Reader Results

This page documents health changes our readers have experienced after adopting the Perfect Health Diet. If you have improved your health on our diet, please leave your story in the comments. Sharing your results encourages others — it lets them know that healing is possible! — and encourages scientists to investigate natural healing methods. We also welcome any reports of difficulty, since we and our readers can help you troubleshoot; such questions may be posed on the Q & A page.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who has posted a success story!

Reader reports are arranged by condition:

Also, a few of our favorite reader success stories have appeared as blog posts:

Obesity, weight loss, food cravings, binging

 

Person
Quote
Health Issue
Mary(more here) There is a whole pan of dark chocolate gluten-free brownies in my kitchen, and I’ve
had no desire for them all day. I’m crediting the supplements (I’m on all the
PHD recommended supplements save kelp), and I’m particularly thinking copper
has made a big difference (I’ve suspected a copper deficiency for some time
as I started going gray young). Or perhaps also selenium. (I’m
hypothyroid…hoping for some improvement there.)In any case, I feel great
physically, I’ve not been binge-y or nearly as much as a sweet freak (and
I’ve been known to eat an entire bag of caramels in less than an hour, and
then head out to the store for more), and I’ve felt mentally stable and
pretty happy. I feel great on this plan, and maybe more importantly, I’ve
noticed that I have many more calm, good mood days than otherwise. I think
it’s the combination of the Perfect Health eating plan and the recommended
supplements. I’ve not lost more weight since my last check-in – I seem to be
at a plateau – but I’m still seven pounds down since I started, so that’s
good.
Reduced
cravings, improved mood, weight loss
LizardFace I’ve
been doing PHD for 6 months after 45 years of eating the SAD. I wasn’t super
overweight, but was gaining every year, 6′, 200 lbs. I craved sweets. Six
months later I am down to 180. I eat rice and sweet potatoes but don’t crave
them, never crave sweets, don’t think about food all the time like I used to.
Try it yourself and see.
Reduced
cravings, weight loss
erp
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
I agree completely with Paul that when you’re well nourished, you’re never
hungry. I’ve been following the PHD/cum supplements coming up on one year
next month and can honestly say, I have no cravings and am never hungry. When
I see one of my former nemeses like hazelnut biscotti, while walking the
aisles of the grocery store, I need only remember that I have visible ribs
now and have moved down from size 16 to size 6, to smile and move on. It took
a while, but the trip is well worth it…. I’m 77 and over the years, I’ve
tried to lose weight by going low carb. The weight losses were successful,
but I didn’t stop craving high carb/sugary stuff and would always gradually
go back to the bad old ways and gain the weight back. One year later strictly
following the PHD, I lost almost 40 lbs and not only don’t I crave carbs and
sugar, I am actually repelled by the smell of a bakery. Yeast and cinnamon
are off putting. When grocery shopping, just knowing that I have a visible
rib cage is enough to keep me moving out of the cookie aisle. Whether it’s
self-hypnosis or balanced nutrition, I say thank you to Paul and Shou-Ching
and all the people who comment here.
Reduced
cravings, weight loss
Nancy I
am a 64 year old woman who has fought weight control all my adult life.
January 2011 I started following Dr. Harris’ 12 steps, J Stanton’s “Eat Like
a Predator” and the Jaminets PHD. I am maintaining my weight loss without
cravings or white knuckling and feel great. Thank you! Thank you! I have
printed out so much from each of your blogs and share with all who ask. My
husband is also on board. I may even take up hunting this season!
Reduced
cravings, feel great
Peter After
approximately six months of PHD I have zero craving for sweets and have
easily resisted entire tables groaning with plates of cakes, doughnuts,
cookies and so forth. Resisted is the wrong word though – it’s as if all
desire for a (formerly craved) substance has left my body. I’m not sure if
it’s related, but I have no desire to drink alcohol these days.
Reduced
cravings
Stabby (also here) I have been eating the PHD for a while, and it has really reduced any sort
of cravings and tendency to mow down, even if the food is really yummy.

My gut feels better, I have better digestion with less bloating from
fruit/sugar. If I eat some organic dairy I don’t get as many pimples as I
used to, and if I do they are noticeably smaller, they barely become inflamed
and they heal more quickly. Paul introduced me to the idea of a goldilocks
zone for fiber, whereas in the past I either had too much (conventional low
fat, grainy, animal-food-phobic) or too little (standard low carb). Also
probiotic supplementation likely helped, which was also Paul’s suggestion.

I have had other improvements in health since discovering books like the
Primal Blueprint or blogs like Evolutionary Psychiatry, however those are the
only ones that I can directly ascribe to Perfect Health Diet. But no doubt if
I had switched from a low fat diet with grains to Perfect Health Diet I would
have experienced the improvements in energy and psychological resilience.

food
cravings
Katelyn I
was ZC but am no longer-I cycle carbs by using white potatoes. Leanness,
satiaty, energy, bathroom habits, etc. have all improved! I owe thanks to you
and to Kurt Harris, whom I respect a lot, in getting me to not fear adding
them. I was scared to, but have had only positive results! Keep up the great
work!
weight
loss, food cravings, low energy, digestion
Sarah Atshan I
also had an mental adjustment period of accepting white rice. I had cut
starch out of my diet for so long. I found including 400 calories of white
rice &/or potatoes, reduced my cravings for something sweet. My calories
naturally lowered without hunger. I was also able to start intermittent
fasting, something that was impossible for me to do before the starch.
food
cravings, hunger
Erik
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
Your
book and writings have totally changed the way I think about my diet,
nutrition and health. So in the past year, I have minimized grains, cut out
processed food, do not eat sweets and avoid omega-6 rich cooking oils like
the plague. I have increased my intake of saturated fat by several fold and
use butter and coconut oil as my cooking oils. I eat eggs for breakfast and
add cream/coconut milk to my coffee. I eat sardines and salmon weekly. I get
plenty of sunshine and exercise several times a week. I eat just as much
fruits and vegetables as I did in the past. I do however consume more sweet
potatoes and potatoes. I use to avoid the “evil” potato as well!… I
basically do not calorie count and eat to what I feel. I have actually lost
weight and my skin has become healthier as well. My lips do not become
chapped like they use to in the past. I always had chapped lips for most of
my life…. I have been well overall. The phd is working great for me. Also,
my son’s gastrointestinal issues have been improving from the addition of
probiotics and better nutrition. He is also starting to say a lot more words
this summer. He is asking for things with words for the first time. I can’t
say what helped him since there are so many variables interplaying but I am
happy to see improvements in language. Our pediatrician was shocked and
excited about his improvements. I think his probiotics, gluten free diet,
vitamin supplements and intensive ABA therapy have helped a lot. My son’s
autism has been a very good learning experience. I feel very lucky to have
you as a fantastic resource of information. Many thanks again for your help
and kindness!
weight
loss, chapped lips; his son: autism, GI issues
jtl When
I began implementing PHD a few weeks ago I cut fruit back to about 80
calories/day and upped starch intake with sweet potatoes, potatoes, sourdough
buckwheat pancakes, and white rice. Within a couple of weeks chronic health
issues such as itchy, flaky scalp, tense painful neck and shoulder muscles,
and cyclical vaginal itching had disappeared, my mood had improved
noticeably, and I was able to do a little weight-lifting without it wiping me
out physically and mentally. 2 weeks ago I cut out fruit entirely and began
getting all my carbs in PHD proportions from white rice, sweet potatoes,
sourdough buckwheat cakes, and potatoes and saw a dramatic improvement in
mood and ability to work-out without negative effects, and the
fuzzy-headeded/blurry-eyedness that I’ve felt intermittently throughout the
day for as long as I can remember disappeared. For the first time in my life
I felt happy, relaxed, patient, care-free, clear-headed/eyed, and not hungry
(I’ve always noticed being hungry in my head, not my belly).
fungal
infections, impaired mood, fatigue, dry eyes, food cravings
Gary I’d
be glad to offer testimony confirming that PHD is a weight-loss diet. My own
loss isn’t dramatic, about 15 lbs. in the past year. My primary health
problem is sleep apnea, which I’ve had for many years/decades. It has led to
high blood pressure and weight gain. It is not caused by my weight but rather
sleep apnea caused me to gain weight. I’ve been thoroughly tested and know
the reasons for the apnea and am recovering primarily by using a cpap
breathing machine at night. PHD got my attention because it was primarily
about good health. I started following it a year ago and can say that it has
significantly improved my health. In addition, I also began to lose weight, a
welcome side benefit. I follow the basic diet recommendations and take all
the supplements. I get enthusiastic about PHD and tell my friends about it,
but the most frequent response I’d get was that it may be great, but it means
home cooking everything. I’d counter that home cooking isn’t hard. So finally
I set up a small website that shows how I’ve done my own interpretation of a
PHD meal plan and the home cooking that make it possible to do it during the
week, working 50-hour days and making 2 or 3 meals a day for me and my
spouse. I call it “10 minute meal.” It might be of use to others:
10minutemeal.com
weight
loss, high blood pressure
Jaybird I
have been shocked that unlike all previous diets for the first time in my
adult life I consistently, not just choose, but desire the PHD foods over the
crap foods. I feel full and more satisfied as well as crave PHD tastes. Even
my craving for a pizza with its wheat crust has reduced greatly after the
first 3 months on PHD. On past gov’t pyramid diet, vegetarian acid/alkaline
diet, and even a strict paleo diet, they seem to require a herculian will
power to choose to eat “healthy”. I had to definitely choose the less food
reward. I came accept this was just the way it is in life…until PHD. You
definitely can lose weight on the PHD! I don’t understand the Jaminets
conceding PHD is not a weight loss book. Their section on weight loss is the
best advice I’ve found in years of reading diet info. I went from 250 to now
182 in 6 months! It seems to me you need to get more clear exactly what PHD
recommends for weight loss. You seemed confused in your description of PHD
weight loss. 400 cals? I now eat 600 calories a day of safe starches and
continued to lose weight at 2 lbs a week. Remember, total calories is king
and the PHD foods will satisfy at a lower calorie intake like no other. Also,
you can add lemon in your water throughout the day.
weight
loss, food cravings
S,
email
Two
weeks ago my doctor diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. After
chatting to me a little about nutrition and its effect on the body, he wrote
down the title of your book “The Perfect Health Diet” and said that
it could help me. I went home and immediately ordered the book online and
received it a few days later (yippee!) Although I’m not even half way into
the book (I decided to start again after discovering it’s not light bedtime
reading!) I am certainly seeing sense in what the book says and am already
feeling a lot better just in myself – more energy, happier, less hormone mood
swings and not bloated at all. I’ve lost a bit of weight since I started two
weeks ago (6lbs) and my skin is… well… the least spotty its been since I
was about 11 years old! I’m certain that the diet is the reason for these
changes.
PCOS,
weight loss
gp2x I
can’t believe how much better I feel!… I had been eating (very) low-carb and
high-protein for the better part of a decade – and I had gotten a lot of
practice arrogantly dismissing suggestions (from any source) that I should
change anything about my diet…. Results: (after 1.5 months or so.)

  1. <span
    >I’m no longer
    “brain-dead” and unable to think in the evenings after work.
  2. <span
    >I no longer have fruit
    or chocolate cravings.
  3. <span
    >I’m much happier, and
    wake up looking forward to the day.
  4. <span
    >I’ve been much more
    social.
  5. <span
    >The extra starch has
    not resulted in weight gain. (I always gained weight when eating carbs
    before.)
  6. <span
    >It looks like the
    fasting (which I’ve never tried before) is helping my alertness and also
    contributing to healthy weight loss.

It
took less than a week for me to notice dramatic changes…. I can’t recommend
this book highly enough.

food
cravings, mood, alertness
Robert I
started PHD a few weeks ago, after finding the blog, and then reading the
book. I have only positive experiences to report. I had been overweight in
the past, and lost weight by low-calorie dieting on processed foods, along
with strength training. After a while I would revert to some degree of
overeating, and have to diet again. I’m mildly overweight now but I have been
losing 2 lbs. per week on the PHD. Keep in mind this is before any calorie
counting. I keep telling myself I will plug things in to Fitday, but so far
my hunger is autoregulating itself and the weight is coming off. Besides
weight loss, I feel great. I haven’t wanted to eat any take-out or sweets,
and that is unusual for me.
weight
loss
Morris
G (
comment 1, comment 2, comment 3)
A
couple of months after starting PHD there was an obvious improvement in mood
and cognitive function. Now 12 months later the mental improvements persist
but do not seem to be growing. … I’ve had joint “noises” for about 20 years
(I’m 72yo) but no direct discomfort from the noise effect. The frequency and
magnitude has increased over time but only very slowly. I tend to think that
the degree of crepitude correlates (weakly) with general joint health eg time
to recover from episodes of tendonitis or discomfort caused by overuse. I
have ignored this “crepitude” as being an unavoidable aging effect until
recently, when my manageable back/neck aches spontaneously improved and that
happened about 3 months after adopting the PHD diet (although I didn’t know
at the time that the diet was PHD). For example I can sleep on my back for
the first time in 8 years and turn my neck 90 deg without any discomfort. My
exercise regime has not changed from pre-PHD and is not too strenuous, about
2-3 hrs total/week of which most is moderate effort cardio with some
resistance. The odd thing is that pre-PHD, with the same exercise effort, if
I increased calories my fat would easily but slowly increase, but not now….
I feel great …  
mood,
cognitive function, joint function, weight
Richard
M, email of Oct 19, 2011
May I firstly congratulate you and Shou-Ching for writing such a wonderful
book. After researching nutrition and health in my spare time for many years
I have never come across a book that has been able to tie all of the major
aspects of a healthy diet together in such a concise manner whilst being so
extensively well referenced.

The amount of improvements that I have seen since implementing this diet
is numerous. My energy levels are much steadier throughout the day (as
opposed to the constant ‘peaks and troughs’ I experienced whilst following a
vegetarian diet for 4 years); my cravings for sugar have virtually
disappeared; I have only suffered from one cold in the past 10 months as
opposed to my usual 2 or 3; my weight is effortlessly stable; I never feel
hungry despite switching from 6 small meals per day to just 3; the list goes
on!

energy,
food cravings, weight, illness
Connie As far as the PHD only being for healthy people, I wanted to share my
experience. I’ve lost about 60+ pounds on the low carb (mostly back in 2000).
My low carb methods evolved over time and eventually I avoided all fake
sugars including diet sodas and almost all prepared foods (including low carb
products) and had to be careful of dairy and nuts – trigger foods for me
which caused me to overeat. I also thought that low fat would bring me more
success, so tried to stay low fat. Whenever I would stop doing low carb, I’d
gain some weight back. But it was very difficult for me to stay low carb
because I was doing low fat and also not getting enough omega 3. And when I
did cheat with sugary foods, I’d eat a lot of it.

Then I discovered PHD this year. I was afraid of “safe starches” and fat,
but thought I’d give it a try. At first I actually gained some weight because
I was adding coconut oil snacks and the plain Greek yogurt and my favorite
safe starch – sweet potatoes – all became trigger foods and I couldn’t stop
eating them. So I stopped the coconut oil snacking and the Greek yogurt and
the sweet potatoes for a while and focused on getting enough Omega 3 and
reducing my Omega 6. (My ratios were not optimal.) Now, I’m doing the
Intermittent Fasting too (fast 16 hours, feed 8 hours – eating 3 times and
eating coconut oil for my breakfast). It’s amazing – I’m not hungry and it
feels great! I’ve reintroduced yogurt, kefir and a daily sweet potato, but
now those 3 items that had been my trigger foods are no longer and I feel
satisfied very easily and don’t overeat them as before. Maybe it was because
my Omega 3/Omega 6 ratio was out of wack? Maybe it was because my body had to
get used to safe starches after so long without them? Maybe the IF helps?
Maybe after several months of PHD supplements that I’m finally not
malnourished? I’m not saying that I don’t ever eat sweets and don’t ever eat
too many. But it’s a lot easier and happens only rarely. And sometimes I can
just eat a little taste of something on a rare occasion. But if I’m under
stress, it’s right before that time of the month, or if it’s meal time and I
haven’t had a chance to eat yet (usually all 3 factors combined) and I’m
tempted with a sugary sweet, then it’s so much harder for me to resist
temptation. And once I do, it’s hard to stop eating the sweets! The other key
thing is to try to make sure the fat/carb/protein ratios are adhered to for
each snack/meal. I know Paul has said not to just have a starch by itself and
that is important advice.

So, my problem of overeating isn’t totally gone, but my diet and weight
maintenance is so much better and easier than ever before because of the PHD!
And I feel better and happier and more satisfied than ever before!

weight
loss
David I’m still very new to this diet, and I’ve been generally getting in shape
and losing weight for a while now, but one thing I can comment on already is
the effect it’s had on rhinitis.

Simply put, my rhinitis has disappeared completely. I no longer wake up
with a runny nose. I don’t need to take steroidal nose sprays. I don’t even
blow my nose. Rhinitus is now a non-issue. I’ve read that wheat and soy often
cause rhinitis, so I suspect some sort of allergy was to blame.

One other benefit: I’m never hungry on the PHD and I’m really enjoying all
the food I CAN eat, while not missing the food I can’t eat.

rhinitis,
appetite
L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure
David Z. My success story: I’ve been eating what was mostly a “health food” diet
for twenty years. I followed the various trends and tried vegan, vegetarian,
raw, and more at different time periods. I’ve done juice fasting and
cleansing. At some times I followed it more religiously and other times less
so, but nonetheless slowly gained weight over the years.

This year I read Wheat Belly and started to think about cutting out wheat,
but that book rubbed me the wrong way and I wasn’t ready to commit. In
following up on it however I learned about paleo diets which led me to the
Perfect Health Diet. I was highly intrigued and implemented it before I even
finished the book.

I lost 25 points in the first two months on the diet, going from 215 lbs
to 190. I was not 100% compliant during this time period so was surprised to
see how effective it was. Since then I have mostly leveled off on the weight
loss while staying on the diet, but my pants continue to get looser and
looser.

190 is not a bad weight for me; I am 5’11″ and lift weights so while
this would be a high BMI I look pretty good. I’d like to lose another 10 or
15 pounds eventually but since this diet is so easy and pleasurable I’m not
stressing out over it and am giving myself as many years as it takes to do it
slowly.

Thanks!

weight
loss, body recomposition
Karin I have particularly severe, chronic, complicated, and often silent
migraines. I have had these since childhood all day everyday. Because they
were often silent (no pain) they would manifest in various other ways, thus
leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders and schizophrenia for many years.
At one point I was also misdiagnosed with epilepsy as well. After one
particularly smart neurologist saw and tested me, I was placed on blood
pressure medications for migraines. This worked. The problem is that my body
constantly fights to readjust to the medications. After a few months at one
dose, it seems I start to get migraines again. So it would go up and the same
thing would repeat again. I was looking for a different solution and I
stumbled across this article.

I’ve been on the keto diet for nearly a month and it is the best thing
that has happened to me. I’m migraine free and medication free. My mood is
incredibly stable, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, I have
lots of energy, I can concentrate for hours on end, etc. I’ve lost weight
also, a much loved side effect. Thank you for writing this!

migraines,
mood, sleep, energy, weight loss
Jim, email of April 2, 2012 . I am down from 341lbs to 272lbs doing mostly Paleo, but modified with
some safe starches per your book. Just so you know this is not just about
weight loss for me, I was a type 2 diabetic with full metabolic syndrome and
most importantly, I had popping capillaries in my retinas that were leading
to blindness. All is better now, no pills etc.
diabetes,
obesity, diabetic retinopathy
Roxy Rocker I am the smallest I have ever weighed as an Adult. I weigh 218. When I
switched to Paleo/highfat I was 284 about 14 months.
obesity
Elyse I’ve been adding starches to my diet for the past 6 months and find that I
am more satisfied and eat far less “treats”– just 1-2 squares of 85% dark
chocolate most days. Definitely agree that food just isn’t that big of a deal
any more.
food
cravings
Connie Warner After doing very low carb for so long, I was worried too. I started with
fruit and sweet potatoes and it was hard to stop eating them at first. But
now that my diet is more balanced, I have it under control. I think there was
an adjustment period. I’m now taking the recommended supplements as well as
some of the suggested supplements and am following the PHD guidelines, which
have helped. My Omega 6/Omega 3 ratio was way out of balance for a long time.
Paul has said the cravings are due to missing nutrients. It’s great to have a
balanced diet – carbs, protein & fat – with NO cravings – it’s an amazing
feat for me! I feel better and happier and don’t feel deprived. I also do the
Intermittent Fasting (16 hour fast with 1 Tbs coconut oil and an 8 hour feeding
window) and this has helped me too. Food is less important to me, it really
is a lot easier than it sounds (I’m not suffering!) and I choose my foods
carefully to get all the nutrients I need in 2 meals with a snack in the 8
hour window. Sometimes I just have a spoonful of rice syrup to get some
carbs. Or you could add it to a homemade salad dressing or drizzle it on some
plain yogurt.
food
cravings
Java Gal Ok, have to comment – can’t contain myself anymore! I am a lurker of the
worst sort, but here goes. As a 54 year old woman, I am more energetic,
flexible (yoga three times a week), and healthier than I have been for, oh,
decades. My doc, a wonderful, but dye-in-the-wool vegetarian, told me to keep
doing what I was doing – cholesterol dropped, good TSH levels(I’m hypo), and
down 5 sizes. Talk about replacing a wardrobe! My worry, of course, is
gaining it all back, which, sorry to say, is an experience I have had already
in days of yore. I was an avowed low-carber back then and I can attest that,
while it was effective for losing weight, it was not a good long term
strategy. So far, as long as I stick to basic PHD principles, things are
going swimmingly. In general, PHD has been a huge success. Thank you Paul and
Shou-Ching!
obesity,
energy, flexibility, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, general health
Jennifer Fulwiler As I look for something to wear this weekend, I’m reminded that I am in
the middle of the wardrobe crisis that I’ve been waiting to have for ten
years: all my clothes are too big. I don’t mean a little loose; I mean I
perpetually look like I’m headed out to an M.C. Hammer costume contest.

Over the past few months I’ve lost 25 pounds. That’s a good thing, mainly
since the drop on the scale was more of a side effect of lifestyle changes
that have left me with more stamina and energy than I had when I was 20….

It’s too long of a story to explain in detail here, but the short-short
version is that it was Perfect Health Diet + rethinking what a reasonable
portion size looks like + accepting that spiritual warfare really does come
into play with getting healthy + learning to depend on a good jog for an
energy boost. What started it all was getting fed up with feeling awful all
the time; I started optimizing my life around foods and exercises that would
make me feel better and have energy, and the weight loss followed.

weight
loss, stamina & energy
Meli Hi Paul,

I just wanted to let you know that I was finally successful at adding back
in some carbs. I am now able to eat half of a small sweet potato on a daily
basis, while still losing weight! You were right, the weight gain (about five
pounds) was merely a temporary “hump” I had to get over before starting to go
back down. I was afraid I’d be stuck eating very low carb forever!

As a bonus, my eyes are no longer blurry, and my hair appears to have
started growing back. When I put it in a ponytail, there is a thick halo of
new fuzz where formerly my scalp was visible. I am suprised at how quickly
these issues began to resolve – it has been perhaps a month, if not less. I
haven’t been able to afford the supplements you recommended, but as soon as I
can I will get them.

You have my deepest gratitude, and respect. ~ Meli

Weight
loss, dry eyes, hair loss
Anonymous (also here) I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and am taking a very low dose
of risperdal (same drug in higher doses used to treat schizophrenia).

I had been doing very low carb for many years and do now wonder if it
actually made my symptoms much worse. (I was diagnosed with BPD while doing
very low carb.) Following the PHD diet has greatly reduced my symptoms. I
feel like a new person.

Better mood

I have found that following the PHD diet (in particular, getting enough
Omega 3 and not excessive Omega 6 and eating PHD “safe starches”, etc.,
eliminating toxins (grains, legumes, vegetable oils, soy, etc.), taking the
recommended supplements, and doing the optional intermittent fasting) has
helped me tremendously. I feel so much better now: better mood, more energy,
more patient, clearer thinking, happier, calmer, less emotional, less
anxiety, and better able to cope with issues such as difficult people.

Very nutritious, no cravings

This diet is super healthy and does allow plenty of choices: meat, fish,
vegetables (peas & green beans are fine), nuts (not peanuts which are a
legume), fruit, “safe starches” (rice pasta, sweet/white potatoes and white
rice), wine (which I like but don’t drink due to Rx), healthy fat like lard,
butter, cream, olive oil and coconut oil, dairy, chocolate, eggs, fermented
vegetables and some safe sweeteners such as rice syrup. A benefit of eating a
variety of healthy foods including “safe starches”: no cravings.

Intermittent fasting – easy

This is optional, but I’m so happy I discovered this. Fasting sounds
difficult and you’d think it would involve hunger and suffering and a strong
will power, but not so. No need to go hungry. And I’m not even hungry and
don’t suffer but feel great and clearer thinking/more energy in the morning
(even with my risperdal which for years had made me lethargic in the morning)
during my daily intermittent fasting (16 hour fast with coconut oil during
the fast with 8 hours feeding). When the fast is over, I eat normally:
usually 2 meals and a snack during the 8 hour feeding window, sometimes just
2 meals. I’m not ravenous when it’s time to eat, surprisingly. Sure, I’m a
little hungry, but in no hurry to eat and sometimes the fast lasts longer
than 16 hours just because of circumstances. And I exercise during the fast –
no problem with a lack of energy. No longer am I anxious about eating every 4
hours like I used to be while doing the low carb. In fact, I think I have a
much healthier relationship with food – it’s not so important and I know I
can go without it if I need to. Food doesn’t control me anymore. It has
really simplified my life.

Raynaud’s

Another benefit of the PHD is that my Raynaud’s is much better now and I’m
not as cold as I used to be. I think this was helped by eating more healthy
fat and Omega 3.

So give PHD a try if you want to feel better and be healthy too. I highly
recommend it – it really has worked for me.

Thank you so much, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! 🙂

Borderline
Personality Disorder, mood, energy, anxiety, food cravings, Raynaud’s
Timothy J Hicks Background: I was an Atkins dieter in the 1990’s. Lost a lot of weight,
but staying on it was difficult.

Last year I came off a bout of depression determined to beat it without
drugs. I stopped eating sugar and (surprise!) started losing weight. Since
exercise is also helpful to depression, I thought that it would be better if
I kept losing weight to reduce my chance of injury while exercising. Along
the way I found that many of the things that are recommended in the Perfect
Health Diet greatly helped me in losing weight.

I lost a total of seventy pounds. As a man at fifty-five years old and 195
pounds, I am now in better physical condition than I was in my 20’s. This is
due in large part to the dietary recommendations in the Perfect Health Diet.

What is even better is that the recommendations in the Perfect Health Diet
led to removing the last things that were contributing to my depression. I
believe now that grains and omega-6 in vegetable oil was making me depressed.
That’s why adding omega-3 fish oil to your diet helps fight depression,
something I had started doing without understanding why.

To go back to the beginning, the Atkins diet had two flaws which
undermined long-term weight loss:

1) Atkins diet “phases” lead to the idea that somehow you lose
your weight and then slowly phase back into eating “normal” food.
Atkins didn’t say this exactly, but it’s implied.

2) When Atkins wrote the Diet Revolution book, he didn’t have access to
the research that we have now, and couldn’t see that some fats (high omega-6
vegetable oils) are bad for you, while some carbs in moderation (rice, sweet
potato) are okay. His blanket recommendation to get rid of all carbs would
have been better focused on SUGAR, FRUCTOSE and GRAINS.

The Perfect Health Diet is written so that you can read to whatever depth
of scientific detail you want to. I am about done with my third time through.
My particular health issue is depression, and the Perfect Health Diet has
many links to dietary causes of depression. The most helpful aspect is that
it is written from the perspective that this way of eating is a PERMANENT
change, and that this way of eating is based on sound science, including
cultural and epidemiology studies, not just lab experiments.

This book is a good companion volume to “Why We Get Fat: And What to
Do About It” by Gary Taubes.

The only qualification that I would add is that the book recommends eating
a lot of fish rather than using supplements for omega-3. This recommendation
is based on the observation that most fish oil capsules are stored at room
temperature and the oil may go rancid without you knowing it. My answer is to
take fish oil as a liquid and KEEP IT REFRIGERATED. It’s lemon or lime
flavored and refrigeration keeps the the fishy taste down. No capsules
needed, and it’s actually cheaper than capsules.

Again, as a person who has lost seventy pounds and now enjoy a life free
of depression. I wholeheartedly recommend the Perfect Health Diet.

depression,
obesity
Jon (email of Feb 7, 2012) Dear Paul,

Following your PhD diet I have continued to lose weight at a rate of one
half pound per day! In 27 days I have miraculously lost 13.6 pounds! Overall
it has been consistent but on the days when I increase my probiotic intake it
seems that the loss is considerably more rapid!! While there were some days
in the beginning that were very rapid weight loss, I expected it to even out
and slow down by now but in fact yesterday I was surprised to find i had lost
1.4 pounds in a single day, so the theory that the early pounds were merely
rapid water loss and that the rest of the weight loss would be very slow has
simply not been supported by my experience.

Since I’m eating 1500 cal per day and 54% of that is fat, 26% is carbs,
and 20% is protein, I’m not on a ketogenic diet, but at the rate I’m losing
weight, it seems my body is responding as if I were on a ketogenic diet. Is
that possible?

I must tell you, that being insulin resistant, I was a prime candidate to
become a pre-diabetic patient. Now that I found your diet, and I’m
successfully losing weight, and this is the first diet that I’ve been able to
succeed at, I am so incredibly appreciative of the work you have done.

I’ve been gaining weight for years, and there has been no solution to the
weight gain so far, and therefore I believe your diet, literally, is going to
save my life.

I’ve got about 50 pounds left to lose! I plan to lose it the slow way, I
am planning on a half a pound a week but with your diet I’ve been beating
that rate on a consistent basis.

Thank you thank you thank you,

Jon

Weight
loss
hadrion I decided to give Perfect Health Diet a go first and see where that takes
me. What I’ve learned from asking question to the Jaminets and reading their
answers is that a little sugar here and there in products and the sugar in
fruit isn’t going to kill you.

I can’t do a low carb Paleo diet as I never feel right on that kind of
eating plan and I end up gorging on nuts more than anything.

After 2 weeks on Perfect Health Diet I’ve seen some pretty impressive
changes in my body. My skin is clearer and less red. I’ve lost the
“bloat” I would get in my stomach after meals containing gluten. In
fact, I get full quicker on less food but the sense of full isn’t
uncomfortable; it’s just my body telling me to stop eating. I’ve lost some
weight in mid section that has been my most stubborn area as well. My wife,
who suffers from eczema, has had her condition lessened to the point that
it’s not an issue right now following the diet with me.

This leads me to a few things, chiefly, that gluten is not good for my
wife & I. My energy levels are more consistent and there’s less crashing
during the day avoiding gluten. I’ve had no inflammation although I stopped
my inflammation years ago following CS’s advice and using the supps he
recommends.

While I’m not dismissing Peat’s philosophy of diet, so far I feel pretty
great. I really think there’s a middle ground between these 2 styles of
eating that will work for people long term. That said, I’m going to stick to
Pefect Health for a full month and chart my progress and then I might try to
introduce some Peat ideas into the mix and see how the sugar from OJ and Ice
Cream play with how I feel. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be a
problem adding in those down the road. I am following Peat’s suggestion to
eat a raw carrot and coconut oil daily,

What I would encourage any of you dealing with inflammation or who feel
extremely bloated after a meal with wheat in it is to try to avoid gluten and
see if your body feels different. I had gone gluten free before but all I did
was replace wheat bread with gluten free breads and I paid no attention to
the oils used to make the products. The Perfect Health style of eating with
safe starches like potato, sweet potato and white rice makes following the
diet easy and pleasurable. We even made Perfect Health ice cream which uses
rice syrup in place of sugar and it was delicious and totally satisfied any
lingering sweet tooth.

So far, following the plan set out in the PHD has led to some nice
results.

Skin
redness, bloating, weight loss, eczema
Ole I have been on the PHD diet for over a year now. (I bought the draft
version in September 2010). My health has improved a lot. I have lost about
25kg and I’m now about 87kg (i’m 185cm tall). I’m probably healthier than an
average person on just about any performance metric. (Picture of me in summer
of 2010 and 2011. http://blisunn.no/2011/07/min-brors-nye-livsstil/)
weight
loss
Shelley I’ve been reading paleo, WAPF, low-carb sites for over a year now and
following your PHD as well. You can add me to the list of your success
stories as I lost 15 pounds , have no “cravings” eliminated GERD, heart
palpiations, panic attacts and other annoying pains.
weight
loss, food cravings, GERD / acid reflux, heart palpitations, panic attacks /
anxiety
P.wen Paul & Shou-ching,

Just want to thank you guys for all that you do. I’ve been doing paleo for
2 years now and this year my weight had been yo-yo-ing due to my binge
eating. After my thanksgiving binge I finally decided to get serious and add
in about 50-100g of carb per your recommendation and my cravings for sweets
had decreased a lot. Being able to eat starch got rid of the feeling of
deprivation and I no longer feel the need to eat dessert after every meal.
I’ve definitely gone off the PHD over Christmas but I was able to minimize
binging. After starting the PHD, I’ve also been less neurotic with food and
not feel as guilty when I eat food thats “not paleo”. I’m going to keep up
with PHD and hopefully I can get to a healthy stable weight and healthy
relationship with food!

weight
loss, binge eating, food cravings
Els and here and here I have been on PHD for almost 2 weeks now, doing IF 16/8 at the same time,
and have started with the supplements you have recommended 4 days ago. Since
I started PHD I do no longer crave for sweets. I used to eat chocolates
almost everyday and haven’t had it for over 2 weeks now. 🙂 I am so happy I
found your blog and got your book. Keep up the good works….

5 weeks ago I found PHD website and ordered the book. I am now on my 4th
week of PHD and doing pretty well eating 20% carbs. I also am taking the
supplements Paul had recommended after I emailed him to ask what I can add to
the one I was taking. One of the things I immediately noticed after doing PHD
is that it improved the quality of my sleep (used to keep waking up several
times at night and that is now a thing of the past because I now sleep
uninterrupted for 7-8 hours); and no more cramps in my calves (that used to
happen occasionally after a heavy work out); no more menstrual cramps as
well. Also, today is the first time i had my monthly period that i didn’t get
a pimple in my face. I usually get a big, really deep and hard to get rid of
pimple just before or during my monthly period and my husband or a
dermatologist would actually help me get it out especially if I had an
important function to attend to. I was thinking that may be IF and the
removal of wheat in my diet did greatly help me in seeing immediate improvement
in my sleep. So yes at least in my experience, a great improvement in my over
all health since I incorporated the principles that I learned from the PHD
book. And btw, I have a very sensitive skin (Atopic skin type or atopic/atopy
syndrome – a hereditary component, as my doctor calls it because my mo and
grandma had it too) and I usually get itchy and/or red spots in my skin all
the time but in the last 4 weeks the anti-itching cream which I carry
everywhere has never been used even once. And to top it all off, I lost 3 lbs
in the last 4 weeks (losing the 15 lb excess weight is not even on top of my
list because I am trying to get pregnant). I don’t have any health problems
and hardly get sick. I simply want to eat healthy and trying to figure out what
diet works best for me. And I found it! Thanks to PHD. Thanks to the
Jaminets! At 42, 5’6″ height, 125 lbs weight, and doing PHD on 20%
carbs, I feel great! And yes, I am sticking with PHD for the rest of my
life….

Btw, I continue to shed off some more fat even after I’ve increased my
carb intake to 30% last week. When I started the PHD 6 weeks ago, I weighed
128 lbs and now 122.4 lbs. I just hope I keep losing the last few fat I
wanted to shed off. Btw, I only weigh myself once a week at the same day and
time without fail and I also use a Digital Body Fat Caliper to measure my
body fat. So yes, I am definitely losing some body fat and no muscle loss!
That’s only after doing PHD for 6 weeks without changing my usual cardio
& weight training regimen. My trainer was very impressed when she weighed
me last week. I told her about PHD because she’s one of those people who
believes in eating 5-6 small meals a day. 🙂 I’ve done that for years but I
am definitely doing better by practising IF 16/8 and eating only 2-3 meals a
day. I am definitely seeing positive results since I started the PHD! The
elimination of wheat, sugar and cheese which I used to eat a lot everyday has
done great wonders in my body.

food
cravings, cramps / menstrual cramps, sleep, acne / pimples, body composition
Brian P. Many thanks for your book and blog as it has helped me lose 35 pounds and
counting over the last 5 months, along with a general improvement in energy
level and “evenness”. Extremely gratifying to find a way of eating which is
sustainable, totally satisfying and results in natural weight loss. And, I
have yet to add high intensity workouts to my normal morning and afternoon
walks. I have been talking to anyone who has expressed interest as the
potential of the diet is obviously tremendous!!

P.s. I strongly suspect PHD played a pivotal part in my wife getting
pregnant naturally, just prior to starting her next round of IVF.

weight
loss, energy, mood, infertility
Peter When I ate a VLC diet I found that hard liquor was extremely satisfying.
As soon as I added back starches, my desire for alcohol diminished greatly.

Like Cheeseslave’s experience when she IF’d, I wonder if a craving for
alcohol could show the body is trying to prop up blood sugar levels and wants
ethanol, since it digests quickly to glucose.

craving
for alcohol
Clarissa Just adding in my similar experience to Peter’s. When VLC Paleo I was
sucking down 2-3 glasses of wine a night. I’ve bumped up my carbs to the PHD
level, and have been able to stay off alcohol entirely for the last couple of
months. I’ve also lost about 5 more lbs since upping my carbs and quitting
alcohol. Now when I get a strong craving for alcohol, I can “satisfy” it by
having a few starchy carbs. Since going off alcohol and upping carbs I’ve
seen improvements in my mental function and sleep pattern.
craving
for alcohol
elizabethe I’ve struggled all my life with overweight, binge-like eating disorder
symptoms, and fluctuating weight and (undiagnosed but quite obvious) volatile
blood sugar. I’ve been roughly following PHD for some months now and it has
seriously reduced all of my previous binge-eating, hunger craving symptoms,
as well as vastly increasing the amount of time I can go between meals
without feeling frantic or emotional. I haven’t lost much weight, but my
weight has stabilized whereas before I was on a steady gaining trend.
binge
eating, weight gain, glycemic regulation

High blood pressure

 

Gary I’d
be glad to offer testimony confirming that PHD is a weight-loss diet. My own
loss isn’t dramatic, about 15 lbs. in the past year. My primary health
problem is sleep apnea, which I’ve had for many years/decades. It has led to
high blood pressure and weight gain. It is not caused by my weight but rather
sleep apnea caused me to gain weight. I’ve been thoroughly tested and know
the reasons for the apnea and am recovering primarily by using a cpap
breathing machine at night. PHD got my attention because it was primarily
about good health. I started following it a year ago and can say that it has
significantly improved my health. In addition, I also began to lose weight, a
welcome side benefit. I follow the basic diet recommendations and take all
the supplements. I get enthusiastic about PHD and tell my friends about it,
but the most frequent response I’d get was that it may be great, but it means
home cooking everything. I’d counter that home cooking isn’t hard. So finally
I set up a small website that shows how I’ve done my own interpretation of a
PHD meal plan and the home cooking that make it possible to do it during the
week, working 50-hour days and making 2 or 3 meals a day for me and my
spouse. I call it “10 minute meal.” It might be of use to others:
10minutemeal.com
weight
loss, high blood pressure
Advocatus Avocado I’m a great proponent of the PH diet. I’m pleased to report that after
dramatically increasing my saturated fat intake and following some of the
proscriptive measures in the book that my blood pressure has decreased from
130/85 to 118/74. My resting heart rate has also decreased, and I now sleep
much more soundly.
blood
pressure, sleep quality
L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure

Mood and cognitive function

 

Mary(more here) There
is a whole pan of dark chocolate gluten-free brownies in my kitchen, and I’ve
had no desire for them all day. I’m crediting the supplements (I’m on all the
PHD recommended supplements save kelp), and I’m particularly thinking copper
has made a big difference (I’ve suspected a copper deficiency for some time
as I started going gray young). Or perhaps also selenium. (I’m
hypothyroid…hoping for some improvement there.)In any case, I feel great
physically, I’ve not been binge-y or nearly as much as a sweet freak (and
I’ve been known to eat an entire bag of caramels in less than an hour, and
then head out to the store for more), and I’ve felt mentally stable and
pretty happy. I feel great on this plan, and maybe more importantly, I’ve
noticed that I have many more calm, good mood days than otherwise. I think
it’s the combination of the Perfect Health eating plan and the recommended
supplements. I’ve not lost more weight since my last check-in – I seem to be
at a plateau – but I’m still seven pounds down since I started, so that’s
good.
Reduced
cravings, improved mood, weight loss
Bella Perhaps
this is as good a place on your site as any to share the improvements I
experienced after switching from a gut healing diet that generally can be
described as VLC Paleo to PHD. What’s even more remarkable than the
improvements themselves is that they occurred *within 48 hours* of seriously
increasing my safe starch consumption. I couldn’t have special ordered it any
better. 1. Constipation is gone. 2. Fungal (?) rash is gone. 3. Powdery
substance in urine is gone. (After reading here about how VLC diets can cause
excess excretion of uric acid, I’m certain this was the problem.) 4. Energy
and mood are way better. 5. I like what I’m eating now, I am sated, and my
instincts are no longer telling me something’s missing. This intangible
effect has made perhaps the biggest impact on my day-to-day quality of life.
Thank you PJ and S-CJ! Your PHD came into my life at exactly the right time
and produced exactly the changes I needed. Sweet relief! I am still working
out some hormonal issues, and fighting fungi, but my glucose deficiency
symptoms are gone, and I feel better than I have in a year, which is to say I
feel normal, finally. My husband has virtually no symptoms of colitis now.
We’re looking forward to his upcoming flex sig to prove that the disease process
has been reversed, so that the GI doctor will stop telling us that there’s no
way dietary changes alone could’ve cured the disease, that my husband must be
in symptomatic remission with a still-flaming colon. Doc doesn’t know what to
make of us. So indulge me in a bit of gushing when I tell you I’m utterly
grateful for both your product (the book) and service (advice on your site).
The one-on-one advice is a very powerful way to connect with your audience.
It’s as if I can *feel* the sense of community and healing when I’m on your
site. You’ve got a special thing going.
fungal
infections, low energy, impaired mood, constipation
jtl When
I began implementing PHD a few weeks ago I cut fruit back to about 80
calories/day and upped starch intake with sweet potatoes, potatoes, sourdough
buckwheat pancakes, and white rice. Within a couple of weeks chronic health
issues such as itchy, flaky scalp, tense painful neck and shoulder muscles,
and cyclical vaginal itching had disappeared, my mood had improved
noticeably, and I was able to do a little weight-lifting without it wiping me
out physically and mentally. 2 weeks ago I cut out fruit entirely and began
getting all my carbs in PHD proportions from white rice, sweet potatoes,
sourdough buckwheat cakes, and potatoes and saw a dramatic improvement in
mood and ability to work-out without negative effects, and the
fuzzy-headeded/blurry-eyedness that I’ve felt intermittently throughout the
day for as long as I can remember disappeared. For the first time in my life
I felt happy, relaxed, patient, care-free, clear-headed/eyed, and not hungry
(I’ve always noticed being hungry in my head, not my belly).
fungal
infections, impaired mood, fatigue, dry eyes, food cravings
Deacon Patrick Thank
you for the gift of better brain function you have given me! A few months ago
I switched to ketogenic diet, and now a completely Paleo diet based in large
part on your Perfect Health Diet — the differences I’ve experienced are
amazing…. The more ketogenic my diet, the better my brain capacity,
cognitive energy, energy stability, longevity, and the better I feel….
brain
injury recovery
Pia I
am struck by this from Paul’s post: “Good health, I believe, leads to
good spirits.” Have been on PHD for only about 3 weeks and I am amazed
by my new outlook on life. I was not ‘unhealthy’ before (by modern
standards)– but I feel so much more able to see the positive now. Thanks a
million.
mood
gp2x I
can’t believe how much better I feel!… I had been eating (very) low-carb and
high-protein for the better part of a decade – and I had gotten a lot of
practice arrogantly dismissing suggestions (from any source) that I should
change anything about my diet…. Results: (after 1.5 months or so.)

  1. <span
    >I’m no longer
    “brain-dead” and unable to think in the evenings after work.
  2. <span
    >I no longer have fruit
    or chocolate cravings.
  3. <span
    >I’m much happier, and
    wake up looking forward to the day.
  4. <span
    >I’ve been much more
    social.
  5. <span
    >The extra starch has
    not resulted in weight gain. (I always gained weight when eating carbs
    before.)
  6. <span
    >It looks like the
    fasting (which I’ve never tried before) is helping my alertness and also
    contributing to healthy weight loss.

It
took less than a week for me to notice dramatic changes…. I can’t recommend
this book highly enough.

food
cravings, mood, alertness
Lisa Weis Yours
is by far, the best Paleo / Ancestral diet that makes sense…. I was very
strict Paleo for a good 8 months, and yes felt fantastic and lost 10ks etc.
But then started feeling tired, moody. Enter some carbs (from the suggestion
of your book) in the source of potato and rice and taro – and now I’m feeling
a whole lot better. Did I put on weight. Of course not! Essentially now I eat
what my body craves. I can listen to it now and it responds accordingly. It
knows when it needs more carbs (eg., after exercise). And it knows how much as
well.
fatigue,
mood
Sarah I
eat circa 100g carbs from starch a day not including veg and this has been
one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health along with including a
vitamin C supplement. My low-level depression and anxiety have completely
disappeared and the diet is considerably more varied and easier to stick to
than VLC.
depression,
anxiety
Morris
G (
comment 1, comment 2, comment 3)
A
couple of months after starting PHD there was an obvious improvement in mood
and cognitive function. Now 12 months later the mental improvements persist
but do not seem to be growing. … I’ve had joint “noises” for about 20 years
(I’m 72yo) but no direct discomfort from the noise effect. The frequency and
magnitude has increased over time but only very slowly. I tend to think that
the degree of crepitude correlates (weakly) with general joint health eg time
to recover from episodes of tendonitis or discomfort caused by overuse. I
have ignored this “crepitude” as being an unavoidable aging effect until
recently, when my manageable back/neck aches spontaneously improved and that
happened about 3 months after adopting the PHD diet (although I didn’t know
at the time that the diet was PHD). For example I can sleep on my back for
the first time in 8 years and turn my neck 90 deg without any discomfort. My
exercise regime has not changed from pre-PHD and is not too strenuous, about
2-3 hrs total/week of which most is moderate effort cardio with some
resistance. The odd thing is that pre-PHD, with the same exercise effort, if
I increased calories my fat would easily but slowly increase, but not now….
I feel great …  
mood,
cognitive function, joint function, weight
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

hypothyroidism,
bowel function, mood
Karin I have particularly severe, chronic, complicated, and often silent
migraines. I have had these since childhood all day everyday. Because they
were often silent (no pain) they would manifest in various other ways, thus
leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders and schizophrenia for many years.
At one point I was also misdiagnosed with epilepsy as well. After one
particularly smart neurologist saw and tested me, I was placed on blood
pressure medications for migraines. This worked. The problem is that my body
constantly fights to readjust to the medications. After a few months at one
dose, it seems I start to get migraines again. So it would go up and the same
thing would repeat again. I was looking for a different solution and I
stumbled across this article.

I’ve been on the keto diet for nearly a month and it is the best thing
that has happened to me. I’m migraine free and medication free. My mood is
incredibly stable, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, I have
lots of energy, I can concentrate for hours on end, etc. I’ve lost weight
also, a much loved side effect. Thank you for writing this!

migraines,
mood, sleep, energy, weight loss
Michelle IME, a comprehensive stool test proved helpful. I found a fungal infection
which I treated with two bottles of ProEnt-2. I found bacterial overgrowths,
which I treated with Natren probiotics. The stool test showed gluten
intolerance as well, and seeing the results on paper helped me to take the
leap & kiss gluten goodbye.

I was also positive to toxoplasma, which I have not treated due to cost
and efficacy of treatment. Maybe down the line?

I had a sudden severe arthritis flare and have been on low dose pulsing
Doxy for it, successfully, since 2008.

My thyroid function has improved as I’ve gotten healthier. My guess is
improving iodine status and other micronutrient status, plus knocking back
infections are the major contributors.

I’m no longer anemic.

I used SAM-e successfully, for 2-3 years at 200-400 mg per day, upon
waking to help with low mood….

I can’t tell you how empowering it felt to take steps, and to slowly see
my labs improve. In my case, my labs tends to improve a bit ahead of
symptoms.

Good luck to you! There are often many pieces to the puzzle! You may find
it helpful, as did I, to minimize your variables, and track your protocol to
the best of your ability.

Infections,
arthritis, hypothyroidism, anemia, mood
Anonymous (also here) I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and am taking a very low dose
of risperdal (same drug in higher doses used to treat schizophrenia).

I had been doing very low carb for many years and do now wonder if it
actually made my symptoms much worse. (I was diagnosed with BPD while doing
very low carb.) Following the PHD diet has greatly reduced my symptoms. I
feel like a new person.

Better mood

I have found that following the PHD diet (in particular, getting enough
Omega 3 and not excessive Omega 6 and eating PHD “safe starches”, etc.,
eliminating toxins (grains, legumes, vegetable oils, soy, etc.), taking the
recommended supplements, and doing the optional intermittent fasting) has
helped me tremendously. I feel so much better now: better mood, more energy,
more patient, clearer thinking, happier, calmer, less emotional, less
anxiety, and better able to cope with issues such as difficult people.

Very nutritious, no cravings

This diet is super healthy and does allow plenty of choices: meat, fish,
vegetables (peas & green beans are fine), nuts (not peanuts which are a
legume), fruit, “safe starches” (rice pasta, sweet/white potatoes and white
rice), wine (which I like but don’t drink due to Rx), healthy fat like lard,
butter, cream, olive oil and coconut oil, dairy, chocolate, eggs, fermented
vegetables and some safe sweeteners such as rice syrup. A benefit of eating a
variety of healthy foods including “safe starches”: no cravings.

Intermittent fasting – easy

This is optional, but I’m so happy I discovered this. Fasting sounds
difficult and you’d think it would involve hunger and suffering and a strong
will power, but not so. No need to go hungry. And I’m not even hungry and
don’t suffer but feel great and clearer thinking/more energy in the morning (even
with my risperdal which for years had made me lethargic in the morning)
during my daily intermittent fasting (16 hour fast with coconut oil during
the fast with 8 hours feeding). When the fast is over, I eat normally:
usually 2 meals and a snack during the 8 hour feeding window, sometimes just
2 meals. I’m not ravenous when it’s time to eat, surprisingly. Sure, I’m a
little hungry, but in no hurry to eat and sometimes the fast lasts longer
than 16 hours just because of circumstances. And I exercise during the fast –
no problem with a lack of energy. No longer am I anxious about eating every 4
hours like I used to be while doing the low carb. In fact, I think I have a
much healthier relationship with food – it’s not so important and I know I
can go without it if I need to. Food doesn’t control me anymore. It has
really simplified my life.

Raynaud’s

Another benefit of the PHD is that my Raynaud’s is much better now and I’m
not as cold as I used to be. I think this was helped by eating more healthy
fat and Omega 3.

So give PHD a try if you want to feel better and be healthy too. I highly
recommend it – it really has worked for me.

Thank you so much, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! 🙂

Borderline
Personality Disorder, mood, energy, anxiety, food cravings, Raynaud’s
KH I’m type 1 diabetic …

Just this morning, I took my A1c home test (by Bayer) which includes two
tests in the box. Because of the unbelievably low result of first test, I
took the second one (different finger, different hand) to check… Results:

test 1- 5.2

test 2- 5.3 …

I know the diet here is helping me a lot and I’ve been feeling more
energetic lately and less moody, which my husband is VERY HAPPY about!!

Type
I diabetes, energy, mood
Brian P. Many thanks for your book and blog as it has helped me lose 35 pounds and
counting over the last 5 months, along with a general improvement in energy
level and “evenness”. Extremely gratifying to find a way of eating which is
sustainable, totally satisfying and results in natural weight loss. And, I
have yet to add high intensity workouts to my normal morning and afternoon
walks. I have been talking to anyone who has expressed interest as the
potential of the diet is obviously tremendous!!

P.s. I strongly suspect PHD played a pivotal part in my wife getting
pregnant naturally, just prior to starting her next round of IVF.

weight
loss, energy, mood, infertility
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

Hypothyroidism,
energy, adrenal fatigue, bowel function, mood

Mental health conditions

 

Sarah I
eat circa 100g carbs from starch a day not including veg and this has been
one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health along with including a
vitamin C supplement. My low-level depression and anxiety have completely
disappeared and the diet is considerably more varied and easier to stick to
than VLC.
depression,
anxiety
Kate I
too have had Raynaud’s all my life … In the past two months, I have modified
my diet in line with Paul’s suggestions for Migraine. I now eat 200 calories
worth of safe starch, all the recommended supplements, and as much coconut
oil as I can stomach. I am also doing the 16/8 fast. My Raynaud’s has further
improved, as measured by the fact I sometimes forget to turn the heat up in
the morning, and cold extremities don’t always alert me to my
forgetfulness!… Thanks for asking about the Migraines. They are in fact
vastly improved, which I attribute solely to your recommendations. I can say
that, because I have tried virtually everything else in the past…. Clearly
something remarkable is happening, thanks to your recommendations! A little
history. I started getting these headaches in my late 30s. (I am now 52). In
the beginning I thought I had the stomach flu, because in addition to the
headache I would always throw up or have dry heaves. The worst headaches
would keep me immobilized in bed for up to two days. My brother-in-law, a
neurologist, convinced me they were migraines. I finally consulted a doctor,
who put me on midrin, which did not help, and a few months later I started on
imitrex, which did help, at least at first. Eventually, my headache pattern
evolved, and I had at least a mild headache every day, punctuated by the
occasional doozy. Apparently, this is a pretty common progression, especially
with women my age. I always suspected there was something wrong with my
lifestyle or diet, and over the years I have tried numerous experiments, but
nothing ever worked. … In January, in my blog travels, I stumbled on your
site. I ordered the book and was intrigued by your and Shou-Ching’s ideas
about disease and chronic conditions. I was already familiar with the idea of
a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, so I was immediately interested in trying a
more ketogenic diet for myself. I ordered all your basic supplements, and
immediately upped my kelp to two capsules. I had been using coconut oil for
curries, so I started using it habitually. Started eating 200 calories of
starches that you recommended—this was a little scary, after studiously
avoiding them for four years! I was afraid I they might keep me awake at
night, but I am sleeping like a log. Started fasting 16/8, which was easy
once you absolved me for having cream in my morning coffee! Within a
week of starting this regimen my chronic headache started to disappear!

Some days I would only have a headache for part of the day, and occasionally
I would have no headache at all! I read somewhere on your site that NAC is
good on a ketogenic diet, so I ordered it too. I had never heard of this
supplement before. It seems to have made a further positive difference. I
have started taking it twice a day. Once before bed, and once in the late
afternoon, when the headache sometimes starts coming back. Since I
added NAC, I have been nearly headache free.
Another amazing
development concerns anxiety. Over the years I have become somewhat anxious
when I drive on highways. I grip the steering wheel tightly, sit forward in
the seat, and am generally hyper vigilant. I always chided myself for my lack
of nerves, but that didn’t help. As mentioned above, this was magnified by
the Topomax. I never had this issue when I was younger; indeed I used to fly
helicopters in the army. Two weeks ago I drove up to New Jersey to pick up my
daughter, a 3.5 hour trip from where I live in Northern Virginia. I stopped two
hours into the trip to make a pit stop, and I suddenly realized I was totally
relaxed, and had been for the entire trip! The PHD is strong brain medicine
indeed! Thanks for all your research, insights, and ideas. I think the
Perfect Health Diet is going to be a game changer for many people. Hopefully
it is the start of a sea change at how we approach the chronic maladies of
our times.
Raynaud’s,
migraines, anxiety
Stephanie When I went on the Perfect Health Diet plan, I hoped to clean up my eating
habits and address some of my thyroid issues through food choices. As it
happens, the PHD plan is not just about food; there is actually a pretty
aggressive recommended supplement plan. (Aggressive, that is, for me, as I’ve
traditionally been a “multi-plus-maybe-some-vitamin-D” person.) Since the
supplement plan didn’t involve drastically cutting sugar or giving up the
fresh, hot gluten-filled rolls I was habitually baking for my family (as the
food plan does, sigh), I did the pills first.

Because I was not expecting to get any bang for my vitamin and mineral
buck, I didn’t watch for any reactions, good or bad, that I might have to
this or that supplement. I didn’t take a scientific approach to starting on a
new pill or capsule. I included each recommended supplement in my morning
cocktail as it arrived in the mail. Pretty quickly (thanks to Amazon Prime),
I had added the following to my multi-vitamin and 1000 IUs of vitamin D3:
vitamin C (500 mg), vitamin K2 (100 mcg), copper (2 mg), chromium (200 mcg),
iodine (500 mcg), magnesium (400 mg), and selenium (200 mcg).

Within a few days after I was on everything, I noticed a major change, not
physically, but mentally — a major reduction in OCD symptoms and general
anxiety. I was first struck while I was driving to the food store. I had a
feeling of competence and ease. I was not gripping the steering wheel. I was,
in fact, steering with one hand. This is not something I do. Generally, I
drive waiting for an accident, acutely aware of my killing potential. But now
I felt…not indifferent to others’ wellbeing, by any means, but as capable as
the other drivers on the road.

This was strange! And it took a little mental work for me to accept that
perhaps I felt like a competent driver because I am one, not because I was
suddenly drugged and delusional. A few days later, I began to feel that I was
perhaps a bit too mellow. In poking around a little, I learned that the
recommended dose for magnesium for women is 200 mg (400 mg is the recommended
dose for men). Also, I have low blood pressure, and I was concerned that too
much magnesium would lower it even more. So I bumped my dose down. That felt
more natural.

Then, the real test: I had an upset in my personal life, the sort of thing
that generally sets me off in a spiral of obsessing, “phoning in” my
obligations to my sons, driving my husband crazy, clenching my jaw, eating
obsessively, and just generally getting sucked into a vortex of negativity
and pulling my family and friends down with me. Only I didn’t. I was upset
for a bit, processed the situation, and moved on. This was major, and
completely unexpected.

With minimal research (laziness being central to my character), I learned
that many folks with OCD find symptom relief with selenium supplementation,
so I’ve decided that this was likely key to my newfound mental health
improvement. I’ve taken magnesium in the past with no reduction in OCD
symptoms.

I may in the near future try eliminating selenium for a bit to see if my
OCD symptoms ramp up. The trick will be finding a “good” time to invite that
lovely obsessing back into my psyche.

If you grapple with OCD, you might want to give selenium a try. Note that
too much selenium is toxic, so monitor your intake. And if you regularly eat
Brazil nuts, you are already getting a big hit of selenium, so be careful.

Obsessive-compulsive
disorder, anxiety
Anonymous (also here) I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and am taking a very low dose
of risperdal (same drug in higher doses used to treat schizophrenia).

I had been doing very low carb for many years and do now wonder if it
actually made my symptoms much worse. (I was diagnosed with BPD while doing
very low carb.) Following the PHD diet has greatly reduced my symptoms. I
feel like a new person.

Better mood

I have found that following the PHD diet (in particular, getting enough
Omega 3 and not excessive Omega 6 and eating PHD “safe starches”, etc.,
eliminating toxins (grains, legumes, vegetable oils, soy, etc.), taking the
recommended supplements, and doing the optional intermittent fasting) has
helped me tremendously. I feel so much better now: better mood, more energy,
more patient, clearer thinking, happier, calmer, less emotional, less
anxiety, and better able to cope with issues such as difficult people.

Very nutritious, no cravings

This diet is super healthy and does allow plenty of choices: meat, fish,
vegetables (peas & green beans are fine), nuts (not peanuts which are a
legume), fruit, “safe starches” (rice pasta, sweet/white potatoes and white
rice), wine (which I like but don’t drink due to Rx), healthy fat like lard,
butter, cream, olive oil and coconut oil, dairy, chocolate, eggs, fermented
vegetables and some safe sweeteners such as rice syrup. A benefit of eating a
variety of healthy foods including “safe starches”: no cravings.

Intermittent fasting – easy

This is optional, but I’m so happy I discovered this. Fasting sounds
difficult and you’d think it would involve hunger and suffering and a strong
will power, but not so. No need to go hungry. And I’m not even hungry and
don’t suffer but feel great and clearer thinking/more energy in the morning (even
with my risperdal which for years had made me lethargic in the morning)
during my daily intermittent fasting (16 hour fast with coconut oil during
the fast with 8 hours feeding). When the fast is over, I eat normally:
usually 2 meals and a snack during the 8 hour feeding window, sometimes just
2 meals. I’m not ravenous when it’s time to eat, surprisingly. Sure, I’m a
little hungry, but in no hurry to eat and sometimes the fast lasts longer
than 16 hours just because of circumstances. And I exercise during the fast –
no problem with a lack of energy. No longer am I anxious about eating every 4
hours like I used to be while doing the low carb. In fact, I think I have a
much healthier relationship with food – it’s not so important and I know I
can go without it if I need to. Food doesn’t control me anymore. It has
really simplified my life.

Raynaud’s

Another benefit of the PHD is that my Raynaud’s is much better now and I’m
not as cold as I used to be. I think this was helped by eating more healthy
fat and Omega 3.

So give PHD a try if you want to feel better and be healthy too. I highly
recommend it – it really has worked for me.

Thank you so much, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! 🙂

Borderline
Personality Disorder, mood, energy, anxiety, food cravings, Raynaud’s
Timothy J Hicks Background: I was an Atkins dieter in the 1990’s. Lost a lot of weight,
but staying on it was difficult.

Last year I came off a bout of depression determined to beat it without
drugs. I stopped eating sugar and (surprise!) started losing weight. Since
exercise is also helpful to depression, I thought that it would be better if
I kept losing weight to reduce my chance of injury while exercising. Along
the way I found that many of the things that are recommended in the Perfect
Health Diet greatly helped me in losing weight.

I lost a total of seventy pounds. As a man at fifty-five years old and 195
pounds, I am now in better physical condition than I was in my 20’s. This is
due in large part to the dietary recommendations in the Perfect Health Diet.

What is even better is that the recommendations in the Perfect Health Diet
led to removing the last things that were contributing to my depression. I
believe now that grains and omega-6 in vegetable oil was making me depressed.
That’s why adding omega-3 fish oil to your diet helps fight depression,
something I had started doing without understanding why.

To go back to the beginning, the Atkins diet had two flaws which
undermined long-term weight loss:

1) Atkins diet “phases” lead to the idea that somehow you lose
your weight and then slowly phase back into eating “normal” food.
Atkins didn’t say this exactly, but it’s implied.

2) When Atkins wrote the Diet Revolution book, he didn’t have access to
the research that we have now, and couldn’t see that some fats (high omega-6
vegetable oils) are bad for you, while some carbs in moderation (rice, sweet
potato) are okay. His blanket recommendation to get rid of all carbs would
have been better focused on SUGAR, FRUCTOSE and GRAINS.

The Perfect Health Diet is written so that you can read to whatever depth
of scientific detail you want to. I am about done with my third time through.
My particular health issue is depression, and the Perfect Health Diet has
many links to dietary causes of depression. The most helpful aspect is that
it is written from the perspective that this way of eating is a PERMANENT
change, and that this way of eating is based on sound science, including
cultural and epidemiology studies, not just lab experiments.

This book is a good companion volume to “Why We Get Fat: And What to
Do About It” by Gary Taubes.

The only qualification that I would add is that the book recommends eating
a lot of fish rather than using supplements for omega-3. This recommendation
is based on the observation that most fish oil capsules are stored at room
temperature and the oil may go rancid without you knowing it. My answer is to
take fish oil as a liquid and KEEP IT REFRIGERATED. It’s lemon or lime
flavored and refrigeration keeps the the fishy taste down. No capsules needed,
and it’s actually cheaper than capsules.

Again, as a person who has lost seventy pounds and now enjoy a life free
of depression. I wholeheartedly recommend the Perfect Health Diet.

depression,
obesity
Shelley I’ve been reading paleo, WAPF, low-carb sites for over a year now and
following your PHD as well. You can add me to the list of your success
stories as I lost 15 pounds , have no “cravings” eliminated GERD, heart
palpiations, panic attacts and other annoying pains.
weight
loss, food cravings, GERD / acid reflux, heart palpitations, panic attacks /
anxiety

Digestive disorders

 

Angie It’s
anecdotal, but all four people in my family experienced a variety of new
symptoms (seasonal allergies, constipation, worsening of heartburn, bladder
spasms, dry eyes, increasing tiredness and low energy) when we did GAPS.
These problems didn’t resolve until we luckily stumbled upon PHD and added
back safe starches. I think GAPS would be much improved by allowing more PHD
safe starches and doing away with all the honey and nuts which are
considerably harder on many people’s systems (they definitely are on mine!)
than potatoes and white rice.
Allergies,
heartburn, dry eyes, low energy
Dr. Jacs In
an effort to jazz up my nutrition and increase my energy availability, I’m
doing the
target=”_blank” title=”Perfect Health Diet”>Perfect Health Diet with a vengeance. I really love this way of eating, and
feel well on it. It’s good for my gut and my sleep.
digestion,
sleep
Erik
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
Your
book and writings have totally changed the way I think about my diet,
nutrition and health. So in the past year, I have minimized grains, cut out
processed food, do not eat sweets and avoid omega-6 rich cooking oils like
the plague. I have increased my intake of saturated fat by several fold and
use butter and coconut oil as my cooking oils. I eat eggs for breakfast and
add cream/coconut milk to my coffee. I eat sardines and salmon weekly. I get
plenty of sunshine and exercise several times a week. I eat just as much
fruits and vegetables as I did in the past. I do however consume more sweet
potatoes and potatoes. I use to avoid the “evil” potato as well!… I
basically do not calorie count and eat to what I feel. I have actually lost
weight and my skin has become healthier as well. My lips do not become
chapped like they use to in the past. I always had chapped lips for most of
my life…. I have been well overall. The phd is working great for me. Also,
my son’s gastrointestinal issues have been improving from the addition of
probiotics and better nutrition. He is also starting to say a lot more words
this summer. He is asking for things with words for the first time. I can’t
say what helped him since there are so many variables interplaying but I am
happy to see improvements in language. Our pediatrician was shocked and
excited about his improvements. I think his probiotics, gluten free diet,
vitamin supplements and intensive ABA therapy have helped a lot. My son’s
autism has been a very good learning experience. I feel very lucky to have
you as a fantastic resource of information. Many thanks again for your help
and kindness!
weight
loss, chapped lips; his son: autism, GI issues
Jordan Reasoner I
have battled Celiac disease for some time and got about 80% better with a
Paleo diet… but the Perfect Health Diet was the first book that could finally
answer that last 20% with science based logic.
Celiac
disease
Brussie About
5 years ago, I started having horrible stomach problems (pain, bloating,
etc.), extreme fatigue, weight gain of about 15 lbs, and anemia. After many
useless visits to traditional doctors, I finally went to see a naturopath who
put me on a restricted diet: no sugar (or fruit), no grains other than rice,
no cow dairy, no legumes, no nuts. It was actually pretty much a PHD diet.
Within 4 months on this diet I felt 80% better; the fatigue was gone, I lost
the weight, and the anemia went away (with some help from iron supplements),
and my stomach pain was intermittent and brief when it did occur. I went on
like this for about 2 years. Then, about 2 years ago, I discovered the paleo
diet. It was already similar to the way I was eating with some minor tweaks:
upping the fat content of my diet, eliminating rice and sweet potatoes,
adding back some moderate fruit. Within a year of eating this way, I began
experiencing some additional stomach discomfort, more bloating and pain. I
went to see a doctor for some help. Unfortunately, she just made the
situation worse…. Well, I adopted the PHD in October 2010 and I am happy to
say that my stomach issues are almost completely gone…. I would definitely
recommend PHD to anyone looking for a healthy way of eating. I would also
recommend it for anyone who is still experiencing stomach issues while on a
paleo diet.
digestive
problems
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

hypothyroidism,
bowel function, mood
Alex I recently had my carotid arteries evaluated via ultrasound for plaque and
narrowing and was told there is no evidence of either. A year ago, just
before adopting a PHD type diet, an MRI of my heart revealed “significant”
plaque on one of my coronary arteries and less significant on another…. I’m
in my mid 40s, lean, active, and have seen many health improvements since
adopting the diet (less joint stiffness, no more chronic back pain, milder
colds, fewer allergy symptoms, less gas, less bloating, need for less sleep.
atherosclerosis,
joint stiffness, back pain, allergies, bowel distress
L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure
Joan Hi Paul

I haven’t posted for a while but continue to be an avid reader of your
blog. I thought an update was due.

Quick background: Crohn’s for 16.5 years. Steroids for most of that time
as other Crohn’s meds ineffective. Got off steroids in Oct 2011 after 14
months on an almost zero carb diet. Glucose deficiency symptoms led me to
your site. Added in safe starches in November and started to implement PHD
with recommended supplements. Did a home fecal transplant in December.

I’ve particularly concentrated on raising my Vit D levels
(supplementation) and optimising thyroid function (selenium and iodine and
increasing thyroid hormone). Both are now in the normal range.

All these things improved my general sense of well-being and energy levels
but the Crohn’s was still a problem.

I did a Metametrix GI Effects Stool test in March hoping to find something
significant. The results were disappointingly good: no pathogens; commensal
bacteria were all present (a result of fecal transplant??). I did have high
inflammation and red blood cells present, indicating active Crohn’s.

During this time, since coming off steroids, I was able to observe the
nature of the Crohn’s without the confusion of medications. My observations
convinced me that it was an infection and research indicates mycobacterium
avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is the most likely pathogen. High E.Coli counts
in my stool test seem to confim this.

So, re-reading you assertion that intra-cellular bacteria can only feed on
glucose not ketones, I realised that the exacerbation of the Crohn’s was due
to coming off the ketogenic zero carb diet and adding in too many starches
(300 – 400 cals). For the last month I’ve dropped back to 200 cals, kept to a
daily 6 to 7 hour feeding window, and added in BCAAs and MCT oil (I was
already taking coconut oil). My Crohn’s symptoms have improved steadily. I
have very little tummy pain now. I do still have some diarrhea but that is
probably due to the high fat content of my diet.

It is very unlikely that anti-MAP antibiotics will be made available to
Crohn’s patients anytime soon, therefore I’m convinced a ketogenic, low-fibre
form of PHD is the best way to manage my Crohn’s. Thanks for all your
information, Paul. I’m thrilled with my progress thus far.

Regards, Joan

Footnote2: My sister continues to be free of eczema. Thanks so much,
again.

Crohn’s,
hypothyroidism, general wellbeing; eczema
Raham Robert Fodrek Thank you so much for all the support you offer. I have been following
your diet for a few months and in many ways feel much better. Last year at
this time I could barely walk (29 years old). I was diagnosed with Crohns
along with several other autoimmune diseases (including a lesion on the
spinal cord).
Crohn’s,
autoimmune diseases, spinal cord lesion
Nick Hi Paul,

Thank you so much for the fantastic information! I am one of the new
followers of the PHD. I listened to the your interview with Dr. Mercola and
wanted to learn more. I bought your book and started reading it immediately.
I am about 3/4 through it and all the information is just fascinating. For
about 12 years now I’ve been suffering from acid reflux. Trying many
different medicines including the deadly “purple pill”. I was on this for
roughly 7 years and just up until recently I started experiencing more and
more heartburn and a boat load of other problems. I was tested and poked and
prodded and what the doctors came up with is that my gastric levels were
elevated. He recommended I get off the PPI and switch back to the H2. I did
this for 3 more years but recently I started getting uncontrollable heartburn
all the time. I then checked out your interview about 2 weeks ago and started
on the PHD for about a week now and have not had to take my ranitadine in 5
days. It almost seems to good to be true. I am very grateful for the
information in your book. Thank you very much!

acid
reflux
hadrion I decided to give Perfect Health Diet a go first and see where that takes
me. What I’ve learned from asking question to the Jaminets and reading their
answers is that a little sugar here and there in products and the sugar in
fruit isn’t going to kill you.

I can’t do a low carb Paleo diet as I never feel right on that kind of
eating plan and I end up gorging on nuts more than anything.

After 2 weeks on Perfect Health Diet I’ve seen some pretty impressive
changes in my body. My skin is clearer and less red. I’ve lost the
“bloat” I would get in my stomach after meals containing gluten. In
fact, I get full quicker on less food but the sense of full isn’t
uncomfortable; it’s just my body telling me to stop eating. I’ve lost some
weight in mid section that has been my most stubborn area as well. My wife,
who suffers from eczema, has had her condition lessened to the point that
it’s not an issue right now following the diet with me.

This leads me to a few things, chiefly, that gluten is not good for my
wife & I. My energy levels are more consistent and there’s less crashing
during the day avoiding gluten. I’ve had no inflammation although I stopped
my inflammation years ago following CS’s advice and using the supps he
recommends.

While I’m not dismissing Peat’s philosophy of diet, so far I feel pretty
great. I really think there’s a middle ground between these 2 styles of
eating that will work for people long term. That said, I’m going to stick to
Pefect Health for a full month and chart my progress and then I might try to
introduce some Peat ideas into the mix and see how the sugar from OJ and Ice
Cream play with how I feel. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be a
problem adding in those down the road. I am following Peat’s suggestion to
eat a raw carrot and coconut oil daily,

What I would encourage any of you dealing with inflammation or who feel
extremely bloated after a meal with wheat in it is to try to avoid gluten and
see if your body feels different. I had gone gluten free before but all I did
was replace wheat bread with gluten free breads and I paid no attention to
the oils used to make the products. The Perfect Health style of eating with
safe starches like potato, sweet potato and white rice makes following the
diet easy and pleasurable. We even made Perfect Health ice cream which uses
rice syrup in place of sugar and it was delicious and totally satisfied any
lingering sweet tooth.

So far, following the plan set out in the PHD has led to some nice
results.

Skin
redness, bloating, weight loss, eczema
Brian Paul, Many thanks for the excellent work and great book.

I started PHD a few week before Christmas, and even with a few holiday
wobbles, I can honestly say that I am already starting to see a number
benefits.

I have no serious health issues as such, but a number of smaller/low level
chronic ones – headaches, gastric reflux, fatigue, stomach bloating and
gradual weight gain.

Gradually over a few shorts weeks the aforementioned issues have either
gone or dramatically subsided. My weight is starting to decrease (albeit
slowly) and my energy levels /sleep pattern is far better.

I’ve recommended your book to family and work colleagues as a result.

I think the main plus point of the diet is that it is ‘doable’.
Eliminating wheat and reducing fructose has been surprisingly easy, reducing
vegetable oil exposure more difficult.

Being allowed to each ‘safe starches’ has been great, as I’ve found
strictly low carb both difficult to sustain and left me not feeling optimal.

All in all I’m delighted, and so glad I found your website & book.

Many thanks

headaches,
acid reflux, fatigue, bloating, weight gain
Shelley I’ve been reading paleo, WAPF, low-carb sites for over a year now and
following your PHD as well. You can add me to the list of your success
stories as I lost 15 pounds , have no “cravings” eliminated GERD, heart
palpiations, panic attacts and other annoying pains.
weight
loss, food cravings, GERD / acid reflux, heart palpitations, panic attacks /
anxiety
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

Hypothyroidism,
energy, adrenal fatigue, bowel function, mood

Autoimmune disease

 

Raham Robert Fodrek Thank you so much for all the support you offer. I have been following
your diet for a few months and in many ways feel much better. Last year at
this time I could barely walk (29 years old). I was diagnosed with Crohns
along with several other autoimmune diseases (including a lesion on the
spinal cord).
Crohn’s,
autoimmune diseases, spinal cord lesion

Sleep quality

 

Dr. Jacs In
an effort to jazz up my nutrition and increase my energy availability, I’m
doing the
target=”_blank” title=”Perfect Health Diet”>Perfect Health Diet with a vengeance. I really love this way of eating, and
feel well on it. It’s good for my gut and my sleep.
digestion,
sleep
Kathy After
cutting back on coconut oil and adding all the supplements suggested by PHD I
am sleeping 6 hours straight and can dose the next two hours, a ginormous
improvement. Oh, and I upped my carbs! Delightful!
insomnia
Advocatus Avocado I’m a great proponent of the PH diet. I’m pleased to report that after
dramatically increasing my saturated fat intake and following some of the
proscriptive measures in the book that my blood pressure has decreased from
130/85 to 118/74. My resting heart rate has also decreased, and I now sleep
much more soundly.
blood
pressure, sleep quality
Karin I have particularly severe, chronic, complicated, and often silent
migraines. I have had these since childhood all day everyday. Because they
were often silent (no pain) they would manifest in various other ways, thus
leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders and schizophrenia for many years.
At one point I was also misdiagnosed with epilepsy as well. After one
particularly smart neurologist saw and tested me, I was placed on blood
pressure medications for migraines. This worked. The problem is that my body
constantly fights to readjust to the medications. After a few months at one
dose, it seems I start to get migraines again. So it would go up and the same
thing would repeat again. I was looking for a different solution and I
stumbled across this article.

I’ve been on the keto diet for nearly a month and it is the best thing
that has happened to me. I’m migraine free and medication free. My mood is
incredibly stable, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, I have
lots of energy, I can concentrate for hours on end, etc. I’ve lost weight
also, a much loved side effect. Thank you for writing this!

migraines,
mood, sleep, energy, weight loss
Janusz I’ve been on the PHD for about 3 weeks. Beginning the first week I could
feel the difference in terms of energy and better sleep.
sleep,
energy
Els and here and here I have been on PHD for almost 2 weeks now, doing IF 16/8 at the same time,
and have started with the supplements you have recommended 4 days ago. Since
I started PHD I do no longer crave for sweets. I used to eat chocolates
almost everyday and haven’t had it for over 2 weeks now. 🙂 I am so happy I
found your blog and got your book. Keep up the good works….

5 weeks ago I found PHD website and ordered the book. I am now on my 4th
week of PHD and doing pretty well eating 20% carbs. I also am taking the
supplements Paul had recommended after I emailed him to ask what I can add to
the one I was taking. One of the things I immediately noticed after doing PHD
is that it improved the quality of my sleep (used to keep waking up several
times at night and that is now a thing of the past because I now sleep
uninterrupted for 7-8 hours); and no more cramps in my calves (that used to
happen occasionally after a heavy work out); no more menstrual cramps as
well. Also, today is the first time i had my monthly period that i didn’t get
a pimple in my face. I usually get a big, really deep and hard to get rid of
pimple just before or during my monthly period and my husband or a
dermatologist would actually help me get it out especially if I had an
important function to attend to. I was thinking that may be IF and the
removal of wheat in my diet did greatly help me in seeing immediate improvement
in my sleep. So yes at least in my experience, a great improvement in my over
all health since I incorporated the principles that I learned from the PHD
book. And btw, I have a very sensitive skin (Atopic skin type or atopic/atopy
syndrome – a hereditary component, as my doctor calls it because my mo and
grandma had it too) and I usually get itchy and/or red spots in my skin all
the time but in the last 4 weeks the anti-itching cream which I carry
everywhere has never been used even once. And to top it all off, I lost 3 lbs
in the last 4 weeks (losing the 15 lb excess weight is not even on top of my
list because I am trying to get pregnant). I don’t have any health problems
and hardly get sick. I simply want to eat healthy and trying to figure out what
diet works best for me. And I found it! Thanks to PHD. Thanks to the
Jaminets! At 42, 5’6″ height, 125 lbs weight, and doing PHD on 20%
carbs, I feel great! And yes, I am sticking with PHD for the rest of my
life….

Btw, I continue to shed off some more fat even after I’ve increased my
carb intake to 30% last week. When I started the PHD 6 weeks ago, I weighed
128 lbs and now 122.4 lbs. I just hope I keep losing the last few fat I
wanted to shed off. Btw, I only weigh myself once a week at the same day and
time without fail and I also use a Digital Body Fat Caliper to measure my
body fat. So yes, I am definitely losing some body fat and no muscle loss!
That’s only after doing PHD for 6 weeks without changing my usual cardio
& weight training regimen. My trainer was very impressed when she weighed
me last week. I told her about PHD because she’s one of those people who
believes in eating 5-6 small meals a day. 🙂 I’ve done that for years but I
am definitely doing better by practising IF 16/8 and eating only 2-3 meals a
day. I am definitely seeing positive results since I started the PHD! The
elimination of wheat, sugar and cheese which I used to eat a lot everyday has
done great wonders in my body.

food
cravings, cramps / menstrual cramps, sleep, acne / pimples, body composition

Allergies, rhinitis, sinusitis

 

Angie It’s
anecdotal, but all four people in my family experienced a variety of new
symptoms (seasonal allergies, constipation, worsening of heartburn, bladder
spasms, dry eyes, increasing tiredness and low energy) when we did GAPS.
These problems didn’t resolve until we luckily stumbled upon PHD and added back
safe starches. I think GAPS would be much improved by allowing more PHD safe
starches and doing away with all the honey and nuts which are considerably
harder on many people’s systems (they definitely are on mine!) than potatoes
and white rice.
Allergies,
heartburn, dry eyes, low energy
Alex I recently had my carotid arteries evaluated via ultrasound for plaque and
narrowing and was told there is no evidence of either. A year ago, just
before adopting a PHD type diet, an MRI of my heart revealed “significant”
plaque on one of my coronary arteries and less significant on another…. I’m
in my mid 40s, lean, active, and have seen many health improvements since
adopting the diet (less joint stiffness, no more chronic back pain, milder
colds, fewer allergy symptoms, less gas, less bloating, need for less sleep.
atherosclerosis,
joint stiffness, back pain, allergies, bowel distress
David I’m still very new to this diet, and I’ve been generally getting in shape
and losing weight for a while now, but one thing I can comment on already is
the effect it’s had on rhinitis.

Simply put, my rhinitis has disappeared completely. I no longer wake up
with a runny nose. I don’t need to take steroidal nose sprays. I don’t even
blow my nose. Rhinitus is now a non-issue. I’ve read that wheat and soy often
cause rhinitis, so I suspect some sort of allergy was to blame.

One other benefit: I’m never hungry on the PHD and I’m really enjoying all
the food I CAN eat, while not missing the food I can’t eat.

rhinitis,
appetite

Anemia

 

Michelle IME, a comprehensive stool test proved helpful. I found a fungal infection
which I treated with two bottles of ProEnt-2. I found bacterial overgrowths,
which I treated with Natren probiotics. The stool test showed gluten
intolerance as well, and seeing the results on paper helped me to take the
leap & kiss gluten goodbye.

I was also positive to toxoplasma, which I have not treated due to cost
and efficacy of treatment. Maybe down the line?

I had a sudden severe arthritis flare and have been on low dose pulsing
Doxy for it, successfully, since 2008.

My thyroid function has improved as I’ve gotten healthier. My guess is
improving iodine status and other micronutrient status, plus knocking back
infections are the major contributors.

I’m no longer anemic.

I used SAM-e successfully, for 2-3 years at 200-400 mg per day, upon
waking to help with low mood….

I can’t tell you how empowering it felt to take steps, and to slowly see
my labs improve. In my case, my labs tends to improve a bit ahead of
symptoms.

Good luck to you! There are often many pieces to the puzzle! You may find
it helpful, as did I, to minimize your variables, and track your protocol to
the best of your ability.

Infections,
arthritis, hypothyroidism, anemia, mood

Fatigue, low energy

 

Angie It’s
anecdotal, but all four people in my family experienced a variety of new
symptoms (seasonal allergies, constipation, worsening of heartburn, bladder
spasms, dry eyes, increasing tiredness and low energy) when we did GAPS.
These problems didn’t resolve until we luckily stumbled upon PHD and added
back safe starches. I think GAPS would be much improved by allowing more PHD
safe starches and doing away with all the honey and nuts which are
considerably harder on many people’s systems (they definitely are on mine!)
than potatoes and white rice.
Allergies,
heartburn, dry eyes, low energy
Bella Perhaps
this is as good a place on your site as any to share the improvements I
experienced after switching from a gut healing diet that generally can be
described as VLC Paleo to PHD. What’s even more remarkable than the
improvements themselves is that they occurred *within 48 hours* of seriously
increasing my safe starch consumption. I couldn’t have special ordered it any
better. 1. Constipation is gone. 2. Fungal (?) rash is gone. 3. Powdery
substance in urine is gone. (After reading here about how VLC diets can cause
excess excretion of uric acid, I’m certain this was the problem.) 4. Energy
and mood are way better. 5. I like what I’m eating now, I am sated, and my
instincts are no longer telling me something’s missing. This intangible
effect has made perhaps the biggest impact on my day-to-day quality of life.
Thank you PJ and S-CJ! Your PHD came into my life at exactly the right time
and produced exactly the changes I needed. Sweet relief! I am still working
out some hormonal issues, and fighting fungi, but my glucose deficiency
symptoms are gone, and I feel better than I have in a year, which is to say I
feel normal, finally. My husband has virtually no symptoms of colitis now.
We’re looking forward to his upcoming flex sig to prove that the disease
process has been reversed, so that the GI doctor will stop telling us that
there’s no way dietary changes alone could’ve cured the disease, that my
husband must be in symptomatic remission with a still-flaming colon. Doc
doesn’t know what to make of us. So indulge me in a bit of gushing when I
tell you I’m utterly grateful for both your product (the book) and service
(advice on your site). The one-on-one advice is a very powerful way to
connect with your audience. It’s as if I can *feel* the sense of community
and healing when I’m on your site. You’ve got a special thing going.
fungal
infections, low energy, impaired mood, constipation
jtl When
I began implementing PHD a few weeks ago I cut fruit back to about 80
calories/day and upped starch intake with sweet potatoes, potatoes, sourdough
buckwheat pancakes, and white rice. Within a couple of weeks chronic health
issues such as itchy, flaky scalp, tense painful neck and shoulder muscles,
and cyclical vaginal itching had disappeared, my mood had improved
noticeably, and I was able to do a little weight-lifting without it wiping me
out physically and mentally. 2 weeks ago I cut out fruit entirely and began
getting all my carbs in PHD proportions from white rice, sweet potatoes,
sourdough buckwheat cakes, and potatoes and saw a dramatic improvement in mood
and ability to work-out without negative effects, and the
fuzzy-headeded/blurry-eyedness that I’ve felt intermittently throughout the
day for as long as I can remember disappeared. For the first time in my life
I felt happy, relaxed, patient, care-free, clear-headed/eyed, and not hungry
(I’ve always noticed being hungry in my head, not my belly).
fungal
infections, impaired mood, fatigue, dry eyes, food cravings
Hunter‘s wife My
wife and I have been VLC for a couple years now, myself probably a little
longer than her and I tend to eat more saturated fat too. She recently
stopped taking birth control and her menstrual cycle just stopped. Also for
years and years, maybe as long as the past decade, she’s been chronically
constipated, depressed, and always tired and wanting to sleep 10+ hours.
She’s been thru tons of tests and no doctor can find anything wrong with her.
I started doing some research on her results from multiple blood tests and
found her TSH has been slowly increasing and was at 3.13. We started checking
her basal body temperature in the mornings and she’s usually around 96….
Both of us have also avoided salt for most of our lives as well as most
packaged/processed foods that might contain salt. So we started supplementing
Iodine, starting about a month ago and slowly increasing the dosage each
week, as well as eating about 200-400 carb calories a day from white rice,
taro, and cassava (all covered in pastured butter). Some mornings now her
temperature has reached as high as 98.2 and her constipation has suddenly
improved a lot.
hypothyroidism,
fatigue, constipation, amenorrhea
Lisa Weis Yours
is by far, the best Paleo / Ancestral diet that makes sense…. I was very
strict Paleo for a good 8 months, and yes felt fantastic and lost 10ks etc.
But then started feeling tired, moody. Enter some carbs (from the suggestion
of your book) in the source of potato and rice and taro – and now I’m feeling
a whole lot better. Did I put on weight. Of course not! Essentially now I eat
what my body craves. I can listen to it now and it responds accordingly. It
knows when it needs more carbs (eg., after exercise). And it knows how much
as well.
fatigue,
mood
Richard
M, email of Oct 19, 2011
May I firstly congratulate you and Shou-Ching for writing such a wonderful
book. After researching nutrition and health in my spare time for many years
I have never come across a book that has been able to tie all of the major
aspects of a healthy diet together in such a concise manner whilst being so
extensively well referenced.

The amount of improvements that I have seen since implementing this diet
is numerous. My energy levels are much steadier throughout the day (as opposed
to the constant ‘peaks and troughs’ I experienced whilst following a
vegetarian diet for 4 years); my cravings for sugar have virtually
disappeared; I have only suffered from one cold in the past 10 months as
opposed to my usual 2 or 3; my weight is effortlessly stable; I never feel
hungry despite switching from 6 small meals per day to just 3; the list goes
on!

energy,
food cravings, weight, illness
Karin I have particularly severe, chronic, complicated, and often silent
migraines. I have had these since childhood all day everyday. Because they
were often silent (no pain) they would manifest in various other ways, thus
leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders and schizophrenia for many years.
At one point I was also misdiagnosed with epilepsy as well. After one
particularly smart neurologist saw and tested me, I was placed on blood
pressure medications for migraines. This worked. The problem is that my body
constantly fights to readjust to the medications. After a few months at one
dose, it seems I start to get migraines again. So it would go up and the same
thing would repeat again. I was looking for a different solution and I
stumbled across this article.

I’ve been on the keto diet for nearly a month and it is the best thing
that has happened to me. I’m migraine free and medication free. My mood is
incredibly stable, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, I have
lots of energy, I can concentrate for hours on end, etc. I’ve lost weight
also, a much loved side effect. Thank you for writing this!

migraines,
mood, sleep, energy, weight loss
Java Gal Ok, have to comment – can’t contain myself anymore! I am a lurker of the
worst sort, but here goes. As a 54 year old woman, I am more energetic,
flexible (yoga three times a week), and healthier than I have been for, oh,
decades. My doc, a wonderful, but dye-in-the-wool vegetarian, told me to keep
doing what I was doing – cholesterol dropped, good TSH levels(I’m hypo), and
down 5 sizes. Talk about replacing a wardrobe! My worry, of course, is
gaining it all back, which, sorry to say, is an experience I have had already
in days of yore. I was an avowed low-carber back then and I can attest that,
while it was effective for losing weight, it was not a good long term
strategy. So far, as long as I stick to basic PHD principles, things are
going swimmingly. In general, PHD has been a huge success. Thank you Paul and
Shou-Ching!
obesity,
energy, flexibility, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, general health
Jennifer Fulwiler As I look for something to wear this weekend, I’m reminded that I am in
the middle of the wardrobe crisis that I’ve been waiting to have for ten
years: all my clothes are too big. I don’t mean a little loose; I mean I
perpetually look like I’m headed out to an M.C. Hammer costume contest.

Over the past few months I’ve lost 25 pounds. That’s a good thing, mainly
since the drop on the scale was more of a side effect of lifestyle changes
that have left me with more stamina and energy than I had when I was 20….

It’s too long of a story to explain in detail here, but the short-short
version is that it was Perfect Health Diet + rethinking what a reasonable
portion size looks like + accepting that spiritual warfare really does come
into play with getting healthy + learning to depend on a good jog for an
energy boost. What started it all was getting fed up with feeling awful all
the time; I started optimizing my life around foods and exercises that would
make me feel better and have energy, and the weight loss followed.

weight
loss, stamina & energy
Janusz I’ve been on the PHD for about 3 weeks. Beginning the first week I could
feel the difference in terms of energy and better sleep.
sleep,
energy
Anonymous (also here) I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and am taking a very low dose
of risperdal (same drug in higher doses used to treat schizophrenia).

I had been doing very low carb for many years and do now wonder if it
actually made my symptoms much worse. (I was diagnosed with BPD while doing
very low carb.) Following the PHD diet has greatly reduced my symptoms. I feel
like a new person.

Better mood

I have found that following the PHD diet (in particular, getting enough
Omega 3 and not excessive Omega 6 and eating PHD “safe starches”, etc.,
eliminating toxins (grains, legumes, vegetable oils, soy, etc.), taking the recommended
supplements, and doing the optional intermittent fasting) has helped me
tremendously. I feel so much better now: better mood, more energy, more
patient, clearer thinking, happier, calmer, less emotional, less anxiety, and
better able to cope with issues such as difficult people.

Very nutritious, no cravings

This diet is super healthy and does allow plenty of choices: meat, fish,
vegetables (peas & green beans are fine), nuts (not peanuts which are a
legume), fruit, “safe starches” (rice pasta, sweet/white potatoes and white
rice), wine (which I like but don’t drink due to Rx), healthy fat like lard,
butter, cream, olive oil and coconut oil, dairy, chocolate, eggs, fermented
vegetables and some safe sweeteners such as rice syrup. A benefit of eating a
variety of healthy foods including “safe starches”: no cravings.

Intermittent fasting – easy

This is optional, but I’m so happy I discovered this. Fasting sounds
difficult and you’d think it would involve hunger and suffering and a strong
will power, but not so. No need to go hungry. And I’m not even hungry and
don’t suffer but feel great and clearer thinking/more energy in the morning
(even with my risperdal which for years had made me lethargic in the morning)
during my daily intermittent fasting (16 hour fast with coconut oil during
the fast with 8 hours feeding). When the fast is over, I eat normally:
usually 2 meals and a snack during the 8 hour feeding window, sometimes just
2 meals. I’m not ravenous when it’s time to eat, surprisingly. Sure, I’m a
little hungry, but in no hurry to eat and sometimes the fast lasts longer
than 16 hours just because of circumstances. And I exercise during the fast –
no problem with a lack of energy. No longer am I anxious about eating every 4
hours like I used to be while doing the low carb. In fact, I think I have a
much healthier relationship with food – it’s not so important and I know I
can go without it if I need to. Food doesn’t control me anymore. It has
really simplified my life.

Raynaud’s

Another benefit of the PHD is that my Raynaud’s is much better now and I’m
not as cold as I used to be. I think this was helped by eating more healthy
fat and Omega 3.

So give PHD a try if you want to feel better and be healthy too. I highly
recommend it – it really has worked for me.

Thank you so much, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! 🙂

Borderline
Personality Disorder, mood, energy, anxiety, food cravings, Raynaud’s
KH I’m type 1 diabetic …

Just this morning, I took my A1c home test (by Bayer) which includes two
tests in the box. Because of the unbelievably low result of first test, I
took the second one (different finger, different hand) to check… Results:

test 1- 5.2

test 2- 5.3 …

I know the diet here is helping me a lot and I’ve been feeling more
energetic lately and less moody, which my husband is VERY HAPPY about!!

Type
I diabetes, energy, mood
Joan’s sister Hi Paul

You will remember 12 days ago I asked you about my sister who has CFS and
was taking 100 mls a day of safflower oil to keep eczema under control.

You wrote: My guess is that there is a high level of oxidative stress
which is diminishing AA levels, and the safflower oil makes more arachidonic
acid and relieves the problem. So the strategy I would try first is (a)
supplementing antioxidants…. and (b) treating any infections. Also, get serum
25OHD levels tested and normalize vitamin D/A/K status.

Your advice was spot on and the results have been miraculous. She started
supplementation with zinc, copper, selenium, vitamins C, E, D and K and NAC.
Within 24 hours her eczema was much improved and she began reducing the
safflower oil. Now 10 days later she is down to 10 mls of safflower oil and
is confident she can discontinue it completely in a few days. Her eczema has
completely cleared and her skin is looking good.

Not only that, but some of her CFS symptoms have improved. Her constant
headache is not as severe, irregular heartbeat episodes have almost
completely stopped and she is tolerating slightly more physical activity.
Needless to say she is absolutely delighted and wants me to pass on her
deepest gratitude to you. Her words are, “It’s a miracle”. Once again
Proverbs 13:12 springs to mind. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a
longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Her sense of despair and resignation
has gone and you have given her hope of a better future. Words seem
inadequate to express thanks for that.

I’ve ordered a couple of copies of your book and I’m sure she will be more
than open to reading it and making dietary changes. I hope she will also
follow up your advice to treat any underlying infections.

Any interesting note: prior to starting the anti-oxidants she craved the
safflower oil and could hardly wait for her next ‘dose’. That has been
replaced with feeling nauseous even at the thought of the oil. Obviously her
body no longer needs it.

In searching the net I found this paper that seems to support your advice:
Determination of fatty acid levels in erythrocyte membranes of patients with
chronic fatigue syndrome. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14744043

And this letter in the Nutritional Neuroscience discussing the paper’s
findings: Oxidative Stress Might Reduce Essential Fatty Acids in Erythrocyte
Membranes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
http://cfids-cab.org/cfs-inform/Hypotheses/nijs.demeirleir04.pdf

Thank you once again, Paul, for your generosity in sharing your knowledge
and your time. The effect is life-changing.

Kind Regards

Joan

chronic
fatigue syndrome, eczema
Brian Paul, Many thanks for the excellent work and great book.

I started PHD a few week before Christmas, and even with a few holiday
wobbles, I can honestly say that I am already starting to see a number
benefits.

I have no serious health issues as such, but a number of smaller/low level
chronic ones – headaches, gastric reflux, fatigue, stomach bloating and
gradual weight gain.

Gradually over a few shorts weeks the aforementioned issues have either
gone or dramatically subsided. My weight is starting to decrease (albeit
slowly) and my energy levels /sleep pattern is far better.

I’ve recommended your book to family and work colleagues as a result.

I think the main plus point of the diet is that it is ‘doable’.
Eliminating wheat and reducing fructose has been surprisingly easy, reducing
vegetable oil exposure more difficult.

Being allowed to each ‘safe starches’ has been great, as I’ve found
strictly low carb both difficult to sustain and left me not feeling optimal.

All in all I’m delighted, and so glad I found your website & book.

Many thanks

headaches,
acid reflux, fatigue, bloating, weight gain
Brian P. Many thanks for your book and blog as it has helped me lose 35 pounds and
counting over the last 5 months, along with a general improvement in energy
level and “evenness”. Extremely gratifying to find a way of eating which is
sustainable, totally satisfying and results in natural weight loss. And, I
have yet to add high intensity workouts to my normal morning and afternoon
walks. I have been talking to anyone who has expressed interest as the
potential of the diet is obviously tremendous!!

P.s. I strongly suspect PHD played a pivotal part in my wife getting
pregnant naturally, just prior to starting her next round of IVF.

weight
loss, energy, mood, infertility
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

Hypothyroidism,
energy, adrenal fatigue, bowel function, mood

Dry eyes or skin

 

Angie It’s
anecdotal, but all four people in my family experienced a variety of new
symptoms (seasonal allergies, constipation, worsening of heartburn, bladder
spasms, dry eyes, increasing tiredness and low energy) when we did GAPS.
These problems didn’t resolve until we luckily stumbled upon PHD and added
back safe starches. I think GAPS would be much improved by allowing more PHD
safe starches and doing away with all the honey and nuts which are
considerably harder on many people’s systems (they definitely are on mine!)
than potatoes and white rice.
Allergies,
heartburn, dry eyes, low energy
Melinda I
had severe dry eyes while eating too low carb. Following Dr. Paul’s
recommendations at “Perfect Health Diet”, I upped my carbs to his
minimum of 50 grams of starch per day and the dry eyes went away. He says
that minimum keeps mucus membranes intact and protective.
dry
eyes
Susan I’ve
instituted “Paleo” in our house since 1/1/11. Very strict about
only plants and protein. About 4/1/11 I realized I was experiencing extremely
dry eyes and mouth. I read your post about glucose deficiency and added rice
and potatoes back into our diet. This cleared the problem up within 3 days
and I was super grateful. It also *normalized* our diet, as it’s easy to go
out to lunch and have rice/potatoes while avoiding wheat/grains.
dry
eyes
Erik
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
Your
book and writings have totally changed the way I think about my diet,
nutrition and health. So in the past year, I have minimized grains, cut out
processed food, do not eat sweets and avoid omega-6 rich cooking oils like
the plague. I have increased my intake of saturated fat by several fold and
use butter and coconut oil as my cooking oils. I eat eggs for breakfast and
add cream/coconut milk to my coffee. I eat sardines and salmon weekly. I get
plenty of sunshine and exercise several times a week. I eat just as much
fruits and vegetables as I did in the past. I do however consume more sweet
potatoes and potatoes. I use to avoid the “evil” potato as well!… I
basically do not calorie count and eat to what I feel. I have actually lost
weight and my skin has become healthier as well. My lips do not become
chapped like they use to in the past. I always had chapped lips for most of
my life…. I have been well overall. The phd is working great for me. Also,
my son’s gastrointestinal issues have been improving from the addition of
probiotics and better nutrition. He is also starting to say a lot more words
this summer. He is asking for things with words for the first time. I can’t
say what helped him since there are so many variables interplaying but I am
happy to see improvements in language. Our pediatrician was shocked and
excited about his improvements. I think his probiotics, gluten free diet,
vitamin supplements and intensive ABA therapy have helped a lot. My son’s
autism has been a very good learning experience. I feel very lucky to have
you as a fantastic resource of information. Many thanks again for your help
and kindness!
weight
loss, chapped lips; his son: autism, GI issues
jtl When
I began implementing PHD a few weeks ago I cut fruit back to about 80
calories/day and upped starch intake with sweet potatoes, potatoes, sourdough
buckwheat pancakes, and white rice. Within a couple of weeks chronic health
issues such as itchy, flaky scalp, tense painful neck and shoulder muscles,
and cyclical vaginal itching had disappeared, my mood had improved noticeably,
and I was able to do a little weight-lifting without it wiping me out
physically and mentally. 2 weeks ago I cut out fruit entirely and began
getting all my carbs in PHD proportions from white rice, sweet potatoes,
sourdough buckwheat cakes, and potatoes and saw a dramatic improvement in
mood and ability to work-out without negative effects, and the
fuzzy-headeded/blurry-eyedness that I’ve felt intermittently throughout the
day for as long as I can remember disappeared. For the first time in my life I
felt happy, relaxed, patient, care-free, clear-headed/eyed, and not hungry
(I’ve always noticed being hungry in my head, not my belly).
fungal
infections, impaired mood, fatigue, dry eyes, food cravings
Doris I
reached my weight loss goals by eliminating grains and limiting dairy to
butter and cream and reducing fruit intake. That said, over the last month or
so, I was wondering why my body seemed to be drying out from the inside out.
I want to tweak my diet to optimum health and found your book. The
information about the importance of mucin was helpful. What was missing in my
diet was the carbs that you and the missus recommend. Sweet potatos, white
rice etc. Maybe less protein than I’ve been eating and more saturated fat.
(I’m alarmed by the stomach and other cancers suffered by long term adherence
to the Optimal diet …) I’m having better results every day. I am fascinated
that I have a laboratory of my own body to put your ideas to a test and have
them show positive results. Thank you both so much for your work and above
responses to questions and comments.
Dry
eyes, GI tract

Autism

 

Erik
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
Your
book and writings have totally changed the way I think about my diet,
nutrition and health. So in the past year, I have minimized grains, cut out
processed food, do not eat sweets and avoid omega-6 rich cooking oils like
the plague. I have increased my intake of saturated fat by several fold and
use butter and coconut oil as my cooking oils. I eat eggs for breakfast and
add cream/coconut milk to my coffee. I eat sardines and salmon weekly. I get
plenty of sunshine and exercise several times a week. I eat just as much
fruits and vegetables as I did in the past. I do however consume more sweet
potatoes and potatoes. I use to avoid the “evil” potato as well!… I
basically do not calorie count and eat to what I feel. I have actually lost
weight and my skin has become healthier as well. My lips do not become
chapped like they use to in the past. I always had chapped lips for most of
my life…. I have been well overall. The phd is working great for me. Also,
my son’s gastrointestinal issues have been improving from the addition of
probiotics and better nutrition. He is also starting to say a lot more words
this summer. He is asking for things with words for the first time. I can’t
say what helped him since there are so many variables interplaying but I am
happy to see improvements in language. Our pediatrician was shocked and
excited about his improvements. I think his probiotics, gluten free diet,
vitamin supplements and intensive ABA therapy have helped a lot. My son’s
autism has been a very good learning experience. I feel very lucky to have
you as a fantastic resource of information. Many thanks again for your help
and kindness!
weight
loss, chapped lips; his son: autism, GI issues

Constipation

 

Bella Perhaps
this is as good a place on your site as any to share the improvements I
experienced after switching from a gut healing diet that generally can be
described as VLC Paleo to PHD. What’s even more remarkable than the
improvements themselves is that they occurred *within 48 hours* of seriously
increasing my safe starch consumption. I couldn’t have special ordered it any
better. 1. Constipation is gone. 2. Fungal (?) rash is gone. 3. Powdery
substance in urine is gone. (After reading here about how VLC diets can cause
excess excretion of uric acid, I’m certain this was the problem.) 4. Energy
and mood are way better. 5. I like what I’m eating now, I am sated, and my
instincts are no longer telling me something’s missing. This intangible
effect has made perhaps the biggest impact on my day-to-day quality of life.
Thank you PJ and S-CJ! Your PHD came into my life at exactly the right time
and produced exactly the changes I needed. Sweet relief! I am still working
out some hormonal issues, and fighting fungi, but my glucose deficiency
symptoms are gone, and I feel better than I have in a year, which is to say I
feel normal, finally. My husband has virtually no symptoms of colitis now.
We’re looking forward to his upcoming flex sig to prove that the disease process
has been reversed, so that the GI doctor will stop telling us that there’s no
way dietary changes alone could’ve cured the disease, that my husband must be
in symptomatic remission with a still-flaming colon. Doc doesn’t know what to
make of us. So indulge me in a bit of gushing when I tell you I’m utterly
grateful for both your product (the book) and service (advice on your site).
The one-on-one advice is a very powerful way to connect with your audience.
It’s as if I can *feel* the sense of community and healing when I’m on your
site. You’ve got a special thing going.
fungal
infections, low energy, impaired mood, constipation
Vincent I
thought others might be interested in the results of my experiments with
preventing constipation over the last few months. (See my previous comments
and Paul’s recommendations to me in this thread for background.) My regimen
was as follows… Diet: Added enough white rice to raise consumption of safe
starches above 600 calories daily; ate berries, turmeric, oregano, spinach,
and fermented vegetables regularly; initially eliminated tubers (which I had
difficulty digesting) and later replaced them with fermented tubers; and
replaced coconut oil with olive oil. Anti-fungal medicines: I respected
Paul’s advice regarding anti-fungal drugs, but decided to postpone using them
until after I had tried non-prescription supplements. Supplements: Conformed
my nutritional supplements to the PHD recommendations and added NAC; added
grapefruit seed extract, olive leaf extract, Kolorex advanced candida care
(horopito), Now Foods candida clear, and occasional activated charcoal; and
tried a few probiotics, including ThreeLac.

After a few weeks of little improvement, I experienced my
first normal bowel movement in a long time (years?). After more changes to my
regimen, I now have normal stools on most days. The greatest improvements
coincided with the times I added fermented tubers and (later) ThreeLac. I
also think that cranberries, turmeric, increased amounts of safe starches,
the Now Foods anti-fungal, and removal of my beloved coconut oil were all
quite helpful. My victory is not complete — I still get diarrhea fairly easily
and the occasional hard stool — but the improvement is incredible.

Many
thanks, Paul, for helping me fix a problem that has plagued me for a long
time. I wish you, Shou-Ching, and all your readers the great health and
happiness you deserve.

constipation,
fungal infection
Anna I’m
so grateful to you for this information. I’ve been suffering for weeks but I
took the recommended supplements and did nothing else — and experienced
relief the second day. In a world full of useless and confusing information,
having a good source is such a godsend. Thank you for all that you do.
constipation
Hunter‘s wife My
wife and I have been VLC for a couple years now, myself probably a little
longer than her and I tend to eat more saturated fat too. She recently
stopped taking birth control and her menstrual cycle just stopped. Also for
years and years, maybe as long as the past decade, she’s been chronically
constipated, depressed, and always tired and wanting to sleep 10+ hours.
She’s been thru tons of tests and no doctor can find anything wrong with her.
I started doing some research on her results from multiple blood tests and
found her TSH has been slowly increasing and was at 3.13. We started checking
her basal body temperature in the mornings and she’s usually around 96….
Both of us have also avoided salt for most of our lives as well as most
packaged/processed foods that might contain salt. So we started supplementing
Iodine, starting about a month ago and slowly increasing the dosage each
week, as well as eating about 200-400 carb calories a day from white rice,
taro, and cassava (all covered in pastured butter). Some mornings now her
temperature has reached as high as 98.2 and her constipation has suddenly
improved a lot.
hypothyroidism,
fatigue, constipation, amenorrhea
Betty You
have blessed my life. I had one final symptom that was chronic all my life.
Constipation. I e-mailed you last week and you offered up some suggestions.
PRAISE THE LORD! I have had NO IBS, or constipation since following your
advice. I am, and will be forever grateful.
constipation
Robin I had been on a Paleo diet for about six months when it dawned on me that
I needed the rice to avoid constipation. Addition of starchy roots and a bit
more animal fat did not help the situation. Once I reintroduced rice ( 1 cup
on a daily basis) , the problem was solved.
constipation
Anonymous I’ve been following the PHD and taking the recommended supplements and
many of the therapeutic supplements for several months. Last week, I just
started supplementing with Zinc and NAC. This week – no more constipation for
the first time in many, many years – amazing! Thank you so much!
constipation
Helena’s mom Hi Paul, Thank you again! You helped my mom who has suffered with chronic
constipation for 60 plus years. She had taken Senna for decades. I read your
post about using Magnesium Citrate instead. It works like a charm and she is
no longer taking toxic Senna. Thank you!
constipation

Fungal infections

 

Bella Perhaps
this is as good a place on your site as any to share the improvements I
experienced after switching from a gut healing diet that generally can be
described as VLC Paleo to PHD. What’s even more remarkable than the
improvements themselves is that they occurred *within 48 hours* of seriously
increasing my safe starch consumption. I couldn’t have special ordered it any
better. 1. Constipation is gone. 2. Fungal (?) rash is gone. 3. Powdery
substance in urine is gone. (After reading here about how VLC diets can cause
excess excretion of uric acid, I’m certain this was the problem.) 4. Energy
and mood are way better. 5. I like what I’m eating now, I am sated, and my
instincts are no longer telling me something’s missing. This intangible
effect has made perhaps the biggest impact on my day-to-day quality of life.
Thank you PJ and S-CJ! Your PHD came into my life at exactly the right time
and produced exactly the changes I needed. Sweet relief! I am still working
out some hormonal issues, and fighting fungi, but my glucose deficiency
symptoms are gone, and I feel better than I have in a year, which is to say I
feel normal, finally. My husband has virtually no symptoms of colitis now.
We’re looking forward to his upcoming flex sig to prove that the disease
process has been reversed, so that the GI doctor will stop telling us that
there’s no way dietary changes alone could’ve cured the disease, that my
husband must be in symptomatic remission with a still-flaming colon. Doc
doesn’t know what to make of us. So indulge me in a bit of gushing when I
tell you I’m utterly grateful for both your product (the book) and service
(advice on your site). The one-on-one advice is a very powerful way to
connect with your audience. It’s as if I can *feel* the sense of community
and healing when I’m on your site. You’ve got a special thing going.
fungal
infections, low energy, impaired mood, constipation
Vincent I
thought others might be interested in the results of my experiments with
preventing constipation over the last few months. (See my previous comments
and Paul’s recommendations to me in this thread for background.) My regimen
was as follows… Diet: Added enough white rice to raise consumption of safe
starches above 600 calories daily; ate berries, turmeric, oregano, spinach,
and fermented vegetables regularly; initially eliminated tubers (which I had
difficulty digesting) and later replaced them with fermented tubers; and
replaced coconut oil with olive oil. Anti-fungal medicines: I respected
Paul’s advice regarding anti-fungal drugs, but decided to postpone using them
until after I had tried non-prescription supplements. Supplements: Conformed
my nutritional supplements to the PHD recommendations and added NAC; added
grapefruit seed extract, olive leaf extract, Kolorex advanced candida care
(horopito), Now Foods candida clear, and occasional activated charcoal; and
tried a few probiotics, including ThreeLac.

After a few weeks of little improvement, I experienced my
first normal bowel movement in a long time (years?). After more changes to my
regimen, I now have normal stools on most days. The greatest improvements
coincided with the times I added fermented tubers and (later) ThreeLac. I
also think that cranberries, turmeric, increased amounts of safe starches,
the Now Foods anti-fungal, and removal of my beloved coconut oil were all
quite helpful. My victory is not complete — I still get diarrhea fairly easily
and the occasional hard stool — but the improvement is incredible.

Many
thanks, Paul, for helping me fix a problem that has plagued me for a long
time. I wish you, Shou-Ching, and all your readers the great health and
happiness you deserve.

constipation,
fungal infection
KirkC I
started PHD ten months ago after having previously pursued a low-carb paleo
approach. At that time, I had a toe fungal infection which made the toenail
of my right toe nearly black, plus it made my foot half-numb. It was getting
so that I didn’t even like to go for long walks, which I have done all my
life. After six months of PHD eating, some of the fungus had receded and some
feeling had returned to my foot. Recently, after a discussion or two on your
blog mentioned Epsom Salts, I added a nightly foot soak in Epsom Salts. It
seemed to me that almost immediately there was a reduction in both the
visibility of the fungus as well as a reduction in the numbness. As of today,
most (but not all) of the feeling has returned to my right foot. Although I
suspect the most recent improvement resulted from Epsom Salts, it might also
be due to other changes which finally registered results. Those changes, in
reverse order (most recent changes first): Nature’s Way Primadophilus, Yerba
Prima Bentonite, intermittent fasting, recommended supplements, PHD
nutrition.
fungal
infection
jtl When
I began implementing PHD a few weeks ago I cut fruit back to about 80
calories/day and upped starch intake with sweet potatoes, potatoes, sourdough
buckwheat pancakes, and white rice. Within a couple of weeks chronic health
issues such as itchy, flaky scalp, tense painful neck and shoulder muscles,
and cyclical vaginal itching had disappeared, my mood had improved
noticeably, and I was able to do a little weight-lifting without it wiping me
out physically and mentally. 2 weeks ago I cut out fruit entirely and began
getting all my carbs in PHD proportions from white rice, sweet potatoes,
sourdough buckwheat cakes, and potatoes and saw a dramatic improvement in
mood and ability to work-out without negative effects, and the
fuzzy-headeded/blurry-eyedness that I’ve felt intermittently throughout the
day for as long as I can remember disappeared. For the first time in my life
I felt happy, relaxed, patient, care-free, clear-headed/eyed, and not hungry
(I’ve always noticed being hungry in my head, not my belly).
fungal
infections, impaired mood, fatigue, dry eyes, food cravings
Juan Camilo Thank
you Paul, you’ve been a huge help and so far, the one who’s had the right
answer to many problems.
fungal
infection
Bill
(
comment 1 and comment 2)
VLC
sucked the life out of me… maybe I didn’t do it right but for a young active
male it is a definite no go for me and I never had dandruff until I went ZC….
Got way better with starches and is now on it’s way out with starches plus
antifungals!… I thought I would share an update on my antifungal therapy. I
have been taking 200mg of Diflucan along with 2 caps of Kolorex for almost 2
weeks now… so not much time but I have seen some very significant changes in
that time period. I am eating a diet high in sweet potatoes and lower in
fat/protein. Probably anywhere from 50-60% carbs, 20-30% fats and 10-20%
protein. Before when attempting this high carb diet, my digestion went to
hell. 3-5 bowel movements a day, starting with 1 good one and then each one
after got worse. Never diarreah but not well formed, etc (sorry to be TMI).
My sebhorreic dermatitis would flare up even though my skin was more moist
and healthy (maybe increased oils flared this). Allergies seemed to be worse.
Sleep was sometimes better and easier, sometimes worse. I went high carb
because I seemed to develop some thyroid symptoms on low carb that were
easily erased with a high carb PHD. Now, two weeks into Diflucan, my
digestion is almost perfect. 1-2 solid bowl movements a day all well formed.
No IBS like urgency at all anymore. Better athletic performance, smoother
healthier skin (the seb derm redness has vanished but there is still some
minor flaking… upping the bone broths, vit C, vitamin A to speed healing).
Congestion is much much better and my gums have stopped bleeding!
fungal
infections
Kirk I forced my toenail fungus into a major retreat by switching to the
Perfect Health Diet (which added more carbs, which, according to Paul,
supplies the body the glucose needed to fight fungal infections). I also
added in a number of their recommended supplements.
toenail
fungus

Hypothyroidism

 

Becky

Am
doing quite well on PHD … Having Hashimoto’s, I avidly followed your
Carbohydrates and the Thyroid series, and have found there is DEFINITELY a
thyroid improvement (energy levels, reduced neck swelling) when some carbs
are in my diet. Like Claire, on PHD my thyroid medication was reduced, but to
1/3 of the previous dose. This is all thrilling … Thank you so much for all
your work.
hypothyroidism
ET I
am extremely grateful to you and Shou-Ching. Your book and this website has
helped me tremendously. I had soft tissue recovery issues, joint
inflammation, skin issues etc. After endless doctors visits, a smart
dermatologist suggested I had a leaky gut and gluten sensitivity. At one
point Hashimoto was also thrown into the mix. Paleo and GAPS took care of
most of the joint inflammation and skin problems, but my T3 and some of my
thyroid symptoms got worse while I was on the (unintentional) ketogenic
healing diet. Your posts on this issue have been helpful, and I am now upping
my carb intake. I have bought the book to a few people in my family and my
best friend…. I am so happy.
joint
inflammation, skin issues, hypothyroidism
William Trumbower MD What
a wonderful series of posts!! I treat thyroid problems in my practice and
have Hashimoto’s myself. I check FT3/RT3 ratios on almost everyone. I think
this is the best lab test for your thyroid related metabolic state. The most
useful is the old fashioned history and physical exam. Old time thyroid docs
did this with no lab tests to guide them. The thyroid gland controls the
metabolism of the hypothalamus and pituitary. TSH allows the
hypothalamus/pituitary to receive adequate thyroid hormone in the face of a
hypometabolic state (starvation etc). Chronic elevated systemic inflammation
and malnutrition inhibit thyroid function and thus ALL endocrine function,
including adrenals. The longer I am on the PHD and appropriate supplements,
the less desiccated thyroid I require. It used to take 21/2 tabs daily and
now I use 1/2 tab daily. I have increased my safe carb intake as weight loss
is no longer my main goal and feel great! Thanks Paul
hypothyroidism
Hunter‘s wife My
wife and I have been VLC for a couple years now, myself probably a little
longer than her and I tend to eat more saturated fat too. She recently
stopped taking birth control and her menstrual cycle just stopped. Also for
years and years, maybe as long as the past decade, she’s been chronically
constipated, depressed, and always tired and wanting to sleep 10+ hours.
She’s been thru tons of tests and no doctor can find anything wrong with her.
I started doing some research on her results from multiple blood tests and
found her TSH has been slowly increasing and was at 3.13. We started checking
her basal body temperature in the mornings and she’s usually around 96….
Both of us have also avoided salt for most of our lives as well as most
packaged/processed foods that might contain salt. So we started supplementing
Iodine, starting about a month ago and slowly increasing the dosage each
week, as well as eating about 200-400 carb calories a day from white rice,
taro, and cassava (all covered in pastured butter). Some mornings now her
temperature has reached as high as 98.2 and her constipation has suddenly
improved a lot.
hypothyroidism,
fatigue, constipation, amenorrhea
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

hypothyroidism,
bowel function, mood
Joan Hi Paul

I haven’t posted for a while but continue to be an avid reader of your
blog. I thought an update was due.

Quick background: Crohn’s for 16.5 years. Steroids for most of that time
as other Crohn’s meds ineffective. Got off steroids in Oct 2011 after 14
months on an almost zero carb diet. Glucose deficiency symptoms led me to
your site. Added in safe starches in November and started to implement PHD
with recommended supplements. Did a home fecal transplant in December.

I’ve particularly concentrated on raising my Vit D levels
(supplementation) and optimising thyroid function (selenium and iodine and
increasing thyroid hormone). Both are now in the normal range.

All these things improved my general sense of well-being and energy levels
but the Crohn’s was still a problem.

I did a Metametrix GI Effects Stool test in March hoping to find something
significant. The results were disappointingly good: no pathogens; commensal
bacteria were all present (a result of fecal transplant??). I did have high
inflammation and red blood cells present, indicating active Crohn’s.

During this time, since coming off steroids, I was able to observe the
nature of the Crohn’s without the confusion of medications. My observations
convinced me that it was an infection and research indicates mycobacterium
avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is the most likely pathogen. High E.Coli counts
in my stool test seem to confim this.

So, re-reading you assertion that intra-cellular bacteria can only feed on
glucose not ketones, I realised that the exacerbation of the Crohn’s was due
to coming off the ketogenic zero carb diet and adding in too many starches
(300 – 400 cals). For the last month I’ve dropped back to 200 cals, kept to a
daily 6 to 7 hour feeding window, and added in BCAAs and MCT oil (I was
already taking coconut oil). My Crohn’s symptoms have improved steadily. I
have very little tummy pain now. I do still have some diarrhea but that is
probably due to the high fat content of my diet.

It is very unlikely that anti-MAP antibiotics will be made available to
Crohn’s patients anytime soon, therefore I’m convinced a ketogenic, low-fibre
form of PHD is the best way to manage my Crohn’s. Thanks for all your
information, Paul. I’m thrilled with my progress thus far.

Regards, Joan

Footnote2: My sister continues to be free of eczema. Thanks so much,
again.

Crohn’s,
hypothyroidism, general wellbeing; eczema
Michelle IME, a comprehensive stool test proved helpful. I found a fungal infection
which I treated with two bottles of ProEnt-2. I found bacterial overgrowths,
which I treated with Natren probiotics. The stool test showed gluten
intolerance as well, and seeing the results on paper helped me to take the
leap & kiss gluten goodbye.

I was also positive to toxoplasma, which I have not treated due to cost
and efficacy of treatment. Maybe down the line?

I had a sudden severe arthritis flare and have been on low dose pulsing
Doxy for it, successfully, since 2008.

My thyroid function has improved as I’ve gotten healthier. My guess is
improving iodine status and other micronutrient status, plus knocking back
infections are the major contributors.

I’m no longer anemic.

I used SAM-e successfully, for 2-3 years at 200-400 mg per day, upon
waking to help with low mood….

I can’t tell you how empowering it felt to take steps, and to slowly see
my labs improve. In my case, my labs tends to improve a bit ahead of
symptoms.

Good luck to you! There are often many pieces to the puzzle! You may find
it helpful, as did I, to minimize your variables, and track your protocol to
the best of your ability.

Infections,
arthritis, hypothyroidism, anemia, mood
Java Gal Ok, have to comment – can’t contain myself anymore! I am a lurker of the
worst sort, but here goes. As a 54 year old woman, I am more energetic,
flexible (yoga three times a week), and healthier than I have been for, oh,
decades. My doc, a wonderful, but dye-in-the-wool vegetarian, told me to keep
doing what I was doing – cholesterol dropped, good TSH levels(I’m hypo), and
down 5 sizes. Talk about replacing a wardrobe! My worry, of course, is
gaining it all back, which, sorry to say, is an experience I have had already
in days of yore. I was an avowed low-carber back then and I can attest that,
while it was effective for losing weight, it was not a good long term
strategy. So far, as long as I stick to basic PHD principles, things are
going swimmingly. In general, PHD has been a huge success. Thank you Paul and
Shou-Ching!
obesity,
energy, flexibility, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, general health
Agatha Thanks for this Paul – very helpful. I have noticed my temperature has
increased since starting PHD – I used to be always cold and being warmer
feels much, much better – being constantly cold is a miserable way to live.
hypothyroidism
Peter After eating a meat and vegetables diet for a 1.5 years I read PHD and
added back starches. I had been craving them, so it wasn’t hard to do.

The addition of starches warmed my body temperature (always an issue
because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), improved my energy level, helped
with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (as per Dr. BG), improved my bowel function,
and improved my mood. I also reduced my grocery bill (which in turn made for
a more harmonius family life) because I instantly desired about one-third of
the protein I used to eat.

Of all the symptoms of glucose deficiency the most concerning was the flat
mood. Clearly my brain was low on energy despite the “no human requirement
for carbohydrate” dogma.

Many thanks to Paul!

Hypothyroidism,
energy, adrenal fatigue, bowel function, mood

Carpal tunnel syndrome<

 

Justin (and here) I started feeling terrible in the winter of 2007. I went to five doctors,
none of them knew what was wrong with me. I had blood drawn about 15 times
for various lab tests. I was afraid I would be bedridden one day because of
the pain.

The first doctor who helped me did so by diagnosing me with fibromyalgia.
I was informed that my previous doctors did not believe fibromyalgia existed,
since it could not be tested with a blood sample. I began to have a disdain
for most doctors.

He started me on Savella 50mg/day. I improved on Savella, and was told to
do a cleanse diet to detect food sensitivities. Many people with fibromyalgia
have food sensitivities as well. I did not have the will power to execute
this plan properly. However, I was not going to rely on doctors anymore, so I
began my search for healing on my own.

I tried a few different things, natural supplements, and diets. Some gave
no help, some gave a bit of help, then I plateaued. Most importantly, with
regard to the food restrictions I tried, I had such cravings that I did not
care about my fibromyalgia pain and just indulged. Then, when I was full, I
cared about my fibromyalgia pain again.

I learned of the Perfect Health Diet from a friend in the summer of 2011.
I did not think I would be able to do it all, knowing my failures in the past.
So, I started small. I had a friend with celiac and was most convinced by the
section on the toxicity of wheat and other cereal grains. Thus, I began by
eliminating these. I noticed an improvement within a few weeks: I could type!
No more Dragon NaturallySpeaking for me! It was not carpal tunnel, in fact, I
still have bumps that come and go in my elbows and have to limit my
weightlifting when I use my biceps in any way. Still trying to figure that
one out, but typing is not a problem anymore, as you can see here.

In light of my previous failures, the key that made the avoidance of wheat
and company successful was that I could eat a lot of fat. After a few weeks,
I had some cravings for bread, but nothing as strong as my cravings for
things excluded in other trial diets. Now I have no cravings for bread.

I thought all would be cured by avoiding gluten, so I started cutting back
my Savella dosage. When I got down to none, I felt fine for a week, then I
slowly started to feel bad again. I got back on Savella, at 1/4 the original
dose.

I decided I would put more effort into the other parts of the PHD. Next in
line was vegetable oil. I had been eating a lot of salads, and I loved ranch
dressing. With a few false starts, I finally broke the habit of vegetable oils,
and was encouraged by some weight loss.

Next, I went half in on the supplements. I noticed the magnesium had
significant effects on my muscle soreness and neck stiffness. I read the post
on constipation and decided to add selenium, vitamin C, NAC, copper, etc.
Finally, I got started on working up to high dose iodine, with the
recommendation of starting low and doubling every month. In the last two
weeks I have been at 12mg/day iodoral, and I have recently noticed a great
uptick in my mood and lowered occurrence of stiffness in my neck. I have been
getting much more done at work, and have not had as much “brain
fog”.

In fact, it took some forced thinking to recall how far I’ve come. I used
to stand up very slowly, and limp for a bit afterward because of pain in my
hips. I used to try to play volleyball, but could not move suddenly or land
the wrong way lest I feel great pain. I used to accept that I would always be
stiff and have difficulty moving in the morning. I used to get random pains
in the bottom of my foot which made me limp. I used to take a lot of fiber
and was still not regular. I used to be 25 pounds heavier. I used to have
strong cravings for sugar, bread, chicken strips, and chips, just to name a
few. I used to have acne flare ups all the time. In the past I had to stop
typing every five minutes and massage my elbows for ten minutes; it usually
hurt to turn my neck; my shoulders were frequently sore; I could not throw a
baseball, a football, or a frisbee. Frequently, I could not remember details
of things I knew a lot about. I would get confused and get tired easily.

Now, I do still have elbow pain and some psoriasis/rash, so all is not
perfect. I am beginning to think these are unrelated to the fibromyalgia and
that the fibromyalgia is gone. I am at 1/32nd of the original Savella dose,
feeling fine, but will report back if I regress when taking the dose down to
zero.

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS LATER:

I posted earlier about my progress with being on Savella for a
fibromyalgia diagnosis I received a bit over 2 years ago. With following the
PHD about 40% or so I began to cut back on my medication. I did it too quick
the first time, and began to feel terrible. So, I stepped up the PHD
compliance of my diet as much as I could. I then began slowly cutting the
dosage until I was off completely 3 months ago.

I delayed reporting because I wanted to be sure symptoms would not flare
up again. Today I ran my fastest 2 mile time, then played ultimate frisbee
for a few hours later in the day. I feel great. I used to get extremely sore
from just trying to run half a mile, which was also pretty depressing. I am
feeling strong and limber with no trace of soreness.

fibromyalgia,
carpal tunnel

Arthritis, joint inflammation, crepitus

 

ET I
am extremely grateful to you and Shou-Ching. Your book and this website has
helped me tremendously. I had soft tissue recovery issues, joint
inflammation, skin issues etc. After endless doctors visits, a smart
dermatologist suggested I had a leaky gut and gluten sensitivity. At one
point Hashimoto was also thrown into the mix. Paleo and GAPS took care of
most of the joint inflammation and skin problems, but my T3 and some of my
thyroid symptoms got worse while I was on the (unintentional) ketogenic
healing diet. Your posts on this issue have been helpful, and I am now upping
my carb intake. I have bought the book to a few people in my family and my
best friend…. I am so happy.
joint
inflammation, skin issues, hypothyroidism
Morris
G (
comment 1, comment 2, comment 3)
A
couple of months after starting PHD there was an obvious improvement in mood
and cognitive function. Now 12 months later the mental improvements persist
but do not seem to be growing. … I’ve had joint “noises” for about 20 years
(I’m 72yo) but no direct discomfort from the noise effect. The frequency and
magnitude has increased over time but only very slowly. I tend to think that
the degree of crepitude correlates (weakly) with general joint health eg time
to recover from episodes of tendonitis or discomfort caused by overuse. I
have ignored this “crepitude” as being an unavoidable aging effect until
recently, when my manageable back/neck aches spontaneously improved and that
happened about 3 months after adopting the PHD diet (although I didn’t know at
the time that the diet was PHD). For example I can sleep on my back for the
first time in 8 years and turn my neck 90 deg without any discomfort. My
exercise regime has not changed from pre-PHD and is not too strenuous, about
2-3 hrs total/week of which most is moderate effort cardio with some
resistance. The odd thing is that pre-PHD, with the same exercise effort, if
I increased calories my fat would easily but slowly increase, but not now….
I feel great …  
mood,
cognitive function, joint function, weight
Alex I recently had my carotid arteries evaluated via ultrasound for plaque and
narrowing and was told there is no evidence of either. A year ago, just
before adopting a PHD type diet, an MRI of my heart revealed “significant”
plaque on one of my coronary arteries and less significant on another…. I’m
in my mid 40s, lean, active, and have seen many health improvements since
adopting the diet (less joint stiffness, no more chronic back pain, milder
colds, fewer allergy symptoms, less gas, less bloating, need for less sleep.
atherosclerosis,
joint stiffness, back pain, allergies, bowel distress
L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure
J.L. I just returned from a book club meeting where we discussed The Perfect
Health Diet at length. I have to say, I am most fascinated by the chapter
focused on chronic disease and infection!

I am a living testament to the power of diet and “immuno- warfare”, if you
will (a.ka. antibiotic therapy). I muddled through 32 years of life on this
drug or that, all in the hopes of ending my “not-so in love affair” with
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I was diagnosed at age 3 after a bout
with what doctors thought to be a cold virus, and that which followed was
years upon years of aspirin (24 chewables daily, to be exact), gold salts,
NSAIDs and DMARDs. Ugh!

Since beginning to uncover secrets of old three years ago, I have eaten a
Weston Price, biblical, Paleo-ish diet and dabbled in various and asunder
supplements. This part of my new-found health journey yielded results good
enough to keep me off prescription meds, but something was still lurking in
my body causing imbalances, hiding out in my joints and other deep, dark
places.

Thank God for my integrative MD…He ordered Metametrix testing, and lo and
behold, found parasitic and fungal infections (imagine that, right?). I
reluctantly gave in and started rounds of Flagyl (antibiotic) and Nystatin
(antifungal), along with Primal Defense Ultra probiotics and a much lower
carb/no sugar diet. The results have been nothing short of WOW!

I can sometimes feel the anger welling up inside me when I think of the
years of my life this degenerative disease has robbed me of. But as quickly
as the feeling comes, it fades when I’m reminded that I wouldn’t be enrolled
in a Naturopathic Doctor program now. Moreover, my passion in life certainly
wouldn’t be helping others with chronic, degenerative diseases if it hadn’t
been for those nasty bugs that attacked that little three year old girl many
years ago.

Thank you kindly for joining the crusade and bringing your diet and this
life-restoring information to light. May the Immuno-warfare games begin!

rheumatoid
arthritis, chronic infections
Michelle IME, a comprehensive stool test proved helpful. I found a fungal infection
which I treated with two bottles of ProEnt-2. I found bacterial overgrowths,
which I treated with Natren probiotics. The stool test showed gluten
intolerance as well, and seeing the results on paper helped me to take the
leap & kiss gluten goodbye.

I was also positive to toxoplasma, which I have not treated due to cost
and efficacy of treatment. Maybe down the line?

I had a sudden severe arthritis flare and have been on low dose pulsing
Doxy for it, successfully, since 2008.

My thyroid function has improved as I’ve gotten healthier. My guess is
improving iodine status and other micronutrient status, plus knocking back
infections are the major contributors.

I’m no longer anemic.

I used SAM-e successfully, for 2-3 years at 200-400 mg per day, upon
waking to help with low mood….

I can’t tell you how empowering it felt to take steps, and to slowly see
my labs improve. In my case, my labs tends to improve a bit ahead of
symptoms.

Good luck to you! There are often many pieces to the puzzle! You may find
it helpful, as did I, to minimize your variables, and track your protocol to
the best of your ability.

Infections,
arthritis, hypothyroidism, anemia, mood
Thomas An unanticipated but very welcome result of getting on PHD has been relief
of arthritis in my ankles. I sprained my ankles dozens of times while playing
basketball growing up, and had slight arthritis in both ankles by the time I
was 26. Since then, any type of prolonged running makes my ankles sore and
painful for hours, with a little bit of swelling. In the last month that has
stopped completely- I feel great after playing ball now. I don’t know if PHD
is responsible for the relief, but I can’t imagine what else it could be.
arthritis

Back pain

 

Alex I recently had my carotid arteries evaluated via ultrasound for plaque and
narrowing and was told there is no evidence of either. A year ago, just
before adopting a PHD type diet, an MRI of my heart revealed “significant”
plaque on one of my coronary arteries and less significant on another…. I’m
in my mid 40s, lean, active, and have seen many health improvements since
adopting the diet (less joint stiffness, no more chronic back pain, milder
colds, fewer allergy symptoms, less gas, less bloating, need for less sleep.
atherosclerosis,
joint stiffness, back pain, allergies, bowel distress

Raynaud’s syndrome

 

Becky Hat
tip and thank you: After I started reading your blog, and adding in “safe
starches”, my Reynaud’s largely cleared up with temperatures over 20F. This
wasn’t the intention, but a wonderful side-effect. Last month, when the sun
came out and the temps got over 25, I enjoyed a successful 2-mile snow hike
for the first time in three years. =)
Raynaud’s
Kate I
too have had Raynaud’s all my life … In the past two months, I have modified
my diet in line with Paul’s suggestions for Migraine. I now eat 200 calories
worth of safe starch, all the recommended supplements, and as much coconut
oil as I can stomach. I am also doing the 16/8 fast. My Raynaud’s has further
improved, as measured by the fact I sometimes forget to turn the heat up in
the morning, and cold extremities don’t always alert me to my
forgetfulness!… Thanks for asking about the Migraines. They are in fact
vastly improved, which I attribute solely to your recommendations. I can say
that, because I have tried virtually everything else in the past…. Clearly
something remarkable is happening, thanks to your recommendations! A little
history. I started getting these headaches in my late 30s. (I am now 52). In the
beginning I thought I had the stomach flu, because in addition to the
headache I would always throw up or have dry heaves. The worst headaches
would keep me immobilized in bed for up to two days. My brother-in-law, a
neurologist, convinced me they were migraines. I finally consulted a doctor,
who put me on midrin, which did not help, and a few months later I started on
imitrex, which did help, at least at first. Eventually, my headache pattern
evolved, and I had at least a mild headache every day, punctuated by the
occasional doozy. Apparently, this is a pretty common progression, especially
with women my age. I always suspected there was something wrong with my
lifestyle or diet, and over the years I have tried numerous experiments, but
nothing ever worked. … In January, in my blog travels, I stumbled on your
site. I ordered the book and was intrigued by your and Shou-Ching’s ideas
about disease and chronic conditions. I was already familiar with the idea of
a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, so I was immediately interested in trying a
more ketogenic diet for myself. I ordered all your basic supplements, and
immediately upped my kelp to two capsules. I had been using coconut oil for
curries, so I started using it habitually. Started eating 200 calories of starches
that you recommended—this was a little scary, after studiously avoiding them
for four years! I was afraid I they might keep me awake at night, but I am
sleeping like a log. Started fasting 16/8, which was easy once you absolved
me for having cream in my morning coffee! Within a week of starting
this regimen my chronic headache started to disappear!
Some days I
would only have a headache for part of the day, and occasionally I would have
no headache at all! I read somewhere on your site that NAC is good on a
ketogenic diet, so I ordered it too. I had never heard of this supplement
before. It seems to have made a further positive difference. I have started
taking it twice a day. Once before bed, and once in the late afternoon, when
the headache sometimes starts coming back. Since I added NAC, I have
been nearly headache free.
Another amazing development concerns
anxiety. Over the years I have become somewhat anxious when I drive on
highways. I grip the steering wheel tightly, sit forward in the seat, and am
generally hyper vigilant. I always chided myself for my lack of nerves, but
that didn’t help. As mentioned above, this was magnified by the Topomax. I
never had this issue when I was younger; indeed I used to fly helicopters in
the army. Two weeks ago I drove up to New Jersey to pick up my daughter, a
3.5 hour trip from where I live in Northern Virginia. I stopped two hours
into the trip to make a pit stop, and I suddenly realized I was totally
relaxed, and had been for the entire trip! The PHD is strong brain medicine
indeed! Thanks for all your research, insights, and ideas. I think the
Perfect Health Diet is going to be a game changer for many people. Hopefully
it is the start of a sea change at how we approach the chronic maladies of
our times.
Raynaud’s,
migraines, anxiety
Anonymous (also here) I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and am taking a very low dose
of risperdal (same drug in higher doses used to treat schizophrenia).

I had been doing very low carb for many years and do now wonder if it
actually made my symptoms much worse. (I was diagnosed with BPD while doing
very low carb.) Following the PHD diet has greatly reduced my symptoms. I
feel like a new person.

Better mood

I have found that following the PHD diet (in particular, getting enough
Omega 3 and not excessive Omega 6 and eating PHD “safe starches”, etc.,
eliminating toxins (grains, legumes, vegetable oils, soy, etc.), taking the
recommended supplements, and doing the optional intermittent fasting) has
helped me tremendously. I feel so much better now: better mood, more energy,
more patient, clearer thinking, happier, calmer, less emotional, less
anxiety, and better able to cope with issues such as difficult people.

Very nutritious, no cravings

This diet is super healthy and does allow plenty of choices: meat, fish,
vegetables (peas & green beans are fine), nuts (not peanuts which are a
legume), fruit, “safe starches” (rice pasta, sweet/white potatoes and white
rice), wine (which I like but don’t drink due to Rx), healthy fat like lard,
butter, cream, olive oil and coconut oil, dairy, chocolate, eggs, fermented
vegetables and some safe sweeteners such as rice syrup. A benefit of eating a
variety of healthy foods including “safe starches”: no cravings.

Intermittent fasting – easy

This is optional, but I’m so happy I discovered this. Fasting sounds
difficult and you’d think it would involve hunger and suffering and a strong
will power, but not so. No need to go hungry. And I’m not even hungry and
don’t suffer but feel great and clearer thinking/more energy in the morning
(even with my risperdal which for years had made me lethargic in the morning)
during my daily intermittent fasting (16 hour fast with coconut oil during
the fast with 8 hours feeding). When the fast is over, I eat normally:
usually 2 meals and a snack during the 8 hour feeding window, sometimes just
2 meals. I’m not ravenous when it’s time to eat, surprisingly. Sure, I’m a little
hungry, but in no hurry to eat and sometimes the fast lasts longer than 16
hours just because of circumstances. And I exercise during the fast – no
problem with a lack of energy. No longer am I anxious about eating every 4
hours like I used to be while doing the low carb. In fact, I think I have a
much healthier relationship with food – it’s not so important and I know I
can go without it if I need to. Food doesn’t control me anymore. It has
really simplified my life.

Raynaud’s

Another benefit of the PHD is that my Raynaud’s is much better now and I’m
not as cold as I used to be. I think this was helped by eating more healthy
fat and Omega 3.

So give PHD a try if you want to feel better and be healthy too. I highly
recommend it – it really has worked for me.

Thank you so much, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! 🙂

Borderline
Personality Disorder, mood, energy, anxiety, food cravings, Raynaud’s

General health

 

Kate “However,
some of the effects of nutrient deficiencies are insidious and might easily
escape notice, because they develop gradually over months or years.” I could
not agree more. Moreover, while your your body may give you hints all is not
well, that does not necessarily point you in the right direction.
Particularly when you are embracing the latest ill thought out nutritional
theory de jour. In my case, I went from “carb loading” on my swimteam as a
teen, to thinking carbs were the most healthful food, which segued into low
fat, whole grain obsession as an adult. By my late forties, I had a number of
niggling health problems, which were partially resolved by a 180 shift to a
low carb diet, which I took to further extremes, which created more issues…I
think many people know their body is trying to tell them something, but in
the midst of the cacophony of government and health agencies’ dietary advice,
most people have no idea what to do. I am finally finding my way out of a
dark tunnel using the PHD framework of optimizing macro and micro nutrition,
getting tests, and careful experimentation. This is the first diet and
approach to health I have seen that really tries to reconcile all the
research, and consider all the traditional wisdom, in contrast to the usual
practice in recent decades of enshrining one or two possibly good ideas to
extreme and ultimately damaging dietary prescriptions.
miscellaneous
issues
Richard
M, email of Oct 19, 2011
May I firstly congratulate you and Shou-Ching for writing such a wonderful
book. After researching nutrition and health in my spare time for many years
I have never come across a book that has been able to tie all of the major
aspects of a healthy diet together in such a concise manner whilst being so
extensively well referenced.

The amount of improvements that I have seen since implementing this diet
is numerous. My energy levels are much steadier throughout the day (as
opposed to the constant ‘peaks and troughs’ I experienced whilst following a
vegetarian diet for 4 years); my cravings for sugar have virtually
disappeared; I have only suffered from one cold in the past 10 months as
opposed to my usual 2 or 3; my weight is effortlessly stable; I never feel
hungry despite switching from 6 small meals per day to just 3; the list goes
on!

energy,
food cravings, weight, illness
Jeanie Graham Campbell My husband is doing fabulously on the PHD. It stalled my weight loss, but
I felt great. Once I get down to where I want to be (another 7 or so pounds),
I’ll be rockin’ the PHD!!!
A. b. Dada I added back white potatoes and even white rice based on Dr. Harris’
advice and definitely feel better (less orthostatic hypotension) — plus I’m
actually slimmer than I’ve ever been, yet my muscles are much stronger.

Low carb for 12 years before this year!

orthostatic
hypotension, body composition
Ellen MM’s
nighttime numbness made me think about a similar mystery that I experienced.
I have had for the last several years, not exactly numbness, but a strange
burning sensation in feet and/or legs only at night when I would wake. not
every night, but frequently. If I moved my legs a bit it would go away. It
started after being VERY low carb for over six months. I hadn’t noticed, but
now that I think about it, it seems to have dwindled significantly, perhaps
completely. I have been eating 200 C safe starches for a three and a half
months now. Chalk up another one for PHD!
strange
burning sensation

Chronic infections

 

Jesper I
was struggling for a while and had to keep upping the abx dose every couple
of months to get the same effect as before, and not deteriorate. I read about
some of Pauls tips and started eating high fat low carb, and i felt there was
a difference. Also started doing ketogenic fast in the morning. I have a lot
less symptoms now than before and i feel like the abx hits harder, especially
true during my morning fast. I think high fat low carb is a good idea for the
people with this bacteria especially those who struggle with abx resistance.
chronic
bacterial infection
Natalie As
someone dealing with chronic disease (a very unfun combination of Lyme,
Babesia, and Bartonella), I know I’m always looking to find out more of what
has worked and what did not work for others. This blog along with many of the
readers of this blog have been a tremendous help to me personally. For
example, I now know I can avoid the daily “coma naps” if I don’t go crazy on
the carbohydrates. I’ve actually received some excellent diet advice from my
doctor, but he never told me to chill on the carbs!
chronic
infections
Thomas The
part of this blog post that starts “Thus common symptoms of a
bacterial infection of the brain are those of cognitive hypoglycemia and
serotonin deficiency
” and continues for several paragraphs describes
precisely the mysterious changes I have experience over the last decade of
life (I am now 33), with the one variation being that I suffer extreme
fatigue rather than insomnia or restlessness. Every other sympton, including
the odd mental state you mention, is a perfect match, and I experience them
all to a marked degree…. I have been diagnosed with general anxiety but never
depression. I do not feel sad ever, just irritable and anhedonia-ac, if I may
coin a word. Anti-depressants, and I’ve tried a bunch, do absolutely nothing
for me. I began to decline after suffering the second subdural hematoma of my
life at age 20 when I was in Italy, followed by a 5 year binge on alcohol….
I’ve been doing PHD for about 7 weeks now, and tried a ketogenic fast this
past weekend. I ended up going 33 hours with some coconut oil and cream. It
was a bit tough having to eat a bunch of oil on an empty stomach, but nothing
too bad. I can’t say there was any improvement cognitively or with anhedonia,
but there seemed to me to be a pronounced calming effect after about 24 hours
of fasting. I often stutter or stumble over words (again, for about 10 years
now), which usually goes away only with two or three alcoholic drinks. But
the speech problems stopped almost completely during the fast, which makes me
thing that there is some link to anxiety and stuttering. I’ve been on PHD for
a few months, and about a month ago went to the low-carb therapeutic
ketogenic version of the PHD. After reading some of Paul’s posts, I believe
that I might have a brain infection as a result of a head injury from more
than a decade ago (Paul, if you recall, my condition has a lot of
similarities to the one you once had). I started taking doxycycline a few
days ago, and I have already noticed pronounced improvement (whether due to
the diet or the antibiotic or both) in controlling the irritability and
anxiety that have plagued me for years…. I definitely feel great since making
the diet changes. My blood pressure, which has been creeping upwards over the
last few years to 135/80 or so, is back down to 110/70. My testosterone is
824, and I am pleased to see that I maintaining my strength in the gym
despite being on a ketogenic diet. The improvements I’ve seen recently have
done more for my well-being than anything in the last decade, and I am profoundly
grateful to you for all your excellent advice.
brain
infection
J.L. I just returned from a book club meeting where we discussed The Perfect
Health Diet at length. I have to say, I am most fascinated by the chapter
focused on chronic disease and infection!

I am a living testament to the power of diet and “immuno- warfare”, if you
will (a.ka. antibiotic therapy). I muddled through 32 years of life on this
drug or that, all in the hopes of ending my “not-so in love affair” with
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I was diagnosed at age 3 after a bout
with what doctors thought to be a cold virus, and that which followed was
years upon years of aspirin (24 chewables daily, to be exact), gold salts,
NSAIDs and DMARDs. Ugh!

Since beginning to uncover secrets of old three years ago, I have eaten a
Weston Price, biblical, Paleo-ish diet and dabbled in various and asunder
supplements. This part of my new-found health journey yielded results good
enough to keep me off prescription meds, but something was still lurking in
my body causing imbalances, hiding out in my joints and other deep, dark
places.

Thank God for my integrative MD…He ordered Metametrix testing, and lo and
behold, found parasitic and fungal infections (imagine that, right?). I
reluctantly gave in and started rounds of Flagyl (antibiotic) and Nystatin
(antifungal), along with Primal Defense Ultra probiotics and a much lower
carb/no sugar diet. The results have been nothing short of WOW!

I can sometimes feel the anger welling up inside me when I think of the
years of my life this degenerative disease has robbed me of. But as quickly
as the feeling comes, it fades when I’m reminded that I wouldn’t be enrolled
in a Naturopathic Doctor program now. Moreover, my passion in life certainly
wouldn’t be helping others with chronic, degenerative diseases if it hadn’t
been for those nasty bugs that attacked that little three year old girl many
years ago.

Thank you kindly for joining the crusade and bringing your diet and this
life-restoring information to light. May the Immuno-warfare games begin!

rheumatoid
arthritis, chronic infections
Michelle IME, a comprehensive stool test proved helpful. I found a fungal infection
which I treated with two bottles of ProEnt-2. I found bacterial overgrowths,
which I treated with Natren probiotics. The stool test showed gluten
intolerance as well, and seeing the results on paper helped me to take the
leap & kiss gluten goodbye.

I was also positive to toxoplasma, which I have not treated due to cost
and efficacy of treatment. Maybe down the line?

I had a sudden severe arthritis flare and have been on low dose pulsing
Doxy for it, successfully, since 2008.

My thyroid function has improved as I’ve gotten healthier. My guess is
improving iodine status and other micronutrient status, plus knocking back
infections are the major contributors.

I’m no longer anemic.

I used SAM-e successfully, for 2-3 years at 200-400 mg per day, upon
waking to help with low mood….

I can’t tell you how empowering it felt to take steps, and to slowly see
my labs improve. In my case, my labs tends to improve a bit ahead of
symptoms.

Good luck to you! There are often many pieces to the puzzle! You may find
it helpful, as did I, to minimize your variables, and track your protocol to
the best of your ability.

Infections,
arthritis, hypothyroidism, anemia, mood
Louise My 10 yo daughter is being treated for a lyme/bartonella infection and her
LLMD is supplementing her with the B6 metabolite P-5-P, L-methylFolate and
methylB12 to address the MTHFR defect that is so prominent in a lot of kids
with lyme induced autism and immune disregulation. My daughter is responding
well to treatment; her speech, executive function, handwriting, sound/light
sensitivities have improved greatly with antibiotics and supplementation, and
the ~80% implementation of your diet. Thank you so much for your hard work,
you are helping so many.
Lyme,
bartonella

Fibromyalgia & CFS

 

Justin (and here) I started feeling terrible in the winter of 2007. I went to five doctors,
none of them knew what was wrong with me. I had blood drawn about 15 times
for various lab tests. I was afraid I would be bedridden one day because of
the pain.

The first doctor who helped me did so by diagnosing me with fibromyalgia.
I was informed that my previous doctors did not believe fibromyalgia existed,
since it could not be tested with a blood sample. I began to have a disdain
for most doctors.

He started me on Savella 50mg/day. I improved on Savella, and was told to
do a cleanse diet to detect food sensitivities. Many people with fibromyalgia
have food sensitivities as well. I did not have the will power to execute
this plan properly. However, I was not going to rely on doctors anymore, so I
began my search for healing on my own.

I tried a few different things, natural supplements, and diets. Some gave
no help, some gave a bit of help, then I plateaued. Most importantly, with
regard to the food restrictions I tried, I had such cravings that I did not
care about my fibromyalgia pain and just indulged. Then, when I was full, I
cared about my fibromyalgia pain again.

I learned of the Perfect Health Diet from a friend in the summer of 2011.
I did not think I would be able to do it all, knowing my failures in the
past. So, I started small. I had a friend with celiac and was most convinced
by the section on the toxicity of wheat and other cereal grains. Thus, I
began by eliminating these. I noticed an improvement within a few weeks: I
could type! No more Dragon NaturallySpeaking for me! It was not carpal
tunnel, in fact, I still have bumps that come and go in my elbows and have to
limit my weightlifting when I use my biceps in any way. Still trying to
figure that one out, but typing is not a problem anymore, as you can see
here.

In light of my previous failures, the key that made the avoidance of wheat
and company successful was that I could eat a lot of fat. After a few weeks,
I had some cravings for bread, but nothing as strong as my cravings for
things excluded in other trial diets. Now I have no cravings for bread.

I thought all would be cured by avoiding gluten, so I started cutting back
my Savella dosage. When I got down to none, I felt fine for a week, then I
slowly started to feel bad again. I got back on Savella, at 1/4 the original
dose.

I decided I would put more effort into the other parts of the PHD. Next in
line was vegetable oil. I had been eating a lot of salads, and I loved ranch
dressing. With a few false starts, I finally broke the habit of vegetable
oils, and was encouraged by some weight loss.

Next, I went half in on the supplements. I noticed the magnesium had
significant effects on my muscle soreness and neck stiffness. I read the post
on constipation and decided to add selenium, vitamin C, NAC, copper, etc.
Finally, I got started on working up to high dose iodine, with the
recommendation of starting low and doubling every month. In the last two
weeks I have been at 12mg/day iodoral, and I have recently noticed a great
uptick in my mood and lowered occurrence of stiffness in my neck. I have been
getting much more done at work, and have not had as much “brain
fog”.

In fact, it took some forced thinking to recall how far I’ve come. I used
to stand up very slowly, and limp for a bit afterward because of pain in my
hips. I used to try to play volleyball, but could not move suddenly or land
the wrong way lest I feel great pain. I used to accept that I would always be
stiff and have difficulty moving in the morning. I used to get random pains
in the bottom of my foot which made me limp. I used to take a lot of fiber
and was still not regular. I used to be 25 pounds heavier. I used to have
strong cravings for sugar, bread, chicken strips, and chips, just to name a
few. I used to have acne flare ups all the time. In the past I had to stop
typing every five minutes and massage my elbows for ten minutes; it usually
hurt to turn my neck; my shoulders were frequently sore; I could not throw a
baseball, a football, or a frisbee. Frequently, I could not remember details
of things I knew a lot about. I would get confused and get tired easily.

Now, I do still have elbow pain and some psoriasis/rash, so all is not
perfect. I am beginning to think these are unrelated to the fibromyalgia and
that the fibromyalgia is gone. I am at 1/32nd of the original Savella dose,
feeling fine, but will report back if I regress when taking the dose down to
zero.

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS LATER:

I posted earlier about my progress with being on Savella for a
fibromyalgia diagnosis I received a bit over 2 years ago. With following the
PHD about 40% or so I began to cut back on my medication. I did it too quick
the first time, and began to feel terrible. So, I stepped up the PHD
compliance of my diet as much as I could. I then began slowly cutting the
dosage until I was off completely 3 months ago.

I delayed reporting because I wanted to be sure symptoms would not flare
up again. Today I ran my fastest 2 mile time, then played ultimate frisbee
for a few hours later in the day. I feel great. I used to get extremely sore
from just trying to run half a mile, which was also pretty depressing. I am
feeling strong and limber with no trace of soreness.

fibromyalgia,
carpal tunnel
Joan’s sister Hi Paul

You will remember 12 days ago I asked you about my sister who has CFS and
was taking 100 mls a day of safflower oil to keep eczema under control.

You wrote: My guess is that there is a high level of oxidative stress
which is diminishing AA levels, and the safflower oil makes more arachidonic
acid and relieves the problem. So the strategy I would try first is (a)
supplementing antioxidants…. and (b) treating any infections. Also, get serum
25OHD levels tested and normalize vitamin D/A/K status.

Your advice was spot on and the results have been miraculous. She started
supplementation with zinc, copper, selenium, vitamins C, E, D and K and NAC.
Within 24 hours her eczema was much improved and she began reducing the
safflower oil. Now 10 days later she is down to 10 mls of safflower oil and
is confident she can discontinue it completely in a few days. Her eczema has
completely cleared and her skin is looking good.

Not only that, but some of her CFS symptoms have improved. Her constant
headache is not as severe, irregular heartbeat episodes have almost
completely stopped and she is tolerating slightly more physical activity.
Needless to say she is absolutely delighted and wants me to pass on her
deepest gratitude to you. Her words are, “It’s a miracle”. Once again
Proverbs 13:12 springs to mind. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a
longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Her sense of despair and resignation
has gone and you have given her hope of a better future. Words seem
inadequate to express thanks for that.

I’ve ordered a couple of copies of your book and I’m sure she will be more
than open to reading it and making dietary changes. I hope she will also
follow up your advice to treat any underlying infections.

Any interesting note: prior to starting the anti-oxidants she craved the
safflower oil and could hardly wait for her next ‘dose’. That has been
replaced with feeling nauseous even at the thought of the oil. Obviously her
body no longer needs it.

In searching the net I found this paper that seems to support your advice:
Determination of fatty acid levels in erythrocyte membranes of patients with
chronic fatigue syndrome. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14744043

And this letter in the Nutritional Neuroscience discussing the paper’s
findings: Oxidative Stress Might Reduce Essential Fatty Acids in Erythrocyte
Membranes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
http://cfids-cab.org/cfs-inform/Hypotheses/nijs.demeirleir04.pdf

Thank you once again, Paul, for your generosity in sharing your knowledge
and your time. The effect is life-changing.

Kind Regards

Joan

chronic
fatigue syndrome, eczema

Acne

 

Els and here and here I have been on PHD for almost 2 weeks now, doing IF 16/8 at the same time,
and have started with the supplements you have recommended 4 days ago. Since
I started PHD I do no longer crave for sweets. I used to eat chocolates
almost everyday and haven’t had it for over 2 weeks now. 🙂 I am so happy I
found your blog and got your book. Keep up the good works….

5 weeks ago I found PHD website and ordered the book. I am now on my 4th
week of PHD and doing pretty well eating 20% carbs. I also am taking the
supplements Paul had recommended after I emailed him to ask what I can add to
the one I was taking. One of the things I immediately noticed after doing PHD
is that it improved the quality of my sleep (used to keep waking up several
times at night and that is now a thing of the past because I now sleep
uninterrupted for 7-8 hours); and no more cramps in my calves (that used to
happen occasionally after a heavy work out); no more menstrual cramps as
well. Also, today is the first time i had my monthly period that i didn’t get
a pimple in my face. I usually get a big, really deep and hard to get rid of
pimple just before or during my monthly period and my husband or a
dermatologist would actually help me get it out especially if I had an
important function to attend to. I was thinking that may be IF and the
removal of wheat in my diet did greatly help me in seeing immediate improvement
in my sleep. So yes at least in my experience, a great improvement in my over
all health since I incorporated the principles that I learned from the PHD
book. And btw, I have a very sensitive skin (Atopic skin type or atopic/atopy
syndrome – a hereditary component, as my doctor calls it because my mo and
grandma had it too) and I usually get itchy and/or red spots in my skin all
the time but in the last 4 weeks the anti-itching cream which I carry
everywhere has never been used even once. And to top it all off, I lost 3 lbs
in the last 4 weeks (losing the 15 lb excess weight is not even on top of my
list because I am trying to get pregnant). I don’t have any health problems
and hardly get sick. I simply want to eat healthy and trying to figure out what
diet works best for me. And I found it! Thanks to PHD. Thanks to the
Jaminets! At 42, 5’6″ height, 125 lbs weight, and doing PHD on 20%
carbs, I feel great! And yes, I am sticking with PHD for the rest of my
life….

Btw, I continue to shed off some more fat even after I’ve increased my
carb intake to 30% last week. When I started the PHD 6 weeks ago, I weighed
128 lbs and now 122.4 lbs. I just hope I keep losing the last few fat I
wanted to shed off. Btw, I only weigh myself once a week at the same day and
time without fail and I also use a Digital Body Fat Caliper to measure my
body fat. So yes, I am definitely losing some body fat and no muscle loss!
That’s only after doing PHD for 6 weeks without changing my usual cardio
& weight training regimen. My trainer was very impressed when she weighed
me last week. I told her about PHD because she’s one of those people who
believes in eating 5-6 small meals a day. 🙂 I’ve done that for years but I
am definitely doing better by practising IF 16/8 and eating only 2-3 meals a
day. I am definitely seeing positive results since I started the PHD! The
elimination of wheat, sugar and cheese which I used to eat a lot everyday has
done great wonders in my body.

food
cravings, cramps / menstrual cramps, sleep, acne / pimples, body composition
Hunter and here Well I can comment on the topic of acne. Since starting to follow the
perfect health diet around the beginning of this month my acne has completely
cleared up. To give you a little history, I discovered both Cordain’s the
paleo diet and Sisson’s primal blueprint nearly 2 years ago and upon cutting
out grains and dairy I saw immediate improvement in my moderate acne that I
have been struggling to find a cure for since I was about 15. I turned 34
this month. At first I thought for sure that it must’ve been the 3+ glasses
of milk plus cheese plus yogurt plus ice cream that I was consuming nearly
everyday, but my acne did continue even though I was following a relatively
strict paleo diet, although acne inflammation was usually to a much lesser
degree than before I had changed my diet. I have still not been able to nail
down the cause, until now I think…

Cordain’s advice has been to avoid saturated fat and simply eat all the
lean meats, fruits & vege’s you can eat. So I had been eating as much as
10 servings of fruit a day, sometimes more, and less vege’s because well
fruit tastes better. And I had been supplementing with Carlson’s liquid fish
oil, typically twice a day. When I came across your site recently and started
reading your advice on fish oil, fructose consumption, and limiting meat
intake I adjusted my diet and have seen immediate positive results.

I increased my sat fat intake, mainly from coconut oil which I had
actually tried cutting out earlier this year (due to Cordain’s advice) and
I’ve started limiting my meat to about 1lb a day, and I’ve started limiting
my fruit to 2 or 3 servings a day while increasing vege intake, especially
from green leafy vege’s, while increasing my carb intake a little by eating
some white rice for the first time in years.

All of those changes I think are good, but I believe that in particular
the increase in sat fat intake has been clearing up my acne because I was
already experimenting with sat fat intake before finding your site and buying
your book a few weeks ago and I was noticing immediate improvement on the
days that I cooked my food with coconut oil compared to the days that I was
limiting sat fat intake. It was just last month that I was waking up every
single morning to find new acne forming on my face but the day that I started
spooning coconut oil is the day that stopped. Of course like I said it has
only been 2-3 weeks now so I can’t claim to have actually cured my acne yet,
but I’m going to continue following the perfect health diet closely and in a
few months I’ll have a more accurate confirmation. Hopefully a positive one.
I’ve even reintroduced some dairy back into my diet recently, per your advice
and mostly from raw milk cheese yet still in relatively small amounts.

BTW, I had already been experimenting with intermittent fasting for the
past year and I noticed that when I fasted my face would definitely break out
the next day. Since discovering your advice on eating green leafy vege’s,
berries, and plenty of coconut oil during a fast I have followed a 16/8
eating cycle for the past 8 days straight without any skin problems at all. I
also just feel “better” during the fast while previously, I thought that a
fast wasn’t a fast unless I consumed nothing but water and black coffee. Your
advice both in your book and on this website has been invaluable to me. Thank
you!

I’ve been
following your advice strictly for nearly 4 months now, except I normally eat
200-400 carb calories per day, and my acne has completely cleared up. My skin
“feels” different, it was like I could feel a change in the texture of my
skin. In almost 20 years of trying every prescription drug, lotion, cleanser,
etc, this is the first thing that has worked (accutane worked for about 1
year). I do nothing to my face now but wash it once a day and follow the PHD
=D

acne

Infertility, amenorrhea, PCOS

 

Hunter‘s wife My
wife and I have been VLC for a couple years now, myself probably a little
longer than her and I tend to eat more saturated fat too. She recently
stopped taking birth control and her menstrual cycle just stopped. Also for
years and years, maybe as long as the past decade, she’s been chronically
constipated, depressed, and always tired and wanting to sleep 10+ hours.
She’s been thru tons of tests and no doctor can find anything wrong with her.
I started doing some research on her results from multiple blood tests and
found her TSH has been slowly increasing and was at 3.13. We started checking
her basal body temperature in the mornings and she’s usually around 96….
Both of us have also avoided salt for most of our lives as well as most
packaged/processed foods that might contain salt. So we started supplementing
Iodine, starting about a month ago and slowly increasing the dosage each
week, as well as eating about 200-400 carb calories a day from white rice,
taro, and cassava (all covered in pastured butter). Some mornings now her
temperature has reached as high as 98.2 and her constipation has suddenly
improved a lot.
hypothyroidism,
fatigue, constipation, amenorrhea
S,
email
Two
weeks ago my doctor diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. After
chatting to me a little about nutrition and its effect on the body, he wrote
down the title of your book “The Perfect Health Diet” and said that
it could help me. I went home and immediately ordered the book online and
received it a few days later (yippee!) Although I’m not even half way into
the book (I decided to start again after discovering it’s not light bedtime
reading!) I am certainly seeing sense in what the book says and am already
feeling a lot better just in myself – more energy, happier, less hormone mood
swings and not bloated at all. I’ve lost a bit of weight since I started two
weeks ago (6lbs) and my skin is… well… the least spotty its been since I
was about 11 years old! I’m certain that the diet is the reason for these
changes.
PCOS,
weight loss
Brian P. Many thanks for your book and blog as it has helped me lose 35 pounds and
counting over the last 5 months, along with a general improvement in energy
level and “evenness”. Extremely gratifying to find a way of eating which is
sustainable, totally satisfying and results in natural weight loss. And, I
have yet to add high intensity workouts to my normal morning and afternoon
walks. I have been talking to anyone who has expressed interest as the
potential of the diet is obviously tremendous!!

P.s. I strongly suspect PHD played a pivotal part in my wife getting
pregnant naturally, just prior to starting her next round of IVF.

weight
loss, energy, mood, infertility

Genetic disorders

 

Zach and Mathias My
son, who is 6, … has been on the diet for less than one month and his
hands have relaxed enough for him to regain his pointing ability (which had
been lost)
. Zach, the 12 year old on the diet, is much further
progressed in the disease. Zach has been on the diet since late October,
2010, reaching 80% fat levels towards mid-December. The following are the
improvements that have been noted by Zach’s family and therapists: Zach
has begun holding up his head
even though his neck has been hyper
extended backwards since he was 9, he has begun pointing with his
finger again
instead of the palm of his hand, he is moving
his right arm again
some, and the latest thing is that he is
now able to go from a laying position to a sitting position
on
his own
by hanging on to something or someone. He has not done this
since he was 9 years old. Both boys have begun smiling and laughing all
the time
…. Zach has gotten off all pain medicine
and only has a small amount of 3 [anti-spasmodic] medicines left which
hopefully he can get off of over the next year.
Neurodegeneration
with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA)

Migraines, headaches

 

Rob Sacks By
day 23 [of a ketogenic fast] I became free of headaches. There was still some
sort of migraine activity — I could often feel the sensations that in all my
previous life, had always been followed by a headache — but no headache
resulted….Then I started following a diet similar to those used by
neurologists at Johns Hopkins to treat children with epilepsy, with calorie
restriction, frequent meals, and a ratio of fat to protein (by weight) of
four to one. After two days of this diet, my headaches stopped again. That
was only 48 hours ago but I’m sure the diet is working because I challenged
myself last night with a sure-fire migraine trigger by staying up past my
bedtime to watch the eclipse. Normally this would create a debilitating
headache, but the only result was a slight migrainy feeling that was easily
controlled with two aspirin. Before the fast, aspirin had no apparent effect
on my migraines…. A bad varicose vein is dramatically improved, and a teary
eye problem (which I think was caused by a clogged tear duct, and which I
previously controlled with large amounts of vitamin C) has resolved almost
completely.
migraines
Kate I
too have had Raynaud’s all my life … In the past two months, I have modified
my diet in line with Paul’s suggestions for Migraine. I now eat 200 calories
worth of safe starch, all the recommended supplements, and as much coconut
oil as I can stomach. I am also doing the 16/8 fast. My Raynaud’s has further
improved, as measured by the fact I sometimes forget to turn the heat up in
the morning, and cold extremities don’t always alert me to my
forgetfulness!… Thanks for asking about the Migraines. They are in fact
vastly improved, which I attribute solely to your recommendations. I can say
that, because I have tried virtually everything else in the past…. Clearly
something remarkable is happening, thanks to your recommendations! A little
history. I started getting these headaches in my late 30s. (I am now 52). In the
beginning I thought I had the stomach flu, because in addition to the
headache I would always throw up or have dry heaves. The worst headaches
would keep me immobilized in bed for up to two days. My brother-in-law, a
neurologist, convinced me they were migraines. I finally consulted a doctor,
who put me on midrin, which did not help, and a few months later I started on
imitrex, which did help, at least at first. Eventually, my headache pattern
evolved, and I had at least a mild headache every day, punctuated by the
occasional doozy. Apparently, this is a pretty common progression, especially
with women my age. I always suspected there was something wrong with my
lifestyle or diet, and over the years I have tried numerous experiments, but
nothing ever worked. … In January, in my blog travels, I stumbled on your
site. I ordered the book and was intrigued by your and Shou-Ching’s ideas
about disease and chronic conditions. I was already familiar with the idea of
a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, so I was immediately interested in trying a
more ketogenic diet for myself. I ordered all your basic supplements, and
immediately upped my kelp to two capsules. I had been using coconut oil for
curries, so I started using it habitually. Started eating 200 calories of starches
that you recommended—this was a little scary, after studiously avoiding them
for four years! I was afraid I they might keep me awake at night, but I am
sleeping like a log. Started fasting 16/8, which was easy once you absolved
me for having cream in my morning coffee! Within a week of starting
this regimen my chronic headache started to disappear!
Some days I
would only have a headache for part of the day, and occasionally I would have
no headache at all! I read somewhere on your site that NAC is good on a
ketogenic diet, so I ordered it too. I had never heard of this supplement
before. It seems to have made a further positive difference. I have started
taking it twice a day. Once before bed, and once in the late afternoon, when
the headache sometimes starts coming back. Since I added NAC, I have
been nearly headache free.
Another amazing development concerns
anxiety. Over the years I have become somewhat anxious when I drive on
highways. I grip the steering wheel tightly, sit forward in the seat, and am
generally hyper vigilant. I always chided myself for my lack of nerves, but
that didn’t help. As mentioned above, this was magnified by the Topomax. I
never had this issue when I was younger; indeed I used to fly helicopters in
the army. Two weeks ago I drove up to New Jersey to pick up my daughter, a
3.5 hour trip from where I live in Northern Virginia. I stopped two hours
into the trip to make a pit stop, and I suddenly realized I was totally
relaxed, and had been for the entire trip! The PHD is strong brain medicine
indeed! Thanks for all your research, insights, and ideas. I think the
Perfect Health Diet is going to be a game changer for many people. Hopefully
it is the start of a sea change at how we approach the chronic maladies of
our times.
Raynaud’s,
migraines, anxiety
Sharon
McAllister
Before the Perfect Health Diet, I was getting migraines almost every day.
I was on a low-fat, high fiber diet which is, necessarily a high carbohydrate
diet. I ate lots of legumes, lots of whole grains, and lots of fruits and
vegetables. I also ate low-fat and non-fat dairy. As you can see, the only
good thing in my diet was the vegetables. I was on this diet for about 4
years. My bowels were regular for the first time in my life, and it did feel
good to not always be constipated. I believed I was doing all the right
things. I now know that slowly over time toxins were building up in my
system. Eventually, I realized that immediately after eating a meal (a meal
that I thought was superfood healthy), I got a migraine before I could even
get up from the table. I couldn’t understand it! I began to research, and by
the grace of God, I found your diet and immediately purchased your book. I
have many migraine triggers, so they are not completely gone, but the
frequency and intensity have reduced substantially. My doctor has put me on
several different maintenance drugs over the years that were suppose to
reduce the frequency and intensity of my migraines, but none of them worked
at all. Your diet has done far more than anything else I’ve tried. I am still
hoping that one day I will be migraine free, but with my hormone related
migraines, it will probably not be until after menopause. I’m 48 years old
though, so maybe not too much longer to wait. My adult niece has also been a
migraine sufferer for years and she is now on your diet, and it is working
great for her too. We both owe you a great deal of thanks!
migraines
Karin I have particularly severe, chronic, complicated, and often silent
migraines. I have had these since childhood all day everyday. Because they
were often silent (no pain) they would manifest in various other ways, thus
leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders and schizophrenia for many years.
At one point I was also misdiagnosed with epilepsy as well. After one
particularly smart neurologist saw and tested me, I was placed on blood
pressure medications for migraines. This worked. The problem is that my body
constantly fights to readjust to the medications. After a few months at one
dose, it seems I start to get migraines again. So it would go up and the same
thing would repeat again. I was looking for a different solution and I
stumbled across this article.

I’ve been on the keto diet for nearly a month and it is the best thing
that has happened to me. I’m migraine free and medication free. My mood is
incredibly stable, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, I have
lots of energy, I can concentrate for hours on end, etc. I’ve lost weight
also, a much loved side effect. Thank you for writing this!

migraines,
mood, sleep, energy, weight loss
Brian Paul, Many thanks for the excellent work and great book.

I started PHD a few week before Christmas, and even with a few holiday
wobbles, I can honestly say that I am already starting to see a number
benefits.

I have no serious health issues as such, but a number of smaller/low level
chronic ones – headaches, gastric reflux, fatigue, stomach bloating and
gradual weight gain.

Gradually over a few shorts weeks the aforementioned issues have either
gone or dramatically subsided. My weight is starting to decrease (albeit
slowly) and my energy levels /sleep pattern is far better.

I’ve recommended your book to family and work colleagues as a result.

I think the main plus point of the diet is that it is ‘doable’.
Eliminating wheat and reducing fructose has been surprisingly easy, reducing
vegetable oil exposure more difficult.

Being allowed to each ‘safe starches’ has been great, as I’ve found
strictly low carb both difficult to sustain and left me not feeling optimal.

All in all I’m delighted, and so glad I found your website & book.

Many thanks

headaches,
acid reflux, fatigue, bloating, weight gain

Kidney stones

 

George
(email of Oct 14, 2011)
Just
a quick thank you for your website and the book which I purchased a month
ago. I had been a low carber for several years and over that time have
suffered 4 painful bouts of kidney stones. Your post on kidney stones on a LC
diet was eye opening. My urologist did various tests and I ended up with
having high levels of uric acid and oxalates. Incorporating your PHD, I
dramatically brought down my uric acid levels. I hope this and the other
benefits of your PHD will help prevent future stones.
kidney
stones

Diabetes & glycemic regulation

 

PeterC’s dad There might not be a perfect known diet for diabetes, but approximately
six months ago, my dad, an obese man in his early 70s with Type II diabetes
and recovering from congestive heart failure (with other health problems as
well), began following a not-especially low carb version of PHD along with
daily intermittent fasting.

Not only has he lost around 30 pounds, he’s been able to go off all his
meds except for insulin, which he has cut in half. Although his blood
pressure is still high, it’s pretty good for him, and most of his other
numbers have gotten better. His glucose is the best and most stable its been
in a very long time, possibly decades. I plan to write more about him and
show some before and after photos, with more detailed numbers and so forth,
when I get the chance.

He feels the best he’s felt in a long, long time. Where he used to say,
“If I live,” now he’s sure he’s going to live. Interestingly, he’s stopped
snoring as well, along with many other symptoms of better health.

I could write a lot more about him and plan to do so in the future.

diabetes
Daniel’s stepdad My
step dad was diagnosed T2D and had to take Metformin (high dosage) I convinced
him that his problem wasn’t high glucose but high insulin levels and that
Metformin was just a bandaid. I managed to get him to read Sisson’s articles
at MDA and follow the Primal Blueprint. This was NOT easy-he is very
stubborn. But Mark does have a way with words and now my step dad-in 8
months-has great BS readings and does not take any medication. His best
friend is also T2D and used to take 6 “mega shots” (his words) of insulin
everyday and now, after about 6 months, he is down to one shot per day. They
both have lost weight and both are in their late 50?s. Dont give up! the PHD
or Primal Blueprint are actually perfect to handle diabetes. Just dont listen
to the ADA!!
diabetes
Newell Wright I am a type II diabetic and a Perfect Health Diet follower, so I want to
chime in with my experience….

I switched from the Atkins Induction diet to the Perfect Health Diet. I
have been eating rice, potatoes, bananas, and other safe starches ever since,
as well as fermented dairy products, such as plain, whole milk yogurt. I have
also slowly lost another seven pounds. I enthusiastically recommend the book,
Perfect Health Diet by Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet.

Today, my fasting blood glucose reading was 105. Note that since following
the Perfect Health Diet, my fasting blood glucose reading has gone down.
Previously, I was suffering from the “dawn phenomenon.” My blood
glucose levels overall were well below 140 one hour after a meal and 120 two
hours after a meal. Only my fasting BG reading was out of whack, usually
between 120 and 130, first thing in the morning.

For dinner tonight, I had a fatty pork rib, green beans, and a small baked
potato with butter and sour cream. For dessert, I had a half cup of vanilla
ice cream. One hour after eating, my blood glucose level was 128 and two
hours after, it was 112.

So not only am I losing weight on the Perfect Health Diet, my blood
glucose levels have actually improved, thanks to the increased carbs
counteracting the dawn phenomenon, just as Dr. Kurt Harris (another proponent
of safe starches) said it would.

So for me, as a type II diabetic, this “safe starches” exclusion
is pointless. I realize that I have greatly helped my diabetes situation by
losing a lot of weight prior to switching to the Perfect Health Diet. And I
am taking Metformin Extended Release pills every day. Nevertheless, despite
the type II diabetes, I am doing just fine on the Perfect Health Diet, thank
you. I reject the diabetic exclusion of safe starches.

diabetes
Jim, email of April 2, 2012 . I am down from 341lbs to 272lbs doing mostly Paleo, but modified with
some safe starches per your book. Just so you know this is not just about
weight loss for me, I was a type 2 diabetic with full metabolic syndrome and
most importantly, I had popping capillaries in my retinas that were leading
to blindness. All is better now, no pills etc.
diabetes,
obesity, diabetic retinopathy
KH I’m type 1 diabetic …

Just this morning, I took my A1c home test (by Bayer) which includes two
tests in the box. Because of the unbelievably low result of first test, I
took the second one (different finger, different hand) to check… Results:

test 1- 5.2

test 2- 5.3 …

I know the diet here is helping me a lot and I’ve been feeling more
energetic lately and less moody, which my husband is VERY HAPPY about!!

Type
I diabetes, energy, mood
elizabethe I’ve struggled all my life with overweight, binge-like eating disorder
symptoms, and fluctuating weight and (undiagnosed but quite obvious) volatile
blood sugar. I’ve been roughly following PHD for some months now and it has
seriously reduced all of my previous binge-eating, hunger craving symptoms,
as well as vastly increasing the amount of time I can go between meals
without feeling frantic or emotional. I haven’t lost much weight, but my
weight has stabilized whereas before I was on a steady gaining trend.
binge
eating, weight gain, glycemic regulation

Atherosclerosis

 

Alex I recently had my carotid arteries evaluated via ultrasound for plaque and
narrowing and was told there is no evidence of either. A year ago, just
before adopting a PHD type diet, an MRI of my heart revealed “significant”
plaque on one of my coronary arteries and less significant on another…. I’m
in my mid 40s, lean, active, and have seen many health improvements since
adopting the diet (less joint stiffness, no more chronic back pain, milder
colds, fewer allergy symptoms, less gas, less bloating, need for less sleep.
atherosclerosis,
joint stiffness, back pain, allergies, bowel distress

Body composition, strength, athleticism

 

Ryan In a month on your diet, I haven’t lost a single pound—I wasn’t really
overweight to begin with when I start—but my body fat % has decreased 2.5%
from 17.5 to 15. I have never had an easier time putting on and maintaining
muscle in my entire life, despite the fact that I am not really doing any
exercise, well, save for a half hour of yoga, 5 days a week.
body
composition, muscle development
David Z. My success story: I’ve been eating what was mostly a “health food” diet
for twenty years. I followed the various trends and tried vegan, vegetarian,
raw, and more at different time periods. I’ve done juice fasting and
cleansing. At some times I followed it more religiously and other times less
so, but nonetheless slowly gained weight over the years.

This year I read Wheat Belly and started to think about cutting out wheat,
but that book rubbed me the wrong way and I wasn’t ready to commit. In
following up on it however I learned about paleo diets which led me to the
Perfect Health Diet. I was highly intrigued and implemented it before I even
finished the book.

I lost 25 points in the first two months on the diet, going from 215 lbs
to 190. I was not 100% compliant during this time period so was surprised to
see how effective it was. Since then I have mostly leveled off on the weight
loss while staying on the diet, but my pants continue to get looser and
looser.

190 is not a bad weight for me; I am 5’11″ and lift weights so while
this would be a high BMI I look pretty good. I’d like to lose another 10 or
15 pounds eventually but since this diet is so easy and pleasurable I’m not
stressing out over it and am giving myself as many years as it takes to do it
slowly.

Thanks!

weight
loss, body recomposition
Billy Greetings from Liverpool UK! I recently bought your book and converted
from paleo (one year) to using your safe starches and more fat which works
much better for me – i’m 28, athletic build and live a very active lifestyle
so super low carb made me look like i was literally starving – gaunt and not
good. I have some colour back in my cheeks now and much more energy!
body
composition, energy
Matt Dear Paul

I completely agree with the review on your book given by Chris Kresser. It
certainly is, in my opinion, the best book on nutrition out there. I’ve
bought copies for my entire family.

I’m an amateur bodybuilder and I’ve been struggling to gain muscle mass
for the past year. I’ve been on high carb and high protein diets but barely
gained any muscle mass, only fat and water mass.

I’ve read your book and greatly increased my saturated fat intake from
butter and whole eggs while simultaneously removing all grains, excess
omega-6 and fructose from my diet. I’m getting leaner and my muscles are
developing better.

What’s really surprising is that my calorie intake is higher and I’m
losing fat mass!! About 400 calories more per day. (I keep a very accurate
record of my calorie intake).

bodybuilding,
gaining muscle while losing fat
Java Gal Ok, have to comment – can’t contain myself anymore! I am a lurker of the
worst sort, but here goes. As a 54 year old woman, I am more energetic,
flexible (yoga three times a week), and healthier than I have been for, oh,
decades. My doc, a wonderful, but dye-in-the-wool vegetarian, told me to keep
doing what I was doing – cholesterol dropped, good TSH levels(I’m hypo), and
down 5 sizes. Talk about replacing a wardrobe! My worry, of course, is
gaining it all back, which, sorry to say, is an experience I have had already
in days of yore. I was an avowed low-carber back then and I can attest that,
while it was effective for losing weight, it was not a good long term
strategy. So far, as long as I stick to basic PHD principles, things are
going swimmingly. In general, PHD has been a huge success. Thank you Paul and
Shou-Ching!
obesity,
energy, flexibility, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, general health
John D. After ‘standard’ PHD (maybe too low carb PHD) for about six months I’ve
been doing Leangains-style for the past 3-4, and I too have better success
than before. (Success = weight loss without significant muscle loss.)

In my case I lift once a week (Body By Science-style), and on that day I
drive carbs above 200g. I do 60-90g carbs on off days. Protein is consistent
at 130-150g per day, which I know is too high for PHD but I tell myself it’s
only temporal. All days are 16/8 IF.

By watching calories (1600 off day, 2000 workout) I’ve (slowly) lost
around 15 lbs over 6 months, but maintained or increased my strength (as
measured by weight and/or time-under-load).

So I am a fan of LG + PHD. The big question is what happens when I stop
watching those calories? My entire life to date it’s meant a slow creep up
back to ~my starting weight. I’m hoping this time will be different; I’ve
been lighter before, but never had this little fat mass. We’ll see.

weight
loss, muscle gain
A. b. Dada I added back white potatoes and even white rice based on Dr. Harris’
advice and definitely feel better (less orthostatic hypotension) — plus I’m
actually slimmer than I’ve ever been, yet my muscles are much stronger.

Low carb for 12 years before this year!

orthostatic
hypotension, body composition
Mowgli When I started primal/phd, the numbers on the scale didn’t change, but I
went from a 4 pack to a solid 6 pack, and got much faster despite less
running.
running
speed, body composition
Els and here and here I have been on PHD for almost 2 weeks now, doing IF 16/8 at the same time,
and have started with the supplements you have recommended 4 days ago. Since
I started PHD I do no longer crave for sweets. I used to eat chocolates
almost everyday and haven’t had it for over 2 weeks now. 🙂 I am so happy I
found your blog and got your book. Keep up the good works….

5 weeks ago I found PHD website and ordered the book. I am now on my 4th
week of PHD and doing pretty well eating 20% carbs. I also am taking the supplements
Paul had recommended after I emailed him to ask what I can add to the one I
was taking. One of the things I immediately noticed after doing PHD is that
it improved the quality of my sleep (used to keep waking up several times at
night and that is now a thing of the past because I now sleep uninterrupted
for 7-8 hours); and no more cramps in my calves (that used to happen
occasionally after a heavy work out); no more menstrual cramps as well. Also,
today is the first time i had my monthly period that i didn’t get a pimple in
my face. I usually get a big, really deep and hard to get rid of pimple just
before or during my monthly period and my husband or a dermatologist would
actually help me get it out especially if I had an important function to attend
to. I was thinking that may be IF and the removal of wheat in my diet did
greatly help me in seeing immediate improvement in my sleep. So yes at least
in my experience, a great improvement in my over all health since I
incorporated the principles that I learned from the PHD book. And btw, I have
a very sensitive skin (Atopic skin type or atopic/atopy syndrome – a
hereditary component, as my doctor calls it because my mo and grandma had it
too) and I usually get itchy and/or red spots in my skin all the time but in
the last 4 weeks the anti-itching cream which I carry everywhere has never
been used even once. And to top it all off, I lost 3 lbs in the last 4 weeks
(losing the 15 lb excess weight is not even on top of my list because I am
trying to get pregnant). I don’t have any health problems and hardly get
sick. I simply want to eat healthy and trying to figure out what diet works
best for me. And I found it! Thanks to PHD. Thanks to the Jaminets! At 42,
5’6″ height, 125 lbs weight, and doing PHD on 20% carbs, I feel great!
And yes, I am sticking with PHD for the rest of my life….

Btw, I continue to shed off some more fat even after I’ve increased my
carb intake to 30% last week. When I started the PHD 6 weeks ago, I weighed
128 lbs and now 122.4 lbs. I just hope I keep losing the last few fat I
wanted to shed off. Btw, I only weigh myself once a week at the same day and
time without fail and I also use a Digital Body Fat Caliper to measure my
body fat. So yes, I am definitely losing some body fat and no muscle loss!
That’s only after doing PHD for 6 weeks without changing my usual cardio
& weight training regimen. My trainer was very impressed when she weighed
me last week. I told her about PHD because she’s one of those people who
believes in eating 5-6 small meals a day. 🙂 I’ve done that for years but I
am definitely doing better by practising IF 16/8 and eating only 2-3 meals a
day. I am definitely seeing positive results since I started the PHD! The
elimination of wheat, sugar and cheese which I used to eat a lot everyday has
done great wonders in my body.

food
cravings, cramps / menstrual cramps, sleep, acne / pimples, body composition

Gout

 

L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure

Dyslipidemia

 

L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure
Java Gal Ok, have to comment – can’t contain myself anymore! I am a lurker of the
worst sort, but here goes. As a 54 year old woman, I am more energetic,
flexible (yoga three times a week), and healthier than I have been for, oh,
decades. My doc, a wonderful, but dye-in-the-wool vegetarian, told me to keep
doing what I was doing – cholesterol dropped, good TSH levels(I’m hypo), and
down 5 sizes. Talk about replacing a wardrobe! My worry, of course, is
gaining it all back, which, sorry to say, is an experience I have had already
in days of yore. I was an avowed low-carber back then and I can attest that,
while it was effective for losing weight, it was not a good long term
strategy. So far, as long as I stick to basic PHD principles, things are
going swimmingly. In general, PHD has been a huge success. Thank you Paul and
Shou-Ching!
obesity,
energy, flexibility, dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism, general health
Mike Gruber My TG seem to run a little lower if I eat some carbs. Pre-Paleo, I was
114. Post-Paleo, it had run as high as 167, and was 139 when last tested in
May of ’10.

I added “safe starches” and started the full PHD supplementation
program in late January of ’11. At my last blood draw (May of ’11), my TG was
finally under 100 (85).

dyslipidemia

Oral & dental health

 

L.B. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a
combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a
47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

My health and fitness improvements include the following:

  • <span
    >25lb weight loss and
    better body composition
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of life long irritable bowel symptoms
  • <span
    >Complete elimination
    of heartburn
  • <span
    >Improved cholesterol
    profile
  • <span
    >Less plaque build-up
    on my teeth
  • <span
    >Reduced carb and sugar
    cravings over time

This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife
is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood
pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

weight
loss, gout, creaky joints, IBS, heartburn / acid reflux, dyslipidemia, oral
health, reduced cravings, blood pressure
Ray Among many of the benefits of giving up gluten completely has been the
disappearance of a life long dental plaque problem (I’m currently 51); a
problem so bad I needed to have my teeth cleaned every four months to keep my
dental hygienist happy.
dental
plaque

Eczema

 

Firlefanz I’ve had a sore on my right hand for over two months now. Nothing I did
really helped, I tried fatty salves, zinc salve, disinfectant spray …
nothing helped. But this morning, it’s practically healed. No more red skin,
in fact, the hard skin part simply flaked off and left healthy skin behind.

Small, but noticable. This diet reduces inflammation in the whole body. I
think this was one tiny example of it.

hadrion I decided to give Perfect Health Diet a go first and see where that takes
me. What I’ve learned from asking question to the Jaminets and reading their
answers is that a little sugar here and there in products and the sugar in
fruit isn’t going to kill you.

I can’t do a low carb Paleo diet as I never feel right on that kind of
eating plan and I end up gorging on nuts more than anything.

After 2 weeks on Perfect Health Diet I’ve seen some pretty impressive
changes in my body. My skin is clearer and less red. I’ve lost the
“bloat” I would get in my stomach after meals containing gluten. In
fact, I get full quicker on less food but the sense of full isn’t
uncomfortable; it’s just my body telling me to stop eating. I’ve lost some
weight in mid section that has been my most stubborn area as well. My wife,
who suffers from eczema, has had her condition lessened to the point that
it’s not an issue right now following the diet with me.

This leads me to a few things, chiefly, that gluten is not good for my
wife & I. My energy levels are more consistent and there’s less crashing
during the day avoiding gluten. I’ve had no inflammation although I stopped
my inflammation years ago following CS’s advice and using the supps he
recommends.

While I’m not dismissing Peat’s philosophy of diet, so far I feel pretty
great. I really think there’s a middle ground between these 2 styles of
eating that will work for people long term. That said, I’m going to stick to
Pefect Health for a full month and chart my progress and then I might try to
introduce some Peat ideas into the mix and see how the sugar from OJ and Ice
Cream play with how I feel. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be a
problem adding in those down the road. I am following Peat’s suggestion to
eat a raw carrot and coconut oil daily,

What I would encourage any of you dealing with inflammation or who feel
extremely bloated after a meal with wheat in it is to try to avoid gluten and
see if your body feels different. I had gone gluten free before but all I did
was replace wheat bread with gluten free breads and I paid no attention to
the oils used to make the products. The Perfect Health style of eating with
safe starches like potato, sweet potato and white rice makes following the
diet easy and pleasurable. We even made Perfect Health ice cream which uses
rice syrup in place of sugar and it was delicious and totally satisfied any
lingering sweet tooth.

So far, following the plan set out in the PHD has led to some nice
results.

Skin
redness, bloating, weight loss, eczema
Joan’s sister Hi Paul

You will remember 12 days ago I asked you about my sister who has CFS and
was taking 100 mls a day of safflower oil to keep eczema under control.

You wrote: My guess is that there is a high level of oxidative stress
which is diminishing AA levels, and the safflower oil makes more arachidonic
acid and relieves the problem. So the strategy I would try first is (a)
supplementing antioxidants…. and (b) treating any infections. Also, get serum
25OHD levels tested and normalize vitamin D/A/K status.

Your advice was spot on and the results have been miraculous. She started
supplementation with zinc, copper, selenium, vitamins C, E, D and K and NAC.
Within 24 hours her eczema was much improved and she began reducing the
safflower oil. Now 10 days later she is down to 10 mls of safflower oil and
is confident she can discontinue it completely in a few days. Her eczema has
completely cleared and her skin is looking good.

Not only that, but some of her CFS symptoms have improved. Her constant
headache is not as severe, irregular heartbeat episodes have almost
completely stopped and she is tolerating slightly more physical activity.
Needless to say she is absolutely delighted and wants me to pass on her
deepest gratitude to you. Her words are, “It’s a miracle”. Once again
Proverbs 13:12 springs to mind. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a
longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Her sense of despair and resignation
has gone and you have given her hope of a better future. Words seem
inadequate to express thanks for that.

I’ve ordered a couple of copies of your book and I’m sure she will be more
than open to reading it and making dietary changes. I hope she will also
follow up your advice to treat any underlying infections.

Any interesting note: prior to starting the anti-oxidants she craved the
safflower oil and could hardly wait for her next ‘dose’. That has been
replaced with feeling nauseous even at the thought of the oil. Obviously her
body no longer needs it.

In searching the net I found this paper that seems to support your advice:
Determination of fatty acid levels in erythrocyte membranes of patients with
chronic fatigue syndrome. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14744043

And this letter in the Nutritional Neuroscience discussing the paper’s
findings: Oxidative Stress Might Reduce Essential Fatty Acids in Erythrocyte
Membranes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
http://cfids-cab.org/cfs-inform/Hypotheses/nijs.demeirleir04.pdf

Thank you once again, Paul, for your generosity in sharing your knowledge
and your time. The effect is life-changing.

Kind Regards

Joan

chronic
fatigue syndrome, eczema

Hair loss

 

Meli Hi Paul,

I just wanted to let you know that I was finally successful at adding back
in some carbs. I am now able to eat half of a small sweet potato on a daily
basis, while still losing weight! You were right, the weight gain (about five
pounds) was merely a temporary “hump” I had to get over before starting to go
back down. I was afraid I’d be stuck eating very low carb forever!

As a bonus, my eyes are no longer blurry, and my hair appears to have
started growing back. When I put it in a ponytail, there is a thick halo of
new fuzz where formerly my scalp was visible. I am suprised at how quickly
these issues began to resolve – it has been perhaps a month, if not less. I
haven’t been able to afford the supplements you recommended, but as soon as I
can I will get them.

You have my deepest gratitude, and respect. ~ Meli

Weight
loss, dry eyes, hair loss

Heart palpitations

 

Shelley I’ve been reading paleo, WAPF, low-carb sites for over a year now and
following your PHD as well. You can add me to the list of your success
stories as I lost 15 pounds , have no “cravings” eliminated GERD, heart
palpiations, panic attacts and other annoying pains.
weight
loss, food cravings, GERD / acid reflux, heart palpitations, panic attacks /
anxiety

Cramps, menstrual cramps

 

Els and here and here I have been on PHD for almost 2 weeks now, doing IF 16/8 at the same time,
and have started with the supplements you have recommended 4 days ago. Since
I started PHD I do no longer crave for sweets. I used to eat chocolates
almost everyday and haven’t had it for over 2 weeks now. 🙂 I am so happy I
found your blog and got your book. Keep up the good works….

5 weeks ago I found PHD website and ordered the book. I am now on my 4th
week of PHD and doing pretty well eating 20% carbs. I also am taking the
supplements Paul had recommended after I emailed him to ask what I can add to
the one I was taking. One of the things I immediately noticed after doing PHD
is that it improved the quality of my sleep (used to keep waking up several
times at night and that is now a thing of the past because I now sleep
uninterrupted for 7-8 hours); and no more cramps in my calves (that used to
happen occasionally after a heavy work out); no more menstrual cramps as
well. Also, today is the first time i had my monthly period that i didn’t get
a pimple in my face. I usually get a big, really deep and hard to get rid of
pimple just before or during my monthly period and my husband or a
dermatologist would actually help me get it out especially if I had an
important function to attend to. I was thinking that may be IF and the
removal of wheat in my diet did greatly help me in seeing immediate improvement
in my sleep. So yes at least in my experience, a great improvement in my over
all health since I incorporated the principles that I learned from the PHD
book. And btw, I have a very sensitive skin (Atopic skin type or atopic/atopy
syndrome – a hereditary component, as my doctor calls it because my mo and
grandma had it too) and I usually get itchy and/or red spots in my skin all
the time but in the last 4 weeks the anti-itching cream which I carry
everywhere has never been used even once. And to top it all off, I lost 3 lbs
in the last 4 weeks (losing the 15 lb excess weight is not even on top of my
list because I am trying to get pregnant). I don’t have any health problems
and hardly get sick. I simply want to eat healthy and trying to figure out what
diet works best for me. And I found it! Thanks to PHD. Thanks to the
Jaminets! At 42, 5’6″ height, 125 lbs weight, and doing PHD on 20%
carbs, I feel great! And yes, I am sticking with PHD for the rest of my
life….

Btw, I continue to shed off some more fat even after I’ve increased my
carb intake to 30% last week. When I started the PHD 6 weeks ago, I weighed
128 lbs and now 122.4 lbs. I just hope I keep losing the last few fat I
wanted to shed off. Btw, I only weigh myself once a week at the same day and
time without fail and I also use a Digital Body Fat Caliper to measure my
body fat. So yes, I am definitely losing some body fat and no muscle loss!
That’s only after doing PHD for 6 weeks without changing my usual cardio
& weight training regimen. My trainer was very impressed when she weighed
me last week. I told her about PHD because she’s one of those people who
believes in eating 5-6 small meals a day. 🙂 I’ve done that for years but I
am definitely doing better by practising IF 16/8 and eating only 2-3 meals a
day. I am definitely seeing positive results since I started the PHD! The
elimination of wheat, sugar and cheese which I used to eat a lot everyday has
done great wonders in my body.

food
cravings, cramps / menstrual cramps, sleep, acne / pimples, body composition
Erik I also recall during the summer getting cramps in my calves and triceps
when I didn’t consume enough carbohydrates. It was very easy to under consume
carbs when you cut out grains and legumes. The cramping went away when I
added in sweet potatos, rice and yams. Now, I make an effort to get more
carbs in my diet. I also noticed that my body odor would be stronger on days
that I consumed less than 100 calories of carbs. For me, I have found that
very low carbing doesn’t work well and there are side effects.
cramps,
body odor

Multiple sclerosis

 

Sara H I am a non-menstruating woman who with MS …

I do practice ketogenic dieting (thanks to you!) and I definitely feel the
benefit. I have not been successful finding a doctor who will treat me with
antibiotics but will continue to search. I do the coconut oil but I am prone
to fungal infections so I am careful not to take too much. I once lived in an
apartment for over 2 years working out of my home and when it was time to
move out noticed mold on the ceiling and after further investigation
discovered that the heating ducts were filled with it. I’m pretty sure this
is where my health problems began.

I have had no new lesions since first being diagnosed and looking at me
you would not know that I have MS …

multiple
sclerosis

Body odor

 

Erik I also recall during the summer getting cramps in my calves and triceps
when I didn’t consume enough carbohydrates. It was very easy to under consume
carbs when you cut out grains and legumes. The cramping went away when I
added in sweet potatos, rice and yams. Now, I make an effort to get more
carbs in my diet. I also noticed that my body odor would be stronger on days
that I consumed less than 100 calories of carbs. For me, I have found that
very low carbing doesn’t work well and there are side effects.
cramps,
body odor

Leave a comment ?

553 Comments.

  1. My success story: I’ve been eating what was mostly a “health food” diet for twenty years. I followed the various trends and tried vegan, vegetarian, raw, and more at different time periods. I’ve done juice fasting and cleansing. At some times I followed it more religiously and other times less so, but nonetheless slowly gained weight over the years.

    This year I read Wheat Belly and started to think about cutting out wheat, but that book rubbed me the wrong way and I wasn’t ready to commit. In following up on it however I learned about paleo diets which led me to the Perfect Health Diet. I was highly intrigued and implemented it before I even finished the book.

    I lost 25 points in the first two months on the diet, going from 215 lbs to 190. I was not 100% compliant during this time period so was surprised to see how effective it was. Since then I have mostly leveled off on the weight loss while staying on the diet, but my pants continue to get looser and looser.

    190 is not a bad weight for me; I am 5’11” and lift weights so while this would be a high BMI I look pretty good. I’d like to lose another 10 or 15 pounds eventually but since this diet is so easy and pleasurable I’m not stressing out over it and am giving myself as many years as it takes to do it slowly.

    Thanks!

  2. I have been following a “paleo” diet for the past seven months – a combination of the PHD book, Mark’s Daily Apple and Kurt Harris’ blog. I am a 47 year old male, 6’ 1” and 175lbs.

    My health and fitness improvements include the following:

    25lb weight loss and better body composition
    Complete elimination of chronic gout (a seventeen year affliction)
    Complete elimination of “creaky” joints in my feet and knees
    Complete elimination of life long irritable bowel symptoms
    Complete elimination of heartburn
    Improved cholesterol profile
    Less plaque build-up on my teeth
    Reduced carb and sugar cravings over time

    This fitness plan has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. My wife is also doing this with me and she has been able to get off her blood pressure medication and she’s experienced many other benefits as well.

  3. I’m still very new to this diet, and I’ve been generally getting in shape and losing weight for a while now, but one thing I can comment on already is the effect it’s had on rhinitis.

    Simply put, my rhinitis has disappeared completely. I no longer wake up with a runny nose. I don’t need to take steroidal nose sprays. I don’t even blow my nose. Rhinitus is now a non-issue. I’ve read that wheat and soy often cause rhinitis, so I suspect some sort of allergy was to blame.

    One other benefit: I’m never hungry on the PHD and I’m really enjoying all the food I CAN eat, while not missing the food I can’t eat.

  4. I posted earlier about my progress with being on Savella for a fibromyalgia diagnosis I received a bit over 2 years ago. With following the PHD about 40% or so I began to cut back on my medication. I did it too quick the first time, and began to feel terrible. So, I stepped up the PHD compliance of my diet as much as I could. I then began slowly cutting the dosage until I was off completely 3 months ago.

    I delayed reporting because I wanted to be sure symptoms would not flare up again. Today I ran my fastest 2 mile time, then played ultimate frisbee for a few hours later in the day. I feel great. I used to get extremely sore from just trying to run half a mile, which was also pretty depressing. I am feeling strong and limber with no trace of soreness.

  5. Steve Reichard

    Blood pressure for the past several years had been around 135/90, while eating a decent diet with a lot of cheating. After switching to PHD a month ago, my BP has consistently been around 115/75.

  6. I notice that there is not much said about the changes that menopause brings on. My weight was great until peri-menopause and three months of hormones. Since then it seems that a switch has been turned off and my weight has gone up. I’ve tried most every food plan imaginable. I’ve started on PHD and find it very user friendly and satisfying, but my weight is not coming down substantially. Any recommendations??? Thanks in advance for your information. cheers! Lynn Meinke

  7. Hello Paul,

    In February 2012 I came across your website. I read and researched it for several hours and asked a few questions on this blog. You promptly responded, so I bought the kindle version and went on the diet. I was 226# at my physical in February and now I’m consistently under 210lbs, but can’t get under 200lbs. I’d like to get to 185 (I’m 6 foot).
    I’ve lost the weight with infrequent exercise too. I used to bike to work and go on long rides on the weekends which was approximately 150 miles per week. I was also a vegetarian at that time which lasted for about 3 years. The vegetarian lifestyle came to end December of 2011.

    I gave up grains (except for micro-brew) in February, 2012. But, I now live where I have to drive 45 minutes to work (1 way) so now I only get exercise 2-3x per week in the form of either biking, hiking or swimming. Some weeks there’s only sleeping and working.

    So, that’s my sob story. Any ideas you might have regarding my stall in weight loss would be appreciated.

    I also found Gary Taubes through your website.

    thanks for the research

    Shannon

    • Hi Shannon,

      It’s fairly common for weight to stall 10-20 pounds above goal weight. Common reasons include hypothyroidism and inflammatory conditions, often originating in the gut.

      In truth there are many factors contributing to weight gain and there are commonly stalls after fixing one causes you to lose 15 pounds and then you have to fix something else to lose more.

      I would (a) get a thyroid panel done and get any hypothyroidism, including subclinical hypothyroidism, treated so that TSH is 1; (b) keep vitamin D levels optimized; (c) focus on circadian rhythm strategies.

      Circadian rhythm strategies: Dim the lights at night; minimize TV watching; go to bed at a regular time, and wake naturally; bright lights during the day, computer at work on maximum brightness; outdoor sun exposure as much as you can, on bare skin; light activity outdoors every day, at least 10-20 minutes.

      Ideally: For 10 minutes in the early morning before you shower, go outdoors in the sun for light activity. Jogging is a good activity; try to elevate your heart rate, but don’t tire yourself out. It should be refreshing. Start by alternating walking and jogging; work in some track and field warmups like karaoke and high knees. Do something similar in the afternoon or evening, 10 minutes light outdoor activity. The goal is not fitness but circadian rhythm nudging. Tell your body it’s day, time for activity. Get a Fitbit and try to do 10,000 steps a day. Sign up for Dan’s Plan to track steps and weight.

      The other thing is to work hard on nutrition. See our new supplemental food/nutrient recommendations.

      Best, Paul

      • I through out my lower back after walking/jogging HIIT style on a Sunday, so I’m not a big fan of jogging these days.

  8. Hi Folks

    Think I’ve followed the path of many people here. About a month ago I stumbled across Wheat Belly on Amazon after searching for another unrelated book, this had many references to other key books by Gary Taubes and the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution. The next step was PHD, I’m currently reading the Kindle version and have two copies on the new edition on pre-order (one for me, one as a present). I’ve Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint also to read, but I doubt it will top PHD.

    I’ve had an interest in health and diet for the last 25 years, 10 of which I was strict vegetarian – during this time I was also a fitness fanatic and never quite worked-out why I couldn’t shift those %ages of body-fat, despite all the “healthy whole grains” – doh!

    End of last year I found my weight had crept up to 98 kilos – I’m 181cms tall, so I can just about get away with it visually, but my clothes weren’t fitting well and I decided to drop some weight. Five years back I had followed Chris Aceto’s book, Everything You Need to Know About Fat Loss, and had great results, 10 kilos in three months, but decided this time to try out Atkins. After researching pro’s and con’s I went for it and found a good weight loss in short time, but the downsides were loss of energy in the first weeks and of course a very restricted diet. During an intense period at work in June & July I found myself forced to eat a sandwich at my desk for lunch for some weeks. This triggered eating bread at home too and I found myself a couple of kilos heavier and constantly bloated – this was when I started to read all the books mentioned above.

    Since the beginning of August I’ve been on Paleo – I wouldn’t define this as VLC as I eat a LOT of veggies and salads. I know PHD doesn’t classify these as carbs, but they must count for something. In fact that was the main difference with Atkins, no more food measuring or carb counting. I found this incredibly liberating and the kilos dropped off again, despite eating to satisfaction whenever I wanted. Now I’m reading PHD and I’m finding it an evolution over what has gone before. I really appreciate the logical process behind everything that’s written, it makes sense. So now I’m adding safe starches into my diet – good for me as I love potatoes and rice, and like many others I mix my daily allowance of coconut oil into this too, which makes them taste even better.

    Now I’m branching out in my food choices, stuff I would never have eaten before. I have a bag of frozen beef bones to cook-up and I at some brains/tongue in gelatin over the weekend. Not something I’d have gone for in the past, but I tried and guess what, they taste great! I had some seaweed for the first time and some sweet potato, also new and tasty too. I’m slowly persuading my wife – she’s cut out bread and lowered her sugar intake a lot. The kids it’s a slow transition, but going the right way.

    I stopped daily too, will re-introduce some in a few weeks to see how it makes me feel – I do like a hot cup of milk at bedtime… Oh yes, I do a 5/2 fast regime as well for the last month – this has now become a weekly event that I really look forward too. And I’m the office bore on food and nutrition now too ? And I started a blog to track my personal progress: http://www.baird.be

    Supplements, as of a week ago I’m taking krill oil as (cautiously) recommended by Chris Kresser. I had my blood sampled in January and August. January, after some months on Atkins, already showed a big improvement from previous years with my triglycerides down from 310 to 165, now on Paleo they’re 92! Total cholesterol has now dropped to 185 – I’m seeking big improvements still and will get a retest in 2 months.

    I believe this to be a tremendously important area of research that has a long way to go, certainly in terms of clinical trials. Nevertheless, it appears to me that there’s so much anecdotal evidence that the establishment will be forced to take note. Regardless of that, there’s a rapidly growing movement of people dedicated to following this paleo approach and regardless of the sluggishness of the governments and mainstream, the message is getting out there.

    Still, I do take great delight in the look on people’s faces when I advise them that the best possible thing they could ever do is to stop eating wheat; “what you mean bread?”, “Sure, bread, biscuits, cakes, in fact pretty much any bought processed food”. HORROR!! 😀

    Cheers, Dave

  9. Paul,

    i lost where my comments. so here it is. (not a dramatic success. since i don’t have a weight issue)

    my TC went up top almost 300 after switching diet (TG = 61, HDL = 88) just like many of us who’re on high fat diet. but my carb is not VLC. it is only LC.

    (when i was on “standard healthy” (i.e., fat phobia) diet, TC was 150-170, HDL ~ 64, TG = 51)

    then i was also diagnosed w/ mild hypothyroidism (subclinical) + severe (iron) anemia.

    your article on iodine & hypothyroidism gave me some ideas.

    i added more seaweed, liver + bone broth (veg + tuber).

    after 6-8 months

    TC = 240
    HDL = 98
    TG = 54

    thanks! now this makes me a little angry w/ most MDs. they’d just put people w/ such high TC on statin. they know less than you. sorry, i digress.

    also a while ago, you mentioned that you grew taller taller on this diet. i think it’s real (for me).

    after all the bone broth, my bone density now is 101% of a young adult. (no supplement)

    (it used to be really low, despite being moderately active all my life + calcium supplement).

    i conclude that bone broth is pretty close to super food. + tastes good, inexpensive, nourishing (i dont’ skim off fat)

    bone broth + tuber can probably solve the world hunger problem!

    oh, it is also good for skin, digestive system.

    thanks.

    (few remaining issues: mild allergy, vitiligo)

    • Thanks Pam!

      For allergy I would focus on fat-soluble vitamins (get enough A – do you eat 3 egg yolks a day? – and supplement K2 and get sunshine) and the LCPUFA + oxidant/antioxidant network (ie eat salmon, eggs/beef, appropriate zinc and copper). It may be you’ve already optimized those.

      Best, Paul

  10. Paul,

    my allergy has got a lot better but didn’t get eliminated.

    you’re probably right that i don’t eat enough eggs. i have 3-4 eggs/week.

    i had been mostly gluten free before switching diet. then i tried dairy free & no difference. the only thing i found was my teeth stained a little more & gum complained a little more + mild cramps since i switched to coconut milk/cream (100%). so i went back on dairy.

    i’ll try your advices.

    cheers,

  11. I’m concerned about some recent articles saying that brown rice syrup contains high levels of arsenic. I don’t use it very often…but now will skip it entirely!

    • Hi Trudy,

      That’s rice syrup from the American south, where arsenic was used as a pesticide against boll weevils. Rice syrup from California or Asia doesn’t have much arsenic.

  12. i appreciate any suggestions on my current woe. i am pre-diabetic or insulin resistant, shake and can’t think straight when i feel my sugar is low. i have ldl at 274 which i think is not normal. i also have trouble sleeping while doing IF (the judd way). which i love as i have lost weight and feel better. but i am interested in your progam and i ordered your new book. i couldn’t sleep last night so anxious to read it but i have to wait till dec!! anyway, i am reading your site and i would like to know if eating rice and coconut oil on my fasting day would be better than just calorie counting (to stay under 500 cals). or do i have to have protein at each meal? thanks for everything you are doing to make the quality of our lives better. cri

    • Hi cris,

      With glucose issues I would keep fasting to 16 hr or less, and eat a normal number of calories in the remaining 8 hours. If it’s comfortable, then do that 16/8 cycle routinely.

      The diet in our book is our best advice, so that’s the place to go! Sorry you have to wait!

      Best, Paul

  13. Around the Web: Back to School Edition | Perfect Health Diet - pingback on September 8, 2012 at 5:00 pm
  14. Hi Paul, thanks for having this site up and all your energy to help so many……….love and live your book, and share it with all. I am troubled as it is flu shot time again, I never get the flu and never get flu shots til last year. Hubby is afraid that I will get the flu and die on him now that I’m older, I got a flu like reaction to the shot, and am not a big fan of vaccines anyway, do you know of the safest vaccine out, would the nasal spray vaccine for kids be safer for me, I only do this to appease him, hard to live with him when he’s upset. Any thought would be greatly appreciated, Thank you so much,Laura

    • Hi Laura,

      I’m afraid I don’t have special expertise in regard to vaccines and don’t like to give advice about it. I personally don’t take flu vaccines, because there is a bit of evidence that vaccines help you against the thing you vaccinate against but hurt you a little bit against everything else — the immune system may have limited resources. So you have to balance the odds in your personal case.

      • Thank you Paul, kinda thought that was the case, but had to ask 🙂
        Thanks again, Laura

        • I was reading the post about BO and saw your comments. I’ve read on mercola.com that vaccines do NOT help with much of anything. You might want to read this book and check out the healing benefits of silver.
          Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC I read an article by Robert Scott Bell about the amazing benefits of it. Silver is a versatile anti-microbial, immune-modulating, wound-healing element that has been used for centuries. Silver stops infectious microbes in their tracks. It has long been accepted that silver is effective in fighting a range of microbes including bacteria, viruses and fungi.
          Mr. Bell recommends Sovereign Silver made by Natural-Immunogenics Corp. It seem to be one of the best brands I’ve ever seen; though I have not used it. Mr. Bell is a homeopath with a natural health show on NaturalNews Radio Network. I really love herbal medicine, but silver will probably become my new favorite medicine!

  15. Hi Paul,
    I wonder if you can please help. I have been dieting on and off since I was 11 and I am now 40. I have always had a weight problem. Eventually I ate no more than 700 calories a day and that was not to loose weight, it was just so I could stay constant. My diet was to cut out all starch all fat and starchy veg as the doctors told me to.
    But the constant dieting has caused many issues.
    My issues were, hair loss, weight gain, stomach ulcers, h-pylori, low vit c,d,b, dizziness, low blood pressure, malnourished, constant heartburn and indigestion, constant stabbing bone pain, constant fatigue, depression etc etc.
    I started on the PHD about 6 – 8 months ago. I am still not losing weight but I am feeling a million times better (thanks). I wonder if you can help with some of the lingering issues. Vit D still very very low even though I am using a supplement, low vit b, I think low vit a, suffering from night blindness. The worst is that I am starting to have allergic reactions to different things. I can eat a strawberry today and then the next time I have it I start having a reaction. My neck starts itching and goes red and then I start coughing and producing large amounts of mucus and cant breathe. It’s starting to happen with more and more food items. Even some supplements are causing that.
    Any help in this regard will be appreciated.
    Thanks
    Joia

    • Hi Joia,

      It sounds like some sort of gut or chronic infection. We’ve blogged about vitamin D being low in chronic infections: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/08/vitamin-d-dysregulation-in-chronic-infectious-diseases/. Also, Mario has blogged about how infections are the most common cause of hypothyroidism, which is why your hair was falling out and weight going up. Gut infections are usually behind indigestion, fatigue, and food sensitivities.

      I think you need a doctor to investigate what infections you may have and how they may be treated. A stool test and SIBO testing may be helpful. Do you still have H pylori?

      You may also experiment with some detox supplements, like bentonite clay or charcoal, during your daily fast and see if they reduce the itching/red skin/coughing symptoms.

      Another clue would be your blood lipids – is your serum cholesterol low? That could indicate a protozoal or parasitic infection.

      In complex cases like yours there’s no substitute for medical care. Please keep us posted.

      • Hi Paul,

        Just finished reading the book, really awesome stuff! Thank you. Quick question for you.

        For over 3 years now I have been following low-carb paleo diet to deal with a recurring fungal infection on just my left foot, random patches of hair loss on my scalp, painful folliculitis like rashes around my mouth area, and weird neurological issues. I do travel alot, and was diagnosed with an amoeba infection in August of 2011. Felt great after taking the meds for it, but within 8 weeks everything came roaring back. Honestly little has changed and i am going to restructure my diet to possibly help with these issues. Which and how much of the safe starches do you recommed i consume (probably the ones with the least amount of fructose) and should i stay away from coconut oil since the ketones will just continue to feed these infections?

        thank you, Mike

        • Hi Mike,

          I’d recommend white potatoes for glucose, no fructose, and resistant starch.

          If these give you trouble, try white rice.

          Try the normal PHD recommended amount (500 calories = 1 pound cooked food) and if that gives you trouble try reducing it.

          Try 2-3 tbsp coconut milk (1 tbsp coconut oil) per day as a limit. I think it’s fine to eat it, just not so much that you’re producing a surplus of ketones.

    • Hi Joia, it looks like maybe you should look into digestion, if you have Stomach ulcers, constant heartburn and indigestion. The problem could start in the stomach with to low of Hydrochloric Acid then the food start creating lactic acid and burn you, if you take an anti-acid your food will be rotting all the way down. If you do not digest your food it doesn’t matter what you eat you will not get much nutrition from it.
      http://healthline.cc/healthline-radio-show/

      hope you can fix this.

  16. Hi Paul,

    I read the section on infections and you showed that higher cholesterol in blood is negatively associated with infections. However you mentioned an exception that caught my attention: Candida. You said that both HDL and LDL promote fungal infection… That is worry-some to me. I remember an Italian oncologist did extensive research on cancer and concluded that all cancers are fungus. So if HDL and LDL promote fungus growth, that means they will promote cancer growth too if the Italian doctors research has some merit. What do you think? Thank you.

    • Hi Alex,

      There are some parallels in the immune response to cancer and to fungus, so cancer patients often develop fungal infections too. However, they’re far from identical.

      I believe it’s not the case that cancer benefits from high cholesterol, in fact low cholesterol is associated with higher cancer risk.

      I think it’s possible that Candida promotes cancer, but it’s unlikely that physiologically normal levels of HDL and LDL do even in the presence of a Candida infection.

  17. Thank you so much for writing the Perfect Health Diet book!

    I have lost 20 pounds in six months by simply reducing the amount of tortillas I was eating. I used to eat up to 15 tortillas a day. Now I eat about five for the whole week. Like you guys said; the dose is the poison!

  18. Paul you really need to get a forum sorted,it would greatly increase book sales and be a great place for readers of your book to hang out and discuss together,this is ok but its too disjointed right now,great book by the way,looking forward to the new edition next month
    regards
    Chris

  19. Hi Paul,

    I have been trying to help my sister-in-law in the Philippines who has severe migraine headaches which last 3-4 days several times a month. She has lost a lot of weight, currently is about 85 pounds (was 100 pounds 10 years ago) and is 4′ 9″ tall. She doesn’t eat well because she doesn’t feel well. I have just pre-ordered your book and will take it to her. My question is, do I need to order all of the daily and weekly supplements to get her started, or should she first just read the book and follow the diet–wait and see how she responds and then order the supplements? I want to get everything I need now for her now as we are going there(as much as possible), so any advice you can give is helpful.

    Thanks a lot!
    Lori

    • Hi Lori,

      I would recommend the supplements, especially the essential daily supplements. Magnesium in particular is very important for migraines — I would get the chelate rather than the citrate just in case there are absorption issues.

      The fact that she’s losing weight suggests some kind of malnourishment and therefore supplements may be especially important in her case. Of course they are no substitute for food, she needs to eat above all, but they may help accelerate her recovery.

  20. Hello
    I have been a vegan since 2009. I made the switch in 2009 because as a body builder I consumed a lot of protein shakes and I believe I reached protein toxicity. As a result my kidneys were inflamed, urine was very dark, lethargy and anxiety began taking over my life. The switch to vegan got rid of my symptoms, but new ones arose last January, like frequent diarhea, intestinal pains and recently symptoms that match a systemic yeast infection. After reading your book I became convinced and switched to your PHD 2 weeks ago. With PHD I saw immediate results but I now am beginning to feel cloudy in my head, weakness in my legs, chest pains like I had when I had reflux acid, pains in my lower back where my kidneys are, and my urine is a dark color. I am desperate and do not know what to do any more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am suspecting cheese and butter to be responsible and am cutting it out for now.

    Thank you,
    George

    • Hi George,

      You need to see a doctor and look into causes. The dark urine may be bilirubin from jaundice, which can arise from several causes including gallstones. Urinary tract infections or bleeding are other possibilities.

      Diet is important and will help but first of all you need to understand what infections and/or organ issues you have. Doctors have tools to figure those things out, so please avail yourself of those tests and get a clearer picture.

  21. Hello everyone! My husband is going to buy this book for me. I’ve been looking over this site and I like what you have to say. I am overweight, but I will say that my husband LOVES Paleo and he’s lost about 40 pounds over the last year. I have tried the Paleo diet and it’s okay, I just have to be VERY careful about portions! So I am going to try this diet and hopefully lose some weight too!

  22. I always emailed this website post page to all my contacts, because if like to
    read it after that my links will too.

  23. I had written about a year and a half ago about all over body pain, my recuperating from a tick borne illness (after two years on antibiotics), psoriasis and numerous other problems. After following Perfect Health Diet religiously, I must say that after initial improvement, I am now no better than I was when I started with the exception of less bloating and gas, probably due to the lack of gluten in my diet. I am so discouraged.

    In brief, I received a wonderful remission of all symptoms after beginning weekly acupuncture symptoms and Chinese herbs. (I had the wonderful experience of feeling fully like myself for my elder son’s wedding in May!) That has, however, now also failed me. I’ve developed some type of sensitivity to the herbs, which makes my already existing constant vaginal inflammation worse. I’ve seen an eminent specialist for that problem, and all he could say was to try things, so I am on Metronidazole once a month for the foreseeable future, to be followed by Fluconizole if that doesn’t work (and it isn’t working), and a trial of Vagi-fem if the previous two do not work.

    After many years of remission, I also now have a recurrence of Meniere’s type-symptoms. True Meniere’s disease was ruled out years ago, and the doctor could only shake his head and say I must have “some type of allergy.” Allergies could never be found after seeing an allergist. So, I’m back on Loratadine again in order to be able to sort of function without throwing up.

    I tried vegetarianism which helped my arthritic symptoms but exacerbated my other issues. I tried Atkins and felt good for awhile before trying Paleo and then Perfect Health diet. I was very hopeful for Perfect Health diet, so many people have done well, but I guess I am an exception to the regular population.

    At this point, I am ready to give up, go on medication like everyone else and die, which I hope will be sooner than later, as I am so discouraged and tired of suffering after many, many years. The worse have been the last seven years.

    Doctors just shake their heads. I’ve seen multitudes. They think I’m a head case. They are, however, happy to have me come back again and again, and are happy to write prescriptions for everything from prednisone, to antibiotics, to Savella, to Cymbalta, you name it. Thing is, I’m not willing to take the medications these days, because NOTHING seems to do any good at all, so why put my body through all of that.

    My husband, a clinical therapist, has worked with me through clinical hypnosis, and that also has not turned up any deep seated issues. The only real success I have had has been with acupuncture. He’s worked on my endocrine system (I’m hypthyroid, of course.), but that has limited success without the herbs now.

    It is wonderful to read the successful stories of all of these people finding a solution at long last. Unfortunately, not all of us are so lucky.

    • Dear MU,

      First, Shou-Ching and I will include you in our prayers. God bless & don’t lose faith.

      Chronic diseases are very difficult. There are many unknown or undiagnosable infections; some are untreatable; all treatments have negative side effects so experimentation can sometimes hit upon something but it can also cause new problems.

      A possible tweak which might be worth trying is stopping all supplements except vitamins D and K2 and C, and focusing on high nutrient density in the diet (lots of vegetables and shellfish, egg yolks, liver, organ meats, bone broth). The reason for avoiding supplements is that some infections, especially protozoal infections, benefit from the same nutrients that we do, so avoiding supplements can sometimes be helpful. Vegetables have antimicrobial compounds which can sometimes help.

      Again, we will keep you in our prayers.

      Best, Paul

      • Paul, do you think vitamin C in extra-large doses (say, 1 gm every hour up to 8-10 g/day) might help out? I have been reading wonderful things about C to bowel tolerance. What is your opinion?

  24. i apologize in advance, this is a rant. I am a bit frustrated at this point. i have been doing phd for 3 months now and enjoying it except that every wednesday i work (as a volunteer) pretty intensely and i can’t sleep those nights. (61yr old female). i have been working on the circadian rhythm with special glasses and wearing a face mask to bed. i’ve suffered from insomnia for years now. but what is really bothering me is when i don’t sleep i crave suger. i just ate a handful of Hershey chocolate kisses and i do that everytime i don’t sleep well. i do notice that when i do get a good nights sleep i have no trouble controlling cravings….it’s like ‘what cravings?’. anyway, i am writing you to ask what can i do to lessen the damage. i want to lose weight and i don’t know what to do. I am taking the suppliments and melitonin. I know the answer is getting the sleep i need but i need a ‘plan B’. i appreciate any suggestions. you have already helped me improve my health with the phd diet and other tips you have given me. thanks again.

    • Hi Cris,

      I guess I’d say the various circadian rhythm tips in the new book are our best advice. I’m not sure what you can do beyond those and what you are already doing. Maybe an alcoholic beverage would help you de-stress on Wednesdays? I really don’t know what would be best for you, apart from figuring out how to make Wednesdays less stressful. You may want to eat more starch on Wednesdays, that may improve sleep and reduce sugar cravings. Do you eat less food on Wednesdays?

  25. i eat more on wednesday because i am so hungry. last wednesday i shoveled gravel with many breaks mind you but i am always exhausted on those days and at first i thought great workout i will sleep better but no..it seems to make me more alert and i do eat more but i like the alcoholic beverage idea, that also used to keep me awake at night but if i’m going to be awake anyway might as well enjoy it.

  26. Hi Paul, my husband and I have been eating PHD since November 1st. Of course, tweaking everything, trying to understand portions, etc. may not have been optimal, still might not be. Plus, my husband has a tendency to over eat carbs and protein, but getting better. He, like me came from a mostly vegetarian diet prior to November. He ate a LOT of quinoa and sprouted what products on his version of veg diet. Anyway, he is 56 years old, thin, a BMI of 20 (5’11 145 lbs). His Glucose just came back high at 107, his lipid panels just came back, also very concerning: Total chol: 273, Trig: 45, HDL: 71 and LDL: 193! His Vit D was 49.8. TSH: 2.82, Free T4: 1.19, Triiodothyronine free serum: 2.9. His doc wants to put him on statins right away and says he is pre-diabetic. His lipids were never this high on a veg diet, so of course he has real concern about the PHD diet (despite his overeating sometimes, I reminded him of). We are wondering why his levels might look like this. Can we tweak something with supplements/food to help? I read the section in your book and see the copper, iodine, etc. We are on all supplements except lithium; our iodine intake currently is 675 mcg. One thing to note, he did have 4 drinks (more than his usual) the night before these tests. Could that have anything to do with glucose etc.? He fasted, of course and had his last drink at 10:00PM, test at 9AM the next morning. I will appreciate as always your time in looking at this, he is pretty freaked out right now. Thank you Paul.

  27. Dede,

    I’m not Paul, but I can say that my husband experienced something similar when he started the PHD diet. Doctor also wanted to put him on statins, to which he said no. I did some research and asked around (Paul included) and the consensus was that moving from a vegetarian diet, this often presents due to cholesterol being released rapidly into the blood. That’s how I understood it. I was told that it would remedy itself. It has started to do that, but has taken about a year and a half.

    My husband’s triglycerides went down right away. His ratio is perfect now, but his LDL is still a bit high. The ratio is perfect due to his HDL also being quite high (~98), but I understand that is a good thing.

    Paul recommended the B vitamins he had listed in the therapeutic section of his recommendation list, which my husband has been taking. We’ll have to wait until next cholesterol test to see if the LDL is beginning to come down also.

    My husband is also tall and thin. He has to work at keeping his weight above 150 pounds. He enjoys eating PHD more, so has started to eat more, and is beginning to slowly gain some weight, which he encourages by weight-lifting. He is 60.

    I think that all the grains we were consuming as vegetarians irritated the digestive system to the point where he was not absorbing everything that he needed in order to gain weight.

    My husband now likes to term a vegetarian as a grainarian instead!

    • Hi MU! My husband and I just read your post together and he is VERY encouraged! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! Did your husband have any fasting gluclose issues? My husband has a pre-diabetic reading currently (blood test taken last week) of 170. Also, my husband’s triglycerides are actually quite low. Weird! His trigs are: 45!

      Thank you again and I’d love to hear about his progress on next cholesterol test! I’ll share ours as well.

  28. I am a 33 year-old osteopathic ObGyn who believes wholeheartedly in the Perfect Health Diet way of life; however, I only recently became a convert.  In the Summer and Fall of 2011, a series of stressful life events left my adrenal glands exhausted, and I began developing daily hives.  Ten years prior to this I suffered a three-year bout of chronic hives as well.  Though Inever really figured out the cause that time, I knew certain foods were the trigger such as wheat and sugar.   This time, I immediately eliminated wheat and cut down on sugar which helped for a period, but eventually the hives worsened, covering me head to toe at times.  It felt like my entire body was one big ball of inflammation.  It seemed this time around to be much more severe.  One by one I started eliminately foods that appeared to be the culprit.  All grains including the “healthy” quinoa and millet had to go.  Corn came next, and I was utterly confused until a little reading helped me see that corn is a grain and not a vegetable.  Next beans and legumes were thrown out.  I was shocked!  Since the gluten-free awareness had surfaced, I knew grains were not good for us, but why legumes?  Next to go were oils… soybean, canola, peanut, safflower. Every time I eliminated something I would get better for a while, then worse again. 

    Eventually I was eating only meats, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and nuts… A paleo diet.  Of course it took me another few months to stumble upon the term paleo, which I had never heard of.  Sadly, four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school, four years of residency, and one year out in practice, and I had never even heard of such a thing!  Following the paleo diet seemed restrictive, and I was frequently hungry.  I avoided starchy foods even though I tolerated potatoes just fine.  I did not feel well.  I craved sugar immensely.  After numerous trials of various alternative treatments, I accepted that my immune system had just gotten too “out of hand”.  I could not function at work or in my personal life, and I finally went on steroids and cyclosporine to “calm” my immune system down.  

    That is when I stumbled across the Perfect Health Diet.  I had just finished reading “Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean Auel, which is a well-researched book set in Paleolithic times.  Although fictional, the book goes in to exquisite detail, on what hunter-gatherer societies ate and how they prepared their food.  It looks an awful lot like PHD, not paleo.  Immediately I knew PHD would be a life changer.  The research took the unexplainable in my life and made sense of everything!  It explained why eliminating pro-inflammatory foods was a start, but that I was still sick and unable to heal from the lack of proper nutrition on a macro and micronutrient level.  I incorporated starches in to my diet.  I added back grass-fed butter and cream.  I have not ventured back to rice, but I will try it soon.  I eat pure cacao nibs which I think are so delicious even without the sugar.  I have started adding supplements little by little so as not to overwhelm my finicky system.

    I have never had a BMI over 25, but I have ALWAYS had a wicked sweet tooth and constantly fought to keep my weight at 140-145lbs on my 5’7 frame.  People often think that normal weight people don’t understand what it is like to battle with food, but I do!  I cannot even describe how my relationship with food has changed.  I still love the taste of food, but I don’t obsess over it.  I frequently have to remind myself to eat during the day whereas I used to look at the clock to see when lunch was coming.  My cravings, especially for sugar and baked goods are GONE!  When I walk in to a bakery, I’m almost nauseated at the smell.  At a recent buffet, I walked right past the breads/pizza/pastas without even a second glance.  On a paleo diet, I would have been miserable and pouting that I could not eat those foods.  My weight hovers at 135lbs without even trying and my body feels tighter and healthier even with minimal exercising.  

    While eating paleo, I could not wait to “get back to my normal life”.  Now, I have no intentions of ever going back.  This is too easy, and I feel too good!  I am off the steroids and weening down the cyclosporine currently with no signs yet of my body flaring up again.  For the last year, I was pretty angry at my body for “turning against me”.  Now I realized it was me that turned on my body by poisoning it for over 30 years.  My body very clearly “showed” me on my skin what foods are bad and which ones are good.  Not everyone is so “lucky” and will have to take it on faith in the beginning to change their ways.   I am already figuring out ways I can incorporate telling every patient, friend, and family member about this simple, yet powerful way to live.  No one believes me now, but I keep saying… Just give it another 10 to 20 years of people getting more and more sick, and I guarantee you this will be the bible of diets!  From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you!  I promise to spread the message!

    • Hi Shanna,

      Tremendous story! Thank you for sharing!

      Let me know if you’re willing to be listed on our Healers page: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/healers/.

      Best, Paul

      • Dear Paul,

        I would be thrilled to be listed. Currently, I am a physician with the US Air Force and can only see military members and their dependents, but I will update my information once I transition to the private sector.

        Shanna Snow, DO, Obgyn
        Women’s Health Department
        Mike O’Callaghan Fed. Med. Center
        4700 N. Las Vegas Blvd.
        Nellis AFB, NV. 89191
        702-653-2298

        Take care!

        Shanna

  29. Thank you for your wonderful book and information. I have the first edition of the hard back and please read the last paragraph on page 86 that begins with “Let’s call a diet “. I think that there is a mistake in the way it is written or I am misreading it.
    I applaud your research and your conclusions and wholeheartedly agree with everything that you write about. I am one of the few biological dentists in this country and would like to make known that one of the major sources of bacterial infection and disease in the body is dentistry. Especially incriminating are root canals, dental implants, and osteonecrotic areas of the jaw (“jaw bone cavitations”). I do understand your not mentioning them as it is an extremely controversial topic. But, i do hope that you are appraised to this information and have done some research on it. thank you for your fine contribution to health and wellness.

    • Hi Jack,

      That paragraph is written as intended. The idea is that I’m defining 30% carbs as a “moderate carb diet”, something significantly higher like 50% carb as a “high carb diet”, and something significantly lower like below 20% carbs as a “low carb diet”.

      The health effects of dental procedures are beyond my competence to discuss. It’s certainly clear that infections harbored in the oral cavity have a huge effect on health, and that many microbes are good at establishing biofilms on implanted metal or other artificial surfaces. Whether the implants are worse than the alternative is beyond my ability to judge, however.

      Thank you for your support, Jack!

    • Hi Jack,

      I just had my third root canal and so I am very interested to hear what you recommend as an alternative.

      Thanks!

  30. My things which resolved:
    1) No more cold/canker sores.
    2) more energy! and a better mood.
    3) I feel satiated with the rice, potatoes, or sweet potatoes
    4) finally – a more normal body temperature! this has been the best part, I used to feel cold all the time and supplementing with iodine and selenium, diet, etc., my body temperature went from 97 to 98.2. I don’t need a coat anymore when it’s cold outside and I used to be freezing all the time.

    I really like the explanations for everything in this book, I wish it were required reading for medical school students.

  31. Eating Healthy in an Unhealthy Environment | Undergrad Success - pingback on February 25, 2013 at 7:07 am
  32. Hi, I’ve been on the diet for couple of weeks now.
    My breath is sooooooo horrible!
    What can I do?
    Gay

    • Hi Gay,

      Are you too low carb?

      • Hi,
        No, I don’t think so. I eat potatoes w/butter, sour crm. carrots, rice, and fruit (by itself) occasionally.

        FYI-I have severe reflux, (currently on nexium just so i can eat a little.)
        I have many food sensitivities -tried digestive enzymes and I am very sensitive to them.
        Any help would be so appreciated.
        Gay

        • Hi Gay,

          I’ve heard good things of DGL (licorice) and mastic gum. B vitamins sometimes help.

          Acid reflux is a common cause of bad breath; so is a disturbed microbial flora, in both the mouth and gut. So I would focus on digestive health and good nourishment.

  33. I just read the book and was impressed. But I am also alittle confused. I have been following the Smarter Science of Slim principals with good success and one of the things they restrict is white rice, because of starch and blood sugar spikes. So, if i eat the white rice with the suggested fat ratios, is it really a problem with spiking blood sugar?

  34. Hi Paul,

    I am having a hard time on the Perfect Health Diet with cravings. I am a binge eater and when I started to add in the carbs I find that it sends me on a spiral of cravings. When I fast I use the coconut oil and coffee for the 16 hours then in the 8 hour feeding period i eat all the recommended foods. I am not taking chromium because it has never worked for me in the past. Is there a possibility that when I am craving carbs my body is actually craving protein. I have really cut back on the protein and I am wondering if this is just an adjustment period to white knuckle through.

    • Hi Julie,

      Why don’t you keep the carbs and add protein, cutting back fat to compensate, and see if that eliminates the cravings?

      We recommend about 3/4 lb meat, fish, and eggs per day. However, individual needs may vary, so it’s good to experiment.

      Your cravings probably indicate either some form of malnourishment (discussed Chap 17 in the book), possibly protein malnourishment, or else some sort of gut dysbiosis in which inflammation from the gut or some other microbial byproduct is driving appetite.

  35. Ancient bodies, modern world | Juiced – My Path to Health - pingback on March 4, 2013 at 12:48 pm
  36. Anyone out there have any suggestions for treating the flu besides just resting. I’m miserable today with a slight fever and painful sore throat. Any help would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    • Put 5 to 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract in water and drink. It knocks down a lot of the viral activity and then your immune system has less of a workload. You’ll feel better very soon after drinking it. Take as often as the discomfort starts to return – it won’t hurt you or knock out beneficial bacteria like conventional antivirals/antibiotics do.

    • Gargle it before swallowing to further help the throat.

      • Thank you Jack for your suggestion. I will try it. I hope it is effective in powder form too, since my local health store did not have the extract.

    • Hi Jeanette,

      A Chinese home remedy is a ginger tea. Cut ten thin slices from a ginger root per 8 ounces water and boil half an hour; a good tactic is to do this once a day with 32 ounces water + 40 ginger slices and store in the refrigerator until ready to drink. In each cup you drink put a little bit of honey to sweeten it.

  37. Thank you, Paul, for PHD.

    When I first started following the PHD diet and lifestyle recommendations two years ago, I wrote up a list of the various issues that were bothering me: frequent blackouts, cold extremities, digestive issues, hair loss, chronic sinus infections, extremely low blood pressure, low blood sugar, no sensation of hunger, migraines, muscle weakness, insomnia, etc. Without having to think too hard, I came up with 37 health issues.

    On my one year anniversary of adopting PHD, I went over my list and saw that nearly all of those issues were gone. There were some new things that that I became aware of as I worked on tweaking to find what worked best for my body. Still, I had only 2 of my initial health symptoms, and a few new ones.

    Now, on my second year anniversary of PHD, I have none(!) of the initial health issues. I have a few things that are new since starting PHD–such as a lot more build-up on my teeth–but I can say that following the PHD template has completely changed my health, energy, and mood. And I’m sure by year three, with some tweaking, these last few things will be scratched off the list.

  38. Hi Paul,

    So these are my results from adapting PHD.
    My first results
    Started at
    HDL 122
    Triglycerides74
    LDL 112

    After about a month
    HDL 110
    triglycerides 50
    LDL 103

    Recent Test
    HDL 127
    Triglycerides 43
    LDL 100

    I feel a lot better by eating more meat and fat, and following your suggestiosn with supplement.
    Having problems with A1C
    It was in the beginning 6.1, now 5.8.
    I would like to see it at 4 -should I go extreme low carb?
    I am hypothyroid.

    • Hi MissBB,

      For A1C, the lowest mortality range is 5.0 to 5.4 (http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/11/safe-starches-symposium-dr-ron-rosedale/), so your 5.8 is close to the optimum. Numbers in the 4s are less healthy so don’t try to push this too far.

      Although optimum on average is probably more like 5.3, every person is a bit different and we don’t know that 5.8 may not very good for you.

      In order to lower A1c, you may need to eat more carbs, not less. This increases insulin sensitivity.

      But I would just ignore A1c and focus on general health, including your hypothyroidism. Think about things you are not doing, like circadian rhythm strategies.

      Best, Paul

  39. Hi Paul,

    Circadian rhythm strategies? I actually upped melatonin to 10 mg. I know that seems extreme but it has really helped my rest. I don’t fight grogginess in the morning from it.

    Do I have to worry about the LDL number being 100?
    I use coconut oil, and full fat cream.

    What do you think of chromium piccolonate for those with high blood sugar?

  40. Hi,
    I’ve been on your diet for 6 weeks now and digestive issues have been feeling much better. I have 2 questions.
    1) any suggestions for coming off PPI ‘s such as Nexium. Upon stopping this drug your body begins to hyper-secret acid into the stomach and causes extreme reflux symptoms(I know from experience, and had to go back on twice the initial dosage to cope with this)
    2) I have developed a slight yeast infection. I found this odd as I haven’t had sugar,breads , etc in 2 months.
    Thanks so much.

    • Kip,

      I’ve read that weaning off PPIs is best. Can you open the capsule and pour out some of the medicine? Or maybe switch to an OTC PPI that is easier to cut the dose of?

  41. I am confused about eating more carbs to lower blood sugar- I thought that the strategy was to eat less carbs!

    Would eating more coconut oil count as more safe carbs?

  42. After following PHD (most of the time) for over a year, I just got my lipids panel back. HDL went from 55 to 56. LDL from 117 to 128. Total cholesterol from 204 to 202. Triglycerides from 162 to 88. VLDL from 32 to 18. All while eating tons of butter, coconut oil, coconut milk, fatty beef and lamb, chocolate and macadamia nuts.

  43. I am a newcomer to PHD. I started to try adopting it in Feb, after a year on SCD. SCD has been very helpful to me, but I was hopeful that I could resume eating your “safe starches”, mainly because of the things you write about glucose. And also because I like potatoes. HOWEVER, a few days into experimenting with PHD all my old symptoms returned again. I gave it up after a month.

    I eat beets every day, winter squashes almost every day, and carrots frequently. Isn’t that good enough to produce glucose?

    What do you say about people who just have trouble digesting rice and potatoes? I’ve seen the comment about different pathogens thriving on diff carbs — so, how do people find out their own special pathogens?

    • Paul has suggested this lab which does high;y accurate, DNA signature testing of stool samples for pathogens
      http://www.metametrix.com/

    • Hi S,

      The fact that resistant starch seems to be a problem for you, but not sugars, indicates that your problem is in the colon. Thus a stool test should be a good indication. A fecal transplant would probably cure whatever you have, but those are not yet common.

      As jack says, DNA stool tests like the Metametrix Microbial Ecology profile sometimes turn up treatable infections.

      If you don’t pursue medical interventions like antibiotics and fecal transplants, then the slow course of eating fermented vegetables, trying to slowly introduce small amounts of potato, and eating diverse plant foods to increase gut floral diversity is the best approach. Over time this may enable your gut microbiome to evolve to a healthier one.

  44. Around the Web: Palm Sunday Edition | Perfect Health Diet - pingback on March 24, 2013 at 7:30 pm
  45. I have been following the PHD for 6 weeks. Last night, my family got home late and without thinking i made myself two sandwiches. I havent eaten any wheat/grain products in the 6 weeks. Well the effects were almost immediate. First the bloating, then the burning in my stomach, i become irritable and my sleep was very restless. This morning i had only what i can describe as a hangover not unlike from drinking alcohol excessively. I needed pain killers to get rid of the headache and nausea.Is this all just coincidence. I think not!! I am back on PHD and everything is easing up again. Thank you both for the book. It really is a life saver.

  46. From 2011-2012 I started eating the diet outlined in the 1st edition of the Perfect Health Diet. The edition of saturated fats and starches made food enjoyable. I also noticed that it was easier to gain muscle, and I stopped getting colds. However, I nevertheless suffered from dry skin, poor concentration and poor blood flow, all of which became progressively worse.

    After reading the 2nd edition in 2013, I started eating more potassium rich foods and my dry skin essentially vanished immediately. I also noticed an improvement in both mood and blood flow. I realized I was potassium deficient. I now make sure to drink a few cups of tomato puree a day mixed with water, along with eating baked potatoes and sweet potatoes.

    In 2013, I also started eating cooked green leafy vegetables and noticed improvements in mood, energy, and cognitive capacity.

    I still haven’t gotten a single cold, since I began the diet in 2011, whereas I used to get about three a year.

    • Interesting! I think potassium improved my skin too but I didn’t make the connection until now. Thanks for your observations.

      • Potassium and Vitamin C (from actual foods as opposed to supplements) are my favorite. A homemade tomato drink (supplying Potassium and Vitamin C) with lime/lemon (supplying more Vitamin C) has been incredibly beneficial. Adding this beverage, plus more green veg., to a macronutrient-unrestricted, dairy-free, PHD diet, while simultaneously giving up all supplementation, has noticeably improved my physical appearance, cognitive ability, mood and love of life.

        Eggs also appear to cause minor scaling and flaking on my skin, so I believe I have a mild egg intolerance. In place of eggs, I’ve been enjoying more broths, collagen rich cuts of meat, and occasional organs. I may be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like eggs are necessary.

  47. I’ve experimented with the supplement regimen since 2013, but I don’t really understand the cost/benefit rationale for taking them.

    According to the nutrition calculator, I shouldn’t need to take any supplements at all, as long as I follow the Perfect Health Diet to the letter, which entails eating about 3 pounds of plants a day and a variety or meats, including organs. I’m also fair skinned and obtain plenty of sunlight. According to the calculator, the only nutrients I am slightly low in are Thiamine (90%) and Vitamin E (80%). And I’m above 700 mg of calcium so long as I eat cooked greens, especially collard.

    Essentially every single supplement I’ve tried has been accompanied by undesirable side effects.

    Vitamin K2 (MK-7)—Brain fog
    Vitamin K2 (MK-4)—Spaciness, inarticulateness, aggression, increased energy, temporary increase in libido.
    Vitamin D (1000 IU)—Brain fog, temporary loss of appetite combined with increased body fat, temporary increase in libido.
    Magnesium—Poor concentration
    Vitamin C—Brain fog
    Lithium (1-2 mg) —Pleasant feeling combined with spaciness; less articulate; lifted depression, which was highly beneficial; friendlier disposition.
    Zinc—Acne, inarticulateness, temporarily increase in libido
    B Vitamins—Puffy face, increased energy, cognitive disruption
    Iodine (225 mg)—Excessive energy, increased thirst, weight loss.
    Taurine—Altered mood
    1/4 pound of beef liver a week—high energy level and enhanced mood followed by a feeling of weakness if eaten on consecutive days.

  48. I look and feel positively great on the 2nd edition version of the PHD, so long as I don’t take ANY supplements. So thank you very much. It’s changed my life.

  49. A couple other observations and remarks:

    My circadian rhythms are normal for the first time in my life since I started wearing the blue-blocking goggles, getting regular exercise, and since I started forgoing sunglasses and exposing my eyes to daylight. I think it is important to put the blue-blocking goggles on at the same time every night. Otherwise, it is difficult to establish a fixed pattern.
    I prefer haiga-mai rice to white rice. It tastes better and seems nutritionally superior.
    A pressure cooker seems like an invaluable asset for making broths and for cooking tough meats.
    I love vinegar, but, when over-consumed, it can cause my teeth to become sensitive.
    I feel better when I eat macro-nutrients according to instinct, as opposed to consciously attempting to follow the PHD ratio. When I’ve attempted to deliberately follow the ratio, I quickly feel like I’m depriving myself of carbs, especially if I’m not eating rice and getting exercise.

    Again, thank you for your tremendous contribution to human culture and understanding. It’s been a tremendously interesting and rewarding experience.

    • I think you’ve just pointed out why my daughter is having problems with her teeth becoming sensitive – she definitely overdoes the vinegar. Thanks!

      Paul, what should we focus on to rebuild enamel on teeth?

      Thanks,
      Adam.

      • At one point, in 2011, the sensitivity became pretty bad; so, I cut out all vinegar and citrus acids and resumed using a fluoride toothpaste. The sensitivity reversed in about two weeks.

        I reckon that if I can obtain from sun, mineral water, broth and food all the fat soluble vitamins, as well as the bone building minerals and materials and vitamin C, my teeth and bones should be OK. It seems like this should be feasible with the addition of goose liver, broths, green leafy veg. tomato (juice), mineral water, sunlight, and marrow.

        I’ve had many fractured bones in my life, but I haven’t had a single bone related problem after starting PHD, despite taking up regular barefoot running and other activities.

  50. Hello Paul,
    I was wondering if you ever had a look at this book from Dr. Mathias Rath and his claims about micronutrients: http://www.victory-over-cancer.org/
    Thanks

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