I have been a little over-worked and I forgot to put up instructions for bulk orders. Shame on me! I had planned to have it up so that people who wanted to buy multiple copies as Christmas gifts could get discounted prices.
Well, there’s still a few days left to place an order and assure receipt by Christmas. So, I’m offering a Christmas special on bulk orders: $14.99 per book. Minimum order is 5 copies, and it has to go to a single address. Shipping is free to the US and UK, discounted elsewhere.
If you’d like to do this, send me an email with number of copies and your address and phone number. I’ll send you a Paypal money request which you can pay by credit card.
A Few Good Experiences
Every once in a while someone emails or comments lets us know that their health has improved because of our diet, or that they enjoyed the book. We always appreciate hearing these things.
Recently, Claire wrote:
I just received the book today and enjoying the read! I love the combination of easy-to-read plus enough scientific information to help me tailor the diet and supplements to my chronic illness, gastroparesis (started in 2003 – got sick while traveling in Brazil, slowly got worse and diagnosed with gp by breath test in 2009).
My main and most debilitating symptom is vomiting, which for example in the past 2 months has been about 75% of what I eat. In the past 4 days of applying the perfect health diet (avg. 1400 kCal, protein/carb/fat ratios 24%/18%/58%) I have not vomited once ! I realize I need to further optimize my nutrient intake, but I’m already noticing major improvement.
It sounds like Claire acquired a gut infection in Brazil, and fructose makes the germs very happy and her small intestine very unhappy. Our diet cuts down the sugar and replaces it with fat which the germs can’t eat. Starving the pathogens a bit seems to have stabilized her gut; hopefully it will bring her to a full recovery in time. Sometimes solutions are really simple and quick!
Jay wrote to talk about how a ketogenic Paleo diet had helped him run a marathon successfully, but gave him kidney stones – something perhaps our kidney stone post will help him overcome:
I jumped on the paleo diet last April. Moved to more of a Primal diet in June and then PaNu in July. I started experimenting with a Ketogenic diet in August and September. I am a runner. I run half marathons, marathons, and ultra marathons. I started serious training for the Fall season this last Summer. My whole goal with nutrition was to 1) get on a better nutritious diet. 2) Recover quicker, reduce inflammation. 3) train my body to use fats/proteins for energy instead of glycogen so I wouldn’t bonk after a couple of hours of running.
I trained by usually running in the mornings without eating anything prior to running. No matter what the distance. I found that once I was ketogenic, I could run without “hitting the wall”. I think it worked and worked very well. When I finally ran the marathon in October, I carb’d up for 3 days prior to running. I ate lots of carbs and some protein prior to the race. I knocked off an amazing 20 minutes from the previous best time. I didn’t hit any wall, although I had cramps after the race, big time.
But the point, I ate little carbs, was dehydrated a lot because of the heat, probably didn’t eat enough salt, ate a lot of almonds, etc. So based on your blog posts, I now know exactly why I have a kidney stone. Or at least, good reason to suspect….
I am going to eat more carbs and less protein than what I had been doing. We will see if I can clear this up soon.
Thanks for the books and thanks for all the information on your site. I have learned more about nutrition and my body in the last 6 months than I have in my entire life time. I definitely think we need to spread the word about the Perfect Health Diet!
Our Thanks for Your Support
I noticed that Melissa McEwen blogged about the “worst Paleo book ever” and our book came up multiple times in the comments. No, not as a challenger for the worst book!
Thank you so much to everyone who recommends our book. We hate to self-promote, but when others spread the word, we are most grateful. We believe our work can help many to find the great health that everyone deserves, but we know that the only way anyone will discover our book is through your help. So, thank you very much!
via this link:
By the way, for non-US and UK based folks, the book is now available at The Book Depository (www.bookdepository.co.uk), with free shipping to Europe and many other places.
We ordered ours a couple of days ago, can’t wait for it to arrive!
Hey Paul,
I’ll be receiving your book in the next few days, and implementing the whole thing shortly after. I’ve been following a rough version of your diet for some time, and have seen huge improvements. No more stomach pain. Definitely fewer asthma symptoms. Far less sinus drainage. Improved body composition. My skin even cleared up.
I have a laundry list of pretty serious health problems; some of them quite rare. Cystic Fibrosis, CF-related diabetes, severe sinusitis, asthma, gastroparesis, acid reflux, and so on, and so forth. I even had low bone density in the past.
If you’re interested, I’d love to keep you guys updated on my progress as I implement your eating plan and start taking a few of your recommended supplements. I’ve been very methodical and careful with everything, and always tell the doctors what I’ve been doing. I even take notes and chart my progress. It’s taken years, but I’m actually at my healthiest now. I wish I would have found this way of eating much sooner, however.
My only concern is that my body can’t handle carbs very well, yet I need to gain weight. I’m assuming that fixing my gut will help, and that I will probably be able to gain on a higher fat diet. I do love my steak and clarified butter. I’m sure actually reading your book will help too!
Any thoughts on how a skinny, carb-sensitive diabetic might gain weight?
Great science on this blog, by the way. I’m hooked!
Hi Derek,
I’m glad you’re improving!
Yes, we’d love to be kept up to date on your progress, and will help however we can.
Cystic fibrosis is new territory for us, so we’ll be learning along with you, but it would be fantastic if we can figure out together how to improve the prognosis/health/longevity of CF patients. The great thing is that we have a lot of smart readers and commenters, so if we don’t know something there’s a chance someone else will.
For weight gain I would suggest whey protein supplements and resistance exercise. The ketogenic branched-chain amino acids support muscle synthesis, as does high intensity low volume exercise.
Best, Paul
Thank you both for all the great work you do regarding nutrition, health is truly the greatest gift one can give another! As for a personal story, I never had anything blatantly wrong with me, most people considered me a picture of health, but like so many, each day I felt different than the one before. I came to believe that this was normal, never feeling “perfect”. So I looked for something better, and after slowly building up compliance on a “paleo” style diet, I found myself on your site.
I have implemented all of your recommendations from the book, and feel great physically, with one caveat…HUNGER!! My work is very physical, outdoors, and I workout every other day on top of it. This leads to being in pretty great shape, but it seems like I just cannot eat enough. I used to eat up to 3.5 pounds of meat a day, and cut back based on your recommendations. I like the money I’ve saved, but I always feel hungry; I’m eating about 1.5 pounds of meat now, pounding down vegetables, and throwing back a handful of nuts every hour. But I still feel like I could double my meal size. What’s up with me?! (As an note, I haven’t been able to find coconut oil yet, so maybe getting some of that and eating it during the day would help.)
Again, thank you for the book and blog, it’s very rare to see people so eager to help others.
Bill,
First, you should never be hungry. So, eat to your appetite.
I do think 1.5 pounds of meat is sufficient protein. So I would add safe starches like rice and fats like egg yolks to your diet, and shift your meats toward fatty meats like ribs. Butter and coconut oil are good too.
The other thing to look at is micronutrient consumption. I was ravenously hungry when I was vitamin C deficient. Make sure you’re taking all of our recommended supplements. Also, you might want to add the B vitamins listed in the “To B or Not To B” section of the book. Being well-nourished with micronutrients will make sure that you’re not hungry because of micronutrient deficiencies.
We’re eager to help because I spent 17 years getting worse with a chronic illness and know how miserable it is; and have some useful knowledge to share. It’s exciting to be able to help. At some point, life may make demands that call me away from this blog, but for now I want to spread the word and help as many people as I can.
Best, Paul
Thank you for the quick response, I will modify my diet accordingly and adjust my supplement intake. And whenever life takes you away from the blog, know that you left behind enough information to get anyone back on their feet after an illness. This is my go-to site recommendation when people ask for nutritional advice, and I find myself recommending your book more than any other!
Enjoy the holidays!
Have just finished reading your book and find it very persuasive. However, I am at a loss as to how to add beef liver to my diet! I would welcome any and all palatable liver recipes from your readers. My husband says the only way he will eat it is with onion gravy (made with wheat flour) and that seems counterproductive. I have always enjoyed liverwurst, but that is pork liver and full of toxic ingredients.
By the way, do you have any thoughts on using gluten-free breads as a healthy starch? Most are made with tapioca and rice flour and if they don’t contain PUFAs or fructose, could you recommend them?
Kathy
I am a big liverwurst fan! I eat the nitrate free kind from an ‘all natural’ maker. Other than the nitrates, what are the toxic ingredients in pork liver? Thanks
Is it possible that some supplements can make GERD/digestive problems worse?
It´s nothing definitive but I feel like it could be in my case. Maybe certain ingredient in some supplements. I´m careful though to pick supplements that don´t have gluten or anything like that. But still I wonder if something doesn´t agree with me.
Do you have any ideas?
Hi Kathy,
Tapioca and rice flour are both healthy. Not all gluten-free flours are toxin-free; we would avoid all the grains except rice. But there are some healthy flours, like the tapioca and rice ones you mention, and with gluten-free rising in popularity you can get them commercially now. In the book we mention the King Arthur Flour Company’s gluten-free page.
Beef liver recipes — we’ll have to think that over. For an onion gravy, you can substitute safe starches for the wheat flour, just as with the bread. Let us know if you find a recipe that liver-haters like!
Best, Paul
Hi Anna,
I would imagine that niacin could make bacterial infections of the small intestine more severe; so could biofilm materials like calcium, iron, and magnesium. That would exacerbate GERD.
Also, lipase or protease containing enzyme supplements and probiotics might do it.
Do you have an idea which supplements might be giving you trouble?
It´s nothing definitive but it could be the probiotics and/or multivitamin (it doesn´t have iron). Occasionally I have taken magnesium before bedtime. The multivitamin has niacin 100mg and calcium 250 mg.
I might add that I tried EDTA for a month last summer, after that month I didn´t have any digestive issue for a month. Did also eat a lot of fermented food at that time but no probiotics or vitamins.
Kathy: Regarding supplements, if you are sensitive to gluten, they may cause heartburn. Even supplements that say that they are gluten free might not be. I’ve had good results with Now Foods and Country Life. Soy in vitamins could also be a culprit.
Some folks cook liver, and then grate the cooked liver into their hamburger patties, meatloaf, and meatballs. The kids never know!
I looked a bit further, is pepsin a protease enzyme?
It might have given me trouble earlier this year also when I took some Betain HCI with pepsin.
I´ve been experimenting a bit this year, maybe a bit too much at times.
So far I have just resorted to a liberal dousing of my beef liver with spicy brown mustard and hot salsa. I bread it in coconut flour or almond meal, but that alone doesn’t alter taste much, it just helps keep it from sticking in the pan.
Recipes anyone??
Hi anna –
The EDTA experiment suggests that it is indeed a gut infection causing the acid reflux.
I think 100 mg niacin is way too much, the last 80 mg is of more benefit to bacteria than you. I would switch to a multivitamin with less niacin. I think 250 mg calcium is probably acceptable.
Yes, pepsin is a protein-digesting enzyme. Betaine HCl will increase stomach acid, if you have small bowel problems then you may have discoordinated release of stomach acid into the intestine without proper neutralization by pancreatic alkaline fluids. If so then the Betaine HCl would cause acid reflux.
GERD (I believe) is basically a spasm of the small intestine trying to reject some irritant, and usually an infection of the small intestine is the reason it gets irritated easily. Infections damage the mucus layer and so stomach acid, digestive enzymes, inflammation, food toxins, all kinds of things can be triggers for a spasm.
You might look at the bowel disease series for ideas on how to heal small intestinal infections.
Foods like the Neo-Agutak ought to be helpful. Berries and spinach have anti-microbial polyphenols, and coconut oil is antimicrobial also. Intermittent fasting may be helpful, to deprive the gut of food for an extended period.
Best, Paul
Erich: I haven’t found any commercial liverwurst that didn’t contain nitrites and boat a load of other preservatives. Can you give me a brand name? I’d love to find it. In fact, all liver pates AND lox and sardines would be welcomed back into my diet with open arms if I only had a non-gluten cracker or toast to put them on. Without the starchy crunch, I find the textures unpleasant. (Celery is no substitute.)
Paul: Maybe we could just start a recipe thread. You’d only need to check in once in awhile to comment on ingredients or preparation methods.
I´ve read your book and all of your blog, I´ve even emailed you too:)
I´m just trying to put the pieces together according to my experience. Also a bit impatient for results.
I know the probiotics might not have enough benefits, but is it making it worse?
Would you recommend trying EDTA again, I´ve been thinking about it.
But I will stop taking the multi-vitamin. would you still recommend trying another brand though with less niacin?
My diet is very restrictive, I´ve been doing Intermitten fasting too, depends on hunger though. I often feel sluggish and often extremely thristy after eating but quite good while fasting untill I get hungry.
I love everything with coconut these day (used to hate it once). Tried the berries and spinach and quite liked it.
I´ve also got LDN today, it is yet another experiment.
Thank you for your answers.
“GERD (I believe) is basically a spasm of the small intestine trying to reject some irritant, and usually an infection of the small intestine is the reason it gets irritated easily.”
A very different theory of GERD:
http://www.amazon.com/Heartburn-Cured-Norm-Robillard/dp/0976642506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291649196&sr=8-1
And a blog post about it by Dr. Michael Eades:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/heartburn-cured/
Low carb diets are renowned for curing GERD. Dr. Eades thinks this guy has figured out why. Anecdotally, my girlfriend suddenly developed an awful GERD problem. When she eliminated sweets and cut way back on the simple carbs she got quite a lot better.
Hi Bill,
Actually, that’s the same theory as mine!
From Dr. Eades review:
“A biochemist friend of mine told me that he knew a microbiologist who had a theory as to why low-carb diets stopped GERD cold that involved bacterial overgrowth. I told my friend that I didn’t think that bacteria had anything to do with it, but he persisted and gave the microbioligist my email address. The microbiologist contacted me and we agreed to meet for coffee. Norm Robillard is the microbiologist and he himself has been a GERD sufferer for years.”
Carbs feed bacteria and make the infection worse, thus worsening GERD.
But it’s possible to have GERD on a very low-carb diet, so that’s not the whole story. I still think it’s generally infectious in origin and always originates in the small intestine, but in addition to sugar reduction better micronutrition and actually defeating the infection may be needed to eliminate GERD.
Best, Paul
“I haven’t found any commercial liverwurst that didn’t contain nitrites and boat a load of other preservatives. Can you give me a brand name?”
http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=821
They have other organ meat products, too–all 100% grassfed and available without nitrates or nitrites. I tried this and couldn’t quite stand it, even with a lot of mustary. Maybe in time…
Thanks for the quick response, Paul!
Even with Cystic Fibrosis, my lung function is statistically normal, one hundred percent, and I have good reason to believe that my lungs and sinuses are infection-free. That was the first step in getting healthy for me.
What I’m hoping this diet helps me with is my energy, my digestion, and my overall health. I have every reason to believe it will. What I’ve done has already helped immensely. I received the book today and have read half of it. The science and research it contains is impressive. You guys should be proud. Most important nutrition book ever written.
You suggest whey for gaining weight, but would that be alright if I suspect a sensitivity to casein? Like you say, though, I think gluten was a much bigger problem for me.
Also, do you think it’s feasible for me to reach a calorie surplus with mostly healthy fat, and thus gain weight? I can handle a moderate amount of carbs just fine, but not enough to reach a normal weight. I have a lightning fast metabolism! I need nearly 3000 calories just to maintain my weight. I realize that fixing my gut health and any thyroid issues would help too.
Thanks for being patient with my myriad of questions. I’m going to order more copies of the book for my friends and family.
When I lived in Japan, I often ate reba-nira itame, basically stir-fried chives and liver. Other than that, I’ve never liked liver. The web offers up plenty of recipes.
Hi Derek,
Whey is basically the non-casein part of milk protein. So casein levels are low and shouldn’t be a problem unless you’re very sensitive. There are grades of whey powder (concentrate, isolate) depending on how stringent the separation is. Concentrate has some casein, isolate has very little casein. Try them and see if you need the better grades.
Yes, you can get into calorie surplus from fat. Eat lots of egg yolks, coconut oil, bone marrow, (brains if you’re willing and can find them), fatty meats, tallow, butter (clarified butter if you’re very casein sensitive).
Add in rice and whey and you should be able to get sufficient calories.
Best, Paul
Hello,
Very interesting about GERD, which I suffer from daily in addition to nausea and difficulty digesting fiber. I was sure that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is the culprit, yet my hydrogen breath test results were resoundingly negative and I never took Xifaxan. Could a fungal infection (candida) also be the cause of reflux and small bowel irritation?
Incidentally, digestive enzymes and probiotics have been encouraged by my nutritionist as means of addressing candida, now wondering if there are doing more harm than good.
Ive been a little nervous about trying cranberries due to the acidic nature exacerbating the reflux. Do purple potatoes contain the same compounds? I seem to be okay with those..
Thanks,
Devi
Hi Devi,
Yes, I think Candida can cause GERD, but generally not unless it’s also dominant in the colon, which should give you colonic symptoms too (like abdominal bloating, noises).
Carbohydrate digesting enzymes are usually helpful. Lipases tend to irritate the gut and proteases can have mixed effects.
I would expect cranberries to be helpful. Why not try an experiment?
Purple potatoes have some similar compounds. Their advantage is they lack fructose, which tends to feed small bowel infections.
Best, Paul
I just finished reading your book and found your comments on chronic infection especially interesting. I consider myself healthy: I’m a 54 YO male, don’t get sick, exercise regularly (run sprints and 2 hours runs), have decent blood pressure (120/80), BMI of 22, and eat paleo. I take no medications; only 4000IU of D3 since October because my 25 OHD measured 28. My TC is 250, with HDL of 124 and TG of 35. However, for years I have had fungal infections, at least that is what I think they are, around the groin, on one knee and I have had thick crumbly yellow toenails for 30 years. I used to treat the groin and knees with anti-fungal creams, but the fungus would always return. Running always seemed to exacerbate the fungus on the knee and groin, but I like to run. I gave up treating my toes long ago because other than looking ugly, they don’t bother me. Since I severely restricted wheat, the fungus, happily, has disappeared from my groin and most of my knee, and, as I said, I wasn’t concerned about the toes. But, if the fungus suggests some kind of chronic infection by extracellular pathogens, then maybe I should be concerned. Is it possible that my toes might clear up with wheat out of my diet, but that it might take years? Is there in the meantime an element of my diet that I can emphasize to target the toes?
Hi Richard,
That’s a good question. It does seem like the skin/toe infection is fungal because it responded to the anti-fungal creams. Fungi generally infect surfaces: internally they are most likely to be in the colon or sinuses/mouth. Do you ever get a coating on your tongue?
I’m not sure what the interaction with wheat was, but wheat impacts immune funciton in so many ways it is not too surprising.
My “Neo-Agutak” (http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=1296) is a specifically designed anti-fungal meal. Cranberries are good for clearing fungal infections from the digestive tract, and coconut oil should help too.
I’ve found that it’s important to eat some safe starches, as fungi tend to do well on very low-carb diets. (The anti-fungal immune response is suppressed with glucose scarcity.) Rice is the best, as it digests easily and doesn’t provide much fiber to the colon for the fungi to eat.
I would make sure micronutrient status is good – I think we mentioned that chromium deficiency can cause systemic fungal infections, and other micronutrient deficiencies will also impair immune response.
Follow our diet, and apply anti-fungal creams to your toes. You want to get rid of these things wherever you can. Don’t leave them a reservoir, because later if your immune system is weakened they may spread from there to the body.
Best, Paul
Hi Anna,
I’m sorry I forgot to reply to your comment (http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=1338&cpage=1#comment-10229). Here it is:
I definitely think you should find a multivitamin that has less niacin.
EDTA I’m not sure, it has good and bad points. You will need to self-experiment. The risk is it can induce mineral deficiencies which could impair immune function and health. But it definitely acts against gut pathogen biofilms.
Probiotics are usually ineffective. Making things worse is rare but could happen; they could also make things better. You have to self-experiment.
In general, you want to transition toward real foods and away from probiotics/EDTA. The cranberry/coconut oil/spinach is an example of a food that is therapeutic for gut infections.
Let us know how the LDN goes. I’m very curious about that one.
Best, Paul
Paul,
Thank you for your response. To answer your question, in the past, when I felt like I was fighting a virus, my tongue would get a yellow coating that went away as soon as I felt better, but even that doesn’t happen since I started eating Paleo. I don’t think I have a micronutrient issue: almost everything I eat comes directly from my garden or local sources, including milk, cheese, eggs, meat, greens, fruits, berries and vegetables. Gluten is associated with eczema and skin rashes, so the association with my red skin patches didn’t really surprise me. I’ll add the cranberries and coconut oil and give it some time, at least a year. It would be very gratifying to clean up my toes without having to pay Big Pharma.
Hi Paul,
I would like to buy your Christmas special,
but I don’t have your email address.
Thanks, Mark
Hi Mark,
I’m sorry! pauljaminet@perfecthealthdiet.com
Richard,
My husband has had some luck with eradicating most of his toenail fungus. He was also reluctant to take the Big Pharma route. However, what has been working for him takes a lot of patience and diligence. It’s definitely not a quick fix.
It’s been about 1-1/2 years, and the fungus is completely gone from all of his toenails, except for the two large toes (though greatly reduced in those last two).
He bought two bottles of a product he found online, called Deggurcide. The liquid product is brushed on the nails daily, PLUS the instructions say to also file the nails down daily with a new emory each time (file not just the end of the nails, but also the flat surface, which thins the nails over time, too).
After about a year, he placed another order for Deggurcide. Because the large toenails were so thick and still had fungus when all the other toes had just about cleared up, he also used a Dremel rotary tool on those bigger, thicker nails (yeah, I know, it makes me cringe, too). The Dremel really reduced the nail size quite a bit; he’s hoping that will allow the Deggurcide to better reach the deep fungus. At the current pace, he hopes the fungus will eradicated by the two year mark or maybe a little later.
Frankly, both of us have doubts that it is the Deggurcide that is eradicating the fungus. It could simply be the act of filing aggressively to reduce the nail thickness. Or maybe the product along with the filing works best together. We really don’t know. But there definitely is a huge, but slow improvement; he started out with 80+% of his toes pretty well infected with toenail fungus.
Hi Paul, thanks for mentioning me on the blog 🙂 my stomach is still very happy with the diet!! Unbelievable the difference it makes to drop honey and fruit. My naturopath who specializes in live blood analysis did some some simple blood tests yesterday. She tested HB, glucose, cholesterol, SpO2 and looked at the blood under a microscope. Everything looked really good – especially compared to the tests she did in August. The interesting thing was that my glucose level was below normal, 3.3 (reference 3.5 – 7.5 mmol/L). She asked if I felt faint, but besides very tired, I feel just fine. Is this normal when one limits carbs to about 200 calories a day? And is this preferable for curing chronic illness? best, Claire
Hi Claire,
No, it’s not normal. It has one of two causes, maladaption to a low-carb diet or chronic infection. Probably both are operative in your case.
The first possibility is that you are still adapting to a lower-carb diet – your cells got used to consuming glucose, and they’re pulling glucose out of the blood faster than your liver is making it. Soon they should convert to burning fats and your blood glucose should rise.
You can hasten the process by taking more vitamins. The B-vitamins thiamin 100 mg, riboflavin 100 mg, pantothenic acid 500 mg, and biotin 5 mg/week may help. Be sure to take a multivitamin daily. Vitamin C 1 g/day or more is important for carnitine manufacture. Magnesium, selenium, zinc, and copper may also help. I would avoid niacin.
If the low blood glucose persists, that would indicate a chronic infection pulling down blood glucose levels. This would be consistent with your Brazilian experience, the gastroparesis, etc. Protozoal parasites can consume huge amounts of glucose.
I think you want to remain on this diet, but eat enough safe starches and coconut oil to keep blood glucose levels in safe territory, and ketones available so neurons don’t starve. And then figure out how to treat your chronic infection. Have you seen an infectious disease specialist? They do have drugs for these infections, if you can get a diagnosis.
Best, Paul
Paul, thank you so much for your quick reply!! It is good to know what the possible causes are. I have an appointment next with my general practitioner and will work on the vitamin intake in the mean time 🙂 I live in the Netherlands. The process here is that my gp decides if I need to see a specialist and then there’s usually a 4-6 week wait for the first appointment. I’ve already been to stomach specialists and that’s how I got the diagnosis gastroparesis and ibs, but they kept ignoring the fact that I first got ill in Brazil and was perfectly healthy before, which I always found to be the key point. I would like to get my gp to do enough blood tests and to find evidence of a chronic infection so that he’ll hopefully refer me to an infectious disease specialist. A friend of my boyfriends is doing his phD in internal medicine and we’re going to ask him for help if my gp remains unhelpful! I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again 🙂 Claire
Sorry to bother you again, but bad news – I just had the fried rice for dinner (which was delicious btw) but it didn’t go well! Within a half hour I had the same reactions as prior to this diet. Seeing as things went so well with meals of fish/chicken/beef with veggies (and sometimes potatoes), I figure it must be from the rice. My symptoms start with hunger (sugar cravings) and then vomiting and a bit of upper abdominal pain (right side) – the cravings remain. I also had a bit of pain last night after a potato dinner. Does this make sense with the protozoa hypothesis? I’ll arrange for some blood tests tomorrow! Best, Claire
Hi Claire,
Not too much of a surprise there … Any pathogen that can eat fructose can eat glucose too …
I guess you have to be on the ketogenic version of the diet, lots of coconut oil and keep carbs low, eat a fair amount of protein.
But at least you’re a little farther forward in diagnosis.
It could be protozoa, bacteria, or even fungi although that’s less likely.
Best, Paul
I really appreciate your quick & informative reply! I stick to the ketogenic version until I get this figured out. Thanks, best, Claire
Hi Claire maybe you ate too much rice.
How much do you ate?
You can try eating small doses during the day, I read for someone works.
For those who can’t stand liver but want to eat it, here’s what I do:
Boil about a pound of liver for 20 minutes. Put in the food processor with onion, half cup butter, and a splash of chardonnay. Pulse. Spoon into a gutted poblano pepper or tomato OR stuff a chicken thigh or breast. If you eat dairy, top with parmesan. Bake in a Dutch oven or covered pot (400 degrees) for 10 minutes.
I tried other methods but this actually tastes good to me.
Kratos, thank you. It was two bowls of rice with eggs, veggies and shrimp, but obviously too much for me 😉 I may try it again in a few days in a smaller amount. That may help! Best, Claire
Hi Paul,
finally received your book yesterday. Thouroghly researched and a great read too!
Now I just need to convince my family which is the most difficult part…
A quick update. I had the blood tests done (e.g. vit D, liver enzymes, anions, glucose) and nearly all values fell within the normal ranges (I wasn’t able to get all the numbers from the doctors assistant, but here’s what I got).
TSH = 0.9 (ref 0.3-4.8)
leukocytes = 4.9 (ref 4.5-11)
Only B12 and folic acid were slightly high.
B12 = 811 (ref 330 – 700 pmol/Liter)
It seems things are looking really good! My energy is increasing and I was doing quite well, except the past 2 days. I think its from trying nuts (almonds & macademias). I find them addictive, quickly feel “bad”, anxious and end up vomiting. I’m not sure why. A few years back an IGg test said I was intolerant for nuts/seeds. I wonder if IGg testing is useful in the frame of the perfect diet?
Hi Claire,
Well, if you’re allergic to nuts you should avoid them. That’s OK – they’re not necessary. Animal foods are safer. Be sure to take supplemental magnesium.
Best, Paul
From what I’ve read in the medical literature IgG tests aren’t taken seriously as an indication of allergy (only IgE), but maybe there is something to it! I will avoid nuts for now.
Your tips are very helpful. I am taking all of the supplements recommended – so most likely now its a question of fine-tuning the diet and fasting for continued improvement 🙂
Hi, clare, I’m happy you are doing well!
How many carbs do you tollerate a day?
Have you been successful in eating rice?
I advise you to eliminate nuts for a while, they are very problematic not only for allergies but also because they have a lot of enzyme inhibitors.
Someone does better with blanched almonds (without skin). You can also try to soak them.
Hi Kratos, thank you for the advice 🙂 I am definitely avoiding nuts. I still am having stomach trouble so I’ll start experimenting again with the carbs after a few good days and maybe even with soaked blanched almonds 🙂
Paul, or others who can maybe shed some light on my illness… I was able to obtain all of my blood results and if you have time I would appreciate any thoughts as to what could be causing the vomiting and/or which avenues to pursue. The ketogenic diet helps a lot, but the past 4 days have gone badly and it could be nuts or dairy, but also menstrual cycle may play a role (i.e. things generally worse from ovulation (cramping, spotting) to menstruation). I am a bit ashamed to be so graphic, but quite at loss as how to best proceed. Any thoughts on the matter would be very welcome.
ESR = 2 MM/hr (ref 1-25)
LEUKO = 4.9 .10e9/L (ref 4.5-11)
Ht = 43 % (ref 37-47)
Hb = 8.8 MMOL/L (7.5-10)
ERYTR = 4.7 .10e12/L (3.8-5.8)
MCV = 91 FL (80-100)
MCH = 1.87 FMOL/L (1.7-2.10)
MCHC = 20.7 MMOL/L (20-22.5)
TROMBO= 341 .10e9/L (150-350) (platelet count?)
Na = 141 MMOL/L (136-144)
K = 4 MMOL/L (3.5-4.8)
Creatine = 76 uMOL/L (70-133)
bilirubine total = 10.4 uMOL/L (0-17)
alanineaminotransferase = 12 /L (5-45)
gammaGT = 10 U/L (5-35)
glucose = 4.9 MMOL/L (3.5-5.5)
TSH = .9 mU/L (0.3-4.8)
b12 = 881 PMOL/L (200-700)
folic acid = 28 NMOL/L (7-28)
ferritine = 23.3 uG/L (no ref)
25OHD = 87.6 (17-113)
From what I can tell this looks pretty good. Only doesn’t help explain what’s going on with my stomach. It seems I don’t need to supplement vitamin D, that my thyroid is fine and that my glucose level is adapting nicely to the diet.
In the mean time I will continue with the ketogenic diet and get further testing done for intestinal infections and try to be patient 😉 Thank you for your thoughts 🙂
Kathy, here’s a blow-by-blow of how I make beef liver for the two of us.
Take an iron skillet and fry up half a pound of chopped bacon. When it’s nice and brown, remove it to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
Meanwhile, take a one-pound frozen block of Laseter grass fed beef liver. Let it thaw just briefly, then take a heavy, sharp knife (I have one of those crescent-shaped blades with a handle on top) and cut it in two. Put the other half back in the freezer. Before the liver thaws any further, use the knife to cut it into small slices. (Keep your fingers out of the way!)
In a pie plate or other flat dish, place a couple of tablespoons of corn meal (I’m going to have to find something else for the PHD), some garlic powder to taste and some paprika to taste. Stir it around a bit, the dredge the liver slices in it and fry them in the bacon grease. If the bacon was too lean and there isn’t enough fat, put in a couple of lumps of butter. Fry liver to your desired level of done-ness.
While that’s going on, chop up a big onion. When liver is almost done, pile the onion and bacon on top, put a lid on for a while until the onions are cooked a bit.
Only one of us likes liver around here, and it isn’t I. But I can eat it if I have some bacon and some onion on each forkful. 🙂