Researching "glucotypes" at Stanford - how does blood sugar respond to food?

#21

I’m sorry these last 3 days weren’t as successful for you as the previous weeks!

Like you, I’m also searching what works for my goals and you’re an inspiration. I started carnivore thanks to you.

What you say about intestines, then sore throat: if you have reflux, when you lay down the fluids may come up to your throat. They can cause esophagitis and even damage your teeth. One way to improve could be to have your last meal of the day as early as possible to go to bed with an empty stomach.

When I eat chia, it kind of regulates my digestion. You could try it to see if it’d work for you.

On that note, more questions! In the past, it was believed fibers were good for us. Now, there are some papers to the contrary. I’m not good with the right words to explain (English is my nth language, and I have a very poor vocabulary for these things), but the fibers could hurt your insides, cause polyps and polyps could evolve to something much nastier. I’ve read a lot about it and couldn’t be convinced either way. I’m waiting for time to research more. It’s so complicate!

Good luck to you in fine tuning your WOE for max comfort!

Big hug!

#22

Thank you @Corals ! And your English is excellent!

I will respond briefly and provide a more complete assessment of my carnivore trial on my original post once our month is over.

Way before keto, I was waking up with what I thought was reflux. Went to the gastroenterologist and had an endoscopy and colonoscopy. He found no signs of reflux or anything wrong anywhere. He prescribed me a low dose anti-anxiety at bedtime, which did absolutely nothing, so I only used it a couple of times.

Since being on keto (and also carnivore), I have been waking up with way less discomfort. But you’re right – late night eating is when I start to notice it again. I am STILL working on satiety issues. I seem to always be hungry before bed. It’s crazy.

More to come on my other thread!

Big hug back to you!

(PJ) #23

I love salad. But most the time a lot of greens send me to the restroom like chinese food. If I lower the greens and increase ‘other’ things like meat and cheese, I get less of that response of course.

I haven’t tried salad while regularly ingesting kefir though, I wonder if that would make a difference?

(Bob M) #24

Maybe. I just listened to this:

He said for some people, fiber is bad.

He also discussed the whole probiotic/resistant starch craze of years ago, when people were tying to “massage” their biome to have “good” bacteria. He said this was based on studies of the biome of healthy people, but there was no evidence that biome was for everyone. And he said that some people had issues with more resistant starch.

I was one of those. RS (resistant starch) and I did not get along. I could find no benefits to it, only detriments.

On the other hand, he said there is a large amount of evidence for probiotics (which I also tried while trying RS).

I have swung back a bit toward fermented foods. Last summer, I made my own fermented pickles and had no issues. I made other fermented foods and also had no issues. I’m eating diakon radish kimchi again.

Sadly, fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) still causes me issues. I can eat it cooked, but I can’t eat it raw. And some plant foods still cause me issues.

I plan on making a batch of sauerkraut this summer and see what happens.

He was diet-agnostic, but did indicate carnivore or low fiber diets could help some people. They may even be able to repair their gut, and return to eating some foods.

I have found that to be true, after going very low fiber for a while. I can eat one or maybe two salads a week. Any more, though, and issues pop up (which I find every time I go on vacation and end up getting salad for fries or potatoes or whatever).

So, it is possible probiotic foods can help, although you’d have to test it.

He even convinced me that probiotics in a pill might be useful, and I was going to buy his recommended product, but it’s sold out (and actually quite expensive – so I’d try it for a month).

(Stickin' with mammoth) #25

I hear ya. Last I checked, even a little bit of flaked coconut became fiber overload in my bathroom. (sigh)

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #26

I like Paul Mason’s take on fibre: “Taking fibre to cure constipation is like putting more cars on the orad when there’s a massive traffic jam. How does that make sense?”

And Jason Fung: “Carbohydrate is the poison, and fibre is the antidote. If you’re not taking the poison, you don’t need the antidote.”

(Bob M) #27

Interesting. I’ve been eating coconut flakes lately with no issues. But I think I’ve done a lot to repair whatever was wrong, and I’ve been able to increase my fiber intake because of that. Took years to repair, though, especially since I thought I HAD to eat vegetables and fiber when I started keto.

It wasn’t until I saw Amber O’Hearn’s presentation at the 2017 KetoFest where I started rethinking that approach. If people can eat nothing but meat and be healthy, maybe I could too?

And so I began lowering my fiber and going toward a (very) low fiber diet. I think it paid benefits and repaired a lot of damage.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #28

@PaulL I remember hearing Paul say that–classic!

@ctviggen “Repairing damage” is a seductive concept that I haven’t quite embraced as an axiom, not having witnessed any yet, myself, but I harbor hopes of someday enjoying carmelized onions again without paying for it like a thief in a confessional booth.

(PJ) #29

I dunno. It can’t be the fiber in greens that does it to me. I eat psyllium in quantity and it is the most resistant starch ever, holy cow. I ingest more psyllium, by a LOT, than most people drinking stuff to allegedly help prevent constipation. I also eat a lot of fresh peppers, another fiber. I eat coconut flour, lupin flour (hugely high in fiber). So whatever it is… it’s just “a little fiber.” I always figured it must be some element of greens (they taste like “bitter dirt” to me generally so I’ve eaten very few of them all my life) my digestive system is not crazy about.

When I had a diverticulitis spot in my intestines, I could put my finger right on the place. Holy crap everything hurt when I ate. Or to be more precise, once it ‘went past that sore area’. Some things more than others. Once I read about what that likely was, I pondered it, then decided a ton of vitamin C – and not the liposomal or microemulsified type I normally take, but plain ordinary vitamin C – taken in bulk ongoing for a few days might help (also likely to give you the runs). It hurt like a MUTHA going past that spot just as I expected. And within a day it was gone and that was years ago and it never bothered me since.

So I think sometimes it’s possible to help oneself even down in the dark underworld of intestines. :rofl:

Drinking kefir regularly really helps me. My inflammation is lower, my digestion is better, for everything. I’m hoping to start doing some veggie fermenting. I’ve never had kimchi but would like to try one.

(PJ) #30

Actually…
To me it does make sense.

Bear with me here.

When I eat grains – for example pasta, which I can’t eat now because it legit hurts my gut and whole body but never mind, I USED to eat it a lot – my poop quantity and bulk is enormous. It brings to mind why cows have gigantic poops. All that fiber goes out the other end too!

When I eat meat – I did full carnivore a couple times, though briefly – my poop dramatically reduces and compresses. I am far more likely to get a degree of constipation on carnivore than on carbs.

Now it might seem like “expanding” bowel content would be bad if constipation were caused by having “too much.” But it’s not.

It’s caused by it being too firm, not fluid enough. At least that has clearly been the case with me. Soluble fiber (as opposed to the bulk of insoluble fiber) absorbs and holds water and plenty of it. It does expand the overall bulk, but it makes it softer, more flexible.

This is the same for my cats and dog I might add. When they eat dry food with more carbs they have more bulk in their poop but it’s softer. If I feed them just real meat they have far less poop and it’s far more compressed.