Wow-what A Difference!

caroline

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I am pretty excited so far. Been doing this several weeks about. Fortunately for me, the upside to feeling immediate effects of nutrition, is that while all the terrible things I have done (low carbs, not enough sugar, etc, grains) affect me immediately and like a freight train, to use a cliche, so do the benefits.

After reading up on and getting everyone's input on the B cocktail, so to speak, that is what I am doing. I believe I sustained much mental damage over the years due to health challenges. I often had brain fog, very hard time remembering basic words, and lots of struggle with taking information in without having to read and re-read it over and over again. I am definitely focused on anything that will IMMEDIATELY (since I am school-bound) improve my cognitive capacity. I don't have any time to waste on this, b/c this is essential for my goals, which cannot be met without high achievement in school. And high achievement, as I performed it before, draining myself and sleeping little and having constant anxiety, is not workable. I do not expect no struggle, but I do expect less struggle so school is not torment. Otherwise, my option is not to do what I want, which requires schooling.

NOW, as in today, my brain appears to be working as it should! What I notice is this: in the past, it feels often, as if it is going at high speed, yet not often fully connected to a power source, if that makes sense. So what I get is fragments and pieces, and it requires SO MUCH EFFORT (like 12 hours of study, straining to understand), to complete whatever academic issue is at hand. Now without the academics, I wouldn't notice this b/c regular things that ARENT SCIENCE are not very challenging for me to the point that I notice effort required.

Today, I made a point to eat MORE SUGAR. I am still a little skeeved, for lack of a better word, by doing so much of it, but I had, in addition to my coffee with honey (been using honey, not sugar) another jolt of honey AND salt. Wow! I am studying for the GRE, which I find very taxing. I am not good with standardized tests, and having to cram in lots of information without real boundaries. I have gone back to the data interpretation problems, which were harder for me, and now what I am noticing, is that it feels like there is this giant piston supporting my brain speed, so when I think, it is not just this sort of busy whirring looking to connect with lots of wasted energy between. The result is CONNECTION. Like I read the problem, I grasp what they are asking, and it happens in an organized fashion.

I am really hopeful b/c I found schooling to be so anxiety-inducing due to the amount of effort it required for me to have to listen to lectures all over again on a tape recorder and re-learn everything taught in the lecture b/c none of it went in. This would take hours and hours! So I was already at a great disadvantage b/c even though I was ready to learn, attended each lecture, nothing went in after a few minutes. I felt so anxious and upset, and exhausted due to this and the extra amount of study that this entailed just to take in the lecture, that I had to stop school for a bit and re-group. I REALLY want to be successful in school, and this means more than getting good grades. I got top grades before, but the amount of energy it entailed was NOT sustainable. I kept explaining, with people thinking I was exaggerating, that I could FEEL that the intelligence was there, but that the roadblocks encountered to get there were NOT NORMAL. I would get things like, everyone's different. You can't compare yourself. Umm, yes I can. We are not talking, Oh, something is wrong b/c I don't have Stephen Hawking's brain and I know I should. It was the intuition, the deep sense, that the information train, as I will call it, was being blocked. This has caused immense suffering and pain.

I am REALLY feeling hopeful. I don't want to have to try so hard. It is not healthy. Being motivated, is different than having to grind oneself to the bone in order to make it in the academic world. And my choice was starting to turn to just not attending school at all, which would be a shame. I need secondary schooling in order to become an Occupational Therapist. There is no way around it. And I love learning.

So far, what seems to be clicking, and I just started it yesterday, is the combo of B1, Niacinamide, and cofee/milk/sugar. Anyway, I am just so grateful and if I can do what is needed study-wise without feeling utterly exhausted (as I was while on low/zero/carb and even after just dropping out of the schooling for a year, was exhausted all the time and panicky/horribly anxious), would be a godsend.

My future hopes: I would love for my system to get to the point so that when something goes wrong (and it is usually school-related b/c other things sort of don't matter that much to me. I am lax about most everything else, and unless I am bleeding and dying, don't worry), I don't go into total flip-out mode. Maybe that will just happen with more sugar. I am certainly hoping so!

Anyway, I am going to get back to my studies, but I am REALLY excited about this. Plus, my "old" personality is back: excited, enthusiastic, and energetic. I don't have horrible feelings of doom and anxiety and my tolerance for upset seems to be growing. We will see.

Skin conditions are still an issue, but definitely not worsening. And haven't had horrible intestinal pain ever since doing this. Just some minor issues with the milk, but it appears that I may actually be able to do skim after all. Went back to it today after moving to 1% without a problem and it seems fine. We will see, but so far, this progress is wonderful.
 

charlie

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Fantastic and inspirational! Thank you so much for sharing. :) I have a friend who is having the brain issues like you describe, along with exhaustion from trying to get the brain to work, and just not feeling it anymore. I am going to share this with her.

Also PLEASE keep us updated as you move further along the metabolic healing path.
 
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caroline

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Thanks, I will, Charlie!

I notice a huge difference. However, I don't seem to be able to work a million hours on end like I did before. I don't know if this is a bad thing, but maybe when one's brain is working normally, the healthy mode of studying is not to sit from morning till night without moving. Now I don't do this; I ignored people before telling me not to do this. Now I just don't, (can't perhaps), naturally, but perhaps since my brain is working so much faster, this is why.

I do have a sort of silly way of testing how my brain function is working. For example, for days now, I tried to remember the name of the guy who did Outliers, hahha, can't remember it right now. Will come to me. I couldn't. I also tried to remember the name of the woman in Wizard of Oz. After taking my B's and sleeping better, etc., I could remember it. Judy Garland. Still can't remember his name right now, but Oh well. Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell. Got it. Anyway, so to test my improvement, I try to remember names of people or actor's and notice it has gotten much better. You can tell your friend, that there is definitely a vicious cycle, apart from the health issues, where feeling bad about not thinking properly causes you to feel worse and impairs your thinking via the stress of the bad feeling. But it seems that rather than doing self-talk, etc. (meditation is helpful for me), that as the experiences with your cognitive ability improve, your "issues" of attaching negatively to the experience seem to just fade.

My "brain cocktail" (as I coin it, since it seems to be doing that) is
B1, Niacinamide, and a miniscule amount of B complex. I am doing that combo per Haidut's recommendation. I am not doing all that much of B1. So far, like 500 mg. And only 500mg of Niacinamide. I will do more of the B1 but I am not sure about doing it at night since it seems to make me sort of hyper in conjunction with the rest. Coffee doesn't do jack for making me hyper, which is great. It was totally different when I was not doing sugar and milk, though. Now it works great.

Having to work with the extra energy is MUCH PREFERRED over feeling like an exhausted zombie. I could not exercise for like the last year without forcing myself and I was always athletic. Now I actually want to; I just have been doing yoga (mostly sun salutations) for a while and just started doing weights and body weighted exercises on certain days now b/c I think it gives me a boost and feels like it is helping with vitality. I don't overdo and don't do long sessions. I do notice I am also gaining muscle again, which to me seems like nutrition is working.

Anxiety and overblown response to things is still in need of improvement. I hope that shuttles down with this. I am not sure how much of that is due to damage, and how much will be rectified with proper nutrition. It is definitely a million times better, but my stress response still feels like it is over-exaggerated.
 
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caroline

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Hi Tom,

I wrote my cocktail in the section above. Thanks for your encouragement. It is so helpful to be able to look at what people have done that has worked for them. Much easier than figuring it out on my own. If you have anything that has helped you with cognitive improvement, I would love to know. I am not doing any thyroid or anything like that; I know many people on here are and seeing great results.

At this point, it is just stuff that can be gotten without doctors' visits. And I don't plan on doing anything like that until I see that I am not improving where I would like. We have a ridiculous deductible and there is lots of room for improvement. However, I am certainly open to trying whatever will improve my health when it feels right.
 

4peatssake

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superhuman said:
wich B1 to buy, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine HCL) or Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate)?
Haidut wrote this informative post on a thread about B1.

Haidut said:
I found this thread and thought I'd add some info.

Couple of things. First, no need to take the "fat soluble" alternatives like benfothiamine and sulbuthiamine. They are both synthetic and both are mostly sourced from China and there have been several cases of poisoning. In addition, there are no studies that show these types of B1 are superior to the normal thiamine hydrochloride. The vendors would have you believe otherwise, but the only true fat soluble vitamin B1 is called allithiamine and only allithiamine has been shown to be absorbed without limit in every organ. Benfo and Sulbu absorb preferentially in the liver and there is data that the body treats them like poison and tries to excrete them. If you want allithiamine you can get it from VitaminShoppe:
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/cardiova ... es/cv-1075

Now, back to the regular thiamine. It's used intravenously to help alcoholics avoid getting the Wiernicke-Korsakoff syndrome but for a long time there were concerns that oral thiamine hydrochloride is not absorbed beyond a few milligrams. To answer those concerns, there was a study done in 2012 to test the absorption and it turned out it is absorbed just fine in doses up to 1500mg at once:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6904/12/4

If you read the study you will see that the half life is approximately 10 hours and peaks occur at 4 hours. So taking 1500mg every 4 hours seems to be able to maintain high plasma concentrations, which is what is needed for lowering lactate and converting carbs into ATP. Ionically, this dosage adds up to about 6000mg-8000mg a day and that is what has been used to treat Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8251 ... 00m,isrctn

As you can see there was a positive effect on AD at doses 6g-8g a day.
As far as I am concerned, 1500mg three times a day for a total of 4500mg gives me an uninterrupted flow of energy. However, I also add a B-complex with 5mg of B6, 10mg of Riboflavin, and 1000mcg of B-12. Also, I throw in a 500mg of Niacinamide. So the whole combo is what gives me the all-day energy surge, taking just B1 at the dose I mentioned gives me about 70% of the effect.
If you need more info on B1 just ask. I have been experimenting with it a lot.

jaa posted in that same thread that Pure Bulk carries a pure B1 (Thiamine HCL) powder

Dan Wich's Toxinless Website also has recommendations for clean sources of B1
 
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caroline

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Thanks for this 4peatsake! It was Haidut, in fact, who helped me figure out how much and which combo to take and I saw Dan's great site. Was just looking at one of his recommendations for the powder today. It is also great for the other recommendations like for O.J., etc. The info has been immensely helpful from everyone!
 
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caroline

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Today I did weights and we will see how that affects my sleep.

Also, was stressing over the whole OJ thing.

We just cannot afford to get oranges, squeeze them, etc. or get unpasteurized on a regular basis. Then I won't be able to drink the amount I need.

So I had to make some decisions today and deal with the fact that while it appears less optimal to do pasteurized, this way of eating needs to be affordable and not stressful because it becomes too expensive.

I am deciding over which is preferable in the pasteurized category, now that I know that organic does not necessarily mean as much. Either from concentrate (doesn't have pulp in it) (which has "filtered" water-I don't know what that means) OR the other pasteurized kind that says not from concentrate, no pulp, and organic. Sounds like the way they make it into this form is not so desirable, which makes me think concentrate might be a better option. I need to drink OJ and have to pick from one of these, so it would be nice to pick the best option. And while I know organic fresh oranges hand-squeezed would be great, it's not happening, so I have to go with what we can manage. Any ideas?

I am now able to do skim milk without problems. I couldn't a week ago, so that is great. This I buy organic. Also, we got our gelatin today from Azure Standard. It's fine; I don't think it's hydrolyzed b/c when I put it in a cup with some water it was kind of jello-like, but maybe it is b/c in a smoothie and in coffee it just dissolved. Anyway, it is TONS cheaper than Great Lakes.

If I have to restrict the amount of food I am eating b/c it is too expensive, it defeats the purpose so for us, we are going to have to sacrifice, like with oranges, etc. so this way of eating is maintainable.
 

loess

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caroline, have you considered buying the oranges from a wholesaler? I buy cases of conventional oranges that yield roughly the same amount of juice that I would get if I paid the same amount of money for pasteurized juice from the grocery store. And sometimes wholesalers will give you deals on ripe fruit if it's too ripe for them to sell it. Use this to search for wholesalers in your area: http://www.careersingrocery.com/resources-search.cfm
 

jyb

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loess said:
caroline, have you considered buying the oranges from a wholesaler? I buy cases of conventional oranges that yield roughly the same amount of juice that I would get if I paid the same amount of money for pasteurized juice from the grocery store. And sometimes wholesalers will give you deals on ripe fruit if it's too ripe for them to sell it. Use this to search for wholesalers in your area: http://www.careersingrocery.com/resources-search.cfm

Never thought of that option, seems handy. Do you order for a whole week at a time?
 
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caroline

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Hi Loess,

Thanks! That is a great idea! That would be okay if it were a decent price. Everything around here, even the conventional food, is pretty expensive, as the Bay Area is more for everything in general. Thanks very much for that idea. Otherwise, I think I am going to just buy the cheapest thing possible, and thanks to the input of others on here, I think that it's going to be concentrate, as they do not-nice things to the ones that are "not" from concentrate. Why pay more for a bad process--however, if your idea pans out, that would be the best. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
 

loess

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Yeah I hear you there! I never lived in SF but was in Santa Cruz for a couple of years and rent + food was $$$$. Here is a tour of the SF wholesale produce market filmed by a raw food guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIP-EJrn9Mo
 
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caroline

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It is a beautiful place to live; however, it is quite expensive. But if you want "the best" of something, and fine dining experiences, and beautiful views, you can find it here. I personally hate going out to eat, and didn't really like it even before doing this way of eating as I was fairly picky about what I was willing to eat. It never made sense to me, when I just ate meat, to pay like twice as much for a burger when I didn't eat anything that went on it, (i.e. cheese, bread, vegetables, fries, condiments) or next to it, and it was usually not fatty enough for me to feel satisfied. I am very happy with my coffee, honey, milk and oj heaven.
 
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caroline

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And I SOOOO do NOT miss zero carb/low carb/ and/or vegetables. Hate them, and so does my digestion, too. Not long ago, I read that Ray sometimes would drink some of the boiled juice from the kale. More to appease my husband, I tried this since I didn't like vegetables, and really, havent for years. I had the worst breath within 20 minutes. Rank. From vegetable juice. Just one more reason NOT to eat them.
 
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caroline

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Well last night was the best sleep (except for one time when I ate potato late at night) I have had yet. Yesterday I did the following:
very heavy weights (would have gone heavier but I just started doing it). I used barbells and did squats with them, and the long bar and did dead lifts. I got sweaty and exerted myself, but it is a completely different feeling than intense cardio that I used to do and do not do any longer. Now I just do my own form of ashtanga yoga, which is basically sun salutations when I want "cardio."

I had a lot more protein yesterday and had it early in the a.m. What was nice about the weights was that I had burgers, milk, oj and coffee, and not long after went to do the weights no problem.

Also, I tried a niacinamide before bed. AND before bed, I had MANY tablespoons of gelatin in warm milk (I don't like it cold) with honey. I woke up at 5am after going to bed around 9:30 pm. Couldn't really sleep after that, and since my wake-up was not at the usual time of anywhere from 11-3 am., I considered that an acceptable amount of time to sleep. So this is progress.

I did a lot more gelatin this a.m. Very helpful advice on here about how to dissolve it. I got non-hydrolyzed and it is a bit more effort to dissolve it, but we are not going to pay 20+ dollars for the Great Lakes. Just like the O.J. I need to be fiscally practical and while it would be nicer to just dump my gelatin in and not worry about it, it is also nice not to pay so much.

Right now, I actually feel like I have liquid up to my eyeballs, b/c I was still experimenting with dissolving a lot of gelatin at once. What I don't get is that there is all this stuff about doing it in cold water, sprinkling the gelatin, then doing hot water over that for it to dissolve. This is WAY TOO HIGH MAINTENANCE for my liking. I did all this but then just took hot water, dumped it on the gelatin (which I supposedly wasn't supposed to just put on the bottom of a bowl,having to sprinkle it on top), and it melted. So why would I ever do all that other stuff?? I won't again.

However, now I know if I want to make just plain squares that we can use later and dissolve with hot water, I can. Still can't see why I would want to add extra steps though. It works either way. I just took the stuff out of the fridge and dissolved that in hot water as well.

I am still using honey instead of sugar. My husband tossed out the sugar last night. LOL He thinks it is horrible. It appears honey may be "better" but I would be curious to see how sugar affects me. I had some in the gross attempt at gummy bears I made. Also, I am definitely making an attempt to get a heavy load of protein in early on in the day. I didn't have too much later at night. Just a tiny bit of meat with my gross gummy squares. Well, hopefully it will be another banner math problem day! We will see...
 
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caroline

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I am refraining from starches like potato, corn masa, and fruits except in juices b/c I have noticed that all of the above make me not feel as good. With potatoes, I get some inflammation and starch in general just makes me not feel as good, so liquids are preferred. OJ is no problem, despite the fact that my OJ choice is not the preferred freshly-squeezed unpasteurized form.
 

Peata

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I don't do any special steps to use gelatin either. I just stir it into liquid.
 
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caroline

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Good to know, Peata. I just got a little confused b/c it sounded like there were more steps involved with the non-hydrolyzed form. I got a little stressed b/c sometimes I think I am saving us money and I get something that is so inconvenient that it makes it not worth it. As it was, since San Francisco is anti-economy, the shipment could not be sent to us without tax. Cities near us have trucks coming in and out. So that was a hassle b/c they screwed up the address somehow, delayed the delivery, and I had to call like 3 times to straighten it out. So after that, I felt bad that maybe I picked a bad type of gelatin all to save money. But it worked out okay.

I did try one of the gelatin squares. It was absolutely fine and did not give me a stomach ache. So if you use a glass dish with enough area (depth is not helpful, overall length is better), you can do the whole sprinkle gelatin over the water and then just chop it into plain squares and eat it this way before meat or plain. And you can also boil water as you do, and melt it this way.
 
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caroline

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I meant that I had to pay extra to have it shipped when other cities near us who are truck-friendly deliver the product without tax. But it was worth it after all. I am grateful to have the gelatin and starting today and way upping my amount. Especially if I am doing those heavy weights, then I need more and reading Ray's views on adequate protein reminded me about this the other day. Frankly, I am not that motivated to eat meat since doing this diet, but I am to get the right amount of protein. I am sticking with his recommendation of seafood (oysters, shrimp) once every 10 days, and doing liver weekly like once. I really prefer drinking most of my food. Also, find I am craving next to nothing like this. So funny b/c forever, I said I was a "sugar addict" had chocolate addiction, etc. Can have all of it now, and don't care and don't crave it. It is just wonderful!
 

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