Is My Diet is Killing Me?

Nutrition
21

[quote]PureNsanity wrote:
So just to add a few things in case anything creeps back…

The first two symptoms are common of insulin resistance/diabetes but the rest of the symptoms are tall tale signs of under eating. It’s possible that you had a major nutritional deficiency and had trouble properly utilizing energy stores.

I didn’t see A1C levels in your blood work, but you might want to double check on that just in case. As far as I know 106 mg/dL is considered borderline. Fasting glucose tests aren’t always the best indicators. Diabetes also interferes with processing fat which could have been exacerbating the under eating.

I know you said you eat at a caloric surplus, but the BMR calculations we all know and love aren’t very accurate. There’s still a 26% unknown variance in BMR calculations. My calculated BMR is around 1,900 calories but in my health experiments I’ve had it measured from 1,550 calories to 3,000 calories. It’s quite possible you’re not at the surplus you think you are.

Insomnia is a big sign of under eating because the body starts producing adrenaline as an alternative energy substrate. The adrenaline could also explain the “wired and tired” feeling along with the nighttime heart palpitations.

Most of the other signs are pretty obvious could be caused by under eating… Just to throw that out there…

Even though I know you consider it fixed, you might feel even better if you up your intake. Hope that helps…[/quote]

Thanks a lot. A couple months ago my doctor was convinced it wasn’t diabetes. I do believe it was a nutritional deficiency like you are saying.

Just had a job health check and here are my levels now:

Glucose: 97 (not fasting) :slight_smile:
Blood Pressure: 122/76
Total Cholesterol: 116
HDL: 28
LDL: 66
Triglycerides: 113

Glucose definitely showing a good thing especially after eating.
Blood pressure now down 10 mmHg.
All cholesterol levels dropping. I wonder if I should be worried? I’ve read (I think Dr. Mercola) that anything below 150 should be watched. Thinking about adding a glass of red wine after work to bring up the HDL.
Triglycerides doubled but still well within a good range.

22

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]PureNsanity wrote:
So just to add a few things in case anything creeps back…

The first two symptoms are common of insulin resistance/diabetes but the rest of the symptoms are tall tale signs of under eating. It’s possible that you had a major nutritional deficiency and had trouble properly utilizing energy stores.

I didn’t see A1C levels in your blood work, but you might want to double check on that just in case. As far as I know 106 mg/dL is considered borderline. Fasting glucose tests aren’t always the best indicators. Diabetes also interferes with processing fat which could have been exacerbating the under eating.

I know you said you eat at a caloric surplus, but the BMR calculations we all know and love aren’t very accurate. There’s still a 26% unknown variance in BMR calculations. My calculated BMR is around 1,900 calories but in my health experiments I’ve had it measured from 1,550 calories to 3,000 calories. It’s quite possible you’re not at the surplus you think you are.

Insomnia is a big sign of under eating because the body starts producing adrenaline as an alternative energy substrate. The adrenaline could also explain the “wired and tired” feeling along with the nighttime heart palpitations.

Most of the other signs are pretty obvious could be caused by under eating… Just to throw that out there…

Even though I know you consider it fixed, you might feel even better if you up your intake. Hope that helps…[/quote]

Thanks a lot. A couple months ago my doctor was convinced it wasn’t diabetes. I do believe it was a nutritional deficiency like you are saying.

Just had a job health check and here are my levels now:

Glucose: 97 (not fasting) :slight_smile:
Blood Pressure: 122/76
Total Cholesterol: 116
HDL: 28
LDL: 66
Triglycerides: 113

Glucose definitely showing a good thing especially after eating.
Blood pressure now down 10 mmHg.
All cholesterol levels dropping. I wonder if I should be worried? I’ve read (I think Dr. Mercola) that anything below 150 should be watched. Thinking about adding a glass of red wine after work to bring up the HDL.
Triglycerides doubled but still well within a good range.[/quote]

I can’t imagine that you would feel good with a cholesterol level that low. It may even contribute to heart attack. You need cholesterol to make testosterone and repair cell membranes. Cholesterol actually protects against heart attack unless stress and damage get runaway. Then it becomes more like putting band-aids on top of band-aids.

Have you ever had T-levels checked?

I PERSONALLY BELIEVE that cholesterol should be at least 170, and up to about 250 with a good ratio. VLDL is even more important than LDL and HDL too.

23

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

7.) Increased fish oil from 2.4g to 10g+ (As many as I can think to take in the day.)

[/quote]

Too much fish oil is just as heart damaging as too little. If you use a typical brand however, 10 grams would provide about 3 grams of omega-3 which is perfect. More than 4 grams average for an extended period of time may start to increase oxidative damage. 2-4 is the sweet spot, but remember that 1 gram of typical fish oil is .3 grams omega 3.

24

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
I can’t imagine that you would feel good with a cholesterol level that low. It may even contribute to heart attack. You need cholesterol to make testosterone and repair cell membranes. Cholesterol actually protects against heart attack unless stress and damage get runaway. Then it becomes more like putting band-aids on top of band-aids.

Have you ever had T-levels checked?

I PERSONALLY BELIEVE that cholesterol should be at least 170, and up to about 250 with a good ratio. VLDL is even more important than LDL and HDL too. [/quote]

Just gave blood now for total and free T. I agree that it should be low with those cholesterol levels but I’m wondering how effective pregnenolone is for raising them back to normal levels. Still doesn’t fix low cholesterol though, just a bandaid.

Do you think my body is demanding the use of so many hormones (through physical/emotional stress) that it can’t keep up with production and thus is low?

Oh also, that’s not omega 3 that I’m counting in grams, just the total fish oil. So yeah getting about 3-4 grams of omega 3. Also informative since I didn’t know you could take too much…

25

Total Test: 274 ng/dL
Free Test: 65 ng/dL
Age: 23 years old

Crazy thing is: I’m feeling better than I was a month or two ago.

26

[quote]oso0690 wrote:
Total Test: 274 ng/dL
Free Test: 65 ng/dL
Age: 23 years old

Crazy thing is: I’m feeling better than I was a month or two ago.[/quote]

Please update your post with the reference ranges.

27

Total test @ 18-39 years: 300-1080 ng/dL

Free test @ 18 years and older: 47-244 pg/mL

28

Just out of curiosity, how many whole eggs or yolks do you eat a week?

29

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
Just out of curiosity, how many whole eggs or yolks do you eat a week? [/quote]

About 2 dozen whole eggs / week is the norm.

So cholesterol is a resource for hormones. If the body needs more hormones, it will use up cholesterol, correct? If the demand for hormones exceeds the supply of cholesterol, won’t cholesterol become low?

EDIT: Sorry Tyler, I meant pg/mL for free test.

30

[quote]oso0690 wrote:
Total test @ 18-39 years: 300-1080 ng/dL

Free test @ 18 years and older: 47-244 pg/mL[/quote]

Thanks. Once this thread runs its course, you may want to post this in the T Replacement forum. There’s loads of good info over there (from KSMan in particular), but before you go down that path, if there’s any way to find the REASON for your low T, that’s what you want to do. Mertdawg might have some insights for you on that. TRT is for life, so try to find, and address, the root cause if you can.

31

There are contradictory recommendations out there, but there are actually 5 things that seem to be consistent:

  1. Avoid polyunsaturated fat, especially cooking oils with high omega-6s. Total polyunsaturated fat correlates to low test, but seafood does not so at least we know to keep down omega-6s.

  2. Having high bodyfat lowers test. Sometimes hard to separate cause from effect, but individuals who lowered their bodyfat intentionally tended to gain test, down to about 11-12%.

  3. BUT, the percentage of calories from fat and total number of calories from fat correlates with higher test, as long as it is monounsaturated and saturated fat.

  4. And also, although saturated fat is good for test, high (Atkins level) protein reduces test. I think that people would have a lot better chance to build muscle with 140-170 grams of protein a day, maybe an extra 30 on a training day, and higher test, than 250+ and a drop in test. I’ve posted numerous studies that ALL protein above about 250 grams a day produces ammonia, which also means that it does not build or preserve muscle tissue.

  5. Zinc, 250 mg a day has consistently raised people’s test, and it is the most common deficiency that can lead to low test.

32

Hey Mertdawg, I just want to quickly say that I really value your input into nutritional matters in these forums. I learn a lot from you and it seems as though you have vast knowledge in these topics. So, cheers!

Also, couple of questions about zinc: how would you recommend getting up to 250 mg per day of zinc? And which dosage would you recommend for male trainees without any known aromatase problems? I have taken as high as 100 mg per day, which led to sore joints and dry skin. I’m thinking either I wasn’t taking good zinc or I threw my zinc/copper balance out of whack (or this put me well below a normal estrogen level). Any thoughts?

33

Thanks guys for the helpful replies. I think (hope) it’s more of a symptom rather than a cause so I don’t think TRT is necessary. Will be getting it tested again in a month. Will be deloading this entire month.

I have a couple of questions for you too Mertdawg:

  1. Is all polyunsaturated fat created equal? For example, are walnuts and sunflower seeds just as bad as soybean oil?

  2. What form of zinc do you recommend? Picolinate? Monomethionine?

34

[quote]kgildner wrote:
Hey Mertdawg, I just want to quickly say that I really value your input into nutritional matters in these forums. I learn a lot from you and it seems as though you have vast knowledge in these topics. So, cheers!

Also, couple of questions about zinc: how would you recommend getting up to 250 mg per day of zinc? And which dosage would you recommend for male trainees without any known aromatase problems? I have taken as high as 100 mg per day, which led to sore joints and dry skin. I’m thinking either I wasn’t taking good zinc or I threw my zinc/copper balance out of whack (or this put me well below a normal estrogen level). Any thoughts?[/quote]

I would take 60-90 mg twice a week. Plus 4 oz of beef liver will keep you copper up.

35

[quote]oso0690 wrote:
Thanks guys for the helpful replies. I think (hope) it’s more of a symptom rather than a cause so I don’t think TRT is necessary. Will be getting it tested again in a month. Will be deloading this entire month.

I have a couple of questions for you too Mertdawg:

  1. Is all polyunsaturated fat created equal? For example, are walnuts and sunflower seeds just as bad as soybean oil?

  2. What form of zinc do you recommend? Picolinate? Monomethionine?[/quote]

I’m curious about #1 as well. I recently redid my diet for a cut I’m doing now. It’s hard to get down polyunsaturated fats. I never used cooking sprays before, but I eat about an ounce of walnuts per day, and it’s basically pure unsaturated fats, and almost entirely omega-6s.

36

[quote]mertdawg wrote:

[quote]kgildner wrote:
Hey Mertdawg, I just want to quickly say that I really value your input into nutritional matters in these forums. I learn a lot from you and it seems as though you have vast knowledge in these topics. So, cheers!

Also, couple of questions about zinc: how would you recommend getting up to 250 mg per day of zinc? And which dosage would you recommend for male trainees without any known aromatase problems? I have taken as high as 100 mg per day, which led to sore joints and dry skin. I’m thinking either I wasn’t taking good zinc or I threw my zinc/copper balance out of whack (or this put me well below a normal estrogen level). Any thoughts?[/quote]

I would take 60-90 mg twice a week. Plus 4 oz of beef liver will keep you copper up.
[/quote]

Great, thanks! It’s a good reminder to get me started eating liver again. I love it. Just out of curiosity, what’s the benefit of taking 60-90 mg of zinc twice per week vis-a-vis 25-30 mg daily?

37

Waking up at night feeling completely refreshed, needing to pee all the time at night etc. is regularly experienced by people eating low-carb, including myself. The symptoms disappears a few weeks after upping carbs. How many grams of carbs are you eating a day?

Regarding the thirst I experience the same if I start taking a creatine supplement - are you doing that? When I do I can literally drink a gallon of water at night and still feeling very thirsty. I thought I had diabetes or something but that wasn’t the case. Creatine will do that to me every time, so I obviously don’t take it anymore.

38

[quote]ModernMonk wrote:
Waking up at night feeling completely refreshed, needing to pee all the time at night etc. is regularly experienced by people eating low-carb, including myself. The symptoms disappears a few weeks after upping carbs. How many grams of carbs are you eating a day?

Regarding the thirst I experience the same if I start taking a creatine supplement - are you doing that? When I do I can literally drink a gallon of water at night and still feeling very thirsty. I thought I had diabetes or something but that wasn’t the case. Creatine will do that to me every time, so I obviously don’t take it anymore.
[/quote]

Yes I had issues with creatine as well… Especially kidney pain despite drinking at least a gallon of water a day. No, I’ve been eating more carbs than I ever have. Healthy of course.

My symptoms came back but I’m not completely sure what it was… I think it was changing from zinc gluconate to OptiZinc. I just bought some more gluconate and will be taking it in the megadoses again to see if that’s exactly what it was that helped. Unfortunately I’ve developed a rash on my arm from all this zinc (copper imbalance??)

I’ve read that certain diseases rob the body of Vitamin B6 and Zinc… I think Lyme’s disease being one.

39

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

Training (High intensity type):
Saturday, I warm up thoroughly and do 1 set to failure for squats.
Sunday, I warm up thoroughly and do 1 set to failure for bench & rows.

Monday - Friday, I do no exercise.

That’s it. Very bare bones training. Yet I can’t seem to recover.

[/quote]

wat.

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

When I take at least 2 weeks off of training completely, I then notice vast improvements in sleep. I’ve taken a complete month off and noticed that I actually slept 8 hours uninterrupted and felt much better.

[/quote]

  1. others have addressed your hormones/diet, so i won’t.

  2. Your workout program hasn’t been addressed - It sucks. HIT generally doesn’t work for most people, unless those people have both high Test and good genetics for weightlifting (my personal opinion). It fatigues the central nervous system leaving you feeling tired, but doesn’t do enough to stimulate anything, neither fat loss or muscle growth or cardiovascular improvement. I actually experienced similar chronic fatigue as you when i trained this way.

  3. if this is all you’re doing for exercise chances are you’re grossly out of shape. I suggest exercising more regularly (but start slow) and eating more (quality foods) to help your metabolism recover. Ultimately just try being more active, play sports and go for walks or hikes, and try to have fun while doing it!

40

[quote]zenontheterrible wrote:

  1. if this is all you’re doing for exercise chances are you’re grossly out of shape. I suggest exercising more regularly (but start slow) and eating more (quality foods) to help your metabolism recover. Ultimately just try being more active, play sports and go for walks or hikes, and try to have fun while doing it![/quote]

I agree with this. Try to add a 30 minute walk every morning. That small amount of effort adds up a lot over time.