What SHOULD Happen To Pulse/temp After Meals?

Joined
Jun 21, 2017
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104
In my few weeks trawling through this forum and consuming knowledge, pulse and temperature are obviously a key metric for understanding the current state of metabolism.

People sometimes refer to tracking pulse and temps in the morning, and after eating. But these points haven't been expanded upon and clarified in the posts I've read so far.

Ideally, what should pulse and temperature do after eating?

What are the signs of healthy metabolic function after meals? And what are the signs of unhealthy?

Appreciated, Johnson
 

TheDrumGuy

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Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
119
Recommendations I've seen

-waking core temp 97.8-98.2
-waking pulse 75-85
-core temp and pulse increase after a meal
-postprandial core temp increases during the day and peaks between 98.6 and 99.2 in the afternoon or early evening

These are all signs of good metabolism. Numbers below these suggest a slow metabolism. Higher numbers suggest elevated "stress hormones" like adrenaline and cortisol. A lot of these numbers will depend on the ambient temp, so I've found it useful to document the ambient temp whenever I take a measurement. If it's an unusually humid day I'll also make a note of that. There are other recommendations I think Peat has made, like ideally core temp should break 98.6 by the early morning.

A slow metabolism and elevated stress hormones can coexist, such that they cancel out and your temps and pulse generally seem to fall within the ranges above. So you should look out for signs of elevated stress hormones: core temp drops after a meal, pulse drops after a meal, hands and feet get warmer after a meal. If you experience any of these, the idea is that the meal is lowering stress hormones. If you have signs of elevated stress hormones, you can try frequent, small meals to keep them suppressed.
 
OP
J
Joined
Jun 21, 2017
Messages
104
Recommendations I've seen

-waking core temp 97.8-98.2
-waking pulse 75-85
-core temp and pulse increase after a meal
-postprandial core temp increases during the day and peaks between 98.6 and 99.2 in the afternoon or early evening

These are all signs of good metabolism. Numbers below these suggest a slow metabolism. Higher numbers suggest elevated "stress hormones" like adrenaline and cortisol. A lot of these numbers will depend on the ambient temp, so I've found it useful to document the ambient temp whenever I take a measurement. If it's an unusually humid day I'll also make a note of that. There are other recommendations I think Peat has made, like ideally core temp should break 98.6 by the early morning.

A slow metabolism and elevated stress hormones can coexist, such that they cancel out and your temps and pulse generally seem to fall within the ranges above. So you should look out for signs of elevated stress hormones: core temp drops after a meal, pulse drops after a meal, hands and feet get warmer after a meal. If you experience any of these, the idea is that the meal is lowering stress hormones. If you have signs of elevated stress hormones, you can try frequent, small meals to keep them suppressed.

Thank you. Very helpful. I'm still quite unclear when it comes to 2 points:

1. Measuring core temperature, where do most people measure? Axillary, oral, rectal, tympanic can show differences of +/- 2 degrees when taken at the same time. So it would be easy to wrongly evaluate metabolism with the wrong measure?

2. Variances in pulse between individuals with healthy metabolism. 75-85 seems like quite a narrow range, the middle of the bell curve, yet it's taken as gospel. Surely lots of things like genetics, athletic status, awakening from a particular sleep stage, etc, will affect this. Also, the experience of buteyko breathing coaches ties increasing co2 (ie higher CP) to both faster, more efficient metabolism through higher cellular oxygenation and lower pulse, which is somewhat contradictory to better metabolism = higher pulse. I'm wondering how to reconcile individual variances and these differences?
 

TheDrumGuy

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
119
1. Good point, this is something I've thought about but never seen addressed properly. I've been using oral temps and they're roughly where they should be so I haven't put too much thought into it. I'm not convinced there's really that much difference between oral and rectal. I think bad technique (eg talking a lot before measuring) may explain some of it. I take numerous readings, so there's no way I'm waiting the recommended 10 minutes with the thermometer under my arm.

2. I think the general view on these is:
  • Genetics shouldn't make that much of a difference for most people.
  • Athletes are thought to be hypothyroid given the stresses of their training. This may be partially true, but I don't agree with this entirely since athletes do have greater stroke volume, which means they don't need as many beats to pump the same amount of blood. However, elite athletes do have lower cardiac output at rest than controls. So if you're an athlete the range may be a bit lower, but I don't think some Lance Armstrong 40bpm is healthy.
  • I think you're supposed to measure these after waking up naturally at a typical waking time for you. I believe temperature reaches a minimum while you're sleeping, and comes up a bit before you wake.
I don't know much about Buteyko breathing. Why does he say pulse comes down?
 

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