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djr_81

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Hello
« on: September 02, 2009, 11:14:28 pm »
Hello everyone. I've been reading the forum fairly intensively now for a couple weeks and decided it was time I registered & introduced myself. :)

I'll start with the personal info then move onto my health and dietary regimen...
My name is Dan. Twenty eight year old male living in the "boonies" of the lower/mid-Hudson River Valley of New York State, US. Married, no kids.
Hobbies include anything automotive (my "baby" is a '71 Checker Marathon in the driveway awaiting some TLC), reading, exercise/sports (not too big on large group sports though, most of it's solo or small groups), and video games.
Professionally I'm a project manager for an architectural firm specializing in healthcare architecture (I design and oversee construction of hospitals, doctor's offices ,etc. all day).
I guess that's a decent synopsis of myself for now. :)


As for health, this is a long and sordid tale like many of your past histories.

In 2001 my brother came down with a debilitating stomach or intestinal infection which had him bedridden for a month or two. As part of the testing they ran to determine what was going on they ran so blood allergy tests. He came back with intolerance to dairy and wheat (I believe he tested positive on the IG-g side).
As I had had stomach issues (gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation) on and off since puberty we had the doctors run similar tests on me. Of the 10 common allergens tested I came back positive on 9 of them (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, Milk, Crab, Shrimp, Peanuts, and Soy; the tenth-egg albumin-was just below the lowest threshold at the time). This was done in May of 2001.

Upon elimination of the known offenders I had a couple of notable improvements of my health. My stomach was a lot better (not "right" but noticeably better), my mood was more optimistic (well, slightly less cynical at this point), I had more energy than I previously had, and most noticeable of all I lost a lot of weight. Since the onset of puberty I had always been a heavy kid and by 2001 I was at 240 pounds. Within 2 or 3 months of the eliminations I had dropped 70 pounds and was down to 170. Over the next few months I gained a good deal back (although my diet didn't change) and went up to 200 but plateaued there.

I lived life like this for 2 more years but always had thoughts there were other problems. Then in 2003 I had another blood test done. This was much the same panel but included Corn. Another offender discovered and eliminated. The cycle began again and I had much the same results. Slightly better stomach, better mood, lost some water weight (but it came back in time). By this time my diet was a heavy concentration of fruits and vegetables, lots of lean meats (a lot of poultry), and a heavy dependence of rice and rice products. I actually felt pretty good on my diet (in retrospect I wasn't doing as good as I thought I was) and lived this way for a while.

As I was set to turn 25 in 2006 my insurance was going to run out under my father's plan (I was a full-time student) so I did some research and found a good allergist who was willing to listen to me and do the full barrage of tests available to him. 8 vials of blood later and I had a much clearer idea of just what my body was fighting on a daily basis. The list is pretty staggering but includes a plethora of fruits and vegetables as well as rice (like you didn't see this one coming :P).

I set about further elimination (which was easier than expected after the first two bouts); first with the known list of foods and then trial & error with the unknown variables. As time went by I found just about all fruits, veggies, and starches bother me in large amounts and most in small amounts as well. I've experimented with alternative starches (Quinoa, Amaranth, Tef, Tapioca, etc.) and tried far-flung foreign fruits (Rambutan, Dragonfruit, Mangosteen) but these have all had problems (most prevalently a mental fog and lethargy). Kumbucha worked pretty good for a couple months but this too began giving me problems after a while.
Frankly, the only thing which I could depend on was meat and this had it's own concerns. Some meat didn't sit well and this was hit or miss (some vendors have to be injecting certain cuts with something because some meat bothers me no matter what) and then there's the fear pounded into you about red meat and saturated fat which kept me from depending too greatly on red meats. I would eat mostly fish for months at a time but this never satisfied me (and again, some fish-particularly white fish-would bother me), at other times I was easting chicken thighs almost exclusively.

Most recently I spent 8 months eating almost nothing but Tyson brand thighs since they were cheap and sat well but they recently began giving me stomach issues so I believe they've changed something as well (maybe injecting them with broth now?). This is actually what led me to do deeper research into a diet based on red meat (beef in particular).
I found Steffenson's (sp?) articles online at the beginning of August which gave me hope and I began easing into a carnivorous way of life. Within the week I found this site and began to get better insight on the dos and don'ts (particularly raw v. cooked).
I've also been gung-ho all-or-nothing with what I do so it's been cold turkey for me since the beginning (barring the night during the first week that I ate two lightly cooked livers and proceeded to feel horrible-only later did I find out they were so carb based).
The beginning was easy since I've been so acclimatized to eating meat as my primary (and often only) food source. It was downright tasty when I was searing the meat but I was overeating as a result. I also was having issues with processing the fat and as a result I was dealing with daily loose stools.
The transition into raw the past week and a half was a bit more difficult. As a society we're acculturated that raw meat is dangerous so it takes a bit to get past the fears of food poisoning. The meat (90% of what I'm eating now is grainfed and I'm still working on finding a good local grassfed source) also has little flavor unless it's sat for a bit or is marbled nicely. Even much of the fat is hard to deal with at first if it's grainfed since it's not as tasty and you're getting used to eating raw fat. I also was dealing with a low energy level for about a week as I've upped the fat ratio while going raw.
The turning point was yesterday as I was reading Lex's journal (only up to page 11 at the moment) and seeing how he did as time went by (and some of the conjecture on the whys). A big thank you to you Lex, you've given me a big boost to my determination that I needed. I am getting better as time goes by and see a very positive outcome in the near future.
I had a big slab of suet this morning and it actually tasted sweet to me. Never would have thought it but I was definitely enjoying it. The london broil on the side was kind of lackluster though since it wasn't well marbled.  l)

I used to be so shy and shut down around new people. As time has gone on and I've began healing my health issues though I don't shut up. Sorry about that. ;D

Offline goodsamaritan

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Re: Hello
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2009, 11:32:33 pm »
Awesome story!
I love that kind of detail. 
Comes straight from the gut.
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djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2009, 12:15:13 am »
Comes straight from the gut.

No pun intended. :P ;D

Thank you for the welcome. :)

Offline PaleoPhil

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Re: Hello
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2009, 06:44:18 am »
Welcome!

I also had GI issues and also tested positive to most foods. The lady who called with my results sounded very concerned and said something like, "Um, you better get in here. You scored high on a lot of things." In contrast, my father only scored high on a few things, though in the past before he went near-Paleo he had scored positive on a lot of foods too.

I was flummoxed by my positive tests to fruits and low-protein veggies, since I hadn't heard of allergies or intolerances to them before. I even tested positive to apples, of all things, which I used to love. My tests were not 100% consistent with the foods I do best and worst on, but they were well correlated with my own general findings that I was sensitive to A LOT of foods.

Like you I would improve when I eliminated foods, then plateau or relapse until I figured out what other foods were bothering me. I kept hoping I wouldn't have to eliminate too many more until I got down to a carnivorous diet, and so far so good.

Quote
It was downright tasty when I was searing the meat but I was overeating as a result.
Yeah, that's one reason I'm still doing a little bit of cooking--to keep my weight up.

Quote
I also was having issues with processing the fat and as a result I was dealing with daily loose stools.
Yeah, I had minor stomach issues due to problems digesting some fats at first too, so I built up gradually and started with fats I could digest.

Quote
The turning point was yesterday as I was reading Lex's journal (only up to page 11 at the moment) and seeing how he did as time went by (and some of the conjecture on the whys). A big thank you to you Lex, you've given me a big boost to my determination that I needed.
Yeah, Lex has been the biggest motivator and explainer for me too--better than any of the diet gurus, doctors or scientists.

Quote
I had a big slab of suet this morning and it actually tasted sweet to me. Never would have thought it but I was definitely enjoying it.
Yeah, it usually tastes a bit sweet to me now too; as does water and now even my own saliva. I never would have guessed it either.

Quote
I used to be so shy and shut down around new people. As time has gone on and I've began healing my health issues though I don't shut up. Sorry about that. ;D
Yeah, be careful you don't bore people with talk about diet and health in the early born-again days. ;D

Your experience pretty much mirrors mine, except that I was very thin in my youth, then suddenly started putting on weight at age 30 and eventually got flabby with thin limbs, and am now thin again.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2009, 08:41:46 am »
Thanks the welcome Phil. :)

I was surprised at the similarities we've had to deal with in our endeavors with/against our bodies. Until I found this forum I'd never spoken with, or read of, anyone having a similar breadth of allergies. My father, when tested in 2007, had a similar list but he's been very lax about caring so it's not quite the same. It'll be nice to have a sounding board for advice with similar experiences (fire away if you've got any for me as well). ;)

Yeah, it usually tastes a bit sweet to me now too; as does water and now even my own saliva. I never would have guessed it either.
OK, so maybe I'm not imagining that one. My mouth seemed entirely too "sweet" the past few days but I thought it was in my head. Have you ever read any hypothesis on why this would be?

Your experience pretty much mirrors mine, except that I was very thin in my youth, then suddenly started putting on weight at age 30 and eventually got flabby with thin limbs, and am now thin again.
I was actually rail thin as a kid. It was only when I hit puberty that I began bulking up. This was exaggerated by the fact that I took a lot longer to grow height-wise than my peers. I was roughly 5'-10" and maybe 220 pounds in 11th grade but by the first year of college I was at my final height of 6'-3" and 240. Then began the water weight rollercoaster.

Out of curiosity Phil, have you done much research into Candida overgrowth as a possible cause or exacerbater of the allergies?
I've mulled this one over for a while as a possibility for my issues. A number of my issues could correlate to systemic issues with Candida and I believe (I'll have to check the bloodwork) that I tested positive for some marker in regards to it on the last round of tests. Just something I've thought about although it doesn't matter where the problems came from, just how to cope.

Offline PaleoPhil

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Re: Hello
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2009, 09:54:55 am »
OK, so maybe I'm not imagining that one. My mouth seemed entirely too "sweet" the past few days but I thought it was in my head.
Now that you mention it, it is a touch too sweet for my tastes--a bit too much like artificial sweetener, such as saccharine or Nutrasweet--but it does taste pretty good overall. It gets sweeter after I drink water or the occasional cup of coffee or eat some raw fat and meat. I do prefer the taste to my old, thick, scant, carby saliva, but it's a bit too strong, so I suspect that it's a temporary thing.

This may sound weird and kind of gross, but I also salivate more than I used to. Especially when I start to eat beef jerky (which has a highly concentrated yummy beef flavor), but also slightly before, during and after any meat meal. So I sometimes have to drink it down to avoid buildup. I kind of feel like a dog or wolf. ;D The good side of this is it's helpful when walking or running, because when I ate carbs my mouth used to get extremely dry during exercise, and drinking water only hydrated my mouth very briefly. Now if I've eaten heartily within several hours, I don't even need to carry water at all when I exercise. I'm my own water pump. ;D My dental hygienist said plentiful saliva is good for the gums, and sure enough, my gums and teeth are much healthier on this carnivore diet.

On a related matter, tonight I suddenly had the urge to lick the bloody juice off the plastic wrap from some venison. Months ago just the thought of that would have sickened me, and the civilized part of me said "What are you doing?" But the wolf side of me said, "Yum!" And sure enough it tasted good. A tiny bit salty. I've been exercising a lot, so maybe I need some salt.

Quote
Have you ever read any hypothesis on why this would be?
No, I've never heard of it. Maybe it's part of the ketosis transition or something? However, my urine doesn't smell bad and I don't seem to have bad mouth or body odor. I should probably get some keto sticks soon and also test my blood sugar, to make sure I'm not producing too many excess ketones. I'll try to remember to test my blood sugar this weekend. I have been trying to eat more lately, so perhaps I overdid it on the fat? It does seem to get sweeter when I eat more fat.

Quote
...I took a lot longer to grow height-wise than my peers. I was roughly 5'-10" and maybe 220 pounds in 11th grade but by the first year of college I was at my final height of 6'-3" and 240.
Yup, me too. For most of my youth I was a bit shorter than average or maybe just barely average and I didn't start to get my growth spurt until 11th grade after quite a number of the other kids had stopped growing, and continued growing taller during college. I read several places where people claimed that boys stop growing at 18 or 20 or 21, but I recall continuing to grow taller in my sophomore or junior year in college, while I was around 22. Though maybe my memory's off. I only ended up at close to 6'-1", though if my spine had been straight I probably would have made 6'-2" or more. Over time my spine bent more and I ended up at 5'-11". I've rebounded some since going Paleo and am at around 6' now.

Quote
Out of curiosity Phil, have you done much research into Candida overgrowth as a possible cause or exacerbater of the allergies?
Yeah, I've read a lot about candida, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of many carb-eating organisms that overpopulated in my gut, whereas the fat-eating ones probably got decimated. The downside with a lot of the info about candida is the products they sell for treating it did not help me at all. Total waste of money for me.

The only thing that helped me was cutting out the modern foods and all the carbs. Just hope I don't get the serious side effects of transitioning to fat as fuel that Lex and Tyler got.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

Offline PaleoPhil

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Re: Hello
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2009, 05:19:51 am »
I think the sweet saliva was indeed due to consumption of excess fats, as I cut back on them a bit since and the sweetness is gone. I also googled on it and found other people saying its caused by ketones. Apparently I don't get a stop when eating fats, so I'll have to keep that in mind. A few other people have said that they were overeating fats and didn't realize it, so it looks like I had a similar experience. It may also be because I haven't achieved optimal efficiency in using fats for energy. Given my past problems digesting fats, that would not be surprising.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2009, 06:21:30 am »
I think the sweet saliva was indeed due to consumption of excess fats, as I cut back on them a bit since and the sweetness is gone. I also googled on it and found other people saying its caused by ketones. Apparently I don't get a stop when eating fats, so I'll have to keep that in mind. A few other people have said that they were overeating fats and didn't realize it, so it looks like I had a similar experience. It may also be because I haven't achieved optimal efficiency in using fats for energy. Given my past problems digesting fats, that would not be surprising.

Funny you should mention that; I'm currently feeling a bit nauseous myself due to wolfing down a fair amount of fat myself this afternoon (both suet and marrow). Definitely felt no "stop" and ate until I ran out of what I had taken out. Probably polished off 1/4 pound of suet, 5 decent sized marrow bones, and a 1/2-3/4 pound grass-fed beef chuck steak before I was full. I've also been notably tired and lethargic the last day to day and a half (and went from 182 to 177 in the couple days since weighing myself) so I wanted to make sure I got plenty into myself today.
Had a couple very well marbled boneless beef ribs this morning as well as the last of my last suet purchase. I had this larger meal at 4:30ish. And I'll probably have a small meal again an hour or two before bed to make sure my calories are enough.

I had a suspicion the sweet taste might be Ketone related. :)

As mentioned earlier (I think in another thread) I've gotten much more active the past couple months with running and biking. Unfortunately since going zero carb my morning jog/run has occasionally been much more difficult. I saw this a couple days after I began, then it got better. The last two days have been pretty difficult as well and I've also noticed more knee and ankle pain than I've experienced in the past. The weirdest part is it's the first 20 minutes of any aerobic exercise which seem to kick my butt (this is problematic as my quick morning jog usually lasts 20 minutes or so and it's been more to jumpstart me in the day rather than build fitness). Anyone else have similar experiences as your body is keto-adapting and does it get better or does the typical keto-adapted individual function this way?
I know I'm pushing myself as much as I can to keep my glycogen stores low and speed things along. Is this a bad idea; should I just let it progress a bit slower?

One last thing; I've had the classic white coating on my tongue after some time on ZC so it looks like the Candida (or maybe another opportunistic yeast based affliction) was still kicking around.  :)

Offline PaleoPhil

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Re: Hello
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2009, 06:42:49 am »
Funny you should mention that; I'm currently feeling a bit nauseous myself due to wolfing down a fair amount of fat myself this afternoon (both suet and marrow). Definitely felt no "stop" and ate until I ran out of what I had taken out. Probably polished off 1/4 pound of suet, 5 decent sized marrow bones, and a 1/2-3/4 pound grass-fed beef chuck steak before I was full. I've also been notably tired and lethargic the last day to day and a half (and went from 182 to 177 in the couple days since weighing myself) so I wanted to make sure I got plenty into myself today.
Had a couple very well marbled boneless beef ribs this morning as well as the last of my last suet purchase. I had this larger meal at 4:30ish. And I'll probably have a small meal again an hour or two before bed to make sure my calories are enough.

I had a suspicion the sweet taste might be Ketone related. :)

As mentioned earlier (I think in another thread) I've gotten much more active the past couple months with running and biking.
Yeah, me too. I suspect this used up whatever carbs I had in my system and exacerbated the sweet-saliva ketosis effect.

Quote
Unfortunately since going zero carb my morning jog/run has occasionally been much more difficult. I saw this a couple days after I began, then it got better. The last two days have been pretty difficult as well and I've also noticed more knee and ankle pain than I've experienced in the past. The weirdest part is it's the first 20 minutes of any aerobic exercise which seem to kick my butt (this is problematic as my quick morning jog usually lasts 20 minutes or so and it's been more to jumpstart me in the day rather than build fitness). Anyone else have similar experiences as your body is keto-adapting and does it get better or does the typical keto-adapted individual function this way?
Hmmm, no. I've been running faster and easier on my morning sprints, and my muscles are less sore, especially if I get enough sleep. Of course, I was eating VLC for months before I went carnivorous, so maybe this helped, though about 1/2 the people report problems despite a gradual transition. Tyler has raised the possibility that maybe people like myself and Lex had some heavy-duty carnivores in our family trees, and I suspect he might be right. I doubt there were any serious agrarians in my family tree until the last one to two thousand years. I respond so positively to meats and animal fats that I suspect being descended from a long lineage of hunters. But it's pure speculation on my part. Tyler is descended from Scandinavia, which is hunter-pastoral country, so it doesn't make perfect sense. If he had a parent with Mediterranean, Asian-Indian or Chinese lineage, it might add up.

Quote
I know I'm pushing myself as much as I can to keep my glycogen stores low and speed things along. Is this a bad idea; should I just let it progress a bit slower?
So few people have followed this path that I think you have to follow what your body tells you. I can tell you that a slow progression seems to have worked brilliantly for me, and we do have very similar backgrounds, but that is no guarantee.

Quote
One last thing; I've had the classic white coating on my tongue after some time on ZC so it looks like the Candida (or maybe
another opportunistic yeast based affliction) was still kicking around.  :)
Fascinating. It sounds like you definitely had some serious probs with carbs if you still have white tongue. If I were you, I might try swishing lemon-flavored fish oil around in my mouth and using a tongue scraper to help kill off those little devils. GoodSamaritan might have some other advice on it.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2009, 07:02:39 am »
Hmmm, no. I've been running faster and easier on my morning sprints, and my muscles are less sore, especially if I get enough sleep. Of course, I was eating VLC for months before I went carnivorous, so maybe this helped, though about 1/2 the people report problems despite a gradual transition.
That's the odd thing, it's cycled from much better performance (I went for a 28 mile bike ride a week ago after not using a bike for at least 5 years) to downright miserable some days. Who knows, maybe it's just some die off?
I've been eliminating things fairly consistently for years now due to the food allergies so I would think it's been long enough without a heavy source of carbs.

Tyler has raised the possibility that maybe people like myself and Lex had some heavy-duty carnivores in our family trees, and I suspect he might be right. I doubt there were any serious agrarians in my family tree until the last one to two thousand years. I respond so positively to meats and animal fats that I suspect being descended from a long lineage of hunters. But it's pure speculation on my part. Tyler is descended from Scandinavia, which is hunter-pastoral country, so it doesn't make perfect sense. If he had a parent with Mediterranean, Asian-Indian or Chinese lineage, it might add up.

My heritage is almost entirely Western European (Swedish, Norwegian, Irish, Scottish, German) with a liberal dose of Northern Italian as well. Far back there's also a bit of Native American. Much of this I'd suspect would be of a greater hunter stock as well so I'm at a loss too.

Fascinating. It sounds like you definitely had some serious probs with carbs if you still have white tongue. If I were you, I might try swishing lemon-flavored fish oil around in my mouth and using a tongue scraper to help kill off those little devils. GoodSamaritan might have some other advice on it.
I don't know how my body would like that. I'm definitely allergic to lemons and any fish now seems to sit funny (even the Salmon I had the week before going raw sat very heavy and gave a lot of indigestion). I know Coconut Oil is recommended for a lot of things as well (I think it might be more for parasites though) but I'm allergic to coconuts as well. I might have to just suck it up, scrape the tongue as need be, and let the absence of food kill it off.

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Re: Hello
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2009, 08:20:32 am »
There is a 'zero carb' forum with about a thousand members and the vibe is that going 'cold turkey' you feel low on energy and a bit rubbish for around 3 weeks, and then things start balancing back.

:)

Not 100% sure how significant the ideas on people recent ancestors were, but hey maybe im missing something! :)

Offline PaleoPhil

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Re: Hello
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2009, 08:40:56 am »
Yeah, I don't do well with lemon either, but it eliminates the fish burps. I wonder if I could digest lemonless fish oil without burps now?

Maybe you have trouble digesting fish fats like I did. I'm digesting wild salmon better than ever now, and now can chomp into and digest the fat and skin along with the lean. Some totally raw fish still tastes too fishy to me, but that may change too.

I hear ya' on coconut oil too. I tried coconut oil for months, at the recommendation of the WAPF people, who likened it to a magical cure. It only made me sick.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2009, 05:28:15 am »
There is a 'zero carb' forum with about a thousand members and the vibe is that going 'cold turkey' you feel low on energy and a bit rubbish for around 3 weeks, and then things start balancing back.

:)
Thanks for the lead. I found the forum and have been skimming it the past few days for useful info. :)

I've been feeling a bit better the past couple days.
Still very wiped when I do exercise so I may start cutting the frequency back a bit, at least for now.
I've also noted an old problem I had coming back lately. I used to have an issue that would crop up occasionally where I'd get lightheaded when I stood up too quick. Most times it's bad enough that I feel like I'm blacking out but I still keep upright the second or two it takes to pass.
I've had this in the past but it's begun to show up again this past week.
While browsing a thread elsewhere I read mention of a connection between Candida overgrowth and adrenal fatigue (thyroid too but I'm not as concerned about this one). This lead to research on adrenal fatigue which in turn led to a possible link to my issue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension).
Can anyone give me some personal input as to what to look for if I am having any adrenal problems? I'm not one to prematurely jump the gun on things but I've got a hunch I should look into this a bit deeper.
Also, any recommendation on the lightheaded issue? I had been drinking less water and had cut salt out when I began the diet. I've upped my water and added a bit of salt back in the last two days just in case it's a slight case of dehydration or a mineral imbalance. I haven't noticed much improvement yet but we'll see in time.

William

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Re: Hello
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2009, 07:44:38 am »
IIRC the standard test for adrenal exhaustion is to take blood pressure while lying or sitting, then stand up and take another reading. It must rise.
If it rises not, it shows adrenal gland exhaustion. This might be related to the feeling of blacking out.

Said to take years to cure, and my experience confirms this. The only cure AFAIK is raw paleofood.
You found the right forum.  :)

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2009, 08:40:33 am »
Said to take years to cure, and my experience confirms this. The only cure AFAIK is raw paleofood.
You found the right forum.  :)
Sounds good to me. ;D

djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #15 on: September 09, 2009, 10:36:07 pm »
I know the following will jump around a bit but I'm not quite as focused as I'd like to be right now and frankly don't have the drive at the moment to organize it cogently. -[

I've had stomach issues with some of the meat since I changed my diet. Some sat fine, some caused odd noises from my stomach, and some gave me outright diarrhea/constipation. I've attributed this all to acclimation and my body's slow transition towards a high-fat-intake & eventual keto-adaptation. I'm getting concerned at this point though it may be continuing allergic reactions to my food due to a couple signs I'm picking up on.
I also noticed the slight runny/stuffy nose that I had immediately following eating at the beginning of my diet change was no longer present.

As mentioned in an earlier post I'm currently doing this all on grain-fed beef as I have not had a chance to place an order with Slanker's yet (bills the past few weeks and rent this week have just made it unfeasible-my first order will be next Tuesday morning so I should be eating 100% grassfed by Friday afternoon). I am also very allergic (Rast 3 on the blood tests performed) to corn and most grains so I'm sure the full diet the cattle I'm consuming are on would be a gut-killer to me.

When I began the diet I lost a decent amount of weight in a very little time (not my intent as I was right where I felt my weight was good-~182 pounds) and by last week was down to 175 pounds. I attributed this to both water weight from cutting out any of the unknowingly offending foods in my diet as well as the typical loss most everyone else experiences when they switch to ZC.
I also cut salt out completely and had less desire to drink water (went from 10-12 16.9oz bottles a day to 3 or 4 bottles a day). I just didn't have the same level of thirst I used to have.
Unfortunately I'd had the recurrence of my light-headed issue from the past (see last posts) and after dealing with this for a couple days I thought I should switch things up a bit to see if I was not getting enough water or calories. I upped my food intake by almost double (my appetite for raw fat and meat had been steadily growing the last week or two so this wasn't hard)  and began drinking more water with the addition of some electrolytes I had on top of the fridge (http://www.bodybio.com/storeproduct348.aspx). My thinking was maybe I was having issues utilizing the water I needed due to salt imbalances.

Over the span of three days on this increased caloric and water intake I've bounced back up to 183 pounds. It's also visibly water weight in my abdominal area (it's not an adema but it's not fatty tissue either).
I have noticed my dizzyness/light-headed issue has minimized (had one small occurence yesterday but not the half dozen I had been having each day).
Unfortunately I've also noticed that 1 1/2-2 hours after eating my attention and energy levels go to complete shit. I can't focus for anything and it takes at least another 3 hours to resolve itself to a good functional level but it doesn't go completely before I eat again (i.e. I had a big meal at 8am yesterday, another at 1:30, and some jerky last night at 7ish and feel a bit hung over today).

Does anyone have similar experiences? Is this semi-common or could it be my food allergies?
I think I am going to attempt to eat a big meal once a day for the next 1 1/2 weeks until I get some grassfed beef and see if that helps. Does anyone think this approach of one big bombardment of "pathogens" a day with 23ish hours for recovery would be more detrimental to my system than a steady influx throughout each day (generally 3-4 meals)? Any input as to when the best time for this meal would be? I'd like to continue daily early morning exercise, work a productive work day, and still get a good night's sleep if possible so I thought 3-4pm might be best.

William

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Re: Hello
« Reply #16 on: September 10, 2009, 07:08:56 am »

Unfortunately I've also noticed that 1 1/2-2 hours after eating my attention and energy levels go to complete shit. I can't focus for anything and it takes at least another 3 hours to resolve itself to a good functional level but it doesn't go completely before I eat again (i.e. I had a big meal at 8am yesterday, another at 1:30, and some jerky last night at 7ish and feel a bit hung over today).

Does anyone have similar experiences? Is this semi-common or could it be my food allergies?
I think I am going to attempt to eat a big meal once a day for the next 1 1/2 weeks until I get some grassfed beef and see if that helps. Does anyone think this approach of one big bombardment of "pathogens" a day with 23ish hours for recovery would be more detrimental to my system than a steady influx throughout each day (generally 3-4 meals)? Any input as to when the best time for this meal would be? I'd like to continue daily early morning exercise, work a productive work day, and still get a good night's sleep if possible so I thought 3-4pm might be best.


I eat once/day, and have had a similar experience of low energy levels (I sleep) after, depending on the quality of the food. This gives the immune system time to cope with whatever is in the food, and do some healing if you have enough rest.

Experience tells us that the change to raw zero carb takes anywhere from 3 weeks to who knows, during which you may expect lethargy. Exercise does not seem like a good idea. I don't know about work, depends on what it is.

3-4 pm is probably the best time for one meal/day, gives time for complete digestion so you get the best sleep.

Different people have had different experiences, so YMMV.


djr_81

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Re: Hello
« Reply #17 on: September 11, 2009, 09:09:53 am »
Today was a better day. ;D
I picked up the only two packs of grass-fed beef they had at the supermarket last night as well as a 2 pound block of grainfed suet. Had a ~4oz block of suet at 8am this morning along with ~3/4 pound of beef. Had another ~8oz of suet with ~3/4 pound of beef at 1:30. I've also been nibbling all night on some jerky I have drying (I had a couple boneless short ribs which were smelling like they were on the way out past where I currently feel safe eating so I'm prolonging their shelf life by a day or two heating them through at 95*F-they're in the tasty "meat fries" stage now and can't keep out of them ;)).
I also had run out of my daily dose of Claritin D yesterday so gave these up like I gave up my vitamn supplement last week. This would have normally resulted in some sneezing throughout the day as well as a general tiredness but I noticed almost no difference. :)

I did have some mental fog at point throughout the day but it was much better than yesterday. I also had an abundance of energy (still do after my evening exercise as well) which was a nice change. Definitely feels like I may have crested the first big hurdle of acclimation.

I also placed a 50 pound order with Slankers (they're out of beef fat & suet though so I settled for some Lamb fat -\) which will ship out on Monday. I'll stop at the local farmer's market on Saturday and check out a local grass-fed farmer's wares. Maybe their stuff will be even better and cheaper than Slankers. :)

I've also begun practicing fox walking and went barefoot for 3/4 mile of the 1 1/2 mile loop I walked. It's fun. ;D

 

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