Larger livers and RZC diet

[24isours]

I think our brain needs Iodine to be able to use ketones well so an Iodine deficient person would have issues with a ketotic diet.

Iodine is found in every cell and gland in the human body. It would seem nonsensical to assume Iodine wouldn't play a part in the ketone metabolic process. 

'Your thyroid gland produces two main hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine, that influence every cell in your body. They maintain the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates, help control your body temperature, influence your heart rate and help regulate the production of protein. Your thyroid gland also produces calcitonin, a hormone that helps regulate the amount of calcium in your blood.'

[Projectile Vomit]

Very interesting. Maybe this is why Inuit did as well as they did on a high fat, low carb diet. Lots of sea food, assumedly high in iodine. And why Inger seems to do well, eating modest amounts of sea food and sea vegetables.

[PaleoPhil]

It is indeed, maybe iodine enables one to do better on a mostly ketogenic diet, but the Eskimos were an extreme society that it would be difficult to emulate elsewhere, so even with iodine, it's probably a risky approach.

I've noticed that raw vegans and fruitarians tend to report many of the same symptoms as VLCers / VLC Paleo dieters, such as worsening cold tolerance, and one common tendency is low intake of resistant starch. Wish I had known about RS long ago. I think I would have seen the connection quickly and more quickly realized that there was something seriously wrong with VLC and all diets with low intakes of RS.

I had found that increasing my fat intake temporarily helped to make me feel warmer, but then it declined again. Unfortunately, by increasing my fat intake, I lowered my carb intake even more. It was RS I was missing, not eating fat. It seems that getting fat from one's own bacteria helps warm the body more throughout the day than just eating lots of fat at meals.

[24isours]

It is indeed, maybe iodine enables one to do better on a mostly ketogenic diet, but the Eskimos were an extreme society that it would be difficult to emulate elsewhere, so even with iodine, it's probably a risky approach.

I've noticed that raw vegans and fruitarians tend to report many of the same symptoms as VLCers / VLC Paleo dieters, such as worsening cold tolerance, and one common tendency is low intake of resistant starch. Wish I had known about RS long ago. I think I would have seen the connection quickly and more quickly realized that there was something seriously wrong with VLC and all diets with low intakes of RS.

I had found that increasing my fat intake temporarily helped to make me feel warmer, but then it declined again. Unfortunately, by increasing my fat intake, I lowered my carb intake even more. It was RS I was missing, not eating fat. It seems that getting fat from one's own bacteria helps warm the body more throughout the day than just eating lots of fat at meals.

I'm sure raw vegans and fruitarians are deficient in quite a few minerals and vitamins and not just Iodine. By the way, starch functions just like carbohydrates when it comes to speeding up thyroid hormone production. I'm sure you know where this is headed...

Risky? Well, it hasn't seemed risky so far but if and when I start to notice any sign of my health deteriorating I'll have to make some changes.

[24isours]

That sort of thing did not work for me at all.

Tyler, I'm curious as to how you were measuring your fat and protein intakes when you were ZC. I think you may not have been eating enough fat. You said you've tried the 80% (Calories from Fat) / 20% (Calories from Protein)..

From time to time I've noticed when adding my own raw fat into my diet, I'd measure out say 100g of pure fat. I would count that as an extra 100g of fat to my total intake when really pure fat is only 60-80% fat, the rest being water and connective tissue as Lex mentioned. I've always ran into problems when not taking this into consideration.

[TylerDurden]

Tyler, I'm curious as to how you were measuring your fat and protein intakes when you were ZC. I think you may not have been eating enough fat. You said you've tried the 80% (Calories from Fat) / 20% (Calories from Protein)..

From time to time I've noticed when adding my own raw fat into my diet, I'd measure out say 100g of pure fat. I would count that as an extra 100g of fat to my total intake when really pure fat is only 60-80% fat, the rest being water and connective tissue as Lex mentioned. I've always ran into problems when not taking this into consideration.

I made a real effort to add in lots of raw fat into my diet during my RZC experiments. I  even went to extremes and would eat plates consisting entirely of raw tongue or raw marrow for my meals. I also included quite a lot of  raw seafood during such experiments.

[van]

your body may not have converted over to utilizing as much fat that you had consumed.  I find there is a most definite stop when eating fat alone, especially bone marrow... much more than meat.  Also eating too much fat with meat, in my experience, slows down the digestion of meat to a point where one can feel lethargic.  I often snack on just fat to make sure I get enough and don't overeat it with meat, as it's so yummy that way, or, the stop is not noticeable when combined. 

[24isours]

Were you experiencing any diarrhea and/or nausea, Tyler?

[TylerDurden]

Were you experiencing any diarrhea and/or nausea, Tyler?

No diarrhea, no vomiting.

[Chupo]

If the Inuit do have larger livers I don't think it is because they're born that way. I think it's just the nature of the organ.  You can remove half of someone's liver and it will grow back as long as it is healthy. It could be that an increased need for gluconeogenesis might cause the liver to grow a bit. I can't post links but there is a recent post on Free the Animal with references showing that the Inuit were not in ketoisis. This would increase their need for glucose and GNG. Also, the higher fasting glucose we see in some non-Inuit carnivores suggests that they have no problem with hypoglycemia.