Gelatin as main protein source + healing chronic autoimmunity
-
Lately Ive been having 60-90 grams of protein daily from pork rinds (gelatine) and collagen powder.
I have an autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis, and switching my main protein sources from meat and cheese to gelatin/collagen has nearly eliminated all symptoms to the point of being able to get off some very heavy medicine that was keeping the disease somewhat at bay.
I have much more energy now, need less sleep, and have so much less pain and stiffness in my joints. Without meds! Brain fog has cleared as well.
I have also mostly cut out starch, which doesnt make a big difference for my joints but it has almost fully cleared up my brain fog. Tongue is also clear again.
I am very grateful for all of this, but since gelatine is an incomplete protein source, I know I have to add in other sources to not become protein deficient.
Eating meat cheese eggs and milk seems to cause my disease to flare again (not immediately but very noticeable nonetheless).
I am 6'5, 90kg and have become quite muscular and athletic through the years. So far on this diet, I have lost a little bit of strength but muscle seems to have grown a little.
I would love some in depth discussion of this.
Mind you, the fact that I have been able to nearly go into full remission from a chronic, debilitating disease is a big Peat W in my book and I will try and document this process when I am fully healed.My diet:
Coffee
2L pineapple juice
250g dates
50g pork rinds
50g honey
200g cherries
30-60g collagen
Dinner of a little starch, cooked vegetables sometimes some beef or a little goat cheese. Too much causes problems. Sometimes I eat bone broth for dinner, with white bread.Supps:
2g aspirin daily
80mg vit K2
Sometimes I supplement zinc,magnesium,calcium
Recently started high dose thiamine (1500mg) -
@payreat
I also used to be chronically constipated, and now have 2-3 full formed poops daily. -
amazing results, congratulations. the fact that you have maintained muscularity while switching to gelatin as your only protein source is great. the loss of strength in the gym is probably more due to eliminating starch more so than anything else, but maintaining or improving muscularity and body comp is a big win, not to mention solving the prior health issues.
i'm not sure what you can do in terms of rounding out your protein intake with complete sources if dairy, meat, and eggs are problematic. peat has spoken favorably of certain foods outside of these 3 varieties having really good quality protein like potatoes but throwing in 2 pounds of potatoes (peat said this is similar to around 1l of milk in terms of protein amount so about 35g) is probably less ideal than your current scheme which seems to be having a small amount of beef for dinner on occasion.
with that said, i think you have the correct idea with how you might use a little bit of beef for dinner, i might recommend experimenting with different cuts to see which ones are more agreeable or less likely to cause issues. i've done remarkably well in the past by using a high quality mince beef while dealing with autoimmune type issues, it's not the worst cut as there is a fair bit of connective tissue in there, but you might be well to experiment with some more gelatinous cuts like lamb shank. you can also make a gelatinous stew using oxtail but i never tried the stuff myself.