Ray Peat Eating Guidelines
 

Okay, so here are the Peat guidelines as best as I have figured out with much help (thank you Lynn, Cathy, Diet F**ked Blog, Matt Stone, Kurt Harris of PāNu, and of course Ray Peat):

Proteins: Daily protein should be at least 80 grams, preferably 100 if you are working or otherwise active. An egg has about 6 grams, a quart of milk about 32 grams, meat, cheese, and fish are usually about 20% protein, so a pound would be enough for a day. It's important to have fruit or other carbohydrate with the protein for efficient metabolism. Milk, cheese, eggs, shellfish are good protein sources, and potato protein is high in quality, if the potato is very well cooked and eaten with butter or cream. Although potatoes contain only about 2% protein, a kilogram of potato has roughly the protein value of a liter of milk (which is 3% protein), because of its high quality. Unless you are buying eggs from a verified grass-fed, free range source he recommends limiting them to one or two a day, and making sure to have plenty of carbohydrate around the same time.

Meats like ground beef, steak, liver, and pork chops are rich in cysteine, which “turns off” the thyroid gland as soon as your body uses up it’s glycogen and ideally shouldn't be your main source of protein. Muscle meats such as chicken/turkey breasts should be eaten with the gelatin it comes with, or supplemental gelatin (see below), to balance out an anti-thyroid amino acid called tryptophan (which is also found in whey protein formulations). Traditionally, muscle meats are eaten with the fat, skin and the gelatin that they come with, so this is mostly an issue in first-world countries where we have protein powders and pure muscle meats readily available. Chicken liver contains such a small amount of fat it's okay to have in addition to or instead of beef liver (which should be consumed weekly). Pork or chicken once a week is okay if your metabolic rate (thyroid function) is good. When chicken is stewed, gelatin from the skin is valuable, and much of the fat can be skimmed off. With any of the muscle meats, including fish, gelatin is helpful for balancing the high cysteine, methionine, and tryptophan content. Regarding bacon, Peat says, “The nitrate isn't likely to be a problem if you eat it with orange juice. I fry the bacon to remove some of the fat, and then refry it in coconut oil, to remove most of the PUFA.”

Fatty fish like salmon and herring should be avoided because their fat content is mostly unsaturated; as a general rule, cold blooded animals like fish tend to produce unsaturated fats while warm blooded animals like cows and pigs tend to produce saturated and monounsaturated fats. Cod and sole are good fish, since they have the marine minerals (especially selenium), but low fat content. Tuna is good as protein, but the fat it contains is highly polyunsaturated; eating once a week, especially with homemade coconut mayo should be safe.of course

Regarding his recommendation of daily gelatin: For an adult, gelatin can be a major protein in the diet, since the need for cysteine and tryptophan decreases greatly when growth slows. Ox-tail soup (boiled for 4 or 5 hours) and lamb shanks have a good proportion of gelatin. I think most stores have gelatin in one pound packages or bigger, for example Great Lakes gelatin is usually around $11 per pound. If a person eats a large serving of meat, it's probably helpful to have 5–10 grams of gelatin at approximately the same time, so that the amino acids enter the blood stream in balance. Asian grocery stores are likely to sell some of the traditional gelatin-rich foods, such as prepared pig skin and ears and tails, and chicken feet. Although the prepared powdered gelatin doesn't require any cooking, dissolving it in hot water makes it digest a little more quickly. It can be incorporated into custards, mousses, ice cream, soups, sauces, cheese cake, pies, etc., or mixed with fruit juices to make desserts or (with juice concentrate) candies.

Peat is a big fan of dairy. He prefers milk with no added vitamins, raw if you can get it, but uses standard pasteurized-homogenized when there’s no alternative. He prefers cheese made without enzymes, just animal rennet. He doesn't use yogurt because of the lactic acid and/or lactobacillus. He avoids anything with gums in it, like cream cheese. Ice cream like Haagen Dazs is okay since it has no carageenan or gums like guar/carob bean– these are often found in foods like cream cheese, canned coconut milk, and half-and-half; make sure that the ice cream does not have any vegetable oil in it as some varieties include this. Regarding yogurt, in quantities of an ounce or so, for flavoring, it's o.k., but the lactic acid content isn't good if you are using yogurt as a major source of your protein and calcium; it triggers the inflammatory reactions, leading to fibrosis eventually, and the immediate effect is to draw down the liver's glycogen stores for energy to convert it into glucose. Cottage cheese, that is, milk curds with salt, is very good, if you can find it without additives, but traditional cottage cheese was almost fat-free, so when they make it with whole milk you should watch for other innovations that might not be beneficial.

Although Peat basically scorns legumes, he said hummus in small amounts isn't nutritionally harmful, though chickpeas and tahini are both allergenic for some people.

Fats: Best sources are coconut oil and butter; olive oil and macadamia nut oil sparingly. He is a big fan of (refined) coconut oil to stimulate the metabolism. Among nuts and nut oils, macadamia is probably the safest. See the Omega-6 list below for more info.

Carbohydrates: Have some with every meal to prevent hypoglycemia after eating the proteins.
Fruit and fruit juices – If you're able to do it, try to consume fresh fruits and fruit juices every day. Orange juice is great because of it’s potassium and magnesium content. Tropical fruits and juices are excellent too. If you don’t have a juicer at home, you can buy pasteurized juices with no additives that say “not from concentrate” on the label. Juices that are from concentrate are made up of mostly added water that is flouridated. Fruits in general are fine (tropical are best), but grapefruit is full of phytoestrogens, so avoid it, and berries are full of small seeds you can't avoid, so it's better to skip them. He recommends avoiding bananas and other starchy-poorly-ripened-industrialized fruits, which includes most apples and pears (when these are ripe, peeled and cooked they are much more nutritious, and safer). Organic dried fruits are fine as long as they are not treated with sulfur dioxide; canned fruits are okay, especially if they are in glass. You can have a small apple and some cheese as a snack occasionally if it doesn't cause any digestive or allergic symptoms—the fat in the cheese is protective against the starch in incompletely ripened fruit.

Tubers – Potato, yams; occasionally well-cooked grains in the order of best to least desirable: masa harina, white rice or oats, brown rice. The phytic acid in the oats block absorption of much of the calcium; cooking the oats much longer than usual might improve its nutritional value. Canned plain pumpkin if eaten with some fat is okay, but carrots are less starchy for similar effects.

He recommends eating a raw carrot daily, particularly a raw carrot salad with coconut oil, for both its bowel-protective and an anti-estrogen effect. Summer squash and bamboo shoots are the best cooked vegetables; well cooked kale and broccoli are okay, too. Carrots are best salad. The fiber in whole vegetables helps protect against the effects of the unsaturated fats they contain (in comparison to fruit), which means that juiced vegetables with none of the protective fiber will act as a thyroid inhibitor because of the concentrated PUFAs. There isn’t anything wrong with using vegetables as a smaller part of your diet, but salads and steamed vegetable dishes shouldn’t be the main part of anyone’s diet. He recommends avoiding avocados as they contain so much unsaturated fat that they can be carcinogenic and hepatotoxic (toxic to the liver).

Beverages: Coffee supports the metabolism but has to be consumed with some sugar or with meal to prevent stress response due to low blood sugar. Because of the tannins in tea, it's important to use either lemon or milk (or cream). The histamine in red wine is a special problem for hypothyroid people, usually it isn't harmful.

Avoid: PUFAs and soy. PUFAs are found in processed foods, nuts and seeds and their butters, vegetable oils. Also keep in mind that if you have been eating PUFAs in the past, the oil change in your tissues takes up to four years during which your fat stores will be releasing enough PUFAs to cause you some troubles, so it requires some patience and also some skillful means to counteract their effects, like getting some extra vitamin E or a little thyroid to counteract their antithyroid action etc. It all depends on how your metabolism works.

Chocolate is okay as long as there are no additives.

For salty cravings, Peat recommends tortilla chips fried in coconut oil, and chicharrones (pork rinds) with no additive but salt (puffed in hot air). Another snack is popcorn popped on the stove in coconut oil, then salted & buttered; the oil and butter are protective against the starch, but it's harder to digest than tortilla chips or chicharrones.

Vinegar is a good antiseptic when it's used with raw carrot, but watch for sulfite when using regularly.

Maple syrup is heated to a fairly high temperature, and this creates some sugar-derived chemicals that can be allergenic and might be toxic.

Regarding whey protein, Peat says, “Powdered foods that contain tryptophan are extremely susceptible to harmful oxidation, and the best things are removed, for example calcium, lactose, and casein, with its anti-stress properties.”

Everything else is somewhere in between - it won't kill you if consumed, but unless you are healthy it's better to prefer above-listed foods.

This is from Matt Stone’s RRARF:
Omega 6 content of common foods by percentage of total calories:
Omega 666 – the most Evil omega 6 powerhouses (over 50%)
Grapeseed oil 70.6%!!!
Corn Oil 54.5%
Walnuts 52.5% (oil is 53.9%)
Cottonseed oil 52.4%
Soybean oil 51.4%
Very High Omega 6 sources (20-50%)
Sesame oil 42.0%
Pepitas 34.5% Margarine 27.9%
Pecans 26.9%
Peanut Butter 22.5%
Pistachios 21.3%
High Omega 6 Sources (10-20%)
Chicken Fat 19.5%
Almonds 19.1%
Canola oil 19.0%
Flaxseed oil 12.9%
Cashews 12.6%
Duck Fat 12.2%
Bacon Grease 10.2%
Lard 10.2%
Moderate Omega 6 Sources (5-10%)
Olive oil 9.9%
Goose Fat 9.8%
Avocado 9.4%
Chicken with skin 9.0%
Olives 7.4%
Bacon 7.0%
Eggs 6.8%
Pork chops 6.2%
Popcorn (Air Popped) 5.8%
Oats 5.6%
Low Omega 6 Sources (2-5%)
Corn 4.7%
Chicken Liver 3.7%
Sunflower Oil 3.7% (High oleic variety - others are very high in omega 6)
Butter 3.4%
Beef Tallow 3.1%
Cocoa Butter 2.8%
Cooked carrots 2.7%
Macadamia Nut oil ~2.5%
Brown rice 2.5%
Cream 2.2%
Beef liver 2.1% Grass-fed Beef 2.0%
Whole wheat flour 2.0%
Extremely low Omega 6 Sources (Less than 2%)
Coconut oil 1.9%
Prime rib 1.8%
Whole milk 1.8%
Half and Half 1.8%
Ground Beef 1.6%
Macadamia Nuts 1.6%
Chicken without skin 1.4%
Lamb 1.4%
Cheese/Brie 1.3%
Corn grits 1.2%
Beets 1.2%
Coconut Milk 1.1%
Foie gras 1.1%
Palm Kernel Oil 0.8%
White rice 0.7%
Sockeye Salmon 0.5%
Yams 0.4%
Potatoes 0.3%
Halibut 0.2%
Shrimp 0.2%
Clams 0.2%
Canned tuna 0.1%
Blue crab 0.1%
Lobster 0.1%

***********

Good websites to learn more:
http://www.raypeat.com - excellent articles with lots of explanations for his guidelines
http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/...s-and-oils.html
http://diet-fucked.blogspot.com/200...de-to-food.html - hate the name of this blog, which is evidently no longer active, but the information is invaluable and offers some further explanation for food choices.


Some people report doing better limiting sugar (as in ice cream or chocolate) to weekend treats or special occasions, and simply having fruit as their dessert after dinner.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If anyone else has any other information, PLEASE add your post. :)

Great job, Debbie! Thanks for doing this!

Cathy

nice job.
i gave up on the diet-f--- site since there never seemed to be anything after the estrogenic frogs...i think.
too bad since i have never found any other uncle Ray bloggers which makes me think that no one ever really figured it out.

i did, however, e mail him re the yogurt/lactic acid thing and he actually responded the same day!! that was quite unexpected.

i would love to see how you've put this together for yourself and what a day in the life consists of.
if you care to share.....thanks.

My friend is a big Peat devotee and has been following him for a year. She has lost weight and gotten pregnant (she had been trying for two years) from following his plan.

She regularly emails with Peat followers, so there must be a few of them around. She is very busy now, so I haven't had the chance to ask her what happened to the DietF***ed blog.

I would be careful with the sugar in Peat's plan. My friend gained weight from eating that. So, if the plan is not working, the first thing I'd do is drop the sugar. She only has ice cream as a treat on the weekends for example.

This is a Peat inspired blog: http://laproline.blogspot.com/

Well, here is a site with guidelines similar to Peat's: http://litalee.com/shopexd.asp?id=179 and she also focuses on healthy thyroid function as key to good health (as does Peat).

I've emailed Peat several times and was also surprised by his quick responses. :)

First, I can't say I am following his recommendations 100%. I tend to be an "all or nothing" kind of person which can get me into trouble as that can be UNrealistic. I am trying hard to really listen to my body AND be sensible about all of this, so in keeping with Mark Sisson's 80/20 rule http://www.marksdailyapple.com/8020-principle/ I am not going to beat myself up for deviations from Peat's guidelines, whether they be occasional splurges or tweaks to make the plan fit my life, my tastes, and my needs. And, borrowing from Cathy :D , have decided to prioritize my goals as such:

1. Improve thyroid function, which includes balancing other hormones, improving sleep, and raising basal body temperature
2. Find a food plan that is user friendly and that makes me feel healthy and happy
3. Lose weight
4. Incorporate more movement into my daily life, for improved flexibility, strength and endurance

…..and above all, to get on with life and not allow this WOE to grab more attention than it deserves—life is too short to not live it!

Okay, a Peat-influenced typical day (thus far):
5:00 AM coffee & HnH, small bowl of arborio rice pudding w/ HnH
8:00 AM coffee & HnH, 2 eggs, fried small potato & onions, 2 slices bacon, small glass orange juice
1:00 PM cottage cheese w/ cooked apple, a few corn tortilla chips crisped in oven, decaf iced tea w/ lemon
4:00 PM coffee & HnH, some fresh pineapple & small block of cheese
6:30 PM grilled ribeye, baked sweet potato w/ butter & cinnamon, maybe a small side of veg & butter OR small salad w/ grated carrot & EVOO vinaigrette; gelatin mixed in OJ (this keeps me full till bedtime)
water to thirst

I'm avoiding sugar like ice cream except for special treats—just too dangerous for me to have around (although my rice pudding does have a bit of real sugar in it). I had recently purchased 6 bottles of very good EVOO so I will use them up in my vinaigrettes before switching to CO. I have had success with making CO mayo—here's the recipe:

Mayonnaise
Makes 1 generous cup

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)

2 teaspoons unseasoned rice or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup liquid coconut oil (melt in bowl of warm water, do not nuke)

Put the egg yolks, salt, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar in the food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to combine well. Remove the feed tube, if it is still in place. Run the machine and pour the oil through the feed tube in a thin (less than ¼ inch wide), steady stream until completely incorporated. The mixture will thicken as the oil gets worked in, and the sputtering will diminish by the time the sauce becomes super thick and creamy. It should take 2 to 3 minutes to add the oil.

If the mayonnaise seems overly stiff, work in water by the teaspoon. Taste and adjust the flavor for extra salt and mustard, pulsing the machine to blend the ingredients. Transfer to an airtight container, cover, and refrigerate for up to a 2 weeks. To maintain freshness beyond 2 weeks, add 1 Tbs. whey (drained from yogurt)

Variations:
Creamy Vinaigrette–just add 3 parts mayo to 1 part vinegar of choice and whisk together
Tartar Sauce–just add capers, chopped pickles, grated onion, parsley, and pinch of cayenne pepper

Can that mayo be made without a machine? Can it be done by hand?

Hey Lynn,
Yes, I think it can. The original recipe (I've tweaked it) can be found here: Easy Homemade Mayonnaise where she discusses different techniques. Also check out this short video where you can see it being made with a single beater.

Great interview with Peat on diet and hypothyroidism:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm

Yes, that is a great article. I have read it countless time and I still pick up something useful every time I read it.

Cathy

Here are a few various add'l guidelines:

Raisins seem to be generally o.k., the acid in dried cranberries can be a problem.

All starches should be cooked, including macadamia nuts; however, be aware tat most nuts are roasted in peanut oil which is very high in PUFAs, so it's better to buy them raw and roast them yourself.

One great thing about eating a la Peat guidelines right now…..clementines are in season and I love them! :D

May Recipe Needs Modification to Not Solidify in Fridge
 

Hmmm…..for some reason I can't edit the Mayo Recipe here, I'm not getting the edit button. :q:

Anyway, I JUST discovered that the mayo solidifies in the fridge as written, so I think it needs some modification. Will be back to post after I tweak it.

Modified Mayo Recipe
 

Okay, here's the Mayo Recipe modified—you can't use all coconut oil or it WILL solidify:

Makes 1 generous cup

2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons unseasoned rice or white wine vinegar
1/2 cup liquid refined coconut oil (neutral tasting)
1/2 cup macadamia nut oil (or olive oil or hi-oleic expeller pressed sunflower oil)

Put the egg yolks, salt, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar in the food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to combine well. Remove the feed tube, if it is still in place. Run the machine and pour the oil through the feed tube in a thin (less than ¼ inch wide), steady stream until completely incorporated. The mixture will thicken as the oil gets worked in, and the sputtering will diminish by the time the sauce becomes super thick and creamy. It should take 2 to 3 minutes to add the oil.

If the mayonnaise seems overly stiff, work in water by the teaspoon. Taste and adjust the flavor for extra salt and mustard, pulsing the machine to blend the ingredients. Transfer to an airtight container, cover, and refrigerate for up to a 2 weeks. To maintain freshness beyond 2 weeks, add 1 Tbs. whey (drained from yogurt)

You can also check out this video and recipe—but it's still easier to do it in the food processor (and get it out of the work bowl):
Coconut Mayonnaise

Are you eating grains on this plan - I noted you are eating rice pudding, what about oatmeal/porridge / Musli?

I asked Dr. Peat to rate grains in order of which he felt was best to worst. He said, " masa harina (best), white rice or oats, and brown rice." Then he added, " The phytic acid in the oats block absorption of much of the calcium; cooking the oats much longer than usual might improve its nutritional value."

I don't think he is a fan of grains in general and feels there are nutritionally superior carbohydrate choices available. You can read more on his thoughts on the subect in his "Glycemia, starch, and sugar in context" article.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/glycemia.shtml

Cathy

So basically you are eating LC, but adding potatoes, fruit/fruit juices, right?
From the menu you put its not obvious to me what is the eating plan is? Apart from avoiding gluten its not showing...

Oh isn't there a glutinous rice variety? I think that’s the one that is used in puddings, in the menu put up this rice pudding was included.

This summary of Peat's dietary recommendations was found in a blog run by 2 of his followers, written by someone named Jay. I think it is as close as you will come to finding an eating plan since Ray Peat has not written an eating plan, just made various dietary recommendations.

JAY said:
Protein sources: gelatin, milk, cheese, eggs, potatoes, meat (preferably not the lean cuts). Eat about 70-100 g per day and have some with every meal.

Fat sources: coconut oil, butter, olive oil (only as a condiment).

Carbohydrate sources: fruit juices, fruit, sugar, potatoes. Have some with every meal to prevent hypoglycemia after eating the proteins.

Avoid at all cost: PUFAs, soy, seeds, cruciferous vegetables and most vegetables in general. Roots are more harmless than the others. Also don't eat too much of lean meat.

Everything else is somewhere in between - it won't kill you if consumed, but unless you are healthy it's better to prefer above listed foods.

Extras: pregnenolone, progesterone, thyroid and some minerals may be needed to correct hormonal imbalances if food is not enough to do the trick, and some of these in small doses will slow down the aging. Coffee supports the metabolism but has to be consumed with some sugar or with meal to prevent stress response due to low blood sugar.

Also keep in mind that if you have been eating PUFAs in the past, the oil change in your tissues takes up to four years during which your fat stores will be releasing enough PUFAs to cause you some troubles, so it requires some patience and also some skillful means to counteract their effects, like getting some extra vitamin E, little thyroid to counteract their antithyroid action etc. It all depends on how your metabolism works.
March 13, 2010 1:13 PM
Jay said...
Perhaps I should add that in every case you should read through his texts and through posts on this blog and make some notes, because there are some important details which can not be listed in such brief overview I just gave you. Like: fruits in general are fine, but grapefruit is full of phytoestrogens, so avoid it, and berries are full of small seeds you can't avoid, so it's better to skip them too.

I am tracking my carbs and would definitely say I'm NOT eating LC, but moderate carb. Yesterday I consumed 242 carbs, today I should be somewhere around 275+. (Did you know that 6 Medjool dates are 108 carbs! :eek: Okay, probably won't buy them again.)

I was eating rice pudding, made with arborio rice. Not doing it right now primarily because I have a very difficult time with portion control. Here's the recipe I used:

Arborio Rice Pudding
1 cup water
Pinch salt
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup Arborio rice
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Few dashes ground cinnamon
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Bring water, salt, and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice, return to a boil, put a lid on and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Shake the pan occasionally and cook until rice has absorbed the water but is still al dente, about 15 minutes.
Bring milk, sugar, vanilla, and a few dashes of cinnamon to a simmer in a separate saucepan. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat with lid ajar until rice absorbs most of the milk and mixture starts to get thick and silky, about 20-25 minutes.
Transfer pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set (it will thicken when cooled). Serve with whipped cream and a dash more cinnamon.

i used to make a custard rice pudding that was awesome. i used brown rice but you could use whatever.
i think it originated in a betty crocker cookbook that my grandma owned.
i would change the sugar even though Peat is okay w it, really, i'm not. that would cause a portion control issue for me.

he recommends dairy and even states somewhere that one could live on dairy and fruit.....and maybe gelatin was included, i can't remember.

In a nutshell I would say that Peat suggests eggs, milk, shellfish and one serving of meat daily for protein. He does not recommend too much meat because the cysteine in it turns off the thyroid gland temporarily. He recommends only saturated fats such as butter and coconut oil, along with small amounts of olive oil. For carbs he recommends potatoes and other root veg and fruit (tropical fruit in particular). He frowns on grains and gluten as most LC gurus do, but says that occasional use of oats, rice and masa harina are okay.

He works very well for people with thyroid and adrenal issues. All my fellow hypos that have followed his plan have lost weight and gotten healthy. In fact, my friend had been trying to get pregnant for two years and she had only been on Peat for a month when she conceived.

oh, and what about indian pudding...good way to use that masa.

recipe, please? :D

i haven't made indian pudding in many, many years but it was a fav at one time.
i don't know what recipe i used....may have come from the Joy of Cooking.
you can google and get the history of this pudding and recipes but i am partial to the ones containing eggs. this adds a slight custard texture rather than flavored mush.
i also like the molasses but there was a site that used apple juice/cider to replace the water and molasses.
also as a lc'er, you can sweeten as desired w whatever. i will probably not make it as a dessert but for breakfast, etc so not so sweet.
foodonthefood site has a good recipe.

this would make a great TG b'fast so i may cook it up in the morning.

I read somewhere in one of the journals claiming Peat suggested the thing which one makes one gain weight is the starches not the sugar, hence fruit sugar is OK but not starches ... but from what you write the plan is heavy on the potatoes which is starch?

Oh, but I think this plan is so suitable to the Irish lol, meat and potatoes, how can you go wrong :)

What do you have for breakfast? Fried eggs and hash browns come to mind, or steak and chips :devil: I presume beans and pulses are out?

So I think an example menu would be:

B: fried eggs and hash browns
L: chicken/fish with one or two small potatoes
D: Same as lunch???


Or:
B: Cottage cheese / Greek yogurt
L: seafood or chicken& corn or chicken & potato soup
D: chicken/fish/ steak with one or two small potatoes


Is the above right?? I didn't include juices or fruit, but suppose that could be taken as snacks in between??

Peat doesn't eat much potatoes himself now. He recommends potatoes because of their protein and lack of anti nutrients. Otherwise I am not quite sure why he is a fan, since yes they are a starch. He thinks all other starches should only be consumed occasionally though, when one's metabolism is healthy. I take that to mean when one's thyroid is optimised and/or they are at goal. My thyroid was optimised last year, but thanks to that ERFA crap, it is not running well again and I am in the process of sorting it. So, I avoid gluten free oats, rice and all other starches at the moment.

Re: the menu he only recommends meat once a day and it needs to be served with a portion of gelatine. So yesterday I had a small steak for dinner and drank a heaped teaspoon of gelatine in hot water with it.

Also, many have fruit after their meals.

He stresses milk, cheese and butter for dairy as he is not a fan of the lactic acid in yogurt. He believes lactic acid buildup in the blood can stress the metabolism. Again, if one's metabolism is functioning well he thinks occasional use of yogurt is okay.

Beans and pulses are out yes, due to their anti nutrients.

If one was to have chips; they would have to be cooked in the oven or at home with coconut oil. Chips at restaurants are PUFA heavy. I'm too scared for that yet though. :)

Here is the way I am eating.
Brunch: Cheese and tomato omelette with a side of sauteed potatoes in CO and a glass of milk
Dinner: Low PUFA fish/steak/chilli with potatoes, gelatine, milk, raw carrot and some dark chocolate
Supper: Milk, fruit and cheese/prawns

It appears that most people going from regular LC to his plan cannot eat much sugar without gaining weight. This is probably because LC'ers tend to eat a lot of PUFAs. I think this is why many do so well on ZC as opposed to LC. A diet made up of beef and lamb is very low PUFA and thus very anti inflammatory.

So, I am not eating much sugar the way some Peat followers seem to. Plus, I can't quite get my head around that anyway.

Peat is VERY against PUFAs, even in natural forms like meat. He is very pro fruit and dairy. He also recommends at least 80g of protein, as protein is needed for good thyroid function.

His approach focuses a LOT on thyroid health because a low thyroid affects every cell of the body and if left untreated/unoptimised can cause everything from obesity to heart problems to cancer.

HTH. :)

I am a Peat virgin and have only been on his plan for five days now. :D

I am the opposite Scarlet, potatoes bloat me so I am better off w a little rice or corn.
I baked up the Indian Pudding this morning, eliminating the maple syrup. It was really sweet and i ate it w plain greek yogurt....very satisfying and stayed w me.
I will make custard rice pudding in a couple days when this is gone.
Peat does eat rice....somehow, I think it's white.
I really don't care for white rice but love brown.
But I also eat some legumes so will never (never say never) be completely following. For the most part, though, I am doing it his way....sans all the sugar. Also am transitioning over to more tropical fruit....picked up a nice pineapple earlier and am enjoying those satsumas.

I *think* she meant to say cheese, not yogurt where I bolded.

Here's a response from Dr. Peat regarding yogurt:
"In quantities of an ounce or so, for flavoring, it's o.k., but the lactic acid content isn't good if you are using yogurt as a major source of your protein and calcium. It triggers the inflammatory reactions, leading to fibrosis eventually, and the immediate effect is to draw down the liver's glycogen stores for energy to convert it into glucose."

Also, here are some other guidelines I've gleaned from emailing him:

- Many fruits contain allergens, especially when they are underripe and can sometimes cause reactive hypoglycemia, cravings, hunger, and digestive issues

- I showed a slight sensitivity to casein when I did the Enterolab testing and asked f I should avoid dairy; he said it's normal to make antibodies to food, as part of developing tolerance.

- I asked if having some kind of gluten free cereal with milk for breakfast would be okay occasionally—it would be a break from my regular eggs or cottage cheese, and a good way to up my milk intake; he replied that anything with milk has some nutritional value, but just some sugar or honey with the milk would be o.k., without the slight risk of the adulterants (added vitamins/minerals).

- For the (occasional) dessert, sugar is preferable to sweeteners such as xylitol and stevia.

- If it's well cooked and eaten with butter or other fat, it isn't too harmful to have gluten free pasta for weekly consumption.

I want to make my own gluten free bread since most of the commercial gluten free breads have high PUFA oils in them. I asked if any of the following ingredients should be avoided:
*brown rice flour
*sorghum flour
*cornstarch
*potato starch
*potato flour
*xanthan gum
*arrowroot flour
*tapioca starch

and he replied that potato flour actually has some nutritional value and the others are okay.

The recipe I am going to try is from here.

The other two that look good are GF Cheesy Hamburger Buns and GF Hamburger Buns

Jem, he does prefer white rice over brown rice; have you ever tried jasmine or arborio or basmati rice? There are lots of different "white" rices that have more flavor than plain converted long grain white rice.

I don't follow Peat's guidelines 100% but do the best I can. :)

Hi. I've been reading your thread about Dr Peat's dietary advice. Its very interesting and it reminds me of the Perfect Health guidlines. I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to. Its a semi-low carb diet where they actually say eating extremely low carb isn't good for you. I don't have any specifics as I've just recently discovered their website, but I do see some similarities to Dr Peat's recommendations. Here's the link:

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8

Great post on what Ray eats himself:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/grou...cs/message/5523

Here is some further info about the man himself. He is in his 80s I think: http://raypeat.com/about.shtml