I still love my very strong adrenal boosting coffee and I do love a hot shower!.
Some low set point people do pretty well by just getting their temperatures to 37C for an hour per day. this approach did not work for me, I only noticed an improvement in my health when my set point and temperature were both 37C.

 

[jyb]

jyb -
I am interested to understand why you think I have a high metabolism? My metabolism is low. A high metabolism = shorter life. I no longer use adrenaline to keep warm and now feel cold when my temperature drops below 37C, so I know to wear more clothes.

Because Ray Peat has written extensively about how high metabolism favors lifespan and health, contrary to the common opinion. And how things like fish oils destroy metabolism. It is pretty central to his articles and this forum, so I'll let you read it.

However, if you have low metabolism, and your temperatures are not supported by adrenaline, then that's puzzling.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Excellent stuff! I get the same vibes from this guy's prose as I feel myself. Will try this tomorrow. Godspeed.

 

[pboy]

why would you want a long lifespan with a slow metabolism? that sounds painful to me...id almost rather have a shorter life with a fast metabolism. I think having a strong metabolism allows you to decide your fate more, whereas a slow one has you just sort of hanging on slowly going down

 

[Peata]

Does SR think 98.6F and high metabolism are not related?

 

[Peata]

jyb -
I am interested to understand why you think I have a high metabolism? My metabolism is low. A high metabolism = shorter life. I no longer use adrenaline to keep warm and now feel cold when my temperature drops below 37C, so I know to wear more clothes. I can raise my metabolism in very cold weather to sustain my set point until I can go somewhere where the ambient temperature is warmer. As a result of my low metabolism I am eating less than I used to, my diet is not strict, I tend to eat when I am hungry, but I try to keep my carbs to 40g and I incorporate plenty of fat, I am just on the cusp of ketosis, above that and my brain feels foggier.

peata

It really depends whether a low temperature is simply a low temperature or central hypothermia. Most people who have reset never get out of their morning shower unless they have got to 37C or a little above. This pulls the set point to 37C as well. My set point comes up now without the hot shower, but I still love my very strong adrenal boosting coffee and I do love a hot shower!.
Some low set point people do pretty well by just getting their temperatures to 37C for an hour per day. this approach did not work for me, I only noticed an improvement in my health when my set point and temperature were both 37C.

I've been able to maintain 98.6 or close to it for pretty much the whole day since I did the booster of strong coffee, hot shower and warm clothes this morning.

Kept the warm clothes on all day and been having the RP foods and drinks to keep heat up.

I would like to think it could reset me fairly quick, but not sure since my problems didn't happen overnight.