A Dacian Diet for My Ancient Mitochondria, Please!

In my stubborn search for a cure to Hashimoto's and autoimmunity, fueled by the knowledge that my mitochondrial DNA is quite ancient, I decided to tailor myself a Nutrigenetic diet.  

As a first experiment, I will attempt a diet that approximates that of the Dacians.  

The Dacians, according to Herodotus, were "the bravest and the justest of all Thracians". Remember, though, it is all relative. Historians mention they were not fond of hard work, so no farming, thank you... Which is good in my book. But they would also pillage, plunder, etc...

They lived in the area where my mother was born, along the luscious lower valley of the Danube, which was inhabited since Paleolithic times. There are tons of archaeological sites where I grew up and entire villages built with Roman bricks from ancient castra. Anyway, two thousand years and the glutenous Roman conquest separate me from my Dacian ancient great mothers.  

Since their N1a mitochondria made it so far (I assume they had them, it makes sense), and they will still battle through modern civilization for generations to come, hopefully (as my sister in California has a daughter), I figured it might be a good idea to experiment with the ancient recipes and explore the clues of the Dacians' lifestyle that still linger in Southern Romania. Forget the last two thousand years and Roman civilization, with its bread and pasta, let's pretend they never happened and go back to the lower Danube's history, as far as we can... 

The Romans were obsessed with the Dacians. When they finally conquered these lands, they filled Rome with Dacian warrior statues. That is how we know that their physique was quite muscular. Blue eyes, red or yellow hair... Crazy beliefs and war habits, but that is a different discussion.

Well... It turns out that the master basic ingredients of the Dacian diet were... milk and honey!

So, if you care to see it that way, a Dacian diet is not unlike a Peat diet. No wonder my first reaction discovering Peat was to remark on how much it resembled my father's diet! A Peat diet is simply a very traditional diet that does not despise milk and sugar, in one form or another, and stays away from starches and vegetables.

But, unlike my father's diet, the Dacian diet is much less gluten-laden, simply because their cereal of choice was millet. Historians say they considered it far easier to grow -- but maybe their reasons went deeper than that? Maybe they were able to recognize the health damaging effects of gluten, somehow? I wish I could believe that. 

They were simply unsophisticated and averse to farming (hard work, always, as I said). Good for them. Truly, they had a reputation for taking less than civilized shortcuts.  For instance, they never bothered to create their own coins, although they were quite excellent metal workers. They forged the Roman coins instead. No wonder the Romans were upset and couldn't wait to finally get their hands on their territories. And afterwards, Trajan, their emperor, built a column in Rome, depicting their epic fights - it is like a sculpted spiral comic book. 

My favorite part of Trajan's Column is where a bunch of Dacian women, potentially N1a too, possibly my direct ancestors, are torturing two poor naked Roman soldiers. They knew those relentless gluten promoters were up to no good! Get them, Grannies!

I have never eaten millet. I don't even know what it looks like. I did drink some German millet beer.

I believe the Dacians did not skimp on protein and they did not insist on millet to provide it, either... Too labor intensive and how tasty can it be?.. If they had it around it must have been for emergencies, when hunting and fishing were not plentiful.

No vegetable oils, obviously. No nightshades, because they did not grow in these parts at that time. No oranges or other tropical fruits. No corn. Carrots were not selected yet, I don't think... No potatoes. No rice, I doubt they grew it in these parts. No coffee, no chocolate, no tea. Apples, pears, plums, root vegetables, cabbage, parsley, dill, onions and garlic. 

They had plenty of salt, no iodine added, from salt mines. 

Cooking must have been done the easiest way, as it is still done nowadays in the countryside in those parts, by boiling... So... a lot of big broths in my future. 

Indeed, from what I read and contrary to what I intuitively believed, the Dacians were not that big on grilling. And because, according to 23andme, I have "TT genotype at rs2294008, which means 4.18 times the odds of diffuse-type stomach cancer", I will stay away from grilled meat and pickles. No processed meat, either, since the Dacians didn't have nitrites.

So I am starting this ancestral diet at my usual 61 kg, with Anti-Gliadins of around 20, Anti-TPO of over 700, on a 37.5 mcg of Levothyrox and daily magnesium supplementation. Here is a summary of my Peaty (but calorie conscious) diet so far:

As you can see, whenever I push 63 I back off. I could never do otherwise, I find it too depressing and outright dangerous for me...

And, no, I don't think I suddenly replaced three pounds of fat with three pounds of muscle come June -- I simply used a different scale - a Tanita instead of my usual Withings, which I didn't bother to take with me on vacation. I only brought the blood pressure monitor: 

I only measured my BP when I was not feeling too great...

As a final remark, please rest assured that I did not go completely mad here. I am fully aware that I am weaving together historical facts, scientific data and personal stories. I learned this from Ray Peat and other scientists. Unlike them, I do stretch this mix into plain fiction, to signal it is not to be taken at face value -- see the part about my direct ancestors torturing Roman centurions, etc.

I do not mean to entice folks to eat milk, honey, broth and millet, just because I think this might be an improvement over a Peat diet, or the PHD, or LC, or Primal/Paleo.

But since none of the aforementioned diets helped reduce her antibodies, this gluten-sensitive Hashimoto sufferer is willing to experiment with "the Dacian Diet".

I will let you know how it goes...

P.S. I did some intense socializing recently with my Romanian fellows. I love a good protest -- this was against the Rosia Montana project. A Canadian corporation is planning to overtake the ancient Dacian/Roman gold mines from Rosia Montana and use tons of cyanide in order to extract the precious metals. Quite a few people think they should not be doing that, so for over a month we spent some quality time out in the streets... It looks, feels, is fabulous! I cannot recommend this civic exercise highly enough Walking for at least five hours throughout the city every Sunday evening together with a few thousand fellow protesters can do wonders for one's trust in humanity:

Seaside Metabolic Rendez-Vous

Why shine incandescent red lights on our heads, supplement with vitamin D3 and pour Epsom salts in the bathtub when there is... the beach?

I have experimented with that for the past two weeks and I tend to become now a believer in the sea’s therapeutic virtues -- to the point that I would consider moving by the seaside.  I have yet to decide which sea and what side. Further blissful experimentation required.

While enjoying ripe fruit under the generous sun without much in the way of UV protection I was thinking about how I spent this past year discovering my body’s functioning and how this newly achieved self-awareness under a Peat perspective has brought new depth to my life. I have always been a hedonist, now I must be truly disconcerting in that way.

So, shortly after I saw Dr. Coculescu, taking to heart his advice to stop obsessing about my “failing thyroid”, I packed my bags.

We went on a whim to spend some time on the Romanian seaside, in Mamaia to be precise, which we had not visited in a very long time.

Exotic vacation places had taken its place. While delectable, most were spent by the resorts' pools, as the sea or ocean water was either not the cleanest and inspiring, or too cold, or a bit too far -- with the notable exception of the Maldives... “Naturally”, all the while I would drench myself in sunscreen to the point that nobody could tell when I came back that I had ever been close to a beach.

This time around I spent my time at the seaside the old fashioned way, with daily sun baths and several long sea baths every day, out in the open air all day long, sand walking, barefoot as much as possible, grounding myself, close to the elements and going inside just to sleep.

I also did some "mud packings", with a supposedly healing mud found in a lake by the Black Sea called Techirghiol. It is a very black mud with a soft texture and an unpleasant smell. Some say the bacteria it contains cures all sorts of ailments, but after reading Dr. Peat's work I imagine that rather the transdermal transfer of mineral substances is the reason...

My metabolic speed and the overall well being and harmony were unbelievable! Again, no aches or pains at all and a feeling of rejuvenation, mood elevation and overall energy.

As soon as I came back to the city, all these good sensations magically vanished and the generalized aches and pains in the morning started again, as well, to the point that I wonder if what I experienced was real.

Maybe bliss is transdermal, it can come from the air, the sea, the earth?

I need to go to the sea again, ASAP, to see if its therapeutic effect is replicable. This time around I plan to go alone and pretend I lived there, see if the good stuff happens again.

That being said, Mamaia would not be the best option, it has become an incredible party resort, there is music and fun everywhere… I cannot compare it with anything else and I have a hard time imagining myself living there alone, as this hypochondriac recluse taking her dutiful baths! In Mamaia, there is always vodka in one’s OJ and the music is booming.

I should find somewhere quiet and experiment in peace.

Worst thing that can happen is that I discover the feel good effect did not come from the sea, etc., but the continuous partying…

And then… what? :)