Georgia Hunter said...
I sometimes feel like I have a unique ability to see things that others may miss and it comes from my background in anthropology. I am still far from perfect and a good example of this comes from this past week when I stopped eating a plant based diet and went back to eating animal protein. When eating a plant based diet, I can sleep 6 to 7 hours each night. If I eat animal protein, I sleep 5 hours. On many nights, it is EXACTLY 5 hours. Other nights it varies by 1 or 2 minutes. It's crazy how exact it is. I've investigated why this happens for several years now and learned a lot but haven't found out exactly why this is happening. I made a breakthrough this past week because I reinvestigated some things I had previously ruled out.
It is well known that one of the causes of insomnia can be hyperglycemia. I don't usually eat too many sweets or carbs so I knew I didn't have an issue with this. But I do have cherry angiomas which are caused by hyperinsulinemia. Could this be true and my issue? I went back into the literature and found some supporting evidence that insulin resistance could be caused by increased lipolysis and free fatty acid formation. This article shows that nocturnal free fatty acids can be an issue.
ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/3/867S.short
So I investigated why I may be having free fatty acid flux during the night. Why would I be having excessive lipolysis 5 hours after I go to sleep? I find Patatin-like proteins.
mic.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26957-0#tab2
Further research shows this:
/synapse.koreamed.org/DOIx.php?id=10.5941/MYCO.2013.41.2.67
This supports my belief that borrelia increased or caused translocation of bacteria from my GI tract to other places. The bacteria translocated must have been the ones responsible for producing fatty acids in my GI tract and now they are in my synapses and joints among other places. They are causing lipolysis of my cellular membranes at night. During the day, movement increases my immune response enough that they are kept in check. During the night when blood flow diminishes, the bacteria do what they are designed to do, create free fatty acids which causes insulin resistance and bursts of insulin. This is entirely speculation, but it sure fits the model presented. Eating meat which is high in fatty acids causes a more rapid accumulation of fatty acids at night and accelerates my issue. The pieces of the puzzle finally fit and I can now understand what is going on.
It would also help explain a deposit of fatty tissue under the skin on one of my arms.
Now I just have to figure out what to do about it.
Jeez, my mind was never that remarkable, even before I got sick!
Do you think you will stick with having some animal protein in your diet? Or, possibly go back to plant-based? (Of course, the term "plant-based" doesn't necessarily mean vegan.)
Personally, the diet wars make me nuts, because I don't know who or what to believe. Recently, Dr. Greger threw me a curveball when he was asked: "Would you recommend a certain macronutrient ratio?"
To which he replied: "I would not recommend a certain macronutrient ratio. All that matters is whole plant foods – high fat, low fat, any kind of fat – as long as whole plant foods."
That response contradicts his low-fat, plant-based colleagues like Drs. McDougall, Esselstyn, Barnard, and the rest of them.