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Hungry/starving for protein since getting sick?

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,300
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Hi Ocean,

I haven't read the responses here, but just wanted to mention that I felt protein-starved for many years. Eating protein foods left me feeling heavy and overburdened, so I tended to avoid eating them. A couple yeas ago, I discovered that raw goat milk kefir was much easier for me to eat and digest than any other high protein food I had tried. It has since become a staple in my diet, and I no longer feel protein starved. Good luck finding something that works well for you.

Wayne
 

hixxy

Senior Member
Messages
1,229
Location
Australia
Ocean, are u losing weight u dont want to lose??
An amino acid supp Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) can help if your in a muscle wasting states and can help someone stay in an anabolic state and avoid catobolism(muscle wasting), I have seen it written that it helps alot with muscle wasting in severe burns victims as well by keeping people in a positive nitrogen balance. a positive nitrogen balance is suppose to go hand in hand with anabolism. http://www.nutrabio.com/Products/okg.htm

cheers!!!


For those of you with dietary glutamate intolerance, this might not be the way to go. Alpha ketoglutarate is readily converted to glutamate. If you've had a OAT or Amino Acid Analysis done in the past that has showed high alpha ketoglutarate this may also not be the way to go ?? In my case alpha ketoglutarate was through the roof on OAT while most other krebs intermediates were through the floor....
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
I usually eat 500-800g of meat per day.. and need protein every meal.

I didnt understand this craving for so much protein until it was found that I have hyperinsulinemia.... due to this high insulin, I do in fact actually need to be eatting protein in every meal etc.. to help stop my insulin shooting up too high. My body must of just known this before even the diagnoses of it.
Tania is that the same as high blood sugar, high blood glucose?
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
Ocean, are u losing weight u dont want to lose??
An amino acid supp Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) can help if your in a muscle wasting states and can help someone stay in an anabolic state and avoid catobolism(muscle wasting), I have seen it written that it helps alot with muscle wasting in severe burns victims as well by keeping people in a positive nitrogen balance. a positive nitrogen balance is suppose to go hand in hand with anabolism. http://www.nutrabio.com/Products/okg.htm

cheers!!!

I wish I was losing! :) No, but seriously, a few of the times that I did lose weight while sick it seemed to correlate to muscle loss. I will definitely look into that supplement, thank you.
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
Hi Ocean,

I haven't read the responses here, but just wanted to mention that I felt protein-starved for many years. Eating protein foods left me feeling heavy and overburdened, so I tended to avoid eating them. A couple yeas ago, I discovered that raw goat milk kefir was much easier for me to eat and digest than any other high protein food I had tried. It has since become a staple in my diet, and I no longer feel protein starved. Good luck finding something that works well for you.

Wayne
Any safety issues with the raw milk? It makes me a little nervous.
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
Two things that helped me -

I used to find it very difficult to digest meat. Large amounts of digestive enzymes helped, but hardly made the project go away. I found out I had some food allergies or sensitivities, and stopped eating wheat and some other things. Within a short time, eating meat became far more comfortable.

Several years later, I was told that my body just wasn't processing the protein I ate. I don't remember the whole explanation, but a large part of the problem was that my stomach just wasn't producing enough acid to break down the proteins properly. I started taking betaine HCL with my meals, and was soon able to drop all the antacids, both Rx and OTC.
I wonder if this might help me. I've been nervous to try something acidic since I have a hiatal hernia and read conflicting information on whether it is ok to take in that case. Do you happen to know anything about that? Is betaine HCL prescription?
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Tania is that the same as high blood sugar, high blood glucose?

Some can have high blood sugar with this issue but not necessarily so. Its an abnormal body response to glucose or the body struggling to keep the sugar in check, so hence producing abnormally high insulin spikes to keep the sugar level in the normal range. (Its a stage which "can" happen before diabetes happens..

high insulin can be the cause of "hypoglycemic attacks" too if you have any issues with those as it can drop the sugar too much.
I have both hypogycemia on my blood tests and hyperinsulemia cause of all this.

So no.. one dont necessarily have the high sugar showing with it but on the other hand some do. .. and more protein can make ones who have high insulin feel a bit better, due to helps to balance things a bit better.

The only way to know if someone has an insulin problem is to have the insulin tested properly eg 2 hr glucose tollerence test (GTT) WITH Insulin levels included. (they wont test the insulin as well unless its requested)
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
There is actually something which can be caught from raw milk. My CFS specialist had me tested for it cause I grew up drinking raw milk and was still drinking raw milk as an adult (im fine.. raw milk straight from a diary tastes great, if I could still get it like that, I'd be drinking it still)
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I just looked up my test results to find out what it was which my specialist tested me for due to the milk drinking..
Its brucella you can catch from raw milk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucella

The disease is characterized by acute undulating fever, headache, night sweats, fatigue and anorexia. Human brucellosis is not considered a contagious disease and people become infected by contact with fluids from infected animals (sheep, cattle or pigs) or derived food products like unpasteurized milk and cheese.

Brucellosis is also considered an occupational disease because of a higher incidence in people working with animals (slaughterhouse cases). The real worldwide incidence of brucellosis is unknown because there is a low level of surveillance and reporting in Brucella endemic areas.
 

November Girl

Senior Member
Messages
328
Location
Texas
Ocean, It's not Rx, and can usually be found where other dietary supplements are sold. It's more or less the same thing as stomach acid. The theory behind this is that as we age, our stomachs naturally produce less acid, so the food takes longer to digest. Then, when we feel the burning this causes, we take antacids. They relieve the burning sensation, but actually contribute to the underlying cause. In my case, a few years on Prilosec and Prevacid made things much worse! I think that the several years of IBS is what contributed to my stomach discomfort in the first place.

Is hiatal hernia the cause of acid reflux? For many of us, symptoms are lessened by eating smaller meals, and remaining somewhat upright after eating.

I wonder if this might help me. I've been nervous to try something acidic since I have a hiatal hernia and read conflicting information on whether it is ok to take in that case. Do you happen to know anything about that? Is betaine HCL prescription?
 

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,196
Location
Canada
I found some of my protein craving was actually a need for l-carnitine fumarate. Once I started taking it, I got much less of the 'I'm going to die if I don't eat meat" feeling. Since I've been off l-carnitine fumarate the last couple of weeks to try other supplements in isolation, that feeling has returned a bit. It is hard to get enough protein, even so. I used to take whey protein and may return to that. I'm pretty sure we need more protein than healthy people.
 

hixxy

Senior Member
Messages
1,229
Location
Australia
I found some of my protein craving was actually a need for l-carnitine fumarate. Once I started taking it, I got much less of the 'I'm going to die if I don't eat meat" feeling. Since I've been off l-carnitine fumarate the last couple of weeks to try other supplements in isolation, that feeling has returned a bit. It is hard to get enough protein, even so. I used to take whey protein and may return to that. I'm pretty sure we need more protein than healthy people.

Interesting. I guess naturally your body is going to try push you towards foods it can generate energy from. If you're unable to use carbohydrates and fats in the krebs cycle, it's going to push towards protein.
 

hixxy

Senior Member
Messages
1,229
Location
Australia
its weird i got more cravings for sugars, candys, and breads...not a good craving imo

Same for me unfortunately. If I ate a paleo diet, I'd honestly feel far worse, literally like I'm starting. The carbohydrates are also calming on my nervous system, while protein is the complete opposite.
 

Gavman

Senior Member
Messages
316
Location
Sydney
Specific diets are silly. Its more important to cater the diet to the individual rather than the individual to a diet. I go well on protein, if i eat lots of raw foods, i have lots of raw pains in my stomach and have the worst time of it. Good ideas here.
My issue with antivirals, antibiotics, antidepressants, probiotics and a host of naturopathic and homoeopathics is that they can be a bandaid solution. Getting the body working so that it can take care of those needs is more important to me. Thats why this methylation and balancing nutrients in the body seems to be a decent move.
 

hixxy

Senior Member
Messages
1,229
Location
Australia
Specific diets are silly. Its more important to cater the diet to the individual rather than the individual to a diet. I go well on protein, if i eat lots of raw foods, i have lots of raw pains in my stomach and have the worst time of it. Good ideas here.
My issue with antivirals, antibiotics, antidepressants, probiotics and a host of naturopathic and homoeopathics is that they can be a bandaid solution. Getting the body working so that it can take care of those needs is more important to me. Thats why this methylation and balancing nutrients in the body seems to be a decent move.

Raw food for me == raw food down the toilet! :(
 

Gavman

Senior Member
Messages
316
Location
Sydney
But dude, vegan power is raw and it saves the animals. and makes me smell like a compost. Lol. nah i rate that approach for some people. And maybe if my stomach was good and i had willpower i'd work on it.