Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection • Hacker News Board

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#101

Post by skrebbel » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 1:28 PM UTC

Aromasin wrote: post #77

peteretep wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame there's so much pseudo-science around food intolerances, as I'd basically dismissed out of hand that I might be intolerant to some foods. As part of a separate diet, it's become clear to me that bread caused the life-long indigestion I've suffered, and that eggs were causing my skin to be bad, neither of which were links I'd made before. Also currently on a diet that isn't keto -- I'm eating a lot of veg…

I advise all my friends to do a "one food and work up" diet. I had massive problems with sleep, my skin, my bowel movements, general fatigue, long-onset DOMS after working out - the list goes on. These are completely gone now I pin-pointed the issue. I cut back everything, and added things one ingredient at a time. I started with only root veg, then added legumes, then brassicaceae veg (kale, cauliflower, broccoli et…

My wife had struggles very similar to yours. She had herself tested for a super broad range of allergies and intolerances (this wasn't cheap) and found that her histamine levels were 20x the upper bound of "normal". This was in a time when eating a single chocolate chip cookie could knock her out for days.

She then did an elimination diet much like yours (but without the keto - she just cut out anything that either is high in histamine or encourages histamine production in the body). She's a different person now. Her gut mostly recovered in the sense that the same cookie would now make her feel bad for a few hours and sometimes not even that. It's great.

Just in case it interests someone, she maintains a food blog particular for histamine intolerant people at https://histaminefriendlykitchen.com/

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#102

Post by 1024core » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 1:59 PM UTC

As a vegetarian, I was surprised to see beans and legumes in the "foods to avoid" section of the Keto Diet 101 page: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101

So what are my options?

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#103

Post by Aromasin » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:03 PM UTC

COGlory wrote: post #99

Aromasin wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I advise all my friends to do a "one food and work up" diet. I had massive problems with sleep, my skin, my bowel movements, general fatigue, long-onset DOMS after working out - the list goes on. These are completely gone now I pin-pointed the issue. I cut back everything, and added things one ingredient at a time. I started with only root veg, then added legumes, then brassicaceae veg (kale, cauliflower, broccoli et…

This sounds very similar to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and it might be worth your time to ask a doctor about it if you haven't already.

Thanks, I'll definitely look into this. I take anti-histamines and aspirin to regulate some of my symptom outbreaks as per a recommendation from my GP, so the fact that it's mentioned as a treatment certainly perks my interest.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#104

Post by copperx » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

skrebbel wrote: post #101

Aromasin wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I advise all my friends to do a "one food and work up" diet. I had massive problems with sleep, my skin, my bowel movements, general fatigue, long-onset DOMS after working out - the list goes on. These are completely gone now I pin-pointed the issue. I cut back everything, and added things one ingredient at a time. I started with only root veg, then added legumes, then brassicaceae veg (kale, cauliflower, broccoli et…

My wife had struggles very similar to yours. She had herself tested for a super broad range of allergies and intolerances (this wasn't cheap) and found that her histamine levels were 20x the upper bound of "normal". This was in a time when eating a single chocolate chip cookie could knock her out for days. She then did an elimination diet much like yours (but without the keto - she just cut out anything that either i…

It makes sense that histamine messes with sleep. The drug modafinil (Provigil, Nuvigil) is a pro-histamine and considered a nootropic because it reduces sleepiness and even increases focus.

I wonder, can one use a pro-histamine food as a nootropic?

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#105

Post by copperx » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

fredsir wrote: post #80

JanSt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to lower your LDL I'll advice you to eat nothing but white bread with slices of highly processed meat for a week. Will lower your HDL and increase Trigs too, but if LDL is your primary concern: Go for it. Here is the thing: it's not as easy as LDL = BAD. For older people higher LDL is actually protective, for women there seems to be nearly no effect whatsoever. Don't be fooled by simple answers.

> For older people higher LDL is actually protective Their bodies are decaying, and/or (mostly and) is in a state of sickness, and can't saturate its needs properly because of this, so a higher level of LDL can be indicative of them eating enough to counter their bodies increasing inabilities, or not being as sick, and so forth. It's a correlation, not a causation.

Making such outlandish claims requires hard evidence.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#106

Post by davemp » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:36 PM UTC

devilmoon wrote: post #70

wtdata wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason so many people are showing a gluten allergy/intolerance is a fad propagated by social media. It has nothing to do with evolution - obviously - since it doesn't work in such a small time frame, and it has nothing to do with glyphosate, since glyphosate is used in most of the other (gluten free) crops as well.

I used to think like you wrt the social media conditioning, however now that I've experienced IBS on myself I changed my outlook on it. I am sure that there are people who eat specific diets just because it is a fad and they get conditioned into it by their social circles or influencers they follow, however I am also now quite sure that some of these conditions are very real and people suffer quite a lot because of i…

Never underestimate/write-off the placebo effect.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#107

Post by richardthered » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:38 PM UTC

peteretep wrote: post #33

Aromasin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found with me that, after trying keto for ages and loving how I felt but hating the diet itself, I managed to pin point the issue down to grains. Any form of grain, be it rice, wheat, barley, oats etc, all seemed to mess me up big style. I'n now on a diet of mostly fruit, nuts, beans, seeds and tubers and I'm better than I was on keto on almost every measurable factor. I think cutting out the carbs initially imp…

It's a shame there's so much pseudo-science around food intolerances, as I'd basically dismissed out of hand that I might be intolerant to some foods. As part of a separate diet, it's become clear to me that bread caused the life-long indigestion I've suffered, and that eggs were causing my skin to be bad, neither of which were links I'd made before. Also currently on a diet that isn't keto -- I'm eating a lot of veg…

There are food allergy tests that you can take, too. I've done the ALCAT test, and it was very helpful. It's a blood test, and provides a big list of red/yellow/green foods.

e.g. Red = likely to cause a strong negative reaction.

I found it to be extremely helpful in finding things that were causing issues.

Kale, Cumin, etc. Things that I would not have easily identified on my own.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#108

Post by slothtrop » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:44 PM UTC

iamben wrote: post #2

I've been on a ketogenic diet for a year now and sleep has been the biggest thing. I was a light, restless sleeper and I noticed very quickly how how much better my sleep got. I'd fall asleep quicker and it feels (and tracks) deeper. I don't wake as much, sweat nearly as much when I sleep and wake up feeling far more rested. Sleep aside, I don't sweat nearly as much during the day and I've shaken almost most all the…

I wonder if it's symptomatic of low-fat diets, or insulin resistance from too many carbs. Apparently going very low-carb can cause insomnia for some people as well.

Self-experimenting is important I guess. I'm faring better with my nutritional intake.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#109

Post by slothtrop » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 2:49 PM UTC

xenihn wrote: post #40

Aromasin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found with me that, after trying keto for ages and loving how I felt but hating the diet itself, I managed to pin point the issue down to grains. Any form of grain, be it rice, wheat, barley, oats etc, all seemed to mess me up big style. I'n now on a diet of mostly fruit, nuts, beans, seeds and tubers and I'm better than I was on keto on almost every measurable factor. I think cutting out the carbs initially imp…

What about quinoa? If that's still an issue, what have been your favorite substitutes for grains? I'm fond of riced cauliflower.

Whole grains will be packed with protein and fiber, and the refined flours lacking these may lead to blood sugar voodoo when consuming past a certain threshold. Like refined sugar consumption it's though that empty carbs also have a similar effect. I suspect the primary issue with wheat is it's almost never in whole grain form.

Re: Turning the Puzzle Sideways: Sleep, Diet and the Brain-Gut Connection

#110

Post by snarf21 » Mon, Apr 08, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

slothtrop wrote: post #109

xenihn wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about quinoa? If that's still an issue, what have been your favorite substitutes for grains? I'm fond of riced cauliflower.

Whole grains will be packed with protein and fiber, and the refined flours lacking these may lead to blood sugar voodoo when consuming past a certain threshold. Like refined sugar consumption it's though that empty carbs also have a similar effect. I suspect the primary issue with wheat is it's almost never in whole grain form.

I thought it was the lectins in the grains that cause a lot of problems for people.