34 replies to this topic

[kismet]

Ok, that does not look as bad as I thought. Some sound choices. The vit E deficiency is somewhat surprising, though. I think that one could and should be fixed via diet. NHANES data (as well as all other positive studies) on vitamin C usually look at dietary intakes e.g. lowest vs highest quartile/quintile (or topical application). Your intake is likely already well above those thresholds and will increase once you tweak diet even more.

Edited by kismet, 30 December 2009 - 12:58 PM.

[Tygo]

It's hard to fix the vitamin E deficiency with food, since fixing it means adding a lot of nuts, and nuts will add a lot of calories. You know of any good vitamin E sources other than nuts? I checked nutritiondata.com, but didn't find any. I want to remain at roughly 1800 calories, since I want to lose weight. I've calculated my basal metabolic rate and that's roughly 1736 calories a day. Thermic effect of food, with 1800 calorie intake, is 180 calories. And I want to burn 500 calories a day with exercise. Doing cardio mostly (elliptical trainer), but also some strength training every other day.

Basal Metabolic Rate (1736) + Thermic Effect of Food (180) + Physical Activity (500) = 2416.

So with my diet of 1800 calories I will burn roughly 600 calories a day. If my BMI is in healthy territory again (goal is 70-75 kg), I will slowly up the calorie intake and fix remaining deficiencies -other than vitamin D and fish oil- entirely with food. Will add some nuts and additional protein first, to ensure adequate vitamin E and enough protein to help with my muscle mass.

And I must admit that you are probably right about the vitamin C, but since it's such a cheap supplement, and since it has such a good safety profile, I doubt it's going to hurt. I'm taking the vitamin C with some white tea as well, that possibly helps with the uptake of the catechins. Also, the Linus Pauling Institute recommends 400mg of vitamin C a day, which I'm still not getting from my diet (272mg).

Edited by Tygo, 30 December 2009 - 02:20 PM.

[VespeneGas]

I'd recommend adding natto or a vitamin K2 supplement. Even if your yogurt was pasture fed and full fat, it would still probably be a near-negligible dietary source, but since it's reduced fat and (unless it explicitly says otherwise) extracted from grain-fed cows, it probably has basically no MK4.

You might consider trading the oats for almonds. Yeah, they're calorie dense, but nut consumption is associated with positive health outcomes and are good for weight loss (satiating), and have a fair amount of vitamin E and magnesium.

Oats are really high in phytate, which isn't necessarily bad (it probably helps prevent colon cancer) but the minerals in there are not very bioavailable, which, especially with such a regimented, unvaried diet, could lead to insufficiencies even when the cron-o-meter gives you the thumb's up.

[Tygo]

I'd recommend adding natto or a vitamin K2 supplement. Even if your yogurt was pasture fed and full fat, it would still probably be a near-negligible dietary source, but since it's reduced fat and (unless it explicitly says otherwise) extracted from grain-fed cows, it probably has basically no MK4.

I don't know if this is in any way justified, but I'm very reluctant to add more vitamin K, since it might cause blood clots in excessive amounts. I'm getting 722% of recommended daily intake of vitamin K1 already and on top of that small amounts of vitamin K2 from my yogurt. You'd think additional K is really safe? And necessary?

You might consider trading the oats for almonds. Yeah, they're calorie dense, but nut consumption is associated with positive health outcomes and are good for weight loss (satiating), and have a fair amount of vitamin E and magnesium.

Yeah, nuts are missing from my diet and I will surely add them later on if my weight is down to 70-75kg. I will eventually go back to 2400 calories or so, or maybe a bit less. For now I'm going to keep the avocados since they are very practical and provide me with lots of monounsaturated fat.

Oats are really high in phytate, which isn't necessarily bad (it probably helps prevent colon cancer) but the minerals in there are not very bioavailable, which, especially with such a regimented, unvaried diet, could lead to insufficiencies even when the cron-o-meter gives you the thumb's up.

I guess you are right, but since my mineral intake is quite high already (especially manganese, copper, iron & phosphorus) I'm not so sure if this is really that much of an issue. Maybe it's even beneficial that the phytic acid brings these levels down a bit. I will keep an eye on my calcium & magnesium though, since I'm supplementing with vitamin D3.

Edited by Tygo, 31 December 2009 - 06:32 PM.

[Tygo]

Another update. I've followed my regimen for over one month now and some of my problems, as outlined in my first post, are gone already:

Mild, but persistant, acne
Mild seborrheic dermatitis
Slight hairloss. Also greasy hair
Social anxiety/general anxiety
No motivation/discipline/willpower
Somewhat diminished libido
Difficulty falling asleep
General fatique, both mental & physical
Bad concentration/easily distracted
Forgetfulness, bad short term memory
Infrequent bowel movements
Bad eyesight; myopic & floaters

And I've changed my regimen slightly:

[8:30]

Gluten-Free Rolled Oats - 25 grams
Organic Probiotic Low Fat Yogurt - 229 gram
Organic Non-Alkalized Cacao Powder - 2.5 gram
Organic White Tea - 1 cup
---
VSL#3 - 1/2 packet - 225 billion bacteria, eight strains
Bonusan Vitamine D3 - 2 softgels - 1200IU vitamin D3
Now Foods Tru-C BioComplex - 1 capsule - 200mg vitamin C
Solgar Chelated Magnesium - 1 tablet - 100mg magnesium
Jarrow Formulas Borage GLA-240 + Gamma Tocopherol - 1 softgel - 240mg GLA
Jarrow Formulas EPA-DHA Balance - 1 softgel - 630mg EPA/DHA

[10:30]

Green Smoothie - ~0.5 liter
[Water, Avocado, Tomato Sauce, Kale, Orange, Berries]
---
Life Extension Pomegranate Extract - 1 capsule
Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Gar 800 - 1 capsule
Jarrow Formulas JarroSil - 3 drops

[12:30]

Gluten-Free Rolled Oats - 25 grams
Organic Probiotic Low Fat Yogurt - 229 gram
Organic Non-Alkalized Cacao Powder - 2.5 gram
Organic White Tea - 1 cup
---
VSL#3 - 1/2 packet - 225 billion bacteria, eight strains
Bonusan Vitamine D3 - 2 softgels - 1200IU vitamin D3
Now Foods Tru-C BioComplex - 1 capsule - 200mg vitamin C
Solgar Chelated Magnesium - 1 tablet - 100mg magnesium
Jarrow Formulas Borage GLA-240 + Gamma Tocopherol - 1 softgel - 240mg GLA
Jarrow Formulas EPA-DHA Balance - 1 softgel - 630mg EPA/DHA

[14:30]

Green Smoothie - ~0.5 liter
[Water, Avocado, Tomato Sauce, Kale, Orange, Berries]
---
Plantina Astaxanthin-eco - 1 softgel
Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Gar 800 - 1 capsule
Jarrow Formulas JarroSil - 3 drops

[16:30]

Chicken or Turkey - 100 gram
Other Food (varies) - ~500-600 kcal
Organic White Tea - 1 cup
---
Solgar Chelated Zinc - 1/2 tablet - 11mg zinc
Now Foods Taurine - 1 capsule - 500mg taurine
Now Foods Potassium plus Iodine - 1 tablet once a week - 225mcg iodine
Jarrow Formulas EPA-DHA Balance - 1 softgel - 630mg EPA/DHA
Jarrow Formulas MK-7 - 1 softgel once a week - 90mcg vitamin K2 MK-7

[18:30]

Green Smoothie - ~0.5 liter
[Water, Avocado, Tomato Sauce, Kale, Orange, Berries]
---
Jarrow Formulas OPCs + 95 - 1 capsule
Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Gar 800 - 1 capsule
Jarrow Formulas JarroSil - 4 drops

My regimen is now heavily focused on skin improvement. The acne is completely gone, but I still have some red spots left. I hope the seborrheic dermatitis will improve as well over time.

Edited by Tygo, 14 February 2010 - 11:47 AM.