This thread was fun to read. So what's the verdict? Are Steve Richfield's methods effective?
Finding Steve’s work has been life changing for me. In my opinion, the biggest gap in the work of Ray Peat and all the Ray Peat inspired writers I follow (Matt Stone, Danny Roddy, Kate Deering, Sean Bissell) is that they note the critical importance of normal body temperature, but view it as just a lagging indicator. In other words: “fix your metabolism via diet and other interventions, and once it’s fixed, you’ll be able to tell because your temperature is higher.” Steve introduced me to the idea that mechanically raising your body temperature creates a virtuous cycle that improves your digestion, immunity, mood, hormones, etc. and makes all ensuing interventions more likely to succeed and gives you more margin for error.
My summer work experience cemented my beliefs. My job was super stressful and I averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night for multiple months. Most of my meals were prepared –they were full of PUFAs and I was probably only eating ~2,000 calories a day. I accepted that diet and sleep were out of my control and focused on the things I could influence: 1) staying warm by always wearing lots of layers and following the morning warm-up routine I posted earlier in this thread, 2) avoiding intense exercise to not add additional stress to my system, and 3) taking Estroban (A,D, E, K) daily. Despite these tough conditions, I stayed pretty healthy – solid hair growth; surprisingly good energy, mood, and mental capacity given how little I was sleeping; strong sex drive; no colds or flus; unintentionally lost weight; etc.
I’ve been super quiet on the forums the last few months since this protocol has helped me address the low metabolism issues that arose after years of Paleo and then veganism (low temps, slightly thinning hair, low energy). In my opinion, anyone hoping to address these typical low metabolism symptoms should focus on getting and keeping their temps up through mechanical means while simultaneously exploring diet/supplement interventions.