@xpat NAC helps as it thins the mucus and makes it less sticky and much more easily expelled or coughed out. As NAC increases the sulfhydryl bonds that make up GSH (or reduced glutathione), and when the GSH/GSSG ratio increases, the mucus becomes thinner and there is less resistance to the mucus being expelled or expectorated.

@RFC32 do you know what type of test alpha gels uses? i ask because when you look at raw test powders for sale theres multiple different types attached to different esters, and then theres test base which is supposed to be just pure test without an ester. I wonder if its better to go with one or the other or if it doesnt matter.

@bowser said in Personal Log - Digestion, energy, vitality:

@GreekDemiGod What does your diet look like? Are your pulse and temp going up? Digestion and motility are highly dependent on thyroid function

I’ve written in my other thread (Thyroid log).
Temps are great now.
Improving thyroid/ temps hasn’t brought me much digestive benefits to be honest.

Walking indeed after meals helps a lot, but I don’t do that regularly.

It’s crazy.

After one slice of commercial bread I already feel the effects of the soy flour and protein they put in it. It’s insane to me that I could only find one bread product that wasn’t contaminated with soy or seeds and even then that product was fortified with iron.

I know a place that I think does safe bread but it never ceases to amaze me just how horribly bad the food supply is.

@GreekDemiGod Wow so you’re doing about 3 grains?

The next chapter of my story...

As I've alluded in previous posts, while the probiotic solution worked great, it is hard to see it as a long-term strategy. Using it as a one-time medicine for treating gut disorders seems ideal, but given that it's not long-lasted in the gut, it seems improper to use a very particular bacterial strain for a whole lifetime. Mike Fave and Jay Feldman do emphasis this point, and I trust these bioenergetic fellas.
The original gut problems were solved -- so I had to devise a way to stop depending on it for mood boosting.

The tannin question (TQ)

I've mostly forgot about the TQ -- either because I've internalized the avoidance of tannin-rich food (heavy red wine, IPA beers, black coffee, tinctures) or because it got better (it may be correlated to the RQ, or both. I still don't like tannin-rich food.

Probably correlated with GERD.

The reflux question (RQ)

The RQ has also become secondary to me, as it's mainly solved. I get some when I'm stressed out (happens rarely-- I'm a chill dude) or when I drink a lot but otherwise it's rarely consciously bothering me. I believe I still get a small amount of reflux in the morning, that I'm used to, and to me it is clearly linked to the overall kidney health debated later in this post.

According to Masterjohn, GERD can be linked to histamine intolerance. I've tested this theory and took some histamine clearance drug, but I haven't noticed a major change. In the end it may be related to methylation problems, ultimately related to some B vitamins, or copper or selenium deficiencies, which explains why peating may have greatly improved the issue.

Peating mostly solve GERD for me.

The mood question (MQ) : a lindy solution

The solution for mood boosting is a lindy, tested and frankly benign thing : taking caffeine. The studies on this topic are plentiful. Drinking cappuccinos, Coca-Cola and Red Bull have been efficient ways to uplift the mood at any time in the day. It's radically effective. I still limit myself to 2 per day as to not desensitize my body to the effect of caffeine.

The 'basal rate' of mood is, to me is purely depending on life situation, but it certainly can be cheated away by our metabolism -- but it's hard to make it a long-term solution. Caffeine is an easy fix.

The salt question (SQ) : trials and tribulations

A few months ago I had a violent episode of puking my guts out after a night of too heavy drinking -- for a whole day I couldn't eat or even drink anything and vomited every 3 hours. The next day the reflux were back and I definitely felt in a state of unbalanced hydration. I was suddenly very salt-focused and I found back my pre-Peat eating patterns -- almost exclusively salty food, lots of cheese (I am also french) and a disdain for fruits and sugary stuff. I also felt particularly "ancient": I had some trouble speaking, a slight dyslexia and some eye glare problems, which are all things I used to have more or less frequently before peating (BP).
I felt bloated and uneasy. I guess my mood was great though during this period though.

This last episode confirmed to me that the electrolyte question, the kidney question -- in one word the salt question-- the SQ -- is of upmost importance to me. I happen to have a slightly damaged kidney on one side (birth defect).
I've previously been reporting on the link between hormonal and kidney health, so it's no wonder a kidney imbalance can trigger all kind of problems. This is my main working theory.

While the reflux issue essentially normalized (I almost don't feel it), I still feel very heavily salt-focused and have been getting lower back pain in the morning, most likely due to kidney pain. In fact my appetite is so diminished that it's problematic -- I have no motivation to eat other than stopping stomach cramps. To be fair I have never had a strong appetite since my late teen and it has caused problems. While the starchier fruits (banana, apricot, sometimes apple) and berry fruits are okay (mulberry), I can't stand the other ones. Starches are a safe bet for me -- but I frankly don't eat anything yearningly, except maybe heavily salted food. I have been diagnosed with low potassium last year and should definitely get blood work done for kidneys and electrolytes -- I have been K-maxxing since then.

Funnily enough, drinking a few glasses/pints of alcohol seems to appease my kidney, and doesn't trigger reflux in the next morning (up until a certain amount). I definitely think alcohol is lindy and in fact protective in smaller doses (virtually all of the studies on alcohol says so, even the ones pretending to disprove its benevolent effects).

A key component of kidney health is a balanced K:Na ratio -- usually advised to be 2:1 to 3:1. Eating fruits and vegetables and sometimes drinking coconut water (careful though, as it is very K-rich) is a sure way of improving the ratio, as is supplementing in potassium citrate.

Apple cider vinegar in water and other citrate based-compounds are well tolerated by people with hurt kidneys, and probably helps (per Dr. Berg on YouTube). I have not noticed strong effects but have been very irregular in my use of ACV, so it's not really relevant.

I write these mainly for myself but I'm honored if you've made it thus far, thank you!

@Androsclerozat I just lost a lot of weight really quick and it fealt cleansing. I haven't done it again though because its was very stressful. Im sure I'll do it eventually though

Mike Fave (Brother of the Fraternal bioenergeos) did a well researched interview where he basically roasted it, yet went in with an open mind in his research.

https://rss.com/podcasts/health-and-harmony/1482022/

For what it's worth, when I tried it for hair loss, both topically and internally, I most likely screwed up my liver -- and taking spoonful's of coconut oil would not do the same.

@Snow I’m not opposed, I’ll look into it. My concern with oil or wax based is not that it won’t absorb necessarily (possibly a problem with wax), but more so that it won’t maintain moistness adequately… idk feeling things out here

IIRC Ray listed Zinc Oxide as the safest for protecting against UV. Some companies sell a balm, usually cocoa/shea butter and beeswax mixed with Zinc Oxide.

I actually bought such a balm last summer and used it a few times but in the end didn't see the point because my skin wasn't even burning without it anyway.

@PeaterDinklage

How much protein are you getting? Also, are you eating enough calories? Your diet may be oversimplified. I reduced my diet to milk and orange juice to try and lose weight earlier this year, and I ended up not getting enough calories in general but also robbing myself of key nutrients.

Off that now and feel good, and I eat a wide variety of low pufa foods.

@LucH

Thanks for sharing.

I actually look at the opposing actions of M1 and M2 macrophages with a grain of salt. The use of M1 and M2 macrophages to explain away the harm in using PUFAs by the notion of omega-6 being contributory to the M1 inflammatory response, and omega-3 being conducive to an anti-inflammatory response, thus bringing about a healthy balancing of the immune response- is downright mendacity by medical researchers.

Thanks to Ray Peat we don't buy that medical narrative. I hope tou understand how much I question their once again. using M1 and M2 to explain the benefits of baking soda in treating the inflammatory response involved in arthritis.

Add: Pre-Peat I took omega-3 to balance inflammatory effects of omega-6, which together formed the heart healthy core of the AHA, which was very influential in causing their factotum CSPI to lead a heart-healthy crusade against beef tallow as used then by McDonald's to deepfry French fries.
Back then, Udo Erasmus was very popular with his book "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill." That book led in establishing the mainstream discourse that PUFAd are good because of the anti and pro-inflammatory tandem duality or omega 3 together with omega 6.

@wester130 Not that I know of. I don't remember running across very many studies measuring DHT unfortunately. Although I would predict you could dig up enough studies to get a sense of DHT levels in the US in the past compared to currently.

It can absolutely happen. Our body is capable of healing itself if we give it the right tools and the right environment for it. The thing is people have different deficiencies/toxicities (emotional toxicity too) which contribute - so what might work for one person may not work for another, and this is what makes finding solutions difficult. Someone might say mineral x or vitamin x, or solution x cured my hair loss, and that might be very true for them, but that might not work for others because ultimately everyone is different.

But, from what I have seen, red light therapy is meant to be good for hair regrowth and I believe Analyze and Optimize have posted some interesting studies about this on their Twitter recently. Morning and afternoon sunlight contains a lot of this spectrum too, so make sure you're getting some sun exposure.

@secondkelping sounds good. I probably should have wrote that when I applied the C8:0, I didn’t wipe it off, just left it on.

I have changed routine considerably since I doscovered topical glucose is used in many skincare products and Peat recommended it.

3 grams glucose
1 gram thiamine
1gram niacinamide
120mg caffeine

topical on scalp

@Verdad We'll see in 10 years. I'm young and have pretty good skin. Trying to prevent aging more than anything.