Hello - just found Ray Peat and his articles yesterday while looking around online. I forget what I was googling for exactly, but somehow came across a possible connection between trytophan, seretonin, and migranes (which a family member sometimes suffers from). So I googled the three together and one of the results was Ray's article "Tryptophan, serotonin, and aging." Viola - my intro to Ray Peat.
The article piqued my interest, so I checked his article page and read quite a few of them yesterday. I came across many things my past research had already led me to (the importance of coconut oil, saturated fats, progesterone, no grains), and new things (sugar isn't bad). Frankly, if I hadn't already known about some of these important things, I would probably just shrug off some of the new things I read.
I do have questions though. Although I did find this forum after searching Ray Peat on google, I haven't read a whole, whole lot here yet (I read more from his articles page). It's possible some of my questions have already been answered and if so, directing me to the appropriate thread is fine. Otherwise ...
Why exactly does he advocate little-to-no vegetables? I realize that some veggies have phytonutrients that aren't that great for us, but doesn't their good out-weigh their bad? You're really not going to get PUFAs from fresh veggies, right? It's the seeds of plants that are used for oil extraction. And Peat seems to be fine with fruits, but it seems like only 'sweet' fruits ... what about veggies that are really fruits? (Like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.)
The other big question I have is about the higher sugar consumption in this diet than in others that don't conform to conventional 'medical' wisdom. The articles were very enlightening about how sugar works in the body, contrary to what we usually hear ... but what about things like tooth decay? If our bodies need all this sugar, then, according to Peat, it shouldn't be the cause of tooth decay, right? Has he ever addressed this issue?
Anyway ... that should be a good start.
The article piqued my interest, so I checked his article page and read quite a few of them yesterday. I came across many things my past research had already led me to (the importance of coconut oil, saturated fats, progesterone, no grains), and new things (sugar isn't bad). Frankly, if I hadn't already known about some of these important things, I would probably just shrug off some of the new things I read.
I do have questions though. Although I did find this forum after searching Ray Peat on google, I haven't read a whole, whole lot here yet (I read more from his articles page). It's possible some of my questions have already been answered and if so, directing me to the appropriate thread is fine. Otherwise ...
Why exactly does he advocate little-to-no vegetables? I realize that some veggies have phytonutrients that aren't that great for us, but doesn't their good out-weigh their bad? You're really not going to get PUFAs from fresh veggies, right? It's the seeds of plants that are used for oil extraction. And Peat seems to be fine with fruits, but it seems like only 'sweet' fruits ... what about veggies that are really fruits? (Like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.)
The other big question I have is about the higher sugar consumption in this diet than in others that don't conform to conventional 'medical' wisdom. The articles were very enlightening about how sugar works in the body, contrary to what we usually hear ... but what about things like tooth decay? If our bodies need all this sugar, then, according to Peat, it shouldn't be the cause of tooth decay, right? Has he ever addressed this issue?
Anyway ... that should be a good start.