Personal Log - Digestion, energy, vitality

GreekDemiGod

Major realisation: I realised that Taurine, that I was religiously taking since Peating, is having negative side effects for me.

It makes me more depressed, anhedonic, lowers my libido, causes my dick to not function.
I suspect too much GABA activation.

Is a pity because I thought it has no side defects and it’s one of the most beneficial compounds to take.
I’m going to stop using it.

Last week, I took like 5/6 grams/ day.

ThinPicking

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

Last week, I took like 5/6 grams/ day.

Less is more.

https://lowtoxinforum.com/threads/what-brand-of-taurine-is-the-best.44704/post-758680 - Currently I use size 1 caps after the great gelatin shortage during the rona times. One at a time and allowing it to pass, or one only. Depends what's going on in the day for me.

Definitively take a break from that amount. Just don't be disheartened to try again if you had a benefit from it in the beginning.

GreekDemiGod

I feel better after getting off Taurine. More clear-headed, no longer have that “drunk”, high GABA feeling.

Curcumin used in my meals seems to have a big anti-inflammatory effect in my gut. I’ve read on ChatGPT how it helps heal the gut lining.
Current approach right now is to eat an anti-inflammatory diet that helps my gut heal and regenerate. That is for me: no gluten and no commercial dairy products, and low fodmap.
Will also be looking into taking Zinc and Magnesium.

I no longer believe total avoidance is the way. Carnivore, zero starch peating are not the way to heal the gut. The goal should be to slowly rebuild the microbiome and heal the gut lining.
Healing the gut lining, fixing the leaky gut will ensure endotoxin no longer exerts its harmful effects.

I also believe that refined sugar, and sugary drinks are harmful in a state of dysbiosis and leaky gut. I’m talking about Coca Cola.

calvinklein21101

When you load up on gaba and it can actually convert into glutamate and cause excitotoxicty which is probably the reason why you felt had those symptoms when gaba is working it doesn't cause those symptoms. Also taurine is high in sulfur and this excess sulfite cause glutamate issues too.

"High taurine may affect body temperature. High taurine, along with high levels of alanine and serine, have been implicated in lowering body temperature. The mechanism by which this temperature lowering effect occurs is not well defined. Theories put forth include the inhibitory impact of high taurine on the hypothalamus, on inhibitory properties that may play a positive role in seizure regulation, or because high taurine may inhibit GABA transport. It is also possible that hydrogen sulfide, which is generated from high taurine, is the pathway by which it lowers body temperature. High levels of taurine can put pressure on the remainder of the transulfuration pathway, creating a need for Molybdenum and B12 in order to process toxic sulfur groups. "

From Dr Amy Yasko https://feelgoodbiochem.com/chapter-5/

GreekDemiGod

Rant: Ever since I got into peating (2019) I've been somehow memed into lowering my protein intake, after reading on the old forum how too much protein is thyroid supressive, too much cysteine, tryptophan.

Before 2019:
So before Peating, I was lifting weights with the purpose of putting on serious muscle. I was averaging about 160-170g of protein per day. And I was putting on muscle just fine, progressing with my workouts.

2019: Started experimenting with Keto, then Carnivore. Lost a lot of weight/ muscle. Learned that my body needs carbs to bulk.

2019 autumn: Started peating. It's been 5 years. I averaged probably 120g of protein. That's not a small amount by any means, but still significantly lower than I was averaging before.
The result: I stalled with my workouts and didn't progress in the gym for years.
I know some of you will tell me that you can gain maximal muscle on just 100g of protein, but for me, it doesn't seem to be the case. My recovery is much better on higher protein. And high carbs evidently.
But I recover much better on 3300 calories and 170g protein than 3300 calories and 120g of protein, for example.

Morale: I'm going back to a higher protein intake to maximize muscle gains.
Carb: protein ratio will still remain higher than 2:1.

@GreekDemiGod I agree the peatarian idea of protein intake is too low . I have a suspicion the lowered phosphorus intake on peatarian style is not ideal either, I posted a thread about it. im averaging about 180g protein, 50-80g fat, and 350-400g carbs now. I don't really measure everyday because chronometer isn't accurate and it is annoying to keep track of. some days I have like half a bottle of honey so my carbs can go way higher.

Androsclerozat

@GreekDemiGod but then you ask yourself, why did I start experimenting with other diets? I'm pretty sure something didn't work out.

Androsclerozat

@sneedful I've been low protein, around 40g for months and 3 days ago I ate around 100g of protein from muscle meat. With each day I started feeling more horrible, tired and anhedonic. Depersonalization and derealization appeared from nowhere. Then I realized that too much protein or too much methylation from B12 and methionine caused this.
Last day I became depressed and had severe sadness which lasted all day that I never experienced with lower protein. 100g protein is not much but I believe that my body got adapted to lower protein and 100g was a shock.

@Androsclerozat are you skinny and lacking muscles?

Androsclerozat

@sneedful I am skinny but I don't know what you mean by muscles. I can lift my weight on bench press and I have endurance to work in a factory and not arrive home exhausted.
Based on what media says, I don't have muscles. When i was getting more protein, I was more buff, but I was getting easily tired.

yerrag

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

Rant: Ever since I got into peating (2019) I've been somehow memed into lowering my protein intake, after reading on the old forum how too much protein is thyroid supressive, too much cysteine, tryptophan.

Before 2019:
So before Peating, I was lifting weights with the purpose of putting on serious muscle. I was averaging about 160-170g of protein per day. And I was putting on muscle just fine, progressing with my workouts.

2019: Started experimenting with Keto, then Carnivore. Lost a lot of weight/ muscle. Learned that my body needs carbs to bulk.

2019 autumn: Started peating. It's been 5 years. I averaged probably 120g of protein. That's not a small amount by any means, but still significantly lower than I was averaging before.
The result: I stalled with my workouts and didn't progress in the gym for years.
I know some of you will tell me that you can gain maximal muscle on just 100g of protein, but for me, it doesn't seem to be the case. My recovery is much better on higher protein. And high carbs evidently.
But I recover much better on 3300 calories and 170g protein than 3300 calories and 120g of protein, for example.

Morale: I'm going back to a higher protein intake to maximize muscle gains.
Carb: protein ratio will still remain higher than 2:1.

I can't say I follow blogs of anyone detailing their journey to health. I admit the only blog of such kind I made in the old RPF was an epic disaster. Mainly it's a waste of both my time and of the one reading. There may be a member of two who aced writing a blog to restoring his or her health, and exceptions don't make the rule.He/she may protest at this, but I look at the mean more than I look at standout deviations, no matter how I admire people who have the will to power.

So now I just work and experiment on myself in the shadows. I rather spend the time still reading and searching (with a good search engine) with a good search engine (all free ones are just bad) all and nothing but, written by Ray Peat. It's my primary source, and I say primary because Ray cannot cover everything in his lifetime. He was still discovering old as well as newly discovered truths, buried under the mountain of mostly false and contrived science- when he died. I may be accused of being Peat -centric, and I admit as much - but this is for food reason. I am overwhelmed by this mountain of mostly garbage research we find on the net. Even more so when I know books have been burnt, both offline and online, and what I can find from search engines often have the slimy stuff come out at the top of my search. I rely on his research, as he has already removed the fool's gold for me, and laid out the research and connected the initial dots for me.

Each newsletter is hard reading. Finding the time to read them is hard. And more often than not, he wastes no time in explaining concepts that I am not at all familiar with. Which always means I have to go into my own sidebar to get the full context of his message. It was easier to do when he was alive, as he was reachable by email.

I have more time on my hands, and I read a new newsletter many times over, as I try to wring all of the juice from it like I would a piece of melon. Reading as much as I possibly could, I am not fazed my the impossibility that lies before me. I realize Iwould likely expire before I reach that goal. And I am by no means constrained by poor health, though I never know. I have a good search engine, and with that, I am my own AI. With my intellect, I don't need AI to either complement or supplant it. If at all, AI is a distraction for me.

OP, I admire your effort, but if may opine, I would like to suggest a different approach. Reading Ray and picking his brain from reading his writings is a lot better than picking the brains of our collective here, most of whom are just as likely to give his own opinion than facts, and most are just as unversed in his writings and ideas. I'm sorry if I assume as much, but it may help all of us if we really make a serious effort to read his newsletters and books with the aim to understand and internalize them. In addition to using some good resources from members here.

I personally prefer to hear from members who have read well enough about bioenergetics from Peat, and are finding success in healing themselves. Not by a chance magic bullet, but by steering themselves towards a cure. Like calling a shot when playing pool or golf. Because in finding an answer or a solution, what matters most is in how you arrived, than reaching there. As the how can be learned from, while reaching there only benefits the one earning the plaudit.

Androsclerozat

@yerrag well said and I agree.
What paid search engine are you using and are the results more accurate than Google?

yerrag

@Androsclerozat

I use an app called Docsearch+ from the Google Play Store. I get all the text-based PDF files of works of Ray Peat, which so far only includes newsletters and books. I put them together in one folder in my phone, and tell the app to search from that file folder.

GreekDemiGod

@Androsclerozat Because of poor digestion. But as long as I eat enough carbs with the protein, I'm fine with the higher protein daily amount.

GreekDemiGod

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

OP, I admire your effort, but if may opine, I would like to suggest a different approach. Reading Ray and picking his brain from reading his writings is a lot better than picking the brains of our collective here, most of whom are just as likely to give his own opinion than facts, and most are just as unversed in his writings and ideas. I'm sorry if I assume as much, but it may help all of us if we really make a serious effort to read his newsletters and books with the aim to understand and internalize them. In addition to using some good resources from members here.

Thanks for the answer. That's a good point.
Where would you suggest to start? I barely even read his articles. I mostly read the forum, and listened to GE streams or other interviews or radio shows with Ray.

@GreekDemiGod do the normie microbiome stuff to raise bifido and lactobacilli maybe

Androsclerozat

@GreekDemiGod
If I would be in your place I would live as naturally as possible

Don't drink tap water
Wear clothes till you feel all warm
Go in nature

If trying this works, then your environment is not optimal.

Androsclerozat

@GreekDemiGod I say environment because I moved to Netherlands for work and I tell you, without any changes in diet, I am constipated all the time. It's very hard to identify what's the cause of it. I don't know if it's salt with ferrocyanide, the tap water that I use for rice (they say it's as one of the best in the world), the physical work or something in the air. All of this, except the salt I used in my country.

Androsclerozat

@yerrag that's good

LucH

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

I've also took a B1, B6, B12 complex for a month. It improved some neurological symptoms that I've had

Good choice for controlling / balancing high level of homocysteine. However …
Excerpt 1:
Under normal circumstances, the body itself can maintain the level of homocysteine at a suitable level. This requires several nutrients, such as folic acid (B9 folate), vitamin B12, vitamin B6, trimethylglycine (TMG 2 x 500 mg), serine and glycine.
https://therapeutesmagazine.com/methionine-et-glycine-nefaste-de-manger-de-viande/

When taking B1 on the long term, B2 (riboflavin) is needed.

There is interaction between B1 B2 B3 B8 B5 and magnesium in Krebs cycle.
With high dose B1 we use / we exhaust riboflavin needed for homeostasis. Riboflavin insufficiency may exert some of its effects by reducing the metabolism of other B vitamins, including folate and vitamin B-6. No need to take it every day.
Excerpt 2
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is the precursor of FAD, the cofactor of methyl tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR enzyme). MTHFR catalyzes the formation of 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate, which acts as a methyl donor for homocysteine remethylation.
Excerpt 3
Homocysteine is a metabolite of methionine, and once formed, it can be metabolized by trans-sulfuration through a vitamin B6-dependent pathway or by remethylated methionine in a folate- and vitamin B12-dependent reaction. Genetic abnormalities or inadequate supply of these vitamin cofactors can increase plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations.
Sources:

B2 Riboflavine and health
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2003 https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/77.6.1352
B2 et homocystéine
Effect of Riboflavin Status on the Homocysteine-lowering Effect of Folate in Relation to the MTHFR (C677T) Genotype
http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/49/2/295