I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
Serious start, attempt nr. 4, November 16 2021
I've been aware of the theory for at least 2 years now. Been trying to go on a low VA diet for many times, just thought i'd start this post to let you now what I'm doing, and what I've changed.
Why go on a diet? I'm male, 34 years old, from Estonia. My health is not "bad". Nothing that a person would bother a doctor with, most people would call it just signs of ageing. BUT, I have started to see the first signs of degeneration. And some of them are serious.
The main thing that bothers is my lack of focus, memory and mental clarity.
Another big thing was how tired I was throughout the day. Very bad fatigue. Those are two of biggest symptoms of degeneration.
Little things I have going on, thinning eyebrows - this I know is a symptom of something-or-other. All of my joints cracking terribly, this has kept me lifting, which I enjoy doing. Teeth are starting to go yellow, and my hairline has been receding for the last 4 years or so. My nose has been clogged up for at least 20 years.
Attempt number 1, My diet consisted of white rice, chicken and beef. I very quickly learned that I hated rice. So to make it palatable I started adding raisins to it. This diet lasted for about a month, I felt good, and my mind was good. Started learning programming during this stretch and was able to focus on it just fine.
Attempt number 2, tried replacing rice with potatoes, the yellow kind, only ones we have here and it's a stable of Estonian cuisine.
Cut out the chicken because I'm a terrible cook and I didn't like the taste of it that much. This attempt didn't last more than a month.
Attempt number 3, Alternating brown and white rice. And cooking them with black beans that I bought in a can. Plus beef.
Didn't last a month. The beans were disgusting and I still couldn't stand the rice.
How did my health get so bad? I haven't drank alcohol for 7 years and didn't drink much before that. Never smoked, never drank coffee, mostly drank water so no sodas. Tried going on a keto diet in the past but wasn't able to do it long term mostly because I'm a terrible and lazy cook. My keto diet consisted of grilled chicken and lean meats of all sort. Don't think it did any harm to me.
Growing up at home we ate normally, although my mom occasionally made liver and I occasionally had cod liver oil. She also loved making carrot salad. I don't think the cuisine in our house was too bad, all things considered.
However, for at least the last 15 years I have had a terrible craving of junk food. My main staple junk food has been potato chips. Went for long stretches where I've had one 200g pack a day. I would usually get home from and pick up about 10eur worth of junk a day. And go home and finish it all. Mainly potato chips and then something to go along with it. Ice cream, pizzas, nuts, store bought salad, store bought croissants and baguettes, bagels etc.
It got so bad that I've would have a hangover the next morning and a stomach ache that lasted the whole day.
By some miracle I never gained too much weight, though I should have been 400lbs. But I did play a lot of basketball and hit them gym pretty often.
Didn't feel like all that junk was doing long term damage but I guess it was accumulating.
Couple of breakthroughs between attempts 3 and 4. I have quit my diets because I was just craving potato chips too much to resist.
But then I read that this was a symptom of salt deficiency. I started salting my food and the cravings have gone away.
I also started using topical magnesium and I feel like my posture and things have improved greatly. So this probably means I was deficient in mg and had all the problems that come with that.
Attempt number 4, I started with rice but switched to pearl barley after two weeks, and after two weeks of that I switched to buckwheat, the food is much more palatable now. I also started eating beans called vicia faba in Latin, not sure what they're English name is. I soak them overnight and eat them raw. I also eat about 250-350 grams of beef a day. And salt my food now.
So that's the diet,
beans, buckwheat, beef. It's palatable and seems sustainable. I think I can eat it long term without hating life, don't crave anything else right now. My sinuses have cleared up and some of the brain fog has lifted. My joints crack a little bit less.
Couple of notes, the beef is expensive, I've tried to make mince beef but it tasted awful.
My girlfriend has been sabotage my diet and get me to eat what she's making. And I did promise to eat normally between Christmas and new years. After that we'll both get back on the wagon. She has some medical medium diet she want's to try.
I'll keep you posted and hopefully some of you have read all of it. Merry Christmas.
@diogenes from what you said it sounded like you had more adrenal/thyroid issue not vit A toxicity issue. and if you go on keto/paleo with low carb high fat it will make things much worse in terms of adrenal/thyroid and overall metabolism goes. Also it can worsen deficiencies of B vitamins etc.. But it's very hard to tell when we don't know the details of your story. If you had some stress/trauma mental or physical. If you were trying to eat some weird diets or eat less to drop some weight etc.. It all plays huge role and in your case vit A is not a culprit most likely..
My progress report is also titled: “Serious start” because I had several starts and stops. I think it is a part of the process and sometimes the body prefers a gentle easing in rather than sudden change.
Looking at your junk food menu, it seems like you actually craved fats. Also, as Jiri said - thyroid /adrenals seems to show in many of your symptoms. If you can have a comprehensive thyroid panel, it would stop some of the guess work.
Try to get your girlfriend on board or you will fail. Women can be very persuasive. 😉
Eating raw broad beans…Dry beans have to be soaked and cooked, raw beans - not sure. Maybe there is nothing to it but - not my cup of tea. I eat beans because of its soluble fibre and the ability to clear the bile out of the system (according to Karen Hurd - a nutritionist who saved her daughter from death by pesticide poisoning using beans). And I do like beans and they work for me very well.
As far as being an awful cook…I am a master chief in the kitchen but since my “serious start” not much skills are needed: meat, beans and rice - how hard can that be? My meals are so simple: a small amount of olive oil on the frypan, usually mince beef pinched into small disks onto the pan, covered with some beans and rice on top. I cover it and simmer until the meat is no longer red but remains pink. I sprinkle with a touch of apple cider vinegar and some salt. Done! I have had variations of this for over a year and cannot get tired. I do have some other things like mushrooms, white root vegetables, occasionally some nuts and bone broth.
All the best on your journey.
Quote from Beata on December 24, 2021, 4:41 amMy progress report is also titled: “Serious start” because I had several starts and stops. I think it is a part of the process and sometimes the body prefers a gentle easing in rather than sudden change.
Looking at your junk food menu, it seems like you actually craved fats. Also, as Jiri said - thyroid /adrenals seems to show in many of your symptoms. If you can have a comprehensive thyroid panel, it would stop some of the guess work.
Try to get your girlfriend on board or you will fail. Women can be very persuasive. 😉Eating raw broad beans…Dry beans have to be soaked and cooked, raw beans - not sure. Maybe there is nothing to it but - not my cup of tea. I eat beans because of its soluble fibre and the ability to clear the bile out of the system (according to Karen Hurd - a nutritionist who saved her daughter from death by pesticide poisoning using beans). And I do like beans and they work for me very well.
As far as being an awful cook…I am a master chief in the kitchen but since my “serious start” not much skills are needed: meat, beans and rice - how hard can that be? My meals are so simple: a small amount of olive oil on the frypan, usually mince beef pinched into small disks onto the pan, covered with some beans and rice on top. I cover it and simmer until the meat is no longer red but remains pink. I sprinkle with a touch of apple cider vinegar and some salt. Done! I have had variations of this for over a year and cannot get tired. I do have some other things like mushrooms, white root vegetables, occasionally some nuts and bone broth.
All the best on your journey.
That's an interesting way to cook them together sounds delicious! Do you use raw rice or is that rice already cooked that you're adding to the dish?
Quote from Jiří on December 24, 2021, 2:36 am@diogenes from what you said it sounded like you had more adrenal/thyroid issue not vit A toxicity issue. and if you go on keto/paleo with low carb high fat it will make things much worse in terms of adrenal/thyroid and overall metabolism goes. Also it can worsen deficiencies of B vitamins etc.. But it's very hard to tell when we don't know the details of your story. If you had some stress/trauma mental or physical. If you were trying to eat some weird diets or eat less to drop some weight etc.. It all plays huge role and in your case vit A is not a culprit most likely..
I think you might be right.
In the meanwhile I've read a book on Adreanal Fatigue by James Wilson and a lot of what he said resonated with me.
For instance I have only recently been congratulated by a doctor for my "perfect" blood sugar levels and blood pressure.
I have had a second wind of energy at evening around 23 that has always been a mystery to me. How can I feel so rested and alert at such a late hour while being dead tired the rest of the day.
And I seem to have a craving for high fat junk foods. Especially potato chips which seem to have like 35% fat. There was a 2 year period where I managed to stop eating junk, but I added 250g of brie cheese to my diet a day. Which has VA. But also is high fat.
Recently when I stopped eating chips I started eating a lot of peanuts. Whatever I do I just can't seem to escape fat.
But I can't seem to find the original cause to my troubles. Dr. Wilson seems to think that stress is at the bottom of it all. And I have had my share of stress. But everyone is stressed these days. And compared to most I think my life has been relatively stress free.
I can't think of a solution. Why do I crave fat so much. And how should I heal. I never considered fat as culprit before because I had read a fair share of low carb literature and they seemed to think that fat is just fine.
Do I crave it because it is so essential or for some other reason.
Garrett Smith seems to think that high fat diets are bad for the liver. I haven't been able to find a book that deals specifically with this topic.
Quote from Beata on December 24, 2021, 4:41 amMy progress report is also titled: “Serious start” because I had several starts and stops. I think it is a part of the process and sometimes the body prefers a gentle easing in rather than sudden change.
Looking at your junk food menu, it seems like you actually craved fats. Also, as Jiri said - thyroid /adrenals seems to show in many of your symptoms. If you can have a comprehensive thyroid panel, it would stop some of the guess work.
Try to get your girlfriend on board or you will fail. Women can be very persuasive. 😉Eating raw broad beans…Dry beans have to be soaked and cooked, raw beans - not sure. Maybe there is nothing to it but - not my cup of tea. I eat beans because of its soluble fibre and the ability to clear the bile out of the system (according to Karen Hurd - a nutritionist who saved her daughter from death by pesticide poisoning using beans). And I do like beans and they work for me very well.
As far as being an awful cook…I am a master chief in the kitchen but since my “serious start” not much skills are needed: meat, beans and rice - how hard can that be? My meals are so simple: a small amount of olive oil on the frypan, usually mince beef pinched into small disks onto the pan, covered with some beans and rice on top. I cover it and simmer until the meat is no longer red but remains pink. I sprinkle with a touch of apple cider vinegar and some salt. Done! I have had variations of this for over a year and cannot get tired. I do have some other things like mushrooms, white root vegetables, occasionally some nuts and bone broth.
All the best on your journey.
Your title "serious start" really resonated with me. Although I have fallen off the wagon during the winter holidays now.
My girlfriend really isn't on board with the diet.
I don't eat my beans raw. But I don't cook them either. Just soak them for 24hrs or so. They taste fine.
In your recipe do you not add any water to the pan with the rice? And how long do they usually simmer?
Quote from Jiří on January 22, 2022, 6:29 am@diogenes "I don't eat my beans raw. But I don't cook them either. Just soak them for 24hrs or so. They taste fine."
that is horrible idea... You are getting serious amount of lectins and other anti nutrients..
You're saying that I should cook them after? I think I tried to cook them once in the pressure cooker. They came out hard
