Perfect Health Diet

[Blonde with a Rose]

Oh WOW!!!

Thank you Sunday and Beverly for the great response! I'm really glad I started a Vitamin D regimen. I started all of these supplements while watching the NK thread. NK wasn't right for me but the Vitamins stuck! My DH is impressed with me, I usually shun pills unless I have to take an RX (which I wish I could shun).

[cici52]

I haven't been eating oysters but will probably start. Seems it takes so little it would be easy enough.

[Blonde with a Rose]

Would canned smoked oysters work?? It's the only kind I think I could eat.

[ouizoid]

just make sure they are not canned in cottonseed oil, which most oysters are--

[Blonde with a Rose]

Thanks Ouiz~ I'll check the local Sprouts...they may have a better selection of healthier oils.

Goint to Souplantation for lunch today! I'm thinking...baked potato and salad.

[sunday]

Originally Posted by Blonde with a Rose

Thanks Ouiz~ I'll check the local Sprouts...they may have a better selection of healthier oils.

Goint to Souplantation for lunch today! I'm thinking...baked potato and salad.

Sounds amazing. I wish we had a Souplantation!

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by sunday

Just reading this, makes me realize I do not need to supplement with copper. This is why my supp was a combo of zinc/copper. I am afraid to take now.

My doctor has/had me taking a copper free multi vitamin. She is heavy into detoxifying the body.

[Dottie]

Originally Posted by ouizoid

just make sure they are not canned in cottonseed oil, which most oysters are--

Just had to pop in and recommend these (widely available brand at most stores though you may have to ask them to order the olive oil ones if they don't have them but carry this brand).
They are also not as salty as some brands.

[ouizoid]

That is the one I buy!

[Dottie]

I really like them Not too salty or smokey They have clams, too.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by Blonde with a Rose

Oh WOW!!!

Thank you Sunday and Beverly for the great response! I'm really glad I started a Vitamin D regimen. I started all of these supplements while watching the NK thread. NK wasn't right for me but the Vitamins stuck! My DH is impressed with me, I usually shun pills unless I have to take an RX (which I wish I could shun).

In my vitamin D book, he highly recommended some actual sunlight too. About 10-15 minutes on bare skin. You would think living in California, we wouldn't have these issues, but I use sunscreen all the time and I don't often have bare skin in the sun. I imagine some seeps in to my system though. I walked the dog at 10:30 AM and felt like I was getting a good dose, but I didn't have bare skin!

Originally Posted by Blonde with a Rose

Thanks Ouiz~ I'll check the local Sprouts...they may have a better selection of healthier oils.

Goint to Souplantation for lunch today! I'm thinking...baked potato and salad.

i love the Souplantaion's potatoes. Yum!

Originally Posted by dawnyama

My doctor has/had me taking a copper free multi vitamin. She is heavy into detoxifying the body.

The info Cici posted was interesting. I was also told to take no copper at one time and a copper free multi. I forgot why.

I can't handle oysters, clams, or organs.

[cici52]

Regarding the conflicting info on copper, I imagine all of us that haunt the internet health sites are going to get conflicting information based on the author's bias. However, I do think that in the US, unless you are eliminating a food catagory or seriously restricting calories, it is hard to be deficient enough in most vitamins to cause harm. There are, of course, some exceptions.

If you are avoiding both sun exposure and fortified dairy products that leaves a few other sources for vitamin D.

From Global Healing Center
Natural Food Sources of vitamin D
1. Shiitake & Button Mushrooms
Surprisingly, the dried versions of shiitake mushrooms are high in Vitamin D. This may be due to the fact that these mushrooms are adept at sucking up sunlight. Shiitake is also rich in B Vitamins like B1 & B2. Make sure that you find mushrooms that have been dried in the sun, not by some artificial means, in order to extract the benefits of high Vitamin D content.
2. Mackerel
A small, 3½ ounce portion of this Omega-3 rich fish will give you 90% of the recommended daily amount. Currently, the FDA recommends that we eat more of these oily fishes to infuse our bodies with the vitamins and omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA’s) that our body cannot produce on its own.
3. Sockeye Salmon
A small 3½ ounces portion of cooked salmon will give you 90% of the Dietary Reference Intake for Vitamin D. Make sure to purchase salmon that has been caught from the wild, if not, then sustainably farmed. Salmon eat zooplankton, an excellent source of the important vitamin.
4. Herring
Fish like herring are so high in vitamin D because they are the part of our food chain that thrive on plankton, which is chock-full of the vitamin.
5. Sardines
Sardines are one of the best foods containing Vitamin D. One small tin can of sardines will provide you with approximately 70% of your daily needs. These tiny canned fish are also a great source for Vitamin B12, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, protein and selenium.
6. Catfish
Again, another fish that makes a habit of feeding on plankton, catfish are constantly taking in minuscule sea life that create vitamin D from sunlight.
7. Tuna
Eat 3 ounces of tuna daily for 50% of your Vitamin D needs. Fresh, wild-caught tuna is the most nutritious. Remember, eating oily fish can also lubricate the body with “good fats,” providing a host of health benefits to your body, like better memory and brain function.
8. Cod Liver Oil
If you can stomach the strong aroma, this oil is super-rich in sunlight Vitamin D. This marvelously golden, yet terrible-tasting oil, is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Incorporating this oil into your diet will help you increase your bones ability to stay strong and healthy. Because of its high Vitamin D content, cod liver oil has also been shown to prevent osteoporosis in adult, improve brain function and optimize the functioning of the nervous system. What is more, the oil holds 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. One tablespoon of the oil provides more than enough Vitamin D for the day.
9. Eggs
Eggs are another food containing vitamin D in small amounts. Eating one egg will provide you with approximately 10% of your daily needs. I would personally recommend to eat free-range eggs from a local farm, if possible.
10. Sunshine
Okay, we know it’s not a food, but daily “doses” of sunshine can seriously up your Vitamin D intake. In fact, this vitamin has actually been referred to as the sunshine vitamin. Light hitting the skin from the sun’s rays stimulates the production of this vitamin and hormone. This is great news for those of us that can take a sun-bath daily. But for those of us in colder, cloudier climates, we can up our intake from the foods we eat. This could explain why Native Inuit people in Alaska ate so much fish!

Toxicity Symptoms
If more than 2000 IU of vitamin D is taken daily, kidney stones, weight loss, irregular heartbeat, diarrhea, extreme thirst, high blood pressure and calcification of tissue may result.

Dietary Reference Intake
5-10 mcg (older adults need 15 mcg)

I looked up conversion and 15 mcg = 600 IU However, the PHD supplement recommendation page says to aim for 4000 IU - which would be in the area of toxicity according to the other site.

[sunday]

I couldn't quit thinking about copper, so I went to PHD to locate his info on copper and saw where he had linked...

Whole Health Source: Copper and Cardiovascular Disease


If you have premature gray hair, then you may be deficient in copper.
This is from MDA -

You might be on to something. There’s a rare genetic condition called Menkes disease where a mutation disrupts the normal distribution of copper to surrounding tissues, thereby turning the hair gray (among other effects). It’s quite deadly, and autopsies of people who had Menkes show a total lack of copper in their hair. Menkes is also called “steely hair disease,” owing to the premature graying it causes. I’m guessing you don’t have Menkes, because you probably wouldn’t have outlived infancy. A study from this year shows that gray hairs from people suffering normal, premature graying also contain less copper than normal colored hair from the control group. Similar relationships for iron and zinc were not found.

Though the only way to really know if a copper deficiency is causing your graying would be to get your gray hairs tested at a lab for metal content, you could try adding in some copper-rich foods to your diet to see if they have an effect. Beef and lamb liver are the best sources of copper, but a little bit goes a long way. Other good sources include oysters, crimini mushrooms, and dark chocolate. Maybe plug your weekly food intake into a tracking program to see if your copper is low. You’ll want about 2 mg per day, but you don’t have to do it piecemeal. A half pound per week of beef or lamb liver all at once should get you there.

[cici52]

I realize that I didn't very clearly segway from copper to vitamin D in my last post so edited to make it more clear.

So, by your post, I guess a bit of chocolate every day would probably do the trick too. Looked it up and 3 oz = 10%

[sunday]

Originally Posted by cici52

I realize that I didn't very clearly segway from copper to vitamin D in my last post so edited to make it more clear.

So, by your post, I guess a bit of chocolate every day would probably do the trick too. Looked it up and 3 oz = 10%

There you go! I think we posted at the same time Cici! I eat a bit of dark every single day.

I have quite a bit of white hair, but then I am 54.

[sunday]

So, I may just let my 2 dogs have a bit of liver each night and continue on my dark choc supp.

[cici52]

Originally Posted by sunday

So, I may just let my 2 dogs have a bit of liver each night and continue on my dark choc supp.

Do you think my hair by Revlon counts as copper supplementation?

Seriously, the oyster/day would take care of both copper and zinc.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by sunday

So, I may just let my 2 dogs have a bit of liver each night and continue on my dark choc supp.

Now the chocolate is something I can eat and also get my magnesium in. Yes! What percentage dark chocolate do most of you enjoy?

I do think it is a good idea to get tested for the Vitamin D. My levels were so astoundingly low, it was scary. And that would be because I have IBD. So I had to take large doses over a fairly long period of time to bring me into the normal levels. Now I still need 5,000 IU daily to stay at the low end of normal. So it all depends on your state of health for probably all supplements.

My data was part of this study which I thought rather interesting. I am a member of Life Extension. The numbers behind the sentences are references to studies.

Startling Findings About Vitamin D Levels in Life Extension® Members

By William Faloon



No other nutrient, drug, or hormone has gained more scientific credibility than vitamin D.

Insufficient vitamin D is linked to virtually every age-related disorder including cancer,1-11 vascular disease,12-17 and chronic inflammation.2,18-23 Adults (and children) with higher vitamin D levels contract substantially fewer cold, flu, and other viral infections.24-26

Specific biological mechanisms have been identified to explain how vitamin D protects against so many human ailments.27-31

More than 13,000 Life Extension® members have had their vitamin D level checked using our convenient blood testing service. The results from these tests represent a goldmine of never-before-published data about achieved vitamin D blood levels in a large group of dedicated supplement users.

Our findings will shock many in the medical community who think that supplementing with less than 1,000 IU a day of vitamin D is adequate. To the contrary, even Life Extension®’s previous aggressive dosing suggestions are probably too low to ensure optimal vitamin D status.

In another surprising revelation, scientists have discovered that high-dose vitamin A antagonizes the beneficial action of vitamin D in the body.32-34 This finding might explain why certain studies of people using commercial multivitamins (that contain too much vitamin A and woefully inadequate vitamin D) have failed to yield expected health benefits.

This article will present startling findings we have uncovered about vitamin D levels in our members’ blood, as well as newly published data about how much vitamin D (and vitamin A) aging people really need.

Combating Winter Infections
As daylight hours grow colder and shorter, incidence of the common cold, flu, and respiratory infections spikes upwards. Scientists have identified reduced vitamin D levels in winter months as a prime suspect for this increase in infectious disease cases.


Vitamin D from all sources (sunlight, sun lamps, or supplements) reduces the incidence of respiratory infections.24,26 Dutch children with the least sun exposure are twice as likely to develop a cough and three times more likely to develop a runny nose compared with children with the most sun exposure.35

When Russian athletes were given sun lamps to stimulate vitamin D synthesis in the body, there were 50% fewer respiratory infections and far fewer days of absence.36

Children with the lowest vitamin D serum levels are 11 times more likely to develop respiratory infection.37 When 60,000 IU per week of vitamin D was administered (for six weeks) to children with frequent respiratory infections, the result was a complete disappearance of such infections in the following six months.38

In a controlled trial of African women, a low dose (800 IU a day) of vitamin D resulted in a three-fold reduction in cold and flu symptoms compared to those given placebo.39,40

Influenza kills around 36,000 Americans each year.41 Ensuring optimal vitamin D status, as will be described shortly, could slash influenza incidence and mortality.

How Vitamin D Boosts Immune Function and Suppresses Inflammation
Flu viruses (including swine flu, or H1N1) can induce a massive inflammatory response capable of killing the victim. In other words, it is not the virus that kills, but the body’s hyper-reaction to the virus—in the form of uncontrolled over-production of pro-inflam-matory cytokines. Vitamin D down-regulates the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha.42

As people age, they often over-express these same destructive pro-inflammatory cytokines. The result is chronic low-level inflammation that damages aging arteries, joints, and neurons.43-47 By down-regulating excess pro-inflammatory cytokine production, vitamin D could save the lives of those stricken with acute influenza, or the dozens of inflammatory diseases that afflict millions of aging Americans each year.

Antimicrobial peptides are components of the immune system that protect against bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Secreted by immune cells throughout the body, antimicrobial peptides damage the outer lipid membrane of infectious agents (including influenza viruses), rendering them vulnerable to eradication.

Recent studies confirm that vitamin D dramatically upregulates the expression of these antimicrobial peptides in immune cells.48 We now have a definitive biological mechanism to explain why vitamin D confers such dramatic protection against common winter illnesses.

What Are Minimum Vitamin D Blood Levels?
When blood is tested to assess vitamin D status, what is actually measured is the metabolically active 25-hydroxyvitamin D form of the vitamin in the serum.


When irrefutable data emerged about vitamin D’s role in preventing disease, experts initially recommended a minimum target blood level of 30 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

In recognition of findings showing reduced incidences of disease in those with higher vitamin D levels, the standard laboratory reference range for 25-hydroxyvitamin D was raised to 32-100 ng/mL.

Based on recent and conclusive published studies, Life Extension®’s new minimum target level for optimal disease prevention is over 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.49-54

As you will read next, 85.7% of those utilizing our blood testing service have less than 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. While this may seem disconcerting, studies show that 50-78%55-58 of the general population has less than 30 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, placing them at high risk for a host of degenerative diseases.

In fact, a startling 36%55-59 of the general population has 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL, which may represent the world’s leading cause of unnecessary disease and death.

Results from Life Extension®’s Vitamin D Tests
The Life Extension Foundation® analyzed results from 13,892 blood tests in members who had their blood levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) evaluated from March 24, 2008 to September 27, 2009 (about 18 months).

The most disappointing finding was that 38% of test results for 25-hydroxyvitamin D were less than or equal to 30 ng/mL (the previous minimum threshold). In addition, 69% of test results were less than or equal to 40 ng/mL, and 85% of test results were less than or equal to 50 ng/mL.

Life Extension®’s new minimum target level for optimal disease prevention is 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D—and most members have less than this amount in their blood.

Figures 1 and 2 below show the startling percentages of supplement users with less than optimal vitamin D blood levels. Considering these people were probably taking at least 800-1,000 IU of vitamin D daily, this widespread deficiency uncovers an urgent need for serious supplement users to increase their vitamin D intake. No blood test result revealed vitamin D to be excessively high in any individual.


The Foundation also analyzed vitamin D test results in members who purchased 5,000 IU vitamin D supplements and subsequently obtained a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test within three to nine months of product purchase.

These test results revealed markedly higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Specifically, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were nearly 30% greater! (Figure 3) Interestingly, even many of these individuals did not achieve optimal status of over 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, indicating the need for some people to take more than 5-6,000 IU a day of vitamin D.

The test results revealed quite a bit of individual variability, with many more older people testing out at the lower ranges of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Specifically, of the test results that showed 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL, more than double were observed in Life Extension® members older than age 55 years, compared with younger members. This is consistent with the published literature showing that as people age, they convert less vitamin D in their skin from sunlight.60,61 We were not able to evaluate body mass index, which is another determinant of vitamin D requirement. Heavier people require more vitamin D than thinner individuals.

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?
John Cannell, MD, is the president of The Vitamin D Council, a non-profit group that advocates higher vitamin D intake. According to a letter written to us by Dr. Cannell, adults need to take 5,000 IU a day of vitamin D to put the vast majority of them (97.5%) above the 50 ng/mL level.


Dr. Cannell supplied us with published papers arguing that optimal doses for adults are between 4,600 and 10,000 IU, with persuasive evidence that 10,000 IU a day of supplemental vitamin D is not toxic.62-68

To answer the question as to exactly how much vitamin D3 an individual needs requires a blood test.

Since our analysis uncovered 85% of blood test results are far below 50 ng/mL, it appears that virtually all members should supplement with 5,000 to 8,000 IU of vitamin D3 each day—especially in winter months!

Fears of vitamin D toxicity have caused health-conscious people to limit their vitamin D3 intake to only a few thousand IU (international units) a day. This amount is clearly inadequate to optimally protect against disease, based on recently published studies.52,64,69-72

Those with a rare disorder called sarcoidosis, severe renal impairment, primary hyperparathyroidism, or any condition resulting in an elevated calcium level in the blood should consult with their physician before taking vitamin D supplements. A low-cost blood chemistry test easily rules out elevated blood calcium.

[sunday]

Originally Posted by cici52

Do you think my hair by Revlon counts as copper supplementation?

Seriously, the oyster/day would take care of both copper and zinc.

I agree on oyster a day!

Thanks so much Bev! I am outside a bit every day, but I know that I am not out near enough. Also, depending on so many things, we all may be low. It is true that you probably wouldn't be overdoing the Vit D. Interesting the bolded part.

[sungoddess]

I came across this summary of the book and thought it might be nice for people to read who haven't gotten the book yet. This is from A blog by Sam Snyder. It is a good summary in a nutshell. I read the book and even highlighted things, but still missed some of these points.

Perfect Health*Diet

Perfect Health Diet is a book written by two scientists who combed through massive amounts of scientific research. Their goal was to find a diet that would heal their medical problems and optimize health and longevity.
The two authors are:
• Dr. Paul Jaminet: an astrophysicist who worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and who is currently a management consultant
• Dr. Shou-Ching Jaminet: a molecular biologist and cancer researcher at Harvard Medical School

Perfect Health Diet is one of the most extensively researched books ever written about nutrition. It has over 600 research citations, with many of them referencing articles in nutrition journals and medical databases. The book is also suitable for a wide audience. Readers who want quick answers can skim certain sections and come away with actionable steps that are easy to implement. Scientists and physicians and nutrition hobbyists can dig into further technical information provided in other sections. I definitely recommend buying the book. More information on the contents of the book is at this page on the Perfect Health Diet blog: Buy Our Book

Here are some of my notes on what the book covers:
• Most diseases and forms of ill health are caused by food toxins, malnourishment, and chronic infections.
• By calories, the Perfect Health Diet is made up of 20% carbohydrates, 65% fat, and 15% protein. By weight, the diet is about 65% plant foods and 35% meats and oils.
• 20% of calories (about 1.5 lbs per day) in the Perfect Health Diet comes from safe starches like sweet potatoes, white rice, and berries. Also, feel free to eat as many vegetables as you want, but don’t count calories from them. 80% of calories (about 1 lb per day) comes from healthy fat (fatty meat, seafood, eggs) and around 4 tablespoons of healthy oils and fats.
• Foods to eat: starchy tubers, white rice, fruits, berries, vegetables, seaweed, fatty meats, seafood, eggs, butter, cream, ice cream, sour cream, lard, tallow, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, cheeses, yogurt, and spices.
• Foods to avoid: grains and cereals (wheat, oats, corn, other grains, bread, pasta), sugar, corn syrup, soda, candy, legumes (soybeans, kidney beans, pinto beans, peanuts), omega-6-rich vegetable seed oils (soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, canola oil), pasteurized milk, and dry lean meats
• Supplements to take: multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, magnesium, selenium, iodine, copper, and chromium
• Practice intermittent fasting through strategies like restricting eating to an eight hour time period each day, or through occasional ketogenic fasting by eating lots of coconut oil while temporarily avoiding carbs and protein.
• The Perfect Health Diet prevents and may even cure diseases like heart disease, cancer, dementia, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, acid reflux, graying hair, etc.
• Hunter gatherers ate diets consisting of 5% to 35% carbohydrate, 50% to 70% fat, and 15% to 25% protein.
• Mother’s milk is a complete food for infants, and it has a ratio by calories of 39% carbs, 54% fat, and 7% protein.
• Mice that were designed to develop diabetes became highly resistant to the disease when they ate a diet consisting of 5.6% carbohydrates, 82.5% fat, and 12.0% protein.
• The Perfect Health Diet optimizes bodily nutrition, minimizes stress on the gut and liver, and is robust against dietary failure by providing redundant sources of nutrients.
• The Perfect Health Diet minimizes the risk of glucose deprivation, keeps blood glucose levels low, manufactures ketones that nourish neurons and protect against glucose deficiency, and limits toxins.
• Ketogenic diets are potential treatments for epilepsy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, psychoses, migraines, solid tumor cancers, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, bacterial infections, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, and neuropathies.
• To make the diet ketogenic, eat about 200 calories from safe starches like sweet potato and the rest of the calories from coconut oil.
• A long-term ketogenic diet is only recommended as a treatment for certain diseases. For healthy people, occasional days of ketogenic fasts are helpful.
• Adding 26 pounds of muscle per year requires only 5 grams (20 calories) of protein per day. Controlled trials have not found any additional muscle gain from higher protein consumption.
• Whey protein contains branched chain amino acids, which increase muscle growth and help heal the gut.
• Too much protein intake can lead to ammonia poisoning.
• In animal studies, restricting protein leads to longer lifespans.
• Most cells prefer fats over glucose for energy, since fats burn cleanly while glucose produces reactive oxygen species that can damage cells.
• Eating a purely carnivorous diet can lead to stress on the liver, toxicity, reduced longevity, risk of glucose deprivation, dry eyes, and gastrointestinal cancers.
• To avoid glucose deprivation, it’s important to eat at least 200 carb calories per day, eat at least 600 calories per day of carbs and protein, and include coconut oil and fiber in the diet.
• It’s important to keep glucose consumption in a sweet spot near the body’s glucose needs, as carb consumption above those needs can lead to hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia.
• Hyperglycemia can lead to nerve damage, organ damage, bacterial infections, cancer progression, and increased mortality.
• For a good lipid profile, keep dietary carbs below 600 calories per day.
• The optimal fatty acid ratios are 10% of fat calories (6.5% of total calories) from short-chain fatty acids, 75-80% of fat calories (50% of total calories) from long-chain saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids, and 10-15% of fat calories (7-10% of total calories) from omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• An excess of omega-6 fatty acids is linked to heart disease, cancer, stroke, obesity, inflammation, immune system suppression, mental illness, arthritis, asthma, headaches, menstrual cramps. osteoporosis, allergies, ulcerative colitis, and increased mortality.
• Some ways to bring PUFA levels near the optimum are: avoiding vegetable seed oils and foods prepared with them, eating meats low in omega-6 (like beef and lamb), and eating about a pound of salmon a week to balance omega-3 and omega-6 tissue levels.
• In animal studies, omega-6 PUFA lead to negative health effects, whereas saturated fats have beneficial health effects since they are immune to the oxidizing effect of sugars.
• High omega-3 intake (such as 6.5 g/day or 5 lbs of salmon per week) may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Intakes less than 3 g/day are safe.
• Fish oil capsules don’t prevent cardiac death, but fish consumption is preventive. Fish oil capsules can easily become rancid.
• Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids are nontoxic and safe in large amounts.
• High dietary intake of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids reduces the risk of heart disease, increases muscle mass, and increases body temperature (which is useful for fighting infections).
• A high intake of saturated and monounsaturated fat leads to muscle gain by increasing testosterone levels, inhibiting muscle breakdown, and promoting the release of growth hormone.
• Short-chain fats like coconut oil protect the brain, protect against cancer, have antimicrobial properties, improve blood lipids, and promote weight loss.
• Blueberries reduce pathogenic bacteria while increasing probiotic bacteria. Blueberry husks with probiotics increase butyrate levels in the blood. Starches (potato, taro, white rice, sago) as well as squashes and stalk vegetables may also generate butyrate.*Butyrate prevents obesity, heals the intestine, improves gut barrier integrity, relieves constipation, helps prevent colon cancer, delays neurodegeneration, improves cardiovascular health, stabilizes blood glucose levels, reduces inflammation, and promotes tissue healing.
• People with damaged guts might benefit from limiting fiber.
• Combine starches with fats in a ratio of one-third carbs to two-thirds fats.
• Make sure meat is fatty and moist instead of lean and dry. Lean meats should be combined with a fatty food.
• Eat two to three times as much plant food (as measured by weight) in relation to meat.
• Carb calories (about 300 per day) should be from safe starches like taro, sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes, white rice, white rice noodles, or white rice crackers.
• Avoid commercial foods until food producers start using healthier cooking oils.
• Raspberries, papaya, banana, and strawberries have a high potassium to fructose ratio (which indicates a healthy fruit or berry).
• Spices and salt are beneficial, but extremely hot spices can damage the digestive tract.
• Grass-fed meat, eggs from grass-fed chickens, and wild fish have lower omega-6 levels.
• Macadamia nuts have the lowest omega-6 content out of all tree nuts.
• All plants have toxins, so it is safer to eat small quantities from a wide variety of plants rather than large amounts of a single species.
• Cereal grains impair digestion, lead to inflammation, trigger autoimmune diseases, make the body susceptible to infectious diseases, damage heart tissue, promote cancer, cause neuropathy, cause rickets, lead to acid reflux, promote kidney disease, lead to stomach ulcers, increase the likelihood of a heart attack, and increase mortality.
• Wheat has opioids that cause tumor cells to multiply, cause schizophrenia, and feminize male bodies.
• Legumes have negative digestive effects including leaky gut, bad digestion, diarrhea, and bloating. Legumes also cause stunted growth, organ dysfunction, heart disease, tendon damage, and allergies.
• Vegetable oils lead to cardiovascular disease, liver damage, and immune system dysfunction.
• Fructose interacts with polyunsaturated fats to generate toxins, so fruit should be eaten on an empty stomach between meals and eaten only with cream or coconut oil. Breakfast may be the safest time to eat fruit due to the overnight fast and glycogen depletion.
• High fructose corn syrup and sugar lead to DNA damage, faster aging, stiff joints, aged skin, high blood pressure, heart attacks, bad lipid profiles, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, pancreatitis, obesity, impaired memory, organ damage, bacterial infections, cirrhosis, fetal insulin resistance, gout, and kidney disease.
• Avoid sugar-cured meats, which have advanced glycation endproducts. Uncured bacon is fine.
• People who have arthritis may benefit from avoiding nightshades (eggplant, tomato, peppers, and potato).
• Potatoes should be kept continuously in a cool dark environment.
• It’s safest to cook meats a lower temperatures, which prevents the formation of toxic compounds.
• Good drinks are tea, coffee, water, cream, and wine.
• The Perfect Health Diet is very similar to the traditional Pacific islander diet. Pacific islanders such as Okinawans, Kitavans, and Hawai’ians who ate the traditional diet had exceptional health and life expectancy.
• Supplements are useful, since modern people are malnourished (due to sedentary lifestyles, nutrient-poor modern foods, food production, modern cooking, and antinutrients). Even paleolithic humans may have been malnourished.
• Malnourishment leads to reduced health and lower IQ among offspring of malnourished parents.
• Multivitamins are useful, but only if vitamin D and vitamin K2 status is optimized.
• Vitamin D reduces the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, intracellular pathogens, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and mortality from all causes. 3,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D (from both sun and supplements) is a good amount. 25OHD levels should be around 40 ng/ml.
• Vitamin K2 helps prevent hemorrhage, fractures, atherosclerosis, joint disease, cancer, cognitive decline, and vitamin D toxicity. 100 mcg of vitamin K2 per day is a good recommended amount.

[sungoddess]

part two- the summary was too long

• Selenium and iodine promote thyroid health, improve immune function, and help prevent cancer. Iodine intake should start at 1 mg/day or less and be upped gradually to give the thyroid time to adapt. To prevent selenium toxicity, 200 mcg/day is the recommended amount.
• Magnesium leads to significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality and improves immune function. A good magnesium intake is 400 mg/day to 800 mg/day.
• Eating a quarter-pound of beef or lamb liver per week provides enough copper, which most people are deficient in.
• Chromium improves immune function and helps prevent cardiovascular disease. 200 mcg/day of chromium is safe and beneficial.
• Vitamin C decreases mortality from all causes and increases lifespan. Vitamin C supplements in the range of 500 mg to 1 g per day are beneficial.
• Some supplements to avoid are vitamin A, calcium, zinc, niacin, vitamin E, folic acid, and fish oil capsules.
• There are thousands of toxins and hundreds of pathogens which can cause diseases. It may be important to take antibiotics to cure chronic diseases.
• Pathogens are associated with atherosclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mood disorders, cancer, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, rosacea, and other diseases.
• The Perfect Health Diet and supplements provide support to important immune system components and actions such as antimicrobial peptides, respiratory bursts, autophagy, and protein restriction.
• Ketogenic fasts with coconut oil promote autophagy, which is very effective in fighting pathogens.
• Melatonin promotes muscle growth, kills tumor cells, protects against infections, and is effective in treating some diseases (irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetes).
• Exercise and diaphragmatic breathing are effective for reducing stress and strengthening immune function by lowering cortisol levels.
• Ways to lose weight: eliminating omega-6 oils, cutting fructose intake, giving up wheat and other cereal grains, normalizing thyroid function (with iodine, selenium, and vitamin D supplements), eating nutrient-rich foods, and having intermittent fasts
• Ways to accelerate weight loss: spending time in cold temperatures, spending more time on your feet, exercising at high intensity twice a week, eating coconut oil, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking lots of water, and getting a fecal transplant from a slender person if necessary
• People who have lifespans of greater than 110 years tend to follow high fat/low-carb diets, calorie restriction, and intermittent fasting.

[pantograph]

Beverly, thanks for passing along Sam Snyder's excellent summary. My wife and I still have about 65 pages to read in the PHD book and may not have gotten to some of these points yet.

BTW, the Ask Bryan podcast had an excellent interview with Paul Jaminet on Jan 25th. Well worth a listen.

Terry

[sunday]

Bev! This is exactly what needs to be stickied at the beginning page!

Thank you! I will ask Dottie, if we can add this after 1st post. Great compressed facts and the actual science, now I want to go and find his blog!

[sunday]

Originally Posted by sungoddess

part two- the summary was too long

• Selenium and iodine promote thyroid health, improve immune function, and help prevent cancer. Iodine intake should start at 1 mg/day or less and be upped gradually to give the thyroid time to adapt. To prevent selenium toxicity, 200 mcg/day is the recommended amount.
• Magnesium leads to significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality and improves immune function. A good magnesium intake is 400 mg/day to 800 mg/day.
• Eating a quarter-pound of beef or lamb liver per week provides enough copper, which most people are deficient in.
• Chromium improves immune function and helps prevent cardiovascular disease. 200 mcg/day of chromium is safe and beneficial.
• Vitamin C decreases mortality from all causes and increases lifespan. Vitamin C supplements in the range of 500 mg to 1 g per day are beneficial.
• Some supplements to avoid are vitamin A, calcium, zinc, niacin, vitamin E, folic acid, and fish oil capsules.
• There are thousands of toxins and hundreds of pathogens which can cause diseases. It may be important to take antibiotics to cure chronic diseases.
• Pathogens are associated with atherosclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mood disorders, cancer, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, rosacea, and other diseases.
• The Perfect Health Diet and supplements provide support to important immune system components and actions such as antimicrobial peptides, respiratory bursts, autophagy, and protein restriction.
• Ketogenic fasts with coconut oil promote autophagy, which is very effective in fighting pathogens.
• Melatonin promotes muscle growth, kills tumor cells, protects against infections, and is effective in treating some diseases (irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetes).
• Exercise and diaphragmatic breathing are effective for reducing stress and strengthening immune function by lowering cortisol levels.
• Ways to lose weight: eliminating omega-6 oils, cutting fructose intake, giving up wheat and other cereal grains, normalizing thyroid function (with iodine, selenium, and vitamin D supplements), eating nutrient-rich foods, and having intermittent fasts
• Ways to accelerate weight loss: spending time in cold temperatures, spending more time on your feet, exercising at high intensity twice a week, eating coconut oil, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking lots of water, and getting a fecal transplant from a slender person if necessary
• People who have lifespans of greater than 110 years tend to follow high fat/low-carb diets, calorie restriction, and intermittent fasting.

Okay, I highlighted a few things that I want to discuss with my PHDers and see what you all think or have to add.
Most of the items are related to Weight Loss or Longevity which I presume is all of our goals.

Most of these, I have begun faithfully in the last year. I was eating and following PHD before I knew about it! I feel excellent healthwise. I am very high energy now and I have not had a cold, fever, or illness where I needed to go to the doctor in the last year! In fact, the only health appt I have had in the last year was for my eyes and dental.

If I lived where Kristin is (Canada), I have no doubt that I would be out in the snow daily hiking and revving up my exercise routine while in the cold. I have taken a few cold showers, but don't know that I will do the artic swim or sleep in a cold room. Although, I am getting better on DD about not shivering myself to sleep.

I am quite anxious to see if I could get to my goal weight now, because that is the only thing left for me to do. Just curious what benefits others have noticed since beginning the "healthy lifestyle". I think my only vice that I still struggle with is too many glasses of Pinot and allowing myself to be too sedentary along the way. So reigning in the vices and hoping for more good stuff to come. Hoping to arrive at goal weight in the next few months and hoping to maintain PHD wise.

I have not studied the fecal transplant info, but I can hear my DH right now. oy vey. He believes I have already crossed over into bizarro land.

[pantograph]

I was curious about Sam Snyder's blog, as mentioned by Beverly, so I went to check it out. I notice that the information on the PHD is from a review posted July 19, 2011, so it is based on the first edition of the book.

There have been some changes in the recommendations in the December 2012 Scribner edition. For example, they now recommend NOT taking a multivitamin because they contain micronutrients, such as manganese, that when added to what you get from food, may increase intake to toxic levels. Check out the "Supplement Recs" tab on the PHD blog page or chapter 28 of the Dec 2012 book for more info.

Terry

[sungoddess]

Ways to accelerate weight loss: spending time in cold temperatures, spending more time on your feet, exercising at high intensity twice a week, eating coconut oil, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking lots of water, and getting a fecal transplant from a slender person if necessary


I guess we will all be vacationing quite often with Kristin!!! Bring out the snowboards!

My nutrition guru told me to get a fecal transplant ( again, I have severe IBD) and I just can't go there right now... worse than eating liver and kidneys to me!
I don't believe that is a procedure really necessary for "normal people", but what do I know. Even for a person with my problem, I think it is kind of out there. I did read that part in the "bad gut" section of the book about it. When I was told to consider it, I asked my very healthy slim friend if she would donate and she was like . Thought I was crazy.

Terry- welcome! I will look that podcast up. You and your wife are quite close to where I live!

[sungoddess]

Sunday, you are doing so well!! i just know you will hit your goal weight!!

[svenskamae]

Originally Posted by sunday

From PHD Blog...

Supplemental Foods



Hmmm, I am quite happy with this and think, Kristin, will like the dark choc rec.

Hi, Sunday, thanks for all the information on this thread. I'm just starting to go through it. I was wondering why the PHD emphasizes egg yolks rather than whole eggs? I understand why eating just egg whites is not a good idea, but how is the value of egg yolks diminished by dropping the whites? Especially since most recipes for egg dishes assume that one is using the whole egg? Or is the recommendation that one eat those egg yolks, and if the whites are consumed simultaneously, that's fine.

I have the PHD book and plan on reading it this weekend. I don't think that I'm going to start eating starches or give up on my moderate protein/high fat approach, but I would like to make sure that my diet within those constraints (plus JUDDD) is as healthy as possible.

[Blonde with a Rose]

Originally Posted by Dottie

Just had to pop in and recommend these (widely available brand at most stores though you may have to ask them to order the olive oil ones if they don't have them but carry this brand).
They are also not as salty as some brands.

Thank you thank you!!

Beverly~great info, thanks so much for posting!

What the H-E- double hockey sticks is a "fecal transplant"???? DO I even want to know? Bizarro land indeed! No really. What is that?

[svenskamae]

Originally Posted by sungoddess

Ways to accelerate weight loss: spending time in cold temperatures, spending more time on your feet, exercising at high intensity twice a week, eating coconut oil, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking lots of water, and getting a fecal transplant from a slender person if necessary


I guess we will all be vacationing quite often with Kristin!!! Bring out the snowboards!

My nutrition guru told me to get a fecal transplant ( again, I have severe IBD) and I just can't go there right now... worse than eating liver and kidneys to me!
I don't believe that is a procedure really necessary for "normal people", but what do I know. Even for a person with my problem, I think it is kind of out there. I did read that part in the "bad gut" section of the book about it. When I was told to consider it, I asked my very healthy slim friend if she would donate and she was like . Thought I was crazy.

Terry- welcome! I will look that podcast up. You and your wife are quite close to where I live!

Clackley provided a lead to an interesting article about the role of healthy bacteria and how a fecal transplant can be beneficial for people who have digestive problems that don't respond to drugs. Google "Michael Specter Annals of Science New Yorker" to pull up the article. It made a lot of sense to me.