The Vegetarian Myth

[Guardian]

The only thing I can figure out for those of you with constipation problems is that you must not be getting enough fat.

I still think it all has a lot to do with water too. If you don't drink a lot of water, your body gets used to doing without, and won't ask for more.
If I don't drink enough I notice the difference in my body almost immediately as it starts to conserve what it's got. Basically, I'm a Spirit in a sack of meat and water....and it needs to replenish both on a regular basis or it is NOT a happy soul suit.

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

There is little doubt in my mind about the adrenal exhaustion and I have been trying to work on this issue for a long time already. I`ll force myself to take a few bites in the morning, but I don`t know, that's going to be hard to do, but I will try.

It was very hard for me. I went for years and years and years just having coffee in the mornings and never eating anything until about 1 in the afternoon. I would then have dinner and, like you described, something later at night. I excused this as just having my 3 meals on a different schedule than other people.

Well, it is definitely on a different schedule - one that exacerbates the exhaustion of the body - a kind of exhaustion that leads to inflammation, auto-immune disorders, and even a heart attack.

When I began working on this issue, I had to literally force myself to eat in the morning. I was NOT hungry, the very thought of eating turned my stomach. That's a very bad sign.

I persisted and also stopped eating anything at all after about 6 in the evening - 7 at the latest - and getting in bed at a reasonable hour (11 works best for me, but it's nice if I can be in bed by 10 and do some reading). I had to go through all kinds of concatenations to get myself sorted out on this. Sometimes I would take some benadryl to get to sleep, drink herbal "sleepy" teas, melatonin, etc. I did low-dose hydrocortisone in the mornings for about a year to help the adrenals.

Now I wake up hungry (which is normal! surprise!) and eat a good breakfast, a medium lunch/dinner about 4 or 4:30, and maybe a small snack about 6 or 7.

It's going to take determination, but you'll be glad you did. A lot of brain fog clears up and your energy is steadier and longer lasting.

Just wanted to note that since I went all-meat, I noticed that I was no longer hungry by lunchtime at 12 or 1, and comfortably eat lunch between at 4 and 5. Often I'm not hungry to have any dinner, so 2 meals per day are usually plenty for my level of activity. I remember hearing that we should eat 5 or 6 small meals rather than a few large meals, because supposedly this prevents our body from going into "starvation mode" between meals which forces it to store fat when we do eat, but I'm not sure about that now. Got my copy of Vegetarian Myth and can't wait to read :)

 

[SolarMother]

There is little doubt in my mind about the adrenal exhaustion and I have been trying to work on this issue for a long time already. I`ll force myself to take a few bites in the morning, but I don`t know, that's going to be hard to do, but I will try.

It was very hard for me. I went for years and years and years just having coffee in the mornings and never eating anything until about 1 in the afternoon. I would then have dinner and, like you described, something later at night. I excused this as just having my 3 meals on a different schedule than other people.

Well, it is definitely on a different schedule - one that exacerbates the exhaustion of the body - a kind of exhaustion that leads to inflammation, auto-immune disorders, and even a heart attack.

When I began working on this issue, I had to literally force myself to eat in the morning. I was NOT hungry, the very thought of eating turned my stomach. That's a very bad sign.

I persisted and also stopped eating anything at all after about 6 in the evening - 7 at the latest - and getting in bed at a reasonable hour (11 works best for me, but it's nice if I can be in bed by 10 and do some reading). I had to go through all kinds of concatenations to get myself sorted out on this. Sometimes I would take some benadryl to get to sleep, drink herbal "sleepy" teas, melatonin, etc. I did low-dose hydrocortisone in the mornings for about a year to help the adrenals.

Now I wake up hungry (which is normal! surprise!) and eat a good breakfast, a medium lunch/dinner about 4 or 4:30, and maybe a small snack about 6 or 7.

It's going to take determination, but you'll be glad you did. A lot of brain fog clears up and your energy is steadier and longer lasting.

Just wanted to note that since I went all-meat, I noticed that I was no longer hungry by lunchtime at 12 or 1, and comfortably eat lunch between at 4 and 5. Often I'm not hungry to have any dinner, so 2 meals per day are usually plenty for my level of activity. I remember hearing that we should eat 5 or 6 small meals rather than a few large meals, because supposedly this prevents our body from going into "starvation mode" between meals which forces it to store fat when we do eat, but I'm not sure about that now. Got my copy of Vegetarian Myth and can't wait to read :)

Glad to hear this. I'm not sure I am ready for all meat/fat yet. I did not know about nutritional ketosis going back and forth because of having less than 50g or even 25g carbs daily--but now the latest on it seems it doesn't matter. I am trying to follow what my body is saying as far as completely cutting out carbs. The few days that I had nothing but meat/fat were miserable.
The latest is I eat a big breakfast of sausage/bacon or a lot of bacon, eggs and sometimes a little yam. Had blinis for the first time in 2 weeks--had them the last 2 days (less than 50g) and it seemed to help the constipation (but it's still not gone yet) along with taking magnesium and vit C throughout the day (mag on empty stomach.) I am a little wary of going back to all fatty meat or fat, but maybe I was not taking enough Vit C and Mag during the day (not just at night??)
Not hungry for lunch until 2p...usually just fatty meat (like a lamb burger) and maybe a half avacado.
Light snack at around 6-7p--ham slices w/ghee or sardines with olive oil. It seems that cutting out all carbs last 2 weeks was not a good idea. I needed to be more gradual.
Energy-wise, mornings are tough. Still getting leg cramps now and then and shaky legs if I try to walk too far or hike. But I have more energy later in the day. Depression comes and goes. EE helps.

 

[Mountain Crown]

Hi SolarMother,

If you haven’t already, you might want to read Tips-Tricks-for-Starting-or-Restarting-Low-Carb-PT-I and Tips-tricks-for-starting-or-restarting-low-carb-Pt-II .

I found them very helpful.

[quote author=Pt 1] The surest road to failure in the first few days of low-carb dieting is to listen to your body[/quote]
[quote author=Pt 1] The period of low-carb adaptation is that time between starting a low-carb diet and feeling great on a low-carb diet. It can take anywhere from just a day or so to two or three weeks. During this adaptation period people tend to fatigue easily, experience a slight lack of mental clarity and be tormented off and on by the unbidden lust for carbs that seems to rise up out of nowhere. Why does this happen early on with a diet that ultimately works so well to increase exercise capacity, mental clarity, and feelings of satiation?

It happens because both your body and brain are going through a profound change in the way they get their energy. You can't run your car designed to burn gasoline on biodeisel...unless you install a converter. Then you can. We humans have the design for our carb to fat converters coded in our DNA - the low-carb adaptation period is simply the time it takes for the converter to be built and installed.[/quote]

[quote author=Pt II] another little secret is to keep an eye on the protein intake. Too much protein will prevent the shift into ketoses because the liver will convert some of the protein into glucose - this glucose will then be used first and slow down the ketogenic process. Which, if course, prompts the question, how much protein is too much? As long as you're getting your protein from meat, especially fatty cuts of meat, you're probably okay. If you go for the extremely lean cuts of meat, say, skinless chicken breasts, or if you are supplementing your diet with low-fat protein shakes, you could have a little more trouble low-carb adapting. If you're going the shake route, I would recommend you add some coconut oil to the shakes for a couple of reasons.[/quote]

[quote author=Pt II] The most common cause of virtually all the symptoms listed above is an imbalance in electrolytes. Following a low-carb diet results in a rapid lowering of insulin levels, which - though a good thing - can create problems in the early days. We'll address the electrolytes in the order of importance[/quote]

 

[anart]

but maybe I was not taking enough Vit C and Mag during the day (not just at night??)

You should be taking vitamin C throughout the day, 1 or 2 grams a pop (or a drink) all day long until you reach bowel tolerance. There is no way you're getting enough vitamin C if you're only taking it at night. I figured this when you previously said you were 'good' on vitamin C. If you're constipated, you're not 'good' on vitamin C. Magnesium is the same (though you take less of that each day than vitamin C).

 

[SolarMother]

but maybe I was not taking enough Vit C and Mag during the day (not just at night??)

You should be taking vitamin C throughout the day, 1 or 2 grams a pop (or a drink) all day long until you reach bowel tolerance. There is no way you're getting enough vitamin C if you're only taking it at night. I figured this when you previously said you were 'good' on vitamin C. If you're constipated, you're not 'good' on vitamin C. Magnesium is the same (though you take less of that each day than vitamin C).

Thank you Anart, that is a lot more Vit C than I thought.

 

[Laura]

Thank you Anart, that is a lot more Vit C than I thought.

The vitamin C titrating method has been discussed at length in a number of places on the forum. The average amount for a healthy person is 3 to 5 grams per day. When my daughter was on the verge of death, she was able to take up to 70-some grams within a few hours and it saved her life. After that crisis, she regularly took up to 30 or 40 grams PER DAY for a long period of time during her convalescence which lasted about a year.

When my son was in the hospital, also on the verge of death (from eating too many vegetables, in fact which triggered ulcerative colitis that went into infection in the peritoneal cavity and he almost lost his colon and his life), he was taking 30 or so grams per day. When I'm sick, I can titrate up to 20 grams within a few hours.

However, having said all that, once one is fully keto-adapted (fat burning metabolism turned on and percolating along without problems), the amount of Vitamin C that is needed reduces dramatically. You can test this yourself when you get there by titration.

Titration simply means taking measured doses like every half hour until you feel the bubbling sensation in your intestines which signals that you have reached your limit. Don't take any more at that point or you will have diarrhea. If you want to purge for some reason, just take another gram or half a gram and it will happen!

Now, see also my post here: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,22916.msg273867.html#msg273867

 

[Guardian]

It was very hard for me. I went for years and years and years just having coffee in the mornings

I went for years and years thinking there was something wrong with me because I can't touch coffee. Even a little caffeine has a horrible effect on me, I shake, sweat....I'm like a chipmunk on crack. It's NOT pretty!

 

[SolarMother]

Laura

Titration simply means taking measured doses like every half hour until you feel the bubbling sensation in your intestines which signals that you have reached your limit. Don't take any more at that point or you will have diarrhea. If you want to purge for some reason, just take another gram or half a gram and it will happen!

Now, see also my post here: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,22916.msg273867.html#msg273867

Thank you Laura for this valuable information. I will do the titration, amping up my Vit C more.
It does seem to be a difficult process for most of us and I appreciate knowing what all everyone is going through and see the importance of reading the 'Big 3" to determine individual problems and then sharing online, as we are all doing this as one organism as well, so to speak. Preparing for a higher frequency resonance!

I am not keeping up with all the food threads. A lot of it is because my eyes tire out or hurt if I stay on the computer past a certain time. I will have to focus on just the food threads for awhile, and Mr.A can read out loud for both of us, since he is also behind, and this works well for us.

Looking forward to any new scans on the latest, and thank you very much for that.

 

[anart]

Thank you Laura for this valuable information. I will do the titration, amping up my Vit C more.
It does seem to be a difficult process for most of us and I appreciate knowing what all everyone is going through and see the importance of reading the 'Big 3" to determine individual problems and then sharing online, as we are all doing this as one organism as well, so to speak. Preparing for a higher frequency resonance!

At this point we're just trying to get people healthy enough to be better able to handle what's ahead. We're doing what needs to be done, right now, to take care of things and ourselves and we'll see where it leads us, but to anticipate such things as 'higher frequency resonance' is unwise.

I am not keeping up with all the food threads. A lot of it is because my eyes tire out or hurt if I stay on the computer past a certain time. I will have to focus on just the food threads for awhile, and Mr.A can read out loud for both of us, since he is also behind, and this works well for us.

Looking forward to any new scans on the latest, and thank you very much for that.

What is deeply concerning about this is the fact that you're changing things in your diet and taking supplements - all the while not even reading why! You're just making changes because the forum 'said so'? The point here - for everyone, not just you, and I apologize if it feels like I'm picking on you, I'm not, you're not the only one - is to get educated and aware of your own body and to actually read these books, and understand WHY you are doing what you are doing. We don't need or want blind followers - that is not the point - at all - nor has it ever been. Laura has stressed several times to PLEASE read these books and determine what is best for each person.

Diet IS paramount, so this is just incredibly important.

Not only is it concerning that you've made these changes without actually reading the full reasons why, it could be dangerous. Please, read these books (or at least ALL of the excerpts supplied on the forum) and make the decisions based on your body and your health. We're here pointing out what has worked and is working for us, but please don't just do things because 'the forum said so'. Please take the time to read up on these things before taking action - it's your life, it's your body, it's your responsibility.

Obviously, this isn't just directed at you, SolarMother, because there have been many examples of this in other threads as well. It's just time to really be clear on this, since the many mentions of 'each body is different' and 'please read these books to understand why you're making these changes' seem to have fallen by the wayside.

 

[Courageous Inmate Sort]

Not only is it concerning that you've made these changes without actually reading the full reasons why, it could be dangerous. Please, read these books (or at least ALL of the excerpts supplied on the forum) and make the decisions based on your body and your health. We're here pointing out what has worked and is working for us, but please don't just do things because 'the forum said so'. Please take the time to read up on these things before taking action - it's your life, it's your body, it's your responsibility.

Obviously, this isn't just directed at you, SolarMother, because there have been many examples of this in other threads as well. It's just time to really be clear on this, since the many mentions of 'each body is different' and 'please read these books to understand why you're making these changes' seem to have fallen by the wayside.

This is a very important point Anart, and I have to make my "mea culpa" in the sense that I have to struggle not to cheat and try shortcuts, but to actually read, think and understand how things work and decide what to do based on solid understanding of reliable information. It takes time and effort, so the lazy body with its programs is tempted by shortcuts.

I cannot find the quote right now but this made me remember of Gurdjieff and his teachings, as he says that understanding is essential in the 4th Way Work. If I'm not mistaken, he says that our development on the 4th Way depends on our understanding of what we do. I think one of the ways of reading this is that we should not do anything that we do not understand, which, IMHO, applies here.

 

[Laura]

I cannot find the quote right now but this made me remember of Gurdjieff and his teachings, as he says that understanding is essential in the 4th Way Work. If I'm not mistaken, he says that our development on the 4th Way depends on our understanding of what we do. I think one of the ways of reading this is that we should not do anything that we do not understand, which, IMHO, applies here.

Thanks for bringing this into the discussion because it is exactly the point.

Sometimes we post a lot of excerpts to help people who want to experiment get started, but those excerpts also should inspire the person to want to read the entire book so as to better understand. Also, some forum members live in countries where they cannot get certain books. At the very least, the forum member should try to keep up with hot topics closely by clicking "view the most recent posts" once a day and checking the threads.

 

[iloveyoghurt]

Hello,

Yes, it was difficult reading the article of the slaughterhouse routine(earlier post).

I haven't ordered the Vegetarian Myth yet, no. I have listened to the audio interview with the author (links on this thread), and yes, I found it most troubling and a lot of very interesting information to process. It's quite fantastic. Still wading my way through this post - it's growing quicker than I can get through it!

I have begun eating meat for the first time in 20 years. Beginning 2 weeks ago with ham, and 3 days ago roasted a chicken - blimey!

I became a vegetarian, my reasoning was a mixture of idealistic thinking I guess:

1. I believed/thought/had an idea that, we were evolved enough to make choices, and I wanted to choose against predatory behaviour - eating cute animals
2. I believed that, eating meat was a way that humans unconsciously affirmed being on top of the (hierarchical) foodchain. I figured that it was an egoic sentiment and act that was an affirmation of power (over other creatures)
3. I had an idea that, we had "evolved" to a more sedentary lifestyle, where we didn't require as much muscle bulk (for physical strength) but rather needed brainpower for ESP, and perhaps carbs were the way forward for this, for quick brain processing. I thought we may be evolving to a state where we wouldn't require bodies :D

A lot of wild fanciful ideas are conjured up in the more youthful years

I haven't had any issues on a vegetarian diet. Cancer occured previous to. I don't get colds or anything. It will be interesting to see if I notice changes in a few months, after swapping to meat diet.

Edit: So far I have noticed 2 changes with my new diet:
1. I am very thirsty
2. I don't have the easy flow I once had on the crystal bowl

Reading up on these things now.

 

[Oxajil]

I was just reading the 15 August 2009 transcript, and stumbled upon this bit that I thought I'd post here. It just stresses the importance of effort, into understanding and gaining knowledge:

Q: (A***l) I have a question. They talked about genetics making it so that people can't receive things. Is there something that people can do that would help change their genetics in some way that would help them become more receptive?

A: You can't change, but you can activate it if it is latent.

Q: (L) In other words, a lot of people have a lot of genetics going on that they aren't using. (Allen) And those genetics can be activated. (A***l) So how do you activate it?

A: Effort counts for a lot. And effort can lead to knowledge which does what?

Q: (Joe) Protects!

A: For example, the recent issues of brain chemistry: this understanding has come about due to effort and the growth of knowledge! The result will be activation of additional DNA! Notice how the knowledge is now growing exponentially with networking and experimentation!

 

[mcb]

The Vegetarian Myth "hit the spot" for me like no other book I have read recently. It has taken me some weeks to see it, but everything I have done since I started to think about nutrition, everything involving food choices for the last 15 years, has been guided by this "myth." I went from one unhealthy myth -- the Standard American Diet (food-is-food, doesn't matter what you eat so eat cheaply and fast) -- to another, the vegetarian myth.

I realize now that my body does not do well on vegetables. Part of the problem may be 15 years of high-fiber diet that altered my GI tract. It is hard to say what may have happened when. But as long as I regarded vegetables as better than and more important than meat, I could not see my way to trying what I needed to do to make things better. It has been hard to root the old thinking out, but the evidence against it is pretty clear.

The last week or so has been rather rough, after cutting carbs even more and experiencing further "colon problems," yet I am feeling better overall and I am actually losing weight again, approaching where I was a year and a half ago. And without going hungry, so that there is the possibility of keeping it off. It's very encouraging.