Eat for heat (book)

flammee

Barefooters
Mar 11, 2012
268
296
63
45
Finland, Oulu
Well, this was interesting book. I would probably steer away for self learned controversial nutrition gurus, after having few failures, but it's just that hard science does not bother to look at or give simple and short answers to relevant questions. I have had this problem of cold hands, which really sucks at work when handling icy cold stuff with thin gloves. And yeah, it would also help barefoot running if I had warmer feet. According to eat for heat answer seems to be eating salty carbs snack when you have cold extremities and restricting the amount of water to just drinking for thirst. That includes coffee and all things that has water. Other heat generating foods are sugar, starch and saturated fats.. And it goes quite overboard by recommending junk foods when starting out..

In theory, it works by getting metabolism high and therefore getting body temperature higher which causes also extremities to get toasty. During reading the book I ate couple of high salt carb foods without water intake and got body temperature 0,5 celsius degree higher than normal (In fahrenheit the change was from 96,5 to 97,5). And my feet and hands got bit warmer too.

Before the book I already tried out higher salt intake, and it seemed to erase most of my digestion related problems, but I also drank quite a lot, so probably because of that, it didn't help with cold hands. Before that I had quite low salt intake and was also having bloating, constipation, gas and foot cramps.. Generally I needed to avoid food with lots of fiber, to avoid these digestion related problems.

https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Heat-Metabolic-Approach-Drink-ebook/dp/B00AGBH7FO/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1
The objective? Increase the concentration of the extracellular fluid (the fluid in our bodies) for increased core body temperature (rise in metabolism), increased circulation to the extremities for warm hands and feet, and taking the burden off of the stress system for far-reaching health and hormonal improvements.

The concept is extremely simple. The net sum of the food and beverages we consume can either concentrate or dilute our body fluids. 'Eat for Heat' discusses simple principles on how to make minor changes to your meals and drinking habits to keep your body in a better metabolic “zone” all day every day. It’s a tactic that can be applied to any dietary belief system, and can even yield tremendous health benefits to those eating just a regular Western diet. Everyone can benefit from the simple concept put forth in Eat for Heat.
 
I've been told that low blood pressure can lead to cold hands and feet. Eating lots of salt and restricting water might fix that. :rolleyes: I think it's hogwash anyway. I always had cold hands and feet. Then I started going barefoot all the time. Now I have cold hands ... my feet are like little furnaces. :D
 
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Yeah, it probably is BS. With running injuries I have this method of using dr google and vigorously testing about all the somewhat possible things to current ailment.. :rolleyes: Problem with doctor google isn't that it doesn't know the answer, but to find the right answer. So, in theory you come up with right answer by testing a lot of stuff. At least I cured plantar fasciitis with this method, and few other smaller problems.. :cool:

Now this cold hands problem, I did not have it before, it started just couple of months ago. Cold exposure to hands doesn't work in this case, if it worked, I wouldn't have this problem. I tried using variant of tummo breathing and it worked for a while, but it was quite strenuous and it also stopped working lately. There are disposable and rechargeable hand warmers, but I would rather be self-sufficient with this keeping extremities warm.. So lately I have been looking things that cause vasodilation of blood vessels. Nose breathing is one thing because you get more nitric oxide into blood and it does cause vasodilation. But I already breath through my nose..

I also read book "salt fix" by James DiNicolantonio, it was a lot more scientific, than eat for heat. :bookworm: In salt fix it's explained that with low sodium diet blood volume decreases and that causes a very minimal drop in blood pressure, but it also raises heart rate and few other bad things. Also, for human body it's quite easy to get rid of extra salt, but with smaller salt intake things get bit harder.

I have had quite a low sodium intake and that is actually not recommended for endurance runners.. So, it's possible that my salt intake has been too small. I also have had bit of hydration problems - after a working day I'm thirsty, but when I drink water, I get a need to pee after couple of minutes and then I'm thirsty again, so it feels quite pointless to drink.. Tailwind (sports drink) works better for getting hydrated. In salt fix sugar is the cause of pretty all health problems that salt is blamed for.

I also read this book by Batman...ghelidj. While it even more likely is BS, my current achilles/back of heel problem likes the solution - when it's painful and when I drink a lot, pain usually subsides pretty fast...:cool:


So currently, I'm testing a bit bigger salt intake (damn, food tastes so good now :hungry:), while also drinking bit more, and not much sugar.