Meaty salty fatty food - immediate improvement?

[Thinktank]

My youngest ordered a plain pizza base. He then went to the salad cart for some grated carrot to put on top when it arrived.

Hahaha i had to laugh out loud just imagining it.

On topic. I too feel best with high sodium meaty food, but add some vegetables to it and i'm done for the rest of the day.

 

[sharks]

I was raw vegan for 5 years, and now I crave meat. Go figure

I used to crave meat and now I can't look at it. I've gotten sick of it all I want to eat is raw vegan. Go figure.

 

[Skycloud]

Mmmmm.... roast lamb...

Yep, me too. Seems to help my energy.

 

[Belgiangirl]

I must say according to digestion I discovered (but of course a lot of factors interplay):

- after eating full meal I lose energy...
- before eating so even if i go without food, I feel at my best!!! unfortunately my BMI is only 15-16 so that's not much of an option for me
- while eating: I feel like I'm healthy again ...!! When I stop I realise: oh, it's still there ...

Recent days I also had the idea I need to eat more meat since I almost don't or I never vary (bacon, ground beef, ...).

Is there someone out here collecting data on food an the consequences?

I had cereals in milk for breakfast, tip from just anyone, it would make me feel great and give energy whole day-> it was a disaser, after 2 days I traded the milk for soy yoghurt, this was better. It seemed as if I didn't get energy from the grains.
Normally I eat some little sandwiches with soft greasy cheese, egg and salad on top with mayonaise: works much better for me so I feel also that fat is helping me, rather than carbohydrates.


Possibly your body has more ease with getting energy from meat / fat, meat is much more easy to digest.
You feeling it immediate might just be conditioning: you know you will feel better in a while so you're already conditioened and your body anticipates to the intake.
Salt obviously is a necesary mineral and helps with being underfilt and a lot of process, esp stability of blood filling.

Are this highly processed meats?

 

[UKmum]

My youngest ordered a plain pizza base. He then went to the salad cart for some grated carrot to put on top when it arrived.

Grated carrot/tomato sauce- I would be ecstatic! No vegetable zone for my son- apart from baked/roasted potato- wont even eat chips- who doesn't like chips?. I so understand the fussy eating issues. We tried everything over the years even hypnotherapy and got some improvement from seeing a chap called Felix Economakis in London but the CFS was at his height so bad timing but I would recommend. The rest of the family love food- grow our own veggies, have chickens and bees at the bottom of the garden but can't get son to eat any of our home grown goodies. We have stopped beating ourselves up about it.

 

[Mij]

Sloooow cooked rosemary leg of lamb on top of well seasoned potatoes. Lamb is a very good source of carnitine.

 

[PatJ]

after eating full meal I lose energy...

That used to happen to me. I discovered that 1) I had low stomach acid and need to supplement with Betaine HCL (and pepsin) when eating protein and 2) I have very low blood pressure, and probably low blood volume, so I need to eat very small meals to avoid postprandial hypotension (lower blood pressure after eating because blood is directed to the stomach to help with digestion; more blood is redirected for larger meals.)

 

[Belgiangirl]

That used to happen to me. I discovered that 1) I had low stomach acid and need to supplement with Betaine HCL (and pepsin) when eating protein and 2) I have very low blood pressure, and probably low blood volume, so I need to eat very small meals to avoid postprandial hypotension (lower blood pressure after eating because blood is directed to the stomach to help with digestion; more blood is redirected for larger meals.)

Thank you for the tip!
Acidity i cant increase due a problem with my stomach (its above my diaphragm partially). But the blood pressure thing is an interesting theory. The problem occurs especially after my first meal of the day (which is more like brunch) and then i'm feeling not so fit at all and because i had a looong night of sleep and have pots of course, it is not so strange to assume my BP is very low then!

 

[boombachi]

Grated carrot/tomato sauce- I would be ecstatic! No vegetable zone for my son- apart from baked/roasted potato- wont even eat chips- who doesn't like chips?. I so understand the fussy eating issues. We tried everything over the years even hypnotherapy and got some improvement from seeing a chap called Felix Economakis in London but the CFS was at his height so bad timing but I would recommend. The rest of the family love food- grow our own veggies, have chickens and bees at the bottom of the garden but can't get son to eat any of our home grown goodies. We have stopped beating ourselves up about it.

No chips?!!!. I take my 'frustrated overworked mum' hat off to you. On my worst days I thank the gods for fishfingers and chips. I assume not liking chips means no waffles, croquettes or wedges too.

If it helps I was an extremely fussy eater. I wouldn't even eat babyfood. I wouldn't drink the milk in foreign countries. My mum gave me Weetabix for tea most nights. I have got much better. Its only really seafood and cold sauces like mayonnaise and ketchup that I don'teat now.

 

[PatJ]

I tried adding hormone-free, grass fed beef to my diet for seven days. I had less energy, increased constipation, occasional diarrea and colon pain, and even lost some weight (not good considering how little I weigh.) Now that it has been a few days since I stopped eating meat I'm feeling back to 'normal'.

 

[JasonUT]

I'm eating high fat, low carb, small amounts of meat, little salt. Over the last months olives have become a central part of my diet. Body says 'no' to olive oil, it wants olives. Probably 3/4-1 cup/day. I also render and include animal fat, + coconut oil. I'm mystified by why olives have become so important for me.

This is interesting to me. I too am craving Olives. So I took a little time to try to figure out the nutrients in Olives. High in Oleic Acid, High in Sodium, High in Antioxidants, Low glycemic.

This is especially interesting for my personally since I suffer from OI and low blood volume; therefore, it may be the natural sodium that my body craves. Also, I am deficient in Oleic Acid per labs tests.

 

[Wishful]

Ummm, what's unnatural sodium? Whether from organic unprocessed foods, or Kraft dinner, the sodium ions should be exactly the same, barring neutron bombardment.

 

[ChrisD]

Despite making an effort since onset of ME two years ago to be a 'Flexitarian' for ethical reasons, I have recently been doing a Ketogenic diet, prioritising my health and it is pretty hard to do this without meat! The further I get into keto, the more I realise that whenever I have more meat and less vegetables etc. Inflammation is significantly lowering around my body i.e. more mental clarity, clear airways, clear sinuses and so on. Now I am reading about the Carnivore diet which seems really extreme but actually the science of it is quite interesting - particularly when it comes to the gut, and the fact that a full meat diet can increase microbiome diversity

 

[Thinktank]

If you're noticing less inflammation when eating less vegetables you should check out lectin sensitivity.

 

[Wishful]

Lucky you. A keto diet made my symptoms worse.

 

[E.man]

Oh yeah!
I saw an immunologist and his suggested treatment was to "eat meat ".
He was against grains and I've found I get bad from eating bread or other grain food. I lost some excess weight too.
It gets pretty tedious though when I just want a bit of joy from a simple sandwich.

 

[Wishful]

Question E.man: is your response to starchy foods 20 minutes after consumption? For me, starches trigger an increase in symptom severity 20 minutes after consumption; an effect that is blocked (or at least delayed and spread out) by taking BCAA's with the meal. I assume this is due to insulin increasing tryptophan transport into the brain, thus increasing kynurenines which are responsible for some flu-like symptoms.

 

[E.man]

Question E.man: is your response to starchy foods 20 minutes after consumption? For me, starches trigger an increase in symptom severity 20 minutes after consumption; an effect that is blocked (or at least delayed and spread out) by taking BCAA's with the meal. I assume this is due to insulin increasing tryptophan transport into the brain, thus increasing kynurenines which are responsible for some flu-like symptoms.

No. Grains poison builds up over time. Then screws me over quite a while.

 

[Sing]

I think that ME/CFS is characterized by low dopamine production. Dopamine is the activating chemical. It is often referred to as pleasure giving but it also can speed and lift the energy of the brain. Salt increases dopamine. Sugar will too but the trouble with some of us with ME/CFS, or at least those like me, is that there is a problem with sugar processing. To me it feels like a monkey wrench in the works—a spanner in the works, if that is UK talk. Maybe this problem with sugar processing has to do with the body’s move towards a Plan B anaerobic energy production. But salt, again in my case, will do the trick—it gives me a little sense of pleasure and increased alertness. Salt, and a lot of it, is also helpful for my very low blood pressure.

As for protein, it provides carnitine and enables the brain to get tyrosine which activates the brain. I need to look up the relationship among carnitine, tyrosine, and dopamine—or one of you can probably explain it. Tyrosine in my experience and to my knowledge generally also has an anti-depressant effect, good for Seasonal Affective Disorder which I would otherwise get.

Carbs—leaving aside the sugar processing issue— result in more tryptophan then serotonin. This has the opposite effect of tyrosine. Serotonin might make someone feel calm or sleepy or slowed down—a desired effect later in the evening. It can also help some with pain relief.

I have read that it is better to have protein in the morning, mostly protein, and to skip the carbs until sometime later in the day, and that this gets the brain more activated as well as sets the body’s expectation low for having to put out a lot of insulin, then getting the body into an up and down pattern with blood sugar and insulin during the day, but that is going into another subject.

Main thing is—I agree that salt, fat and protein are helpful!