Posts made by mikeyd

Starting a short term of military service in Europe next month. Wondering if anyone has recommendations of how to minimize damage, avoid fatigue, maximize sleep efficiency during this time when supplements won't be accessible besides maybe weekends.

In my experiences with Marijuana the major appeal I encountered was that I could finally feel like I had some peace with my thoughts. While of course it made me "slower" this would still be a more "lucid" state with decreased brain fog. Since the state of the gut is perhaps the most important factor for cognition I wonder if cannabinoids are known to have an effect on the gut itself.

In college the many people I met mostly using the drug seemed to have something off about them--inflammatory conditions I suspect--while drinkers seemed healthier.

Does anyone know anything in the literature that could back up my instinct, or does anyone have similar experiences?

Reposting @haidut's 2019 post which has been one of the most practically insightful for me.
http://haidut.me/?p=557

What I've come to notice after about a year trying to cure my SIBO is that FRUIT with even low fat is perhaps the most debilitating thing for me. I think that most fruit (excl maybe raspberries and pomegranate) have a damaging ratio of soluble fiber to carbohydrate than say boiled potatoes and most well cooked starches.

My amateur recommendation that I know maybe Georgi even would disagree with is to avoid fruit and for carbs to actually consider high quality whole grain, esp high insoluble fiber whole wheat products which have generally decent minerals, b vitamins if you can handle the gluten and avoid pesticides. Most important they are highly accessible and cheap. I say this based on what has enabled me to be more bm regular and enabled me to have glycogen repletion/reduction of chronic fatigue while healing.

@LetTheRedeemed This post was more directed towards the people taking the peating advice too selectively so that their diets comprise highly of saturated fat and sugar, or something highly neurotic like completely avoiding starches, fiber

@RandomUser it's just the picture of the plate

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myplate.gov%2Feat-healthy%2Fwhat-is-myplate&psig=AOvVaw0dihXLb2SAniqMk0JX5Z3c&ust=1724752558595000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCODsj46ykogDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Hi all,

It is no secret that I have been trying to cure my SIBO. This has been for over a year now, but is a condition I have probably had for close to 10, or half my life. One of the biggest takeaways I've had from Ray Peat and Georgi Dinky was that Insoluble fiber bad Soluble fiber good. What I've come to learn is that this type of reductive mindset is unproductive.

To the best of my understanding are some facts:
-Soluble fiber stimulates serotonin
-serotonin stimulates bowel movements
-the MMC cleans the gut
-SIBO will eat soluble fiber but also other things
-fat slows digestion
-carrot salad actually has a lot of soluble fiber

here are some facts I thought were true:
-insoluble fiber speeds transit
-insoluble fiber cleans the gut

So I decided to trial a WHEAT GERM incorporating diet. This is probably the "food" that is the closest you can get to pure insoluble fiber. I think it's like 50% by mass, so in a small bowl I was getting about 12 g insoluble fiber. I also decided to go low on fat to see if I might achieve even faster digestion. Without getting into the nitty gritty of the diet I basically couldn't take a s**t for 2, almost 3 days until I took cascara sagrada which purged my bowels, including undigested food. I was eating about 100 g of wheat germ a day for 3 days but my bowl was NOT moving. I was not bloated but I felt TERRIBLE, absolutely zero energy as if my food was not being digested.

I now believe soluble fiber is necessary. If I combine medium soluble fiber (along with med-high insoluble) with high fat I will not feel amazing, but certainly I will feel more regular with a more working MMC than if I prioritize insoluble in ways that are not LINDY. It is true what they say about wheat germ/cellulose that it is basically sawdust.

Most plant foods already have a good ratio of insoluble to soluble fiber. The few that dont like oatmeal I avoid. I am going to continue avoiding snacks, eating high carbs, medium protein, medium to low fat, medium to high fiber as I think this is the best thing for my MMC which is probably the only way to long term fix sibo.

@Atman The rumbling I am referring to is the MMC - Migrating motor complex which I have posted about. I think it's very important for limiting endotoxin, triglycerides, BM frequency, overall optimization.

I am mostly speaking from anecdotal evidence but I am very confident. It's very reasonable logic I think that the more optimized a fuel is the better your engine will be running. Think about a Komodo dragon or anaconda that basically goes into hibernation when it swallows a large animal whole.

As far as "psychology" I think peating has taught me physiology affects psychology more than the other way around. If you depend on "psychology" to power through something displeasing it's probably something that is fueled by adrenaline. Not negating the negatives of stress but your stress tolerance is probably based on physiology.

@oliveoil Yes, same for me steaks and collagenous cuts especially are hardest to chew. I actually like gummy bears to shift my teeth if I feel they are crowding too much, although I will not pretend like they are an optimal food.

I think chewing is overrated for jaw width though and it is rather impaired quality of swallowing, and impaired posture (basically of the entire body) from poor digestion that will have the most adverse effects on the jaw, breathing. I have met a lot of people with fantastic jaws that eat mostly processed foods (although I also include ground beef as "processed"), but they do have good digestion.

Do you have any idea how much of a toll digestion takes on your body?

You take betaine, ox bile, apple cider vinegar, baking soda for hope of better stomach acid. You toil over how seed oils slow your metabolism. You worry about starches. Blah Blah blah. The list goes on. You are a neurotic f*g!

But you don't know the meaning of cherishing your food. Eating every meal like it could be your last. Someone's lord said give us but our daily bread!!! That you are fed should mean that all is still well.

So how dare you, you lazy bastard, swallow something your taste buds haven't finished enjoying, something your liver will waste away while trying to help digest! Surely you know about Amylase--use it! Do you even understand how finely you can chew up a steak, that even this very act of chewing meat is antibacterial for your mouth?

You will come to find, that when you CHEW your food as it should be, EVERY organ will thank you. You should NOT expect the hydrochloric acid to do the work of Carb and Protein digestion! Imagine how much it easier it will be for your body not to bloat, for bile production not to have to go overdrive! You will notice your small intestine rumble more. You become hungry faster after a meal.

This is important!!

Antibiotics, Insoluble fiber, Charcoal are a DISTRACTION. Your body through the MMC has the power to detoxify the small intestine ON ITS OWN. When your "stomach" is gurgling in between meals this is your small intestine doing its most comprehensive job pushing food, bacteria, etc, down to your colon.

Many of us DO NOT have a GOOD MMC. Most "motility" tricks do not encourage the MMC! Coffee, I strongly believe only activates the large intestine, mostly even just rectum. Many herbs are said to only activate the first stomach emptying portion of MMC. Fiber, by adding bulk, I fear enables the MMC to get away with doing a lazier job. Cascara, Magnesium high amounts, I fear have a crude dumping effect which evacuates your intestines without working in the electrical manner of MMC.

Fasting, despite controversy is perhaps the simplest way to encourage MMC and thus small intestine cleaning. I am not saying fasting for days at a time, rather something like waiting 50% longer between meals, or a 12 hour period, mostly during sleep. With this logic snacking is a very anti-mmc practice.

I AM ASKING HELP, what MMC/Prokinetic solutions have you experienced? Ginger/Artichoke blends are currently a gold standard OTC option although reviews are often mixed. It seems almost random which company's G/A mix people respond to. I believe medication Prucalapride is one of few RX MMC activators but I have heard few reviews.

I also fear no matter how good a supplement may be, if intestines are overloaded by (esp.) a high fat or meat diet, or just too much food in general, it will not be able to activate much. Since so many people trying to fix SIBO/IMO are doing these extreme diets, I think they ruin their chances of reacting positively to many pro kinetics--thus obscuring the reviews for which sups should actually work.

Looking to figure a couple of things out.

Does anyone with a left varicocele also have a history of digestive symptoms? Does anyone not?

What about NAFLD?

Bumping all the people talking about minerals. Helps tremendously to only consume carbs when they are part of whole foods.
Fat also bad like you said.

NOT advice how to cure, every case is way too different. This will hopefully send you starting in the right direction.

Here are some things I've learned:

1. Sibo can be characterized by too many bowel of movements or too few (constipation). Constipation Sibo probably involves Methane producing Archaea. This is actually called IMO Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth.
2. You probably want to avoid liquid calories. This risks feeding bacteria while not have a sweeping effect on the intestines. Milk and Ice Cream are terrible (if you have this condition).
3. Avoid high fat. This stuff will shuttle endotoxin from your intestine like crazy.
4. The endotoxin is probably wrecking your liver. Go easy on it.
5. Aim for a high ratio of insoluble to soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber increases motility. It's also unrealistic though to have no soluble fiber and in fact it probably contributes to the gut cleaning effect. Prioritize trying foods that help your BMs before foods that are "peaty". If whole grains or legumes help your motility (they might not) that is more important right now.
6. Aim for 2 BMs a day.
7. Antibiotics will not work as well on this type since Archaea are not bacteria. Some may still work.
8. Consider removing coffee and sugar if they cause you fatigue. Just because something is peaty does not mean it is good for you right now.
9. For the love of god do not waste money on supplements until you have experimented with pro-motility practices and foods.
10. You may have multiple types of sibo.
11. You may not have sibo. Don't attack the problem until you figure out what it is.
12. Listen to your intuition!

Bonus: if a carnivore diet is helping you please understand it is not a LT solution. It is suboptimal for a number of reasons and will not cure you.