Limits/relevance of n=1 studies

(Bob M) #1

I don’t know about anyone else here, but in my almost 5 years of low carb, I’ve tested the following:

paleo (good, but too many carbs)
resistant starch and probiotics (couldn’t find a benefit, found detriments instead)
l-reuteri yogurt:


(could not find a benefit)
long term fasting (many benefits)
intermittent fasting (many benefits)
eating high fat, lower protein
eating lower fat, higher protein (this is what I eat now)
Whole 30
dairy or no dairy
hot sauce/peppers, no hot sauce/peppers (learned after Whole 30 these cause me immediate allergy symptoms)
many different vitamin/protein regimens (eg, Vitamin C to reduce my Lp(a), made me feel strange)
green tea (since Dr. Fung said green tea was great) (? about benefits; not sure if there are any, other than it’s something else to drink).
eggs or no eggs
many more…

The problem with these is that for most of them, it is difficult to determine anything. For instance, I tried the l-reuteri yogurt, which was supposed to make me less hungry and have better skin. How would I even know I had better skin (since IF and fasting have really helped this)? For hunger, I ate 12+ ounces of the yogurt in one day and it seemed to make me overeat if anything (I stopped eating yogurt previously, as it was always extra calories for me).

I’m currently testing two regimens, green tea and a liver repair regimen similar to this:

https://www.drnicolecain.com/my-mental-health-doc/if-you-have-liver-disease-you-need-to-be-taking-these-3-nutrients

I would say the latter might actually make me less hungry. It’s difficult to tell, though, but I am not hungry after eating my first meal of the day and don’t get hungry for a while. For the green tea, other than I get to drink something different, I can’t tell a benefit. I was trying the green tea before the liver regimen, but now they are together, so maybe there is a synergy involved?

My problem is that for many of these, I cannot tell whether there is a benefit or detriment. For dairy, for instance, I simply cannot tell any detriment to eating dairy, unless I eat a lot of it (fat head pizza crust + cheese topping tends to be rough on me). If I eat a normal amount of it, I’m OK.

I have been convinced that certain meals or foods (eg,fermented pickles) caused me issues. Then, I’ll eat them a month or so later, and have no problems.

In light of this, while I still do n=1 studies all the time,I wonder how relevant they are. What are your thoughts?

(Laurie) #2

Maybe they’re not to be done for the heck of it; rather, we can find out things about ourselves. If we can’t tell the difference, then maybe that particular food or regimen is not something we need to know more about.

I’m not a scientist, but I worked for scientists for many years. I am aware that various things can “confound the results.” For example, if fasting has already made your skin much better, it will be difficult to tell whether reuteri yogurt is helping. Maybe you’d have to give up fasting and let your skin return to its previous state, and then try the yogurt, if you really wanted to find out. But is this really something you need to do? If you’re concerned about your skin, maybe it is. Or you can learn from others’ experience. Of course people will disagree, but scientists disagree too!

In my own case, I’ve found out some things by accident, and some by paying attention to clues. For example,

–All dairy except butter and cheese causes a slight reaction that I don’t like. Also, I pig out on dairy, which means it probably isn’t good for me (keto food fills me up). Among the culprits are yogurt and whipping cream–including lactose-free versions.

–Eating too much of anything makes me hungry, which leads to temptation, etc.

–Paleo, or any other diet that allows more than minimal carbs, makes me incredibly hungry and the diet is over. This goes for all Atkins phases other than Phase 1 (Induction).

–Eating more carbs than I should be eating makes me feel “funny.” I can’t describe it, but it’s a definite warning sign.

–Hot sauce and hot peppers are mood boosters for me. (I found this out by mistake, when I moved from a country where hot peppers were a main ingredient to a country where this was not the case.) I haven’t been motivated to find out whether they affect me in other ways.

–Tea, including green tea, gives me a tummy ache.

–Intermittent fasting is easy enough, but I’m not sure whether it’s better for me than eating throughout the day. It probably is; at least it keeps me disciplined.

–I’ve had distressing reactions to fermented foods, but that was in my eat-the-whole-container days. Now I’m able to use sauerkraut as a condiment, not as a pig-out.

There are other things I’d like to know regarding what works for me, and what doesn’t work. So I’ll be trying some things in order to find out more. But there are many experiments I won’t be performing, because I don’t feel it’s worth it to me.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #3

Me, too. I think I’ve heard it might be the tannins?

(Running from stupidity) #4

Well, it’s impossible to do single-factor tests on yourself, mostly. WAY too many variables.

So I test things, and mentally note any differences, and then usually test other stuff. If it’s not a significant difference, I usually assume nothing significant changed. And I know that I can’t really do long-term tests on myself besides the obvious ones, like limiting carbs, and that’s hardly a test given the available science.