No mention of methylene blue? :O It's the best one!
Below is a post I wrote on a Ray Peat Facebook group that I think fellow coders and behind-a-desk workers might fight interesting. I've been a serious procrastinator and slacker, and it was a long journey of trial and error in getting diet and lifestyle right. I'm thankful to the amazing work of Dr. Ray Peat, which isn't mentioned enough around Hacker News.
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Some comments on maintaining high energy, productivity, creativity and noticeably faster rational thinking (System 2 in the dual process theory) in my day job as a programmer.
◈ Basics first. That is, salt, sugar, calcium, magnesium, A, D, C. If you're lacking any of these you'll have energy problems very quickly. Buy magnesium chloride, add eggshell powder to your mashed potatoes. Get 1g vitamin C pills. Take 5 times as much vitamin A as you take D.
◈ Meditation daily. The main goal of daily meditation for me is to reinforce a stoic mentality, mainly the principle of being indifferent to the external. This is paramount in learning to deal with all kinds of stress. A simple line of thinking that will slowly help you deal with psychological stress better.
◈ Coconut oil-fried eggs. The generally accepted notion around here is that an extremely low fat diet is best for metabolism, i.e., oxidative metabolism is about 15x times more efficient (paraphrasing RP). But saturated fats are extremely good for our brains, because they are used together with cholesterol to generate several hormones (including the wonderful progesterone and pregnenolone). So whatever your brain condition is, if you fry 5 eggs in about 3 tbsp coconut oil, you'll equip your body with the elements it needs to restore its full capacity.
◈ Fruits, Lysine, Juices, Niacinamide, Methylene Blue, Coffee. I mention all of these in a single sentence because I use them in sequence, hourly, to keep a long streak of productive hours. I drink some fruit juice (orange, grape, even serotonin-ladden pineapple) with 10gtt 2.3% methylene blue, then eat some fruits (I keep sliced guavas and papayas in the frigde) with 100mg niacinamide and 500mg lysine (serotonin antagonist), followed by 100ml sugared coffee. Rinse. Repeat. I think in total I have been consuming nearly 60gtt 2.3% methylene blue and 1.5L coffee in a stretch of programming work, all with maximum focus, energy, no tiredness (taking very short breaks).
Main benefit of MB is its effect as a NO and estrogen antagonist, which improves thyroid function and overall energy levels. Stay away from fish oil, polyunsaturated fats are extremely toxic yet you don't see it in the news -- that's because they're everywhere, it's a huge industry and it's not going to go away easily. But PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) are the #1 source of all kinds of metabolic disorders, including brain fog. Also avoid things that raise serotonin -- serotonin, contrary to decades of misinformation, does not make us happy -- its role in happines is only peripheral. High serotonin in reality is associated with aging, depression and anger. You should aim for high dopamine and low serotonin, in general -- that's why I take a lysine supplement, it competes with serotonin for entry in the brain.
So methylene blue actually does something? I was researching a lot of this stuff for my 60year old father. He recently experienced a psychotic episode. But now it turns out he actually has neurological damage (already sclerotic), most likely beginning of dementia. The doctor prescribed donepezil (aricept) and I give him some supplements: coconut oil, turmeric, alcar, b-vitamins, lecithin, omega 3. Now I'm trying to get my hands on Montelukast (asthma drug, needs prescription) and MB.
You sound like a follower of Ray Peat. He recommends MB, holds that position on fish oil, recommends K2 as a quinone, recommends aspirin, and recommends nicotinamide* (for the NAD+)
From what I can tell—and having experience with MB & his diet)—he's full of shit.
* You should look into that. Nicotinamide inhibits the sirtuins. You'd probably be better off with nicotinic acid or nicotinamide riboside (NR).
It's VERY easy to make up your mind following a comment like "he's full of shit", but for anyone reading, I suggest you look at at these two articles by pranarupa:
I was convinced by the advocates for Omega 3's. Then my dogs destroyed my cofffee grinder (used to make flax seed meal), I realized that I'd never noticed a benefit, and stopped.
The modern diet is overloaded with Soybean Oil, an oil which should only be used as biodiesel. It takes years of a low-PUFA diet to obtain all the benefits. Some degree of temporary relief may be provided by Omega-3 supplementation, but this intervention doesn't address the cause of any condition.
He's full of shit doesn't exactly convince me, when I look at his amazing coherence, all the wonderful books he's written, hundreds of articles, newsletters, and his general seriousness and disinterest in popularity. One or other thing he's recommended (always backing himself with references and studies) may not have worked for you, but dismissing him like that to me only shows short-sightedness. Would love to hear you elaborate on it. https://vimeo.com/135920003
"In the last couple of years there has been a lot of "noise" in the media about how the SIRT-family of genes can extend lifespan when activated by things like exercise or, preferably, by certain chemical compounds like resveratrol (which putatively acts on SIRT-1). Ray Peat has stated his opinion that activating those genes is not likely to lead to life extension and may even be implicated in some cancers. In one is his articles he talks about how niacinamice/nicotinamide (vitamin B3) acts in a way approximately opposite to resveratrol. Also, there are independent studies that found niacinamide silences SIRT-1 and SIRT-2 in high doses. An interesting study came out recently that seems to corroborate Ray's views. It looks like it's niacinamide that actually extends life while resveratrol so far has been a bust (several clinical trials halted due to resveratrol increasing mortality in patients)."
I heard that sirtuins are beneficial for a healthy organism, and could be detrimental to someone with cancer. The same goes for something like glutathione (since they make cells more robust, and you don't want robust cancers cells!).
I've read anti-agingfirewalls.com with great interest. Here's one of the articles:
"PART 3: Slaying Two Dragons with the Sound of Silence: – How to Keep Your Repetitive DNA Turned Off with “3 Songs”: Sirtuins, Polycomb Proteins, and DNMT3. And a Master List of Drugs and Natural Compounds for Cancer Chemoprevention"[0]
Anti-ageingfirewalls.com is a tour de force. And it's at least worth reading the earlier articles (some of the recent articles on NAD require significant knowledge).
As far as I can tell, Peat contradicts the consensus. I've tried his methods, and had terrible results. He also goes against the information I'm exposed to. He may be correct, but I assign a tiny probability to that. I wouldn't recommend anyone start with Ray Peat.
Below is a post I wrote on a Ray Peat Facebook group that I think fellow coders and behind-a-desk workers might fight interesting. I've been a serious procrastinator and slacker, and it was a long journey of trial and error in getting diet and lifestyle right. I'm thankful to the amazing work of Dr. Ray Peat, which isn't mentioned enough around Hacker News.
⁂
Some comments on maintaining high energy, productivity, creativity and noticeably faster rational thinking (System 2 in the dual process theory) in my day job as a programmer.
◈ Basics first. That is, salt, sugar, calcium, magnesium, A, D, C. If you're lacking any of these you'll have energy problems very quickly. Buy magnesium chloride, add eggshell powder to your mashed potatoes. Get 1g vitamin C pills. Take 5 times as much vitamin A as you take D.
◈ Meditation daily. The main goal of daily meditation for me is to reinforce a stoic mentality, mainly the principle of being indifferent to the external. This is paramount in learning to deal with all kinds of stress. A simple line of thinking that will slowly help you deal with psychological stress better.
◈ Coconut oil-fried eggs. The generally accepted notion around here is that an extremely low fat diet is best for metabolism, i.e., oxidative metabolism is about 15x times more efficient (paraphrasing RP). But saturated fats are extremely good for our brains, because they are used together with cholesterol to generate several hormones (including the wonderful progesterone and pregnenolone). So whatever your brain condition is, if you fry 5 eggs in about 3 tbsp coconut oil, you'll equip your body with the elements it needs to restore its full capacity.
http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2010/12/28/high-cholesterol... http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/cholesterol-longevity.s...
◈ Aspirin and K2. I was for sometime doing 4g aspirin a day, but I noticed that much isn't necessary. Just 1-2g a day along with 1mg K2 is enough.
http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aspirin-brain-cancer.shtml http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2012/04/22/ray-peat-phd-on-...
◈ Fruits, Lysine, Juices, Niacinamide, Methylene Blue, Coffee. I mention all of these in a single sentence because I use them in sequence, hourly, to keep a long streak of productive hours. I drink some fruit juice (orange, grape, even serotonin-ladden pineapple) with 10gtt 2.3% methylene blue, then eat some fruits (I keep sliced guavas and papayas in the frigde) with 100mg niacinamide and 500mg lysine (serotonin antagonist), followed by 100ml sugared coffee. Rinse. Repeat. I think in total I have been consuming nearly 60gtt 2.3% methylene blue and 1.5L coffee in a stretch of programming work, all with maximum focus, energy, no tiredness (taking very short breaks).
https://raypeatforum.com/community/threads/methylene-blue-mb... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgeZJoir70w https://selfhacked.com/2013/08/25/methylene-blue-the-cheapes...
Main benefit of MB is its effect as a NO and estrogen antagonist, which improves thyroid function and overall energy levels. Stay away from fish oil, polyunsaturated fats are extremely toxic yet you don't see it in the news -- that's because they're everywhere, it's a huge industry and it's not going to go away easily. But PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) are the #1 source of all kinds of metabolic disorders, including brain fog. Also avoid things that raise serotonin -- serotonin, contrary to decades of misinformation, does not make us happy -- its role in happines is only peripheral. High serotonin in reality is associated with aging, depression and anger. You should aim for high dopamine and low serotonin, in general -- that's why I take a lysine supplement, it competes with serotonin for entry in the brain.
https://pranarupa.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/pufa-because-this... https://pranarupa.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/serotonin-inflamm...
Happy reading.