What Made You Believe In Ray Peats Work?

[Richard Jehl]

Thank you for this post. I also feel informing people about PUFA and not demonizing fructose are a few important contributions from Ray.

I don't remember exactly what Ray wrote about fructose, but for sure there is no need for demonizing it, as long as it is natural food content. But people with fragile digestive system often tend to get negative symptoms with fruits richer in fructose, as cantaloupe. And without any doubt to me, the best honeys (in terms of taste as well as therapeutic efficiency) are those richer in glucose (the richer they are in glucose versus fructose, the more easily they cristallize). I am aware some studies suggest fructose has some bad health effects. According to my experience I simply would not recommmend fructose pure powder. Anyway simple sugars should be brought with the nutrients they are associated with in nature. Honey is not very rich in nutrients other than sugars (at least in a quantity perspective) but molasses for example are so good and so rich in needed nutrients ;-)

 

[Captain_Coconut]

I broke a week long water fast late last year - this was a last ditch effort to try and clean up some bad health issues (allergies, joint pain, indigestion, depression, insomnia etc etc)... I had used fasts before to fix me up whenever I was feeling off, they always seemed to do more good than harm - but I usually kept them shorter to around 3 days. For many years I practiced calorie restriction and intermittent fasting and low sugar. There was a night after breaking the fast I also recall supplementing tryptophan as a sleep aid (a foolish attempt to try to help beat the blues), I fell asleep fast but woke up feeling just miserable the next day- it made me start to seriously question the value of tryptophan / serotonin; in all my years of supplementing with tyrosine/tryptophan combo (as is commonly suggested by various health gurus) I would always end up shying away from the tryptophan - the theory of it balancing out the serotonin made sense to me at the time but I never experienced the results.... I would begrudgingly take it and think to myself (gee I hope my reserves are going to balance out soon). Sigh...

Coming out of the fast I did not feel so great, the joint pain was gone but everything else seemed to have become worse, it was a huge let down, I then noticed my oral temperature was not going over 97.6 or so all day long, this persisted for weeks. When I broke the fast the first things I craved were cottage cheese and orange juice, the craving persisted for weeks - it was a bit odd for me - neither items were on my daily menu before. So one day I was wondering if anyone else had the same cravings / what it all meant - I typed in a silly question to google like 'i'm depressed, low metabolism, why do i always want to eat cottage cheese' this took me to the works of Ray Peat. I read for many days and it all made so much sense to me - I told myself: look you have been low calorie, low appetite, low sugar for so long and have nothing good to show for it (aside from not being obese)- let's try the opposite.

Another interesting tidbit is I have always craved aspirin, I have loved it for decades now, I always have felt better on it - but I was so afraid to use it for long stretches because of all of the propaganda. I think it was reading RP writings on aspirin that specifically convinced me this man is a genius.

The status-quo model of what is good and is not good for you is completely broken, if it weren't broken forums like this would not exist. It is obvious to me true health must be very far from that model and RP is the one I have found to present the most convincing and practicable - results driven - easy to achieve re-modeling so to speak.

 

[lollipop]

I broke a week long water fast late last year - this was a last ditch effort to try and clean up some bad health issues (allergies, joint pain, indigestion, depression, insomnia etc etc)... I had used fasts before to fix me up whenever I was feeling off, they always seemed to do more good than harm - but I usually kept them shorter to around 3 days. For many years I practiced calorie restriction and intermittent fasting and low sugar. There was a night after breaking the fast I also recall supplementing tryptophan as a sleep aid (a foolish attempt to try to help beat the blues), I fell asleep fast but woke up feeling just miserable the next day- it made me start to seriously question the value of tryptophan / serotonin; in all my years of supplementing with tyrosine/tryptophan combo (as is commonly suggested by various health gurus) I would always end up shying away from the tryptophan - the theory of it balancing out the serotonin made sense to me at the time but I never experienced the results.... I would begrudgingly take it and think to myself (gee I hope my reserves are going to balance out soon). Sigh...

Coming out of the fast I did not feel so great, the joint pain was gone but everything else seemed to have become worse, it was a huge let down, I then noticed my oral temperature was not going over 97.6 or so all day long, this persisted for weeks. When I broke the fast the first things I craved were cottage cheese and orange juice, the craving persisted for weeks - it was a bit odd for me - neither items were on my daily menu before. So one day I was wondering if anyone else had the same cravings / what it all meant - I typed in a silly question to google like 'i'm depressed, low metabolism, why do i always want to eat cottage cheese' this took me to the works of Ray Peat. I read for many days and it all made so much sense to me - I told myself: look you have been low calorie, low appetite, low sugar for so long and have nothing good to show for it (aside from not being obese)- let's try the opposite.

Another interesting tidbit is I have always craved aspirin, I have loved it for decades now, I always have felt better on it - but I was so afraid to use it for long stretches because of all of the propaganda. I think it was reading RP writings on aspirin that specifically convinced me this man is a genius.

The status-quo model of what is good and is not good for you is completely broken, if it weren't broken forums like this would not exist. It is obvious to me true health must be very far from that model and RP is the one I have found to present the most convincing and practicable - results driven - easy to achieve re-modeling so to speak.

What a powerful story @Captain_Coconut. It is so interesting the pervasive belief that fasting is the answer. I am thrilled for you and your deep clarity for yourself.

 

[lollipop]

I don't remember exactly what Ray wrote about fructose, but for sure there is no need for demonizing it, as long as it is natural food content. But people with fragile digestive system often tend to get negative symptoms with fruits richer in fructose, as cantaloupe. And without any doubt to me, the best honeys (in terms of taste as well as therapeutic efficiency) are those richer in glucose (the richer they are in glucose versus fructose, the more easily they cristallize). I am aware some studies suggest fructose has some bad health effects. According to my experience I simply would not recommmend fructose pure powder. Anyway simple sugars should be brought with the nutrients they are associated with in nature. Honey is not very rich in nutrients other than sugars (at least in a quantity perspective) but molasses for example are so good and so rich in needed nutrients ;-)

Funny enough, after all the stuff I have tried, I think it was Manuka honey that turned the corner on my upper GI stress...originally created from long standing bacterial infection from living in India.

I agree 100% with you about eating food and I might have better said fructose/sucrose or simply “sugar”. I can not even imagine for myself fructose powder. I also shy away from white sugar and lean towards maple syrup and honey and occasionally cane sugar. I have never acquired a taste for molasses. Maybe one day I will try again - lol.

 

[Lilac]

I had been convinced a long time ago that attitudes toward food, and food preferences, were a kind of metaphysics, or even religion -- not at all arbitrary, but rather, implying specific attitudes about the nature of life itself. As a corollary, I thought food policy must be a form of social control, meaning that biological functioning of modern human beings had been deliberately compromised for political reasons.

These words are resonating with me. I was not asleep, but I am even more awake now.

 

[Kathleen Thome]

I'm interested in how you came to trust and believe in Ray's work. I assume you didn't just jump in, naturally there would be some hesitation since his work is very against the mainstream. Was it keeping an open mind and slowly incorporating his ideas and seeing positive results?

His pod casts offer so much evidence based research and his lifetime dedication to seeking out longevity is amazing. I can't read or listen fast enough to tge YouTube videos.

 

[energyandstruct]

The theory seems sound overall and the diet too, but I'm starting to disbelieve in ray's work, just because I have been hoping for so long that it will help me, and my health has declined so desperately. A few things he's recommended have helped extremely transiently, to be fair...

In some places he and danny don't seem to take CFS as seriously as I would expect. the symptoms can be extremely devastating and are proven to be of physiological etiology... usually caused by an infection or trauma, but ray sees it as just another subset of hypothyroidism possibly a diagnostic fad and maybe caused by eating beans?

I wonder if he would say that if he saw how severe it can get. I still enjoyed reading lots of his articles though. I'll certainly change my tune if I do get significantly better using his work.

 

[ilikecats]

@DaveFoster a little off topic but what brand of pregnenolone do you use? Just curious because cause if your getting such great results from it I’m sure it’s very high quality.

 

[danielbb]

It has been wonderful to read the responses in this thread. I found Ray Peat by a lucky accident. I was doing a hard-core vegan diet eating mostly raw vegetables and lots of beans for my protein intake. I was grumpy most of the time, frequent headaches, cold/shriveled/purple fingers, low body temperatures, low energy, and so forth. Other than those symptoms, that diet was working great (sarcasm off).

I was following the vegan approach because they were making claims about reversing heart disease from which I suffer. Namely, Dr. Esselstyn of "Forks Over Knives" fame was making this claim. In his book on reversing heart disease, for those who had been previously diagnosed with heart disease, he did not allow ANY fat in the diet even though his main concern was with saturated fat. This recommendation would eliminate PUFA from the diet and that I believe is why some of his reversal claims may have been true.

Now the lucky accident part. One night, while on this vegan diet, I got into a mild quarrel with my wife over something silly (I mentioned above my grumpiness) and on the way home, I saw a fast food restaurant. I got a burger, fries, and by accident I ordered a regular Coke instead of my usual diet Coke. That night I had the best night sleep in 20 years and felt like Superman the next day. I went back to veganism the next day but continued to think about that wonderful night sleep for a couple of more weeks. I began to experiment with what I had that night with one ingredient at a time to see what caused that response. I started with the potatoes and I did get a mild response. Tried the burger and again a mild response at best. Finally, the Coke. It was the Coke. I never, and I mean never, go to bed without drinking a Coke (Mexican because it is made with sugar) nowadays because I basically get the same response each night. Good hormonal production each night with very good nights sleep. I've experimented with sugar and get about 75% of the response as Coke. It also contains 30mg caffeine plus carbon dioxide so that may explain the medicinal properties of it - at least for me. Some people have tried my Coke before bed idea and have had problems falling asleep but I never do.

All my life I was told sugar was bad but I discovered it was good for me. My whole life I have loved sugar and sugary things like fruit, chocolate, and ice cream but was told it was bad for me. I started searching on the benefits of sugar and found Ray Peat. I have spent months reading and re-reading his work and began applying things (e.g., no PUFA/starch/beans, aspirin, OJ, milk, liver, oysters, potatoes, salt, sugar) and have slowly re-built my metabolism. I now believe thyroid is king but everything is important when it comes to your endocrine system. The only thing that has not worked for me is coconut oil. It gives me a runny nose and I don't feel 100% after ingesting it.

I don't believe there is a universal nutritional "prescription" out there but Ray Peat provides a integrative/scientific foundation from which people can derive their own prescription in order to optimize their respective health.

 

[DaveFoster]

@DaveFoster a little off topic but what brand of pregnenolone do you use? Just curious because cause if your getting such great results from it I’m sure it’s very high quality.

I use HealthNatura pregnenolone powder.

 

[GutFeeling]

His articles really make sense, good amounts of evidence.
And his diet is basically what i used to love during childhood. My instincts told me that this is the right thing to do.
And it worked, I feel calmer. I never got a cold again.

 

[energyandstruct]

I'm really starting to lose faith in it since have gotten side effects from progestE, pregnenolone, etc. If I was seeing enough benefit from things he recommended I would write off the side effects but it just makes me feel scared and alone to be getting intense side effects from things I'm experimenting with and leaning a lot on to help cure my severe illness. If ray peat's work fails for me, there's nothing else. i have almost zero hope left. I don't know what I can do to stay in this world. I am tired of being sick,

 

[Ulysses]

I'm really starting to lose faith in it since have gotten side effects from progestE, pregnenolone, etc. If I was seeing enough benefit from things he recommended I would write off the side effects but it just makes me feel scared and alone to be getting intense side effects from things I'm experimenting with and leaning a lot on to help cure my severe illness. If ray peat's work fails for me, there's nothing else. i have almost zero hope left. I don't know what I can do to stay in this world. I am tired of being sick,

It sounds like a bad case. Have you tried emailing him directly?

 

[energyandstruct]

It sounds like a bad case. Have you tried emailing him directly?

I have. He thinks thyroid , progesterone, niacinamide, vitamin d would help but his emails are very short and my ability to communicate waning

 

[energyandstruct]

I should mention in fairness that progestE has also helped. In fact I think that's the reason I've continued to take it so often despite the fact that it has frequent side effects and also any doctor would think im crazy

 

[energyandstruct]

i've gone from beyond just fatigue and exercise intolerance to almost constant pain, as if i have lactic acid from exercising all the time , and shortness of breath

 

[energyandstruct]

I think the theory is somewhat sound but I'm honestly too tired to understand it in real depth so I'm going out on a limb on faith and the limb is breaking. My doctor is a CFS specialist but nothing she has prescribed has helped

 

[rei]

His article on fish oils came up in google when i tried to make sense of their health effects. It was so logical yet extremely controversial. I started reading other articles that sounded interesting in the title and soon realized many things i had found out during my previous research fell into a more complete picture with the (historical) details he ties in. Finally when i stumbled upon his article about SSRIs i made the decision to read them all. After seeing what SSRI do to people i had been studying scientific publications for years trying to form a coherent picture about them, and he finally allowed me to see.

 

[kayumochi]

My journey began in 1987 with Macrobiotics (go ahead and laf) and haven't eaten SAD since then. A little less than two years ago I was told my thyroid was just a little low and recalled Peat talked about thyroid and that is when I moved into his camp to experiment. And I am still experimenting.

 

[bistecca]

I was paleo-ish for 5 years or so, and was feeling better than I was prior to going paleo(my childhood diet makes me shudder-deep fried chicken wings every week, oreos, utz cottonseed oil fried chips, HFCS drinks) but was still having some issues. Eventually i developed this fungal skin condition called tinea versicolor which involved pea-sized bleach spots all over my arms, chest, neck and trunk. It kept getting worse. I had been reading a little peat and searched his site for thoughts on fungal infections. I transitioned to eating more carbs, both sugar and starch, drinking coffee, eliminating uncooked starches(was eating a lot of bananas, especially green, after having heard mention of the benefits of resistant starch, very unwise in retrospect) removed lots of the fiber and raw vegetables(was eating salads almost every day), and I also just became more conscious of stresses and toxic stuff i was exposing myself to(smoke from working in kitchens at that time). Within 6 months, the skin condition was gone, i was gaining lean mass without trying, i stopped having muscle cramps at night, my sleepy limbs at night stopped( would happen maybe once a month, an arm would fall asleep while i was asleep). That was a powerful experience.