Life with a doctor

[Dr. D]

Back in my years of ill-health pre-RPD diet, the only thing that would make me feel normal was a cup of instant coffee. The trouble was that the effect only lasted c.30 minutes.

I didn't quite reach normal with a cup 2+ years ago. This was back when I believed what "they" told me about eating quick burning carbs like pizza after a workout. Left me absolutely drained the following few days. All the while I thought I was improving. My body has improved in appearance and feel more in the month and a half of 80% raw than on the 6 months of the most grueling exercise I've done in my life, lifting and running almost daily.

"You can't brute force biology." I can't remember if that's a Taubes or Ferris quote, or my own rendition on some of their ideas. It's been an important principal in my health over the last few years.

[Dr. D]

I'm trying to go barefoot more and more. I've been interested in it for a little while now. Alongside cooking, no other animal wears shoes. Are humans just designed poorly to need foot protection? No, I think not. I'd like to start to be able to sprint anywhere barefoot. I love sprint-interval running. Never enjoyed long distance. Just seems like torture to me. So far I can walk on some really jagged rocks in front of my house. I try to walk over them a few times a day, really digging in my feet to build the skin strength.

[Barefoot Instincto]

I've also started to get back into barefoot training. I've been walking on decently rocky trails, and yesterday went for a 2 km, slow easy run on the rocks. Went very well, except I pushed a bit too hard and hurt a part of my foot.

It feels great today though after only one night, so I don't think it'll be a problem. From what I understand, your feet generally adapt to even this occasional abuse and get stronger. I'm going to keep at it, but this time its actually more so because I want my feet and body to be connecting with the earth more, rather than just making my feet bad ass. Been laying on the grass a lot in the sun too. Bugs be damned, I wanna be touching that ground half naked.

[Dr. D]

I know the feeling. It's nice to connect with the ground. Feels very natural. Plus of course the bad-ass feeling of showing your friends that you can walk across sharp rocks with no stumbling. I have told my brother that I want to start going barefoot and he just gave me a look "why?" Obvious benefits are improved ankle strength, reduced risk of injury, and any detox through feet is allowed as well as the intake of any potential nutrients, such as magnesium.

Concerning magnesium, I'm about to the point I was in my previous ZC attempt, 2 days completely "ZC" and 3 days before that only 5 g of carbs each day from one small apricot each day. However this time I've been walking outside in the dirt and mud and gross-ness (yay) barefoot and possibly I'm taking in a bit more Mg, since my joints don't feel sore like they did last time I was at this point, and I'm eating the same thing. Barefoot a contributor? I don't know, tough to say. But I'll continue with this lifestyle so far because it's starting to work.

Maybe after years of barefooting, I may decide to pick up "coal-walking" hehe 

[Dr. D]

Quick update on my current ventures and how I'm faring.

I am not 100% feeling great all the time yet. It's summer and I enjoy being social. The pressures cause me to have a few beers (never more than 3) a few times a week. Oh well, I'm still off Adderall so that's good enough for me. If I feel like I get tired/worn down from the beer enough that I need to have Adderall again, I'll take a break, learn from my mistake, cut down/out the booze and carry on.

Diet wise: I am not ZC (obviously), but enjoyed the last ZC attempt so much I will definitely re-approach it in late fall/winter and probably succeed for the whole time. I consume about 0-5 fruit items daily averaging 50g or less in carbs.

Exercise: I have started lifting, doing a sort of quasi-eccentric training. I don't have many weights so I'm sort of mixing HIT with eccentric: doing 4-5 reps VERY slowly, then holding at about 3/4 of the way to the full positive side and letting the weight go down as my muscles fail. So my bench press will be 5 slow reps, then very near the top I hold until it drops to my chest. I only have about 90 lbs in weights so its not hard to just sit up with it on my chest. My mindset is more towards that of "bulking" as I'm not in full-ketosis, I assume the carbs and extra protein will lend more towards muscle mass naturally. Then I'll "cut" over winter-time.

Supplements: I am only taking iodine now. I am at 5 drops twice daily of Lugol's 5% (62.5 md/day). No detox symptoms other than one time at 18 mg when my arms itched slightly for 20 min. Not bad. I notice a more clear head and increased energy and motivation. I think this may be the thing helping me stay off Adderall the best. I have a metal filling in my mouth and assume the toxicity comes from that. I may have it removed as I'd rather not continue exposing my body to it for life, but right now it's not in the recent future. Maybe sometime within a year. I know about the alternate supplements that go along with iodine and am nervous about them. The last time I took magnesium and potassium I was out for the day. Either it was the pills themselves or the dosing was way too high for my needs. Being mostly carnivorous I doubt I need 2000 mg of vit c daily and wonder if it would be detrimental. Not sure yet. Selenium seems beneficial but I don't know enough about how the iodine effects it to say for sure.

[Wai Kai Zen]

Hey Dr D

Why are u making diet so complicated mate
U never need supplements ever!
If u do than u do something wrong..
Thats just my opinion man.

Diet is NOT complicated

[Dr. D]

Hey Dr D

Why are u making diet so complicated mate
U never need supplements ever!
If u do than u do something wrong..
Thats just my opinion man.

Diet is NOT complicated

Ideally I'd like to never take supplements. But I'm quite sure as long as I have this metal filling I'll have to. Paleo man didn't have metal in his mouth. Metal is toxic. It makes me sick. Iodine fixes that by detoxing the metal.

I agree diet isn't complicated and ideally I should eat only food and be healthy as a wild lamb. However, because of the damages done to my body, I'm a realist and for now, the iodine is helping a lot. I imagine getting the metal filling out would help me re-approach the iodine protocol.

[Wai Kai Zen]

Sorry man I didnt know that.
Sometimes I forget other people are not in the same situation as I am.
 

[Dr. D]

It's no problem. No need to apologize. How long have you been raw paleo? I think some of it changes with time and experience. DaBoss now uses supplements and seems to be healing very well.

[Wai Kai Zen]

Ive been raw paleo for 1,5 years now. But to be honest ive hardly eaten any meat. It just doesnt digest well for me. Ive tried multiple times, but it even lowers libido. I use only fruits and egg yolks. I have experimented alot in the past year with fats and salt etc etc, but everything but fruits and egg yolk just messes me up.

I think its great that DaBoss is healing very well.. I mean thats what I want for everyone. And like I stated earlier.. Im not in his your shoes or anyone else so I cant Judge .
Its just that I go by my own experiences and changes Ive noticed.. I think Im just sensitive and I perceive that as something good rather than weak.

[LePatron7]

DaBoss now uses supplements and seems to be healing very well.

Thanks. I did try the just diet approach and ran into many problems. Everyone is unique and needs different things.

[jesterhead]

Supplements: I am only taking iodine now. I am at 5 drops twice daily of Lugol's 5% (62.5 md/day). No detox symptoms other than one time at 18 mg when my arms itched slightly for 20 min. Not bad. I notice a more clear head and increased energy and motivation.

I've just started taking potassium iodide drops two days ago and I've noticed a ton more energy. My legs usually get exhausted at work when I walk up flights of stairs. I have to stop and catch my breath. Today I walked up five flights straight and didn't have to stop once, and no fatigue in my legs. I also usually feel a big dip in energy levels from about 2-4pm. Those have been getting better too. All from a $5 bottle of iodide. Most likely I made myself highly deficient when I stopped using table salt years ago.

[Dr. D]

Kaizen: I find your take on digesting raw meats rare but 1.5 years is a long time and would defintely figure that you know what you can handle. For me, the last 1.5 year's was spent with 60-70% plant matter and didn't help. So I'm taking the minimalist approach and sticking between 0-50g of carbs for mental health. It seems to be working because I haven't needed adderall and that was a big part of my goal. also, I agree that being sensitive is good because it lead me to where I am health wise, instead of treating symptoms only.

daboss:you're very welcome.

Jesterhead: definitely the same experience. I'm not sure if its because of a deficient diet over the years or toxicity from metals, or even adrenal fatigue from grains and grain fed meat my whole life, but the iodine is great. I really only noticed a huge boost when I got above 12 mg. I'd like to be taking 100 mg or so for 3 months before dropping down to a maintenance level. If you end up mega dosing and taking other supplements in the iodine protocol let me know.

[LePatron7]

Hey I thought I'd mention this since I noticed you said you're just taking the iodine. I recently cut back tremendously (literally one drop or less of the 2% daily) because I added in selenium and started detoxing really bad. I had diarrhea for a few days, got a horrible rash and got really cloudy headed. Selenium helps detox mercury and I think the combination of the iodine and selenium was really doing to much. I'm going to give the iodine a break while my body gets used to the selenium. I'm mentioning this so you know how much the "co-factors" help in the iodine protocol.

[Dr. D]

That is EXACTLY the kind of info I was going to search for. I may hold off on magnesium still but selenium was definitely one I was considering. I have eaten raw Brazil nuts before for selenium and enjoyed them so maybe I'll do it that way.

Thanks again! I'll order some asap and let the forum know my result. I do feel like the iodine is helping but also like its reaching its limit.

[LePatron7]

Just take it easy and make sure you watch for detox symptoms.

[Dr. D]

Quick update:

It's now been 2 months off Adderall and feeling more clear headed than when I was "feeling my best" on it. I'm still taking only iodine, and have gone to 12-16 mg per day instead of the higher dose. I felt like it was dehydrating me and I was just peeing it out. I still plan to get the supplements but I haven't had time.

I'm going back to ZC, I felt better than when I had carbs in so I'm going to try it again for now. It's day 5 of no carbs and I'm not sure where I lie, as I was already very low carb. I'm going to use my dad's breathalyzer here when/if I start to taste metallic in my mouth like I did before. Maybe I should give it a shot now to see when the breathalyzer starts going crazy.

I'm pretty excited about this: I found a place for consistent biweekly orders of grass-fed beef (sadly frozen) that is labeled under pet-food, but all from healthy grass-fed human consumption rated animals, for $1.75/pound. Before I was paying $6/# for my ground beef/muscle meat. I haven't tasted it yet so I hope its okay tasting, but that's going to save me a lot of money on my food. Fat will still be purchased at $3/# bringing my cost of food per day (being ZC again) to $3, as a base(1# of lean meat and .5# of fat, give or take as instinct drives and activity level, which is 65% of calories from fat). It doesn't include any seafood I infrequently purchase, but at less than $100 a month for my staple food, it's easy to say the sky is the limit on variety meats.

[Dr. D]

I blew a .02 at 1 PM today. No breakfast. I wonder how eating will change it. I'll blow again after eating my fatty meal tonight.

[Dr. D]

I just blew a .08 on the breathalyzer. No officer I haven't drank anything since it is 9 AM. I just ate a little bit of food too so I'll see if it changes in an hour. About 2 oz of fat and 4 oz of ground beef. Small meal.

[Haai]

I have eaten raw Brazil nuts before for selenium and enjoyed them so maybe I'll do it that way.

I would reconsider eating brazil nuts, at least I wouldn't do it frequently. Their omega 6 to 3 ratio is 377.9 to 1. The PUFA content is 38.3% of the total fatty acid content.

[Dr. D]

I was considering it for only one nut daily. Hardly enough to throw off my fat ratios. But enough to give me selenium.

[Haai]

Ah ok. How much selenium you aiming for each day? I apologize if you already mentioned it elsewhere.

[van]

hard fresh coconut has selenium,  no problems here eating quite a bit, or at least the 'juice' from the meat.

[Haai]

Liver and kidney are good animal food sources of Se.

[Dr. D]

No I haven't mentioned it, thanks for asking.

The iodine protocol recommends 200-400 mcg/day of selenium. Being zero carb I'll shoot for half that and go from there based on experimentation, so about 100 mcg per day. One brazil nut contains ~90 mcg of selenium, pretty close in my book. One oz. of liver: 11 mcg. To get the higher numbers I would end up with vitaminosis A.


one cup of coconut meat would still only provide 8.1 mcg of selenium, following me up with 5g of sugar, an unrealistic way to reach those higher selenium numbers (that may not be necessary, but this is in the spirit of experimentation).

The only thing with brazil nuts is that in a 5g kernel, 1g of that is omega 6 fatty acids. Eating my 1/2 pound of beef fat daily is still only 5g of omega 6, and 2g of omega 3's.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/3478/2

That throws off the balance a bit, but not too bad. Those things really are high in omega 6s though.

I can up my salmon intake since 3 oz contains 1.2 g of omega 3's and only 175 mg of omega 6's, a perfect way to make up for the extra omega 6 from the nut. Salmon has 30 mcg of selenium also, so I may be careful with that and only end up eating only a half a brazil nut a day.

Maybe it won't be a big deal as beef meat has selenium also. Like I said, experimentation.

Thanks for the input everyone, it gets me to learn more and solidify the "program"