Type 1 And Peating

[Bumberleybee]

Hello!

I have been reading this forum for a few years now and emailing Dr Peat for advice on and off since 2013. When I was reading through all Ray's emails last night I realised that if he wasn't so kind in answering all emails and never telling anyone to leave him alone, I'd be like his number one stalker!

I have all our email conversations to share if there is somewhere I can do this?

So, I'm really just starting out on a Ray style eating plan, having to relearn everything again. A recent blood test reminded me of Ray's knowledge of the thyroid, so here I am :)

I have type one diabetes, diagnosed based on a ketones test back in 1987 when I was seven years old. Ray often asks if they tested for cortisol levels or if they test me periodically for this, but they never have, so this is something I need to look into.

So, TPO antibodies recently showed up on a thyroid test the hospital did. I started listening to Ray's audio about Hashimotos this morning, which gives a lot of information on antibodies and why they are present. Hoping to understand more about this and start lowering my TSH levels. I have ordered Thiroyd from Pim-Pom (I found them on here yesterday) and will be starting that when it arrives. Planning to take 1/4 of a tablet split into 3 doses, so approx 15mcg per day to begin - watching pulse and temps closely.

I'm unable to eat dairy at the moment, as every time I do it flares up skin problems for me (breakouts). Ray did email me yesterday saying that calcium is really important due to the interactions of the parathyroid hormone and serotonin with stress and glucose metabolism. I will be looking this up also!

For now, with a wedding on the horizon, I am thinking egg-shells may be my best bet. After our wedding I will slowly start to introduce a real parmesan cheese. Interestingly, I have not been able to drink milk since shortly before my diabetes diagnosis as it made me vomit. Unfortunately, I just don't like the smell/taste of milk now - but cheese, cheese I can do!

Teething issues so far: I probably need to stop eating potatoes, as even well cooked with butter Ray says there is still scope for endotoxins/nitric acid/serotonin to cause insulin resistance. It's tough eating fruit all day in the winter though. Any tips appreciated!

I feel quite allergic to something since I started, however my nose is always running in the mornings, so this is not entirely unusual. I was wondering if adding the carrot salad in may help. Or perhaps charcoal powder?

I think there could be a cure for diabetes in here somewhere. Happy to guinea-pig myself, so I guess that's what I'm doing. Very carefully!

Nice to meet you all :)

 

[Giraffe]

Welcome to the forum, Bumberleybee!

We share Peat's email advice in the Ray Peat Email Advice Depository. Thanks for posting the advice you have received.

Some of us use fruits / fruit juices to prepare jello or things like apple sauce. Maybe you find some ideas in the Recipes section. I sometimes cook fruits if I can't find really ripe ones or buy frozen fruits (but the choices are quite limited). I like to fry slices of apples in coconut oil. There are quite a few things you can do with: adding slices of liver, adding dough to make a pancake ...

What are you eating besides fruits?

I think carrot salat is a better choice over activated charcoal. Make sure you eat it a bit away from meals. I usually have it before bed.

Good luck on your journey and let us now how things go!

 

[tara]

Bumberleybee

I don't have diabetes (at least last time I checked), but some thoughts anyway.
Do you have numbers for TSH and other thyroid hormones?

post 119111 Planning to take 1/4 of a tablet split into 3 doses, so approx 15mcg per day to begin - watching pulse and temps closely.

This seems like a good way to start. You can double it after 3-4 weeks if it seems warranted.

Eggshells seem a reasonable choice. I'm not handling milk well either, and using oystershell, but according to Peat, eggshells are usually cleaner.

Carrot salad daily is worth it unless you react badly to it. (Personally, I have to rinse the grated carrrot, or I quickly get averse to it, but many people do fine without this step.) You can try the charcoal every few days, but it has some risk of persorption, so I'd only use i t regularly if you can tell that it makes a big improvent in something. Keep it away from any food or supplements you want to absorb, or it will steal them.

I have had periods of morningitis (hayfevery, running nose and itchy eyes), too, including a patch recently. Mine usually improves with breakfast, so I suspect it's a morning hunger issue for me. Salt can also be a bit of an anti-histamine. Are you salting food to taste? Sleeping thorough the night? A few people get reactions to orange juice, esp. if it is not ripe. Could this be what's getting you?Leaving it out for just a day, in favour of apple juice or sth else, might tell you if that is a relevant factor?
Personally, I feel better if I eat some starchy food every day, but I've gone from eating mostly starch to some starch and more sugar (mostly juice, fruit), and this seems better for me than all starch or all sugar.
I guess you've read Peat's articles on sugar and diabetes? If not, do. :)
He's mentioned hot-water extract of brewers yeast as a possible tactic for diabetes. B-vits are important, as is magnessium, potassium, etc.
I think Peat has pointed to chronically elevated cortisol, as sell as PUFAs, as probably implicated in diabetes. I don't think there are any guarantees, but there may be some possibilities in provining the pancreas with an optimal environent to regrow it's beta-cells.
Any fat, saturated as well as unsaturated, may hinder glucose oxidation.

There are one or two other Type 1s here - I guess you've seen Tarmander's log?
I guess you've read about fat having the potential to bock sugar metabolism.

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Peat has said that ideally he would get most of his calories from fruit. Here's is a fruit-eating type 1 diabetic who may be able to help you:

"Mindful Diabetic Robby"

"Diabetic Fruit Stash - 400+ Pounds of Produce - #1:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5YyhICtM9A

 

[Bumberleybee]

Thanks Giraffe, I will make time to share all my Ray Peat emails this weekend and have a read of the ones on there also. Recipes sound good as I'm feeling a bit stuck on what to eat at the moment!

I've been having:

Eggs cooked in butter as an omelette (butter is the only dairy I eat right now)
Coffee blended with butter and sugar/honey
Lots of Orange Juice (pasteurised not from concentrate) with rock salt, maybe 2 litres a day
Potatoes with butter for dinner - but Ray does mention endotoxins, however without them I'd be lost at the moment!
Dark chocolate
Grapes
Satsumas/clementines

That's all really!

I need to add eggshells and gelatine. Will definitely try carrot salad as opposed to charcoal then. I sometimes have lamb or beef, weekends only usually.

I think I'm lacking a bit. Ideas appreciated!

Thank you for the warm welcome :)

 

[Bumberleybee]

Thank you for the link to Robby. I will watch this tonight. I conversed with Robby some years ago when I did an all fruit diet for around 18 months. It drastically improved insulin sensitivity (ratios of around 1:30 instead of my usual 1:15 - that's units of insulin to carbs) but I craved protein and fat almost the entire time, even when eating huge calorie portions and HUGE amounts of fruit. Maybe because of low thyroid, or just a need for those macronutrients.

Which fruits do people mostly eat on Ray Peat? I thought: cherries, lychees, papaya, grapes and orange juice?

 

[Tarmander]

Welcome brother, I would love to see your Ray peat emails. I haven't found a cure yet but I'm working on it

 

[Bumberleybee]

Hi Tara,

Apologies as |I typed a message last night and must have missed the submit button!

My TSH was 3.9, it was actually quite tough getting a number out of the Hospital. they kept saying - it's in the normal range.

TPO antibodies were out of range is all I know, they were high. Ray said probably due to TSH being high.

I had my eggshell last night. Anyone have ideas as to how much to get a day's worth of calcium? It didn't taste of anything and was fine in a shot glass knocked back with OJ

I'm adding a carrot salad today too!

Yes, perhaps it is the OJ causing the runny nose etc. It's frustrating, but glad I'm not alone. It is much less today, but seems to come and go even though diet is consistent. I will try and pin it down to something if it hasn't disappeared in a few weeks. I add salt to everything, so should be okay on the salt front.

I've read all of Peat's website articles on diabetes, though I must re-read again and again as there is so much in them. I love his audios also.

Just going to seek our Tarmander's log.

Great to meet you :)

 

[Bumberleybee]

Hi Tarmander - off to find your log now :)

I will share everything Ray has sent me this weekend - I have a lot of emails about various things, mostly diabetes related.

Great to meet you too. Would be great to cure this thing.

 

[Bumberleybee]

Everyone is so friendly here, thank you for making me feel so welcome

 

[tara]

post 119393 I had my eggshell last night. Anyone have ideas as to how much to get a day's worth of calcium? It didn't taste of anything and was fine in a shot glass knocked back with OJ

There seem to be differing opinions here about how much calcium we need. Peat has suggested having more calcium than phosphorus, at least 1200mg. You need other things to make good use of calcium too, including at least magnesium and vit-K.

I think eggshell, like oystershell, is almost all calcium carbonate, about 40% of which is calcium. At the moment I'm taking 1/4 -1/2 tsp oystershell/day. At times I've taken more, and may again. I figure 1/4 tsp is about 1g, so about 400mg calcium. This is pretty low compared with what some people are taking. You get some from other foods too, eg green veges.

Some of us use cronometer or similar to get a rough idea of what nutrition we are getting from our food. (Ignore it's calorie guidelines.)

If you supplement a lot of calcium, then it seems safer to either limit sodium bicarbonate or monitor pH to avoid the risk of milk-alkali syndrome, which a couple of people here have got into trouble with.

post 119393 My TSH was 3.9, it was actually quite tough getting a number out of the Hospital. they kept saying - it's in the normal range.

Good on you for persisting with them. 3.9 is nearer the top of the 'normal' range, and consistent with likely low thyroid function. Monitoring temps and pulse can confirm this and gives you something to assess progress between thyroid lab tests.

 

[tara]

Thanks for posting all those emails. :)

Have you tried the brewers yeast hot water extract?
Lowish fat/lots of fruit and veges?

For another idea:
My hunch is that if you are going to eat a little starch to help with satiety, you may make better use of it earlier in the day. I think it may be pretty common for blood sugars to rise at night - even for non-diabetics.
For some of us, protein also seems to be better used earlier in the day, rather than in the evening. I've taken to eating my main protein meal for lunch, when I can, and lighter at night.

 

[Bumberleybee]

Thanks Tara. I will look up milk-alkali syndrome. I like the eggshells and my fiancé thinks it's hilarious (but he's really happy, as he worries where I get my calcium from)!

I will download Cronometer, thank you. I used to use that a few years ago and had forgotten about it completely.

I hope my emails will be of use :)

I've not tried Brewers Yeast recently, though I think I may have tried it a few years ago when experimenting. I will see if it contains gluten as that would be a problem for me now.

I love fruits. Wasn't too sure about vegetables for endotoxins? What do people do for veggies?

Too low fat is hard for me as I really struggle to fit enough food in with just fruits. That said I am really only having chocolate, butter in small quantities and eggs as fat containing foods. I'll see what Cronometer says about my macros.

I'm doing great with potatoes in the evening at the moment, mostly because that's when my blood sugars run at their lowest. This is due to the timings of my basal insulin on a multiple daily injections a day regime (MDI) . The peak just happens to be about 5pm for me and it works out well as that's when I have time to cook and sit down and eat. Work is great for grabbing fruit /OJ and hopefully cheese eventually!

However, I'm going onto an insulin pump in February so all my timings will change!

Thank you for all the help. Off to get my Cronometer :)

 

[tara]

I love fruits. Wasn't too sure about vegetables for endotoxins? What do people do for veggies?

Glad you enjoy fruits, and they seem to serve you well. :)

Vege-wise, there is quite a range here - if you read a few threads you're unlikely to find a consensus. Some people avoid them, some eat various veges regularly. Peat has sometimes recommended broth from leafy greens as a good source of magnesium, and said fruit veges are fine if you don't get allergic to them. Personally, I eat a little well-cooked greens and onions most days, and often some mushrooms or fruit veges. Some people avoid starchy veges pretty rigorously. I'm not one of them. While hypothyroid, it is common to have trouble efficiently converting carotene to the active vit-A, and excess beta-carotene can be more of a burden than a support. Peat has cautioned against too much cooked carrot or carrot juice, for instance. I also get averse to more than a little pumpkin or sweet potato, as well as cooked carrots.

Lowish fat doesn't have to be 0. A little good fat can make lots of things taste better (and probably digest better).
I would have trouble getting all or most of my calories from fruit - quite apart from the expense, I seem to do better with a little starch, and too much water might be an issue. Got to make sure to eat enough salt, too. Can you increase the calorie density by adding a bit of honey or sucrose? Poster Jennifer has talked about what happened to her on a fruitarian diet - not something I'd wish on anyone.

Sounds like you've got your food timings all sorted out for now - good luck with the change-over.

 

[Bumberlybee]

Reply received this evening from Ray. Do you think this means no potatoes at all ?!

Dear Ray,

If undigested starches and the resultingEndotoxin / Nitric Oxide / Serotonin can cause insulin resistance - should potatoes (and melons) be avoided completely in the case of Type 1 Diabetes? Or well cooked with butter is okay?

And if insulin therapy is causing over production of stress hormones - which could have been mistakenly given in response to high blood sugars some 35 years ago - does this mean T1D is not reversible after such a long period on injectable insulin?

Obviously no one is stopping insulin therapy unless the blood sugars suddenly plummet because something changed! But perhaps the injected insulin is causing a Catch 22 situation whereby someone can’t reduce/stop the insulin until the stress hormones go down - but can’t reduce stress hormones without stopping the Injected insulin?


Ray Peat:
I’ve known a couple of young people who stopped needing insulin after a few years when they changed their diet, but I don’t know what effects 35 years of insulin would have on the ability to adapt. I think it would be necessary to check free fatty acids, angiotensin, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone, and how they react to elimination of starches and reduction of PUFA.