I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
What olive oil is recommended?
Thanks @puddleduck, I found out tonight that he cooks his steaks with some light olive oil (not EVOO). So if I use his drippings anytime I need to add fat (usually this would be to coat a pan) then I should be ok. Oh- about 18 months ago I discovered this new American company selling truly great non-stick pans- Misen- you really don’t need any oil and if you treat them right (basically wait to wash until after they cool- the non-stick remains immaculate. They have other good lines too. If you get the non-stick get the $12 pan separators so the pans sync together and don’t scratch- a good investment. I was recently part of a Kickstarter that was funded for new lines of stuff from them- cool beans (joke- see below).
I’m with you- no pork.
Do you have a favorite bean? I started with Black because this was what was in Grant’s first book. But upon further research I found they had the most VA. This surprised me because he still uses Black. My guide (printed long ago for other reasons) list VA in IU and RE. I don’t know which is better to rely on.
Kidney and Lima beans are 0/0, Great Northern are 2/0, Pinto are 3/0, Navy are 4/0. Then Black are 10/2- see my confusion?
I detest Lima and so use 100% Kidney or 50-50 with another bean except Black. I do have 1 more old bag of black to use up so I may do a 75-25 when I run out of old beans just to use it up before buying more beans.
With some VA slipping in- such as my olive oil experience- I don’t understand why you would pick Black beans over any other type of bean when you compare the numbers. You seem to have more experience with beans by following your Bean lady and I’ve only been at this for 1 week. Maybe you know of another positive attribute to Black beans that I’m missing- although I do consider them a tasty bean! 😉
hello @grace -- I just wanted to chime in on the value of black beans (or any kind of bean, really) -- Even if they are highest of the beans in VA, they are still SOOOO much lower in VA than the bright-colored veggies and fruits, that I think they still have a place in our diets. Also, as you say, they taste great! and all of us who are choosing to detox VA will be doing this for a few years (if not a lifetime) and we have to make adjustments that make life enjoyable. My 2 cents.
Thanks @kathy55wood.
I agree variety is the spice of life. I have been doing well on my mixture of
2# 80/20 beef, 1 white onion
4 cups dry brown rice- rice cooker, made c some oil
4 cups dry beans (50% kidney, 50% pinto)
I also Enjoy the taste- I eat twice a day and look forward to this meal. I had an episode of vomiting yesterday AM (see my profile if interested- I’ve had a spontaneous vomiting issue after starting Keto August 2021. I stopped Keto around March 5 and have only had 2 episodes of vomiting since- this includes yesterday). I say this just to say it may not be the low VA diet that caused this episode.
Yesterday was Day 7 for me and for dinner, post am vomiting (entire meal), I ate just the brown rice and 80/20 c onions- new batch so proportions above were the same minus the beans. I felt ‘overfill’ on a small amount. Although it’s 1pm Day 8 I have not eaten yet so I have nothing to report.
My goal is to go as low on VA as possible- at least in the first month or two. Do you have any pointers?
What is your basic diet? I am sincere in my questions- looking for the best diet.
People have suggested a mixture of activated charcoal, bentonite clay and psyllium husk powder every 12 hours (and 2 hours apart from Rx meds). I have also heard bile salt might be effective but I am unsure how to take these (with meals, etc).
I would appreciate your insights for a newbie!
Thank you for replying to my post. 😊
Ps- oh my goodness Kathy- I just realized you replied to my post on the Carnivore thread and I did not thank you then. I am sorry to have not acknowledged your post- and to have repeated some of the same history here.
So you are two years in- you probably have a LOT of great dos/and dont's to share. I know I am fortunate to be walking on the shoulders of Giants- maybe less fortunate to only have discovered this recently. I feel especially silly with my 'only recentness' because I am a nurse with an interest in nutrition and feel like I should have come across this sooner. But this is much tempered by having the experience of everyone to learn from. I am trying to read as much as I can, take notes, assimilate it all.
So you eat beans and meat- I add brown rice and cook the meat with white onions- do you add anything or just have beans and meat? Do you have any other things like the occasional nut snack, etc?
I developed cognitive issues very soon after my MS diagnosis 8/2003, cognitive issues identified the next year- were so debilitating I changed jobs in 2005. With MS fatigue issues I was fully out of the direct nursing field by 2008. I miss it a lot- nursing is part of your soul, far from just a job. I did work from home in a different health adjacent field until a breakdown in Jan 2019 (much like Grant describes- such slow processing I was unable to complete a job I had been doing since 2008). I have not worked since, relying on savings and a frugal lifestyle.
Your comment on my name was a kind one. Please forgive my oversight.
Many Blessing to you,
Grace
Drugging the microbiome may treat heart disease
A first-of-a-kind drug that interferes with the metabolic activity of gut microbes could one day treat heart disease in humans, according to a mouse study published December 17 in Cell. Dietary supplementation with a compound that is naturally abundant in red wine and olive oil prevented gut microbes from turning unhealthy foods into metabolic byproducts that clog arteries.
The findings suggest that a Mediterranean diet exerts its beneficial health effects by altering the activity of gut microbes. If replicated in humans, the study could lead to a new strategy for treating and possibly preventing heart disease and stroke--the top two causes of death worldwide.
"This study shows for the first time that one can target a gut microbial pathway to inhibit atherosclerosis," says senior study author Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic. "This new approach opens the door to the concept of drugging the microbiome to affect a therapeutic benefit in the host."
Atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries, has been linked to the consumption of high amounts of nutrients such as choline and carnitine, which are abundant in foods such as meat, egg yolks, and high-fat dairy products. Gut microbes convert these nutrients into a compound called trimethylamine (TMA), which in turn is converted by host enzymes into a metabolite called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which accelerates atherosclerosis in animal models and is associated with an increased risk for heart disease in humans.
Until now, efforts to target this pathway for therapeutic benefit have focused on inhibiting the host enzymes that convert TMA into TMAO. However, this approach causes liver damage as well as an unhealthy build-up of TMA. Hazen and his team figured that a more promising approach would be to directly target gut microbes to prevent the formation of TMA in the first place.
Toward this goal, Hazen and first author Zeneng Wang of the Cleveland Clinic screened for inhibitors of microbial TMA production from choline. They identified a compound called 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB), which is naturally abundant in some cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and grape seed oils. In mice that were on a choline-rich diet and genetically predisposed to atherosclerosis, DMB treatment substantially lowered TMAO levels and inhibited the formation of arterial plaques without producing toxic effects.
Additional experiments suggested that DMB exerted its beneficial effects by inhibiting TMA formation. Moreover, DMB did not kill the gut microbes, but it did reduce the proportions of some bacteria associated with high levels of TMA, TMAO, and atherosclerosis. "It was especially nice to see that the drug blocked the pathway without killing the microbe," Hazen says. "There should be less selective pressure for the development of resistance against a non-lethal drug than an antibiotic."
DMB treatment would also differ from cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor because it targets molecular pathways in gut microbes, not in human cells. "If we replicate our findings in upcoming human studies, this could be a whole new approach to the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases," Hazen says. "In the meantime, our findings suggest that it might not be a bad idea to consume a Mediterranean diet to help stave off heart disease and other health problems."
reminds me of another pubmed paper I read on the affect of polyphenols on malondialdehyde. Meat cooked or eaten with coffee or wine reduced the malondialdahyde produced. Smith is concerned that polyphenols slow down detox, but it is my understanding that they are not easily absorbed in our gut (maybe it's different if you have leaky gut?), so I would not think the impact on detox would be too great and the overall net effect would be positive. I think it is really hard when you get hyper-focused on something (like, say, "everything that slows down detox" ie. vitamin c, polyphenols etc.), trying to make everything black or white, a lot gets lost in the translation, so to speak.
Yeah well health isn't all about depleting vitamin A. Supplementing with choline is a good idea while depleting vA though hence why I posted this. Suppressing production of TMAO means less toxicity associated with supplementing choline and more choline being absorbed.
Good bile flow and HCL production is the most important factor for preventing SIBO and dysbiosis but certain plant foods can assist with biosis as illustrated here.
Quote from PJ on October 2, 2023, 6:07 amreminds me of another pubmed paper I read on the affect of polyphenols on malondialdehyde. Meat cooked or eaten with coffee or wine reduced the malondialdahyde produced. Smith is concerned that polyphenols slow down detox, but it is my understanding that they are not easily absorbed in our gut (maybe it's different if you have leaky gut?), so I would not think the impact on detox would be too great and the overall net effect would be positive. I think it is really hard when you get hyper-focused on something (like, say, "everything that slows down detox" ie. vitamin c, polyphenols etc.), trying to make everything black or white, a lot gets lost in the translation, so to speak.
You are so smart, @pattycake! 😁 Nuance is totally needed. I suspect any tendencies towards black-and-white thinking are exacerbated in a state of chronic hypervitaminosis A, and being mindful of that reality is wise.
Interesting how the authors frame choline-rich foods such as meat, egg yolks and high-fat dairy products as unhealthy. Meat is probably the least problematic food of all, and all three don't contain any anti-nutrients or plant toxins.
Do you think it's wise to supplement some olive oil with a choline food source, or if you're also taking sunflower lecithin and phosphatidylcholine, to reduce the production of TMAO? It sounds like that's the case from the study you posted.
I rarely eat olive oil, sometimes I drizzle some over some shitake mushrooms when I have them, which is not that common. Maybe it's time to give olive oil the attention it deserves again.
Also interesting is another generalisation made by the authors of the study: adopting a mediterranean diet is supposed to be the answer to reducing the risk of heart disease. But no mention of targeting the microbiome via antibiotics or herbs that act as such. I know you've recommended FC Cidal. That would certainly be one way of reducing TMAO production in the body, reducing the bacterial load, especially in the small intestine which is ideally the least populated by bacteria. So yeah, I'm not sure that saying a mediterranean diet is generally healthy, think of all the coloured vegetables and dairy products. It's certainly not a diet low in VA.
I love the story of the guy who went back to Greece to die but recovered. However, there is probably something about it being the volcanic, sunny, oceany, Mediterranean (and his ancestral home) that made it such a healthy place for him. However, I do hold out hope that wine is healthy! (hiccup)
Good points. By the sea you have more negative ions, which are good for your health: https://vcmpt.com/are-negative-ions-good-for-you
And in the picturesque Greek villages, the buildings are made of stone. No insulation, no carpets or other insidious materials that block earthly charge from moving freely through the body. Check out Miles Mathis' paper on this, very fascinating: http://mileswmathis.com/build.pdf
I bet my health would improve dramatically if I lived in such a place by the sea.