Peat, Honey, Chicken Thyroid? Not For Me!

My first attempt at a Peat friendly "Dacian Diet" failed miserably after only a few days. Itching and aching all over, I wonder what could have been so bad? Was it the newly introduced honey? Or the rarely before tried, Peatian chicken neck soup? These were the only novelties in the last couple of days and I feel awful.  And dismayed.

This cannot work. Autoimmunity is killing me. Something in my simple diet is just not right anymore.

I have read a lot lately.

I am afraid this entire Peatian trip has to end completely. At least for now. This is not good for me, no matter how hard I try to slant it in my favor and to tailor it to fit my genes and my condition.

I need to go back to what people call "an autoimmune diet". The harshest of all.

Hello again, old friends I had left behind... "The Scientist Formerly Known as Autoimmune Mom", Mickey Trescott? I am ready to follow your advice now... Dr. Michael Maes, formerly practicing in the Netherlands, currently in Bangkok, cited over and over for your seminal work in curing autoimmunity and leaky gut symptoms? I just might look you up one of these days... My team of Medlife doctors? OK... I will submit to the endoscopies and biopsies and all the tests you want to perform.

Milk, my trusted friend, farewell! Honey, you sounded good in theory, but... Millet, I never even knew what you tasted like, but I read that you were anti-thyroid anyway, so no big loss there -- I am glad my ancestors survived you!

Dr. Peat, your advice did not work out for me... First it was the hormones that I did not react well to. I read your books on the subject and I was less than convinced. I read what others experienced, I read all those studies warning against progesterone supplementation and the spell of your scientific writing fell apart... I kept following your dietary advice, but it became harder and harder to maintain my weight on it.  If at least my antibodies titers had improved, but they actually increased, which probably means that dairy is not good for me. As to other pro-thyroid advice you offer: I never believed in NDT for Hashimoto and it appears that even chicken necks are causing my illness to flare.  Anyway, thank you for the insights, at least you made me interrogate many mainstream views.  You cured my fear of sugar and my over-reliance on veggies, and you reinforced my trust in the almighty broth...

I will find the right diet and the right supplementation.

If I have to travel to the Moon to be myself again and if it takes tube feeding and giving up all foods I ever enjoyed in order to achieve this, I shall do whatever it takes! I sampled the best for so long and I took great pleasure in it all, but if going at it means suffering, I am not interested anymore...  I leave those pleasures to those who can experience them without losing their health -- enjoy, y'all!

Food is a pitiful "enemy" or "temptation" in the big scheme of things...

I will not be poisoned...

So...

What is there left to eat? :)

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? :)