Saturday, May 10, 2014

supplement update

Life is a continuing experiment, with me....  I constantly juggle different supplements which i found to be useful in the past ... and new ones that sound promising.  THIS TAKES A LO-O-O-ONG TIME.  :-)  IF you don't take your time testing your supplements, you don't know if you've taken them long ENOUGH.  Some leap into action in the body, and others take their bloody sweet time getting to work.  If you add new supplements too close to one another, you don't know what is doing what -- they could conceivably cancel each other out, or exacerbate the other's properties so you conclude they're not tolerable.

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (pqq) was a new one i tried -- theoretically, it helps with the creation of new mitochondria.  I found no benefit from it.  If i HAVE more new mitos from using this substance, they're so few or so wimpy it certainly isn't worth cultivating them.

I tried 7-keto last year, and didn't think i was getting anything from it, so i stopped.  Then, before going out of town at christmastime, i decided to what-the-hell-finish-them-up.  To my surprise, i felt as though the excess junk i ate (excuse -- there were children and other indulgers around) didn't pile the fat on, as i would have expected!  YEA!  I finished the bottle, but didn't re-order right away -- after all, when i went back home (and even on our N'Orleans trip in January) i consumed an exemplary diet, so the need wasn't so urgent ... and any excuse to take fewer pills is good.  ;-)  Recently, wanting to shed weight faster for the summer, i ordered another bottle, and DAMMIT it's "not working" again!  From what i read, i know that seasonal weight and hormone fluctuations are real and formidable phenomena.  It kinda looks like however 7-keto functions, there's a tie-in with this seasonal issue!  Damned if i know what it is, but ... ;-) ... i think i'll put this supplement in the anti-autumnal-fat-storage arsenal!

I took a holiday from the pregnenolone, thinking i'd let nature take its natural course and see what happened.  I ended up with perceived lower energy, so decided to start again ... and felt overstimulated.  Halving the dose seems to be helping a bit.

Liquid carnitine is absolutely positively necessary for me having ANY energy at all.  There are voices out there which scream that this should not be happening, that carnitine inhibits thyroid binding to receptors!!!  THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT TRUE.  

You know the truism, that since you can use starvation to reduce fat stores, CICO must be "true"?  OF COURSE you do, or you would probably not be reading this!  ;-)  Well, since they used to use carnitine to stop "thyroid storm," Conventional Wisdom claims that carnitine actually inhibits thyroid entering cells.  I think they got it wrong -- if this were true, i'd feel like SHIT, not energized.  

Something else has got to be happening.  There's no other REASONABLE conclusion.  Does carnitine perform an adaptogenic function?  It has been shown to "escort" fatty acids into cells for burning -- AND SO DOES T3.  Does carnitine take over this job when its concentration in the body is high enough?  In this case, does T3 get spared for doing other work?  God only knows, and the scientific community -- who could find out -- doesn't give a shit.  They've made up their mind and they fight tooth-and-nail not to change it ... even people who you'd think would know better.

The liquid form of carnitine is SIGNIFICANTLY more effective for me than the capsule.  Dunno why, just IS.

Despite taking a goodly dose of zinc every evening, i've had a few zinc-depletion symptoms recently (since suffering that bout of food-poisoning in March, to be exact).  I've JUST started taking it in the morning instead of the evening, to see what happens....

Some time ago, i ordered some Lipophos Forte ... but i keep forgetting to take it, because it "lives" in the kitchen, and i'm always busy when i see the jar and think "hmmm, ... later."  I need to relocate it, i guess, to give it a fighting chance of working!

Last night, i ordered some SAMe after reviewing some of my methylation literature.  The other supplements suggested by van Konynenburg have been very helpful, but my energy is still subnormal so it's time to take the next step!

Beyond these, i'm still taking the thyroid-support supplement that's SO GOOD, and cod-liver-oil as needed to balance diet, iron/copper and K2 ditto, and glutathione/Bcomplex, AND sublingual methylcobalamin ....

And MAGNESIUM.  That's important.  ;-)  ...Damn, i swallow a lot of pills and liquids.  No wonder i'm rarely really hungry.

43 comments:

  1. Magnesium has been a godsend for me. When I first stared LC I would "binge" on tubs of roasted nuts and dark chocolate. Literally everyday I would run to the grocery store and buy a gigantic tub of nuts and eat one pound of it in one sitting. I was totalling 2000 cal just for my nut intake alone. ( miraculously, I didn't gain weight on from the caloric surplus. +1 for woos neuronendoctrine theory of weight regulation). After taking magnesium, my crazy nut binge has ceased. I'm happy to report that I have been nut-free for last 2 months. On the rare occasion I eat nuts, a handful is enough to quell the appetite.

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    1. my experience is similar! with copper and zinc, too, i have very little drive to eat chocolate ... but that might be a bad thing. ;-)

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    2. Plus one for me as well. mag killed my chocolate cravings and cacao beans cool my nut compulsion (heavy in mag and very crunchy like nuts). Mag also relieved my benign fasiculations (strange unaccounted for twitches through my body). I don't know if excessive mag is an eventual issue, but I sure do take a lot of it these days both in tablet and food form.

      I am experimenting with acety l carnitine and green tea powder (the latter being so revolting it def causes appetite suppression).

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    3. I also get nauseous when I drink green tea straight. Stevia makes it go down a lot easier....

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    4. i tried acetyl-l-carnitine and didn't notice any benefit, so moved on to other things. :-) i'm a little hesitant to try green tea ext or egcg, because i have an instinctive repugnance for green tea, itself ... kinda like my distaste for chamomile.

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  2. Thanks for this post. I've read a lot of books lately about supplements and diet and right now I'm just taking the basics. Multi vitamins, vitamin D with calcium, saw palmetto ( because I'm an old man) grape seed extract, fish oil with omega 3, probiotics, vitamin C and that's it. I've been thinking about adding Zink, copper, and magnesium. It sounds like y'all might think that's a good idea. Am I obviously missing anything? Thanks for any advice.

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    1. ooh, i'm not really a good one to ask.... i'd probably recommend a source like the newest Atkins book, or the Drs. Eads, or someone with broader knowledge than mine! a lot is going to depend on YOUR specific needs, because we're definitely individuals in this respect. :-)

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    2. A safe bet is probably magnesium. Not sure about calcium / D3 though... I think you need to balance it out with vitamin K2 as well. The particular ratios are beyond me. Instead of vitamins, a hearty bone broth and organ meats are also good sources of nutrients ( and come in all the right ratios, too! )

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    3. I just cannot eat liver that I see at the butchers, my stomach churns, but I do eat the ones that come in a well cooked roasted or stewed chicken and they are tasty. I'm not sure how a chicken liver compares to beef and other animals in nutrients/rations except they are a whole lot smaller.

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    4. Rick, potassium might help, too, if you're VLC.

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    5. Thanks, I'll pick up some potassium on my next trip to Wal-Mart. It's probably pretty inexpensive. Sounds good. A word about liver. In the books I've read, they all said that organ meats are better for you and I agree. I just can't do it. I'm a southerner and we can only eat liver if it's fried. And not in almond flour mind you. So I'm lookin to supplement my way around this problem. But I'm doing great so far, I'm half way to 100 pounds lost. I almost look normal. I feel 20 years younger so it's worth it. I never go above 50 carbs a day. Does that make me VLC or just LC. I'm not sure.

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    6. does it matter -- LC or VLC? :-) the ideal is to find what YOU feel best with, and stick to that.

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    7. I needed potassium when I went really LC (~20 or 30g per day). I don't around 50g.

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    8. that's interesting, Lori -- do you eat your meat rare? there's actually a LOT of potassium in raw meat, but the more you cook it the more you lose.

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    9. I usually broil my meat and give the drippings to my dog. I recently made steak tartar and loved it, though.

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    10. I haven't found a recipe that's as good as the tartare they make at Dominic's on the Hill -- free advertisement for the best Italian restaurant in town! ;-) ...so I just get my husband to take me there periodically.

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  3. Magnesium is great! If you go to Woo's blog and click on the RH side Supplements it will take you to a history of blogs on what she takes and what she voted off the island. As you can imagine Woo's perspective, is always interesting. I was taking fish oil with my AcetyLCarn as it's supposed to assist assimilation but then Bill twittered link to a study about krill being better for fat oxidation, can't remember the details, but enough for me to buy krill next time. Darn expensive as well. Have to run, got a pork roast cooking in the oven right now..oink..grunt..slurp..and I think the crackling is looking probably the best ever. Def fish and brussel sprouts tomorrow....

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    1. mmm, pork roast! especially the old-fashioned kind with a bone and that thick coat of fat on top! "oink ... grunt ... slurp" i think that's a great name for it! :-) did you ever read the Little House series as a girl? her description of the whole roast pig is saliva-inducing!

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    2. Pork is on my menu today also. Country style ribs. If you don't know what that is, it's basically boneless pork shoulder sliced in "rib" fashion. Plenty of tasty juicy saturated fat. Yeayyy pork! Roast it in the oven on really low for like four hours. Good thing I have leftover Thai in the fridge. Also, in the Philippines and whole roasted pig is called Lechon. They eat it much like we eat whole roasted turkey. In celebration of Christmas and New Year. It's actually not as good in taste, but it looks awesome. They don't put an Apple in it's mouth though, my only real complaint.

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    3. The crackling is the best part. :)

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    4. Pork Roast lovely crackling .....yummy !

      All the best Jan

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    5. Oh it was delicious! - "would you like some meat with your crackling" haha.I can't help it though when I'm eating this slab of skin/fat there is the voice in the back of my head about OMG heart attack, so entrenched is that doctrine in my upbringing.I can assure you though I had no appetite for the rest of the night, no searching in the cupboard for a snack of dessert like those who avoided it.

      I have dedicated a lot of time to perfecting the perfect crackling, even down to using a hair dryer :) however my foolproof method is pouring boiling water over the scored rind and then wrapping porky in a tea towel in fridge to completely dry out. Minutes before placing in oven, massage piggy with salt with love and care. Seconds before placing piggy in oven pour 3 tb of heated oil over piggy and quickly shove in oven and blast as hot as you can for 30 mins and then lower. Guaranteed pork crackling all the time.

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    6. lol -- i love it how you refer to "piggy"! :-) reminds me of Xi thanking the antelope (?) for its meat in "The Gods Must Be Crazy."

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  4. If I remember I take Vit D3, C and Coq10...if I don't oh well. I have great health and don't worry too much about it. apparently I am ok just the way I am. Hmmm.
    Love your blog BTW.

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    1. thank you, Larcana! that really makes my day!

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    1. If I may, I don't remember anyone here saying LC was the end-all and be-all of nutrition.

      As for Jimmy Moore, I can only speak for myself. One, I wish Jimmy all the best, and two, I'm not here to entertain people who miss the Jerry Springer Show.

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    2. I know who Jimmy Moore is but I don't see how he's making us look like idiots. Isn't he on the same diet we are? This is probably a drive by comment, but just in case, could you clarify your point? I'm really curious. I feel like he has a good message, not everyone does well on the same diet.

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    3. He probably just thinks that the government is right, we should eat a ton of bread everyday because their " heart healthy". I'm ecstatic that I've offended someone with my diet lifestyle choice!!!!!

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    4. "Christopher" still hasn't got it through her thick skull that trolls aren't welcome here. sorry if it makes the replies confusing, but it's my policy to remove C's bullshit no matter what it says.

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    5. Lori, i'm with you all the way! :-)

      Rick, please don't feed the troll. "Christopher" lives for drama, and I don't have any interest in her games.

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    6. I'm sorry I was just curious. Why would someone do that? Its just seems so crazy.

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    7. NP, Rick. C just LOVES to stir up shit, with an accent on strawmen and bad science!

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  6. Way off topic Tess sorry, but I have a query about thyroid issues. I know our favourite bloggers disagree with this, but time after time I keep reading on other forums women complaining about thyroid issues after long-term LC. Now I have no intention of giving up LC ever because I would regain all my fat back, but you know I've noticed recently that I may have one of the symptoms (shorter eyebrows) and just wondering what your take is and what symptoms I should look for. I have tried to get the reverse T3s test from my GP but they absolutely will not do it becauseTSH is normal.

    Secondly, my fatty meat delight this weekend will be slow cooked oxtails on a bed on onions so that the fat caramelizes the onions. Anyone know what I can pour over the oxtails? I want them slow cooked and sticky, like honey soy, but without the honey soy if you know what I mean. Thanks!!

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    1. eyebrows that are thin at the outside corners is a classic symptom of hypothyroidism ... but i haven't chased down what else can possibly do this (i need to). i suspect that there's more to the story, largely because mine are VERY asymmetric! my left eyebrow and lashes too are sparser than on the right -- frustrating! :-) ...i'll go searching....

      what you're willing to put on your oxtails depends on how strict you're inclined to be! :-D one tablespoon of something like pomegranate molasses doesn't supply a LOT of carbs, but would be very flavorful. if you're willing to use artificial sweeteners, one or two spoonsful of sugar-free maple syrup might be good. there's a sugar-alcohol-sweetened imitation honey that would probably be tasty if you wanted to go there. if you want to be a purist, perhaps a tablespoonful of tomato paste with a little bit of coconut aminos...?

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    2. My post on oxtail: http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2010/12/braised-oxtail-deliciousness.html

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    3. My sister is 28 and has major thyroid issues. I'd like to recommend some suggestions for me to give her.

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    4. Another low-thyroid issue is constipation, however it never bothered me.
      Rick, if your sister has low-thyroid, she should be tested for it. I found that using the desiccated natural pig thyroid instead of Synthroid made big difference for me.

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    5. i "second" Galina's comments....

      Rick, there are many different causes of thyroid problems, some temporary and some permanent -- whatever causes your sister's problems needs to be pinned down, or she can't be "healed" or more likely just medicated till she feels better.

      the FIRST thing she should do is stop eating wheat -- stop 100%. she might benefit from taking an OTC thyroid supplement that contains BOTH iodine and selenium -- either one by itself can be problematic. she might also take cod-liver oil that contains BOTH vitamins A and D. if she has digestion problems, the supplement betaine-HCl will make her stomach happier. dumping "vegetable oils" and using tallow, butter, bacon-drippings and coconut or palm oils to cook with (olive oil on salads) will help her feel better. ... there are MANY things she can do. getting as many different thyroid tests as her doctor is willing to order will help define her individual situation. the best of luck to her!!!

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  7. I always thought that low-thyroid symptoms after a weight loss , especially after being on a weight-reducing diet(LC or any other type) long-term should be a normal occurrence because leptine drops as a part of body reaction on a reduced weight.

    I would mix soy souse with a LC ketchup + thickening agent like xanthan gum.into a water to cover ox tails.

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    1. i agree -- low T3 symptoms after weight loss just means you're successful, no matter how you lost weight -- your body thinks you're starving and wants to hang on to the fat!

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  8. I would fit into that category of being on a long term weight reducing diet. My 100lbs came off over a 3 year period, trying various strategies, stopping for a while, re-starting so maybe it is just a result of this weight loss.I shudder to think of how low my leptin levels are now. I am seeing my GP on Friday for another issue and will bring up T3 testing again.

    Thank you for the oxtail suggestions. I love it that I dream all week about my oxtails or pork roast or whatever I have specially planned for the weekend, I used to dream about choc/sweets/cake and now fatty roast meat and sour cream are treats..lol..

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    1. isn't it interesting how we become disinterested in sweets and start drooling over the thought of fatty meats? :-D ... the easiest way to see IF there's a reasonable chance you're clinically hypothyroid is to do the temperature measurements YOURSELF, then bring that data to the doctor's office!

      start right away, so you can give as much data as possible (dammit, i wish i'd replied to you right after you posted...). before you get out of bed in the morning, take your temperature in your armpit. if you collect a couple of weeks' worth of temps significantly below 98F the doctor MUST acknowledge a problem ...if s/he isn't a quack....

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