Health Problems

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Any recommendations on omega 3 supplement? Nordic labs any good? Cc Gurgeh

I have no idea for the USA, but all you need is a supplement that provide the totox for each of their batch and a lab analysis showing no heavy metal contamination. Then don't forget to keep it in the fridge to avoid further oxydation .

Nordic labs seems okayish; at least for the cod liver oil and the ultimate omega 3.

Third-Party Test Results Consumer

Since 1995, Nordic Naturals has been the industry leader in omega-3 fish oil supplementation, setting standards of excellence in the areas of purity, freshness, taste, and sustainability. Nordic Naturals continues to deliver on its promise of innovation and quality you can trust.

www.nordicnaturals.com

That being said, it doesn't seem they provide totox of the batch you're buying. The one I currently have has a Totox written on the box of 4.2, and they guarantee a totox <6. It's also a third the price of Nordic Labs (100€ for 600 caps of 800 mg each , for 20€ for 60 caps of 600mg). They deliver in the USA but I guess it's going to be a pita as their website isn't in english. https://www.nutripure.fr/fr/?gad_so...CSEoq1XlDDLVKACoY4LY2zzl0j7Cvpd8aArvqEALw_wcB

That being said, I don't even take much omega 3 supplement anymore, I eat sardines 3/4 times a week, I only take it if it's been 2/3 days without sardines. If you can get your hands on high quality eggs, 3 of them a day would be the equivalent of 2 caps of a supplement, same as a box of canned sardine.

Foler · May 25, 2024

So in 2017 my test total was low 700s, in late 2023 it was down to low 400s. I mentioned my symptoms to new PCP, fatigue, depression, lack of motivation, insane brain fog, poor memory, no appetite, and low libido. He just suggested some social solutions that I don’t think are going to help (I’ve tried them).

I know 400s is still in range but how do you drop 300 in testosterone over a 3 year period. Debating seeing a functional medicine doc or going to one of those anti aging clinics that does hormone therapy as a next step.

Captain Suave · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
I know 400s is still in range but how do you drop 300 in testosterone over a 3 year period.

Sleep, stress, exercise all on point? Alcohol? Fucking up those can tank your hormone levels pretty reliably.

Also, 2023 - 2017 = 6 years. Brain fog indeed.

Foler · May 25, 2024

Captain Suave said:
Sleep, stress, exercise all on point? Alcohol? Fucking up those can tank your hormone levels pretty reliably.

Also, 2023 - 2017 = 6 years. Brain fog indeed.

Whoops, 6 years is what I meant to type, see? lol.

Admittedly I was using alcohol daily, eating like shit, had a ton of work stress and didn’t exercise last year. I’ve turned that all around. Stopped drinking in December. I’ve lost 35 lbs, almost back to healthy weight, been crushing it in the gym like 6 weeks now.

I mean what will it take for my testosterone to pop back up if I’m doing everything right now? Just stay the course a few months? To be frank I’m pretty desperate with how bad my symptoms are.

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Captain Suave said:
Also, 2023 - 2017 = 6 years. Brain fog indeed.

That was my thought as well.

Sun exposure is also crucial for testosterone. You'll find a bunch of studies on that.

Captain Suave · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Admittedly I was using alcohol daily, eating like shit, had a ton of work stress and didn’t exercise last year.

Yup, that would do it.

Foler said:
I’ve turned that all around. Stopped drinking in December. I’ve lost 35 lbs, almost back to healthy weight, been crushing it in the gym like 6 weeks now.

I mean what will it take for my testosterone to pop back up if I’m doing everything right now? Just stay the course a few months? To be frank I’m pretty desperate with how bad my symptoms are.

Some quick googling says 6-12 months, unfortunately. I'd stay the course and get tested later in the year.

You didn't mention sleep, but I'd make a serious point of getting at least 8 hours a night. Sleep is probably the most important health lever that people regularly fuck up (including myself) along with excess calories.

Unrelated:
tldw; 30-year study of 50k+ participants shows protein intake is correlated with reduced chronic disease while aging.

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Whoops, 6 years is what I meant to type, see? lol.

Admittedly I was using alcohol daily, eating like shit, had a ton of work stress and didn’t exercise last year. I’ve turned that all around. Stopped drinking in December. I’ve lost 35 lbs, almost back to healthy weight, been crushing it in the gym like 6 weeks now.

I mean what will it take for my testosterone to pop back up if I’m doing everything right now? Just stay the course a few months? To be frank I’m pretty desperate with how bad my symptoms are.

Being 40+ pounds overweight doesn't happen overnight, you abused your body for a while, it won't recover overnight either.

You can go see a doctor for a quick fix, that might even work, for a while, but unless you really fix the root cause other shits will happen.

6 weeks is not a lot if you're trying to fix years(?) of poor lifestyle.

Keep the course, go further every day. Don't sit, get out, eat actual food. In a few months you won't have fixed just your testosterone levels, but also prevented a bunch of other crap from happening to you.

Foler · May 25, 2024

Captain Suave said:
Yup, that would do it.

Some quick googling says 6-12 months, unfortunately. I'd stay the course and get tested later in the year.

You didn't mention sleep, but I'd make a serious point of getting at least 8 hours a night. Sleep is probably the most important health lever that people regularly fuck up (including myself) along with excess calories.

Unrelated:
tldw; 30-year study of 50k+ participants shows protein intake is correlated with reduced chronic disease while aging.

Thanks. My sleep has been 6.5-7 hours. Didn’t notice that until I checked my clap machine the other day. Historically I’ve done best with almost 9 hours of sleep. So I’ve only recently upped it to 9ish the past 2 nights. Big difference.

Dunno how I’m gonna make it 6+ months feeling the way I do. Been white knuckling it all year to get my shit back together. Seen improvements due to lifestyle change but really getting desperate for some changes to the issues I mentioned having

Foler · May 25, 2024

Gurgeh said:
Being 40+ pounds overweight doesn't happen overnight, you abused your body for a while, it won't recover overnight either.

You can go see a doctor for a quick fix, that might even work, for a while, but unless you really fix the root cause other shits will happen.

6 weeks is not a lot if you're trying to fix years(?) of poor lifestyle.

Keep the course, go further every day. Don't sit, get out, eat actual food. In a few months you won't have fixed just your testosterone levels, but also prevented a bunch of other crap from happening to you.

About 1.5 years of abusing my body. 40 lbs weight gain in 6-8 month period.

thanks for the encouragement. Gonna keep trying to white knuckle my way forward.

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Thanks. My sleep has been 6.5-7 hours. Didn’t notice that until I checked my clap machine the other day. Historically I’ve done best with almost 9 hours of sleep. So I’ve only recently upped it to 9ish the past 2 nights. Big difference.

Dunno how I’m gonna make it 6+ months feeling the way I do. Been white knuckling it all year to get my shit back together. Seen improvements due to lifestyle change but really getting desperate for some changes to the issues I mentioned having

Did you check your vit D level? How much time do you spend outside every day?

Foler · May 25, 2024

Gurgeh said:
Did you check your vit D level? How much time do you spend outside every day?

Yup. Historically from the past 6 years my vitamin D level has been on the lower side it seems, 35-38.. I took your advice and try to get outside an hour a day but it can be a bit difficult working inside and often longer days. Would vitamin D supplementation help at all if I can’t make the ideal amount of time outside?

Captain Suave · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Would vitamin D supplementation help at all if I can’t make the ideal amount of time outside?

I was sub-30 Vit D despite swimming laps outdoors for ~3 hours a week and sporting a decent tan. Supplements brought me right back to normal. (Not that I can say I really felt a difference.)

Pasteton · May 25, 2024

The thing about the protein intake is there’s a lot of correlation vs causation uncertainty (which is of course a common issue in many things ). People with higher protein intakes are likely making conscious decisions to up their protein amounts, as a general bad diet won’t lead to it, and those people are also more likely to align with various healthy life choices. Since chronic disease is often an outcome of ‘death by a thousand cuts’ I bet it’s unlikely that you can maintain a gamer skinny fat lifestyle and just turn things around by adding some keto pea oroteinpeanut butter cups

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Yup. Historically from the past 6 years my vitamin D level has been on the lower side it seems, 35-38.. I took your advice and try to get outside an hour a day but it can be a bit difficult working inside and often longer days. Would vitamin D supplementation help at all if I can’t make the ideal amount of time outside?

35ish isn't terribly bad, but only good can happen from increasing that to 50ish at least. You can certainly increase vit D a bit.

Sun exposure seem to make a massive difference for testosterone. Can't spend 30 mn in the sun in the morning? Take a coffee/breakfast outside. Can be tricky if you live in an apartment but should be easy if not, especially in summer. Morning light is very good for a bunch of stuff. It's worth waking up a bit earlier for it.

Can't you move some of your gym workout outside?

Eating outside at noon? Spend as much time in the sun that won't burn you.

Same in the evening, try to find 30 min to spend in the setting sun.

Studies show a 50 to 120% increase of testosterone through IR/UV exposure.

Edit: also morning light is specifically good for brain fog, you'll see a bunch of studies on that.

Foler · May 25, 2024

Gurgeh said:
35ish isn't terribly bad, but only good can happen from increasing that to 50ish at least. You can certainly increase vit D a bit.

Sun exposure seem to make a massive difference for testosterone. Can't spend 30 mn in the sun in the morning? Take a coffee/breakfast outside. Can be tricky if you live in an apartment but should be easy if not, especially in summer. Morning light is very good for a bunch of stuff. It's worth waking up a bit earlier for it.

Can't you move some of your gym workout outside?

Eating outside at noon? Spend as much time in the sun that won't burn you.

Same in the evening, try to find 30 min to spend in the setting sun.

Studies show a 50 to 120% increase of testosterone through IR/UV exposure.

Edit: also morning light is specifically good for brain fog, you'll see a bunch of studies on that.

Ok I think I can pull that off. Is it ok to wear sunscreen or will that diminish the effect?

Gurgeh · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
Ok I think I can pull that off. Is it ok to wear sunscreen or will that diminish the effect?

Uh absolutely no sunscreen. Morning / evening sun are entirely harmless. At your lunch break, be careful, don't get burnt. Progressively train your skin, don't rush it.

Regular sun exposure won't give you skin cancer, quite the opposite, unless you're really out of your place (like blond in florida or some shit), and even then:
Melanoma in Australia

People were exposing themselves a lot more in the 80's than now, and yet cancer rates tripled...

Fearing the sun got to be the most retarded thing currently, or on par with the food pyramid.

Foler · May 25, 2024

Gurgeh said:
Uh absolutely no sunscreen. Morning / evening sun are entirely harmless. At your lunch break, be careful, don't get burnt. Progressively train your skin, don't rush it.

Regular sun exposure won't give you skin cancer, quite the opposite, unless you're really out of your place (like blond in florida or some shit), and even then:
Melanoma in Australia
View attachment 530270
People were exposing themselves a lot more in the 80's than now, and yet cancer rates tripled...

Fearing the sun got to be the most retarded thing currently, or on par with the food pyramid.

I am extremely fair skin (

Lightning Lord Rule can attest) and do live in Florida.. I’ll be careful and take it slow, thanks.

ToeMissile · May 25, 2024

Foler said:
I am extremely fair skin ( Lightning Lord Rule can attest) and do live in Florida.. I’ll be careful and take it slow, thanks.

From what I understand as long as you aren’t getting red/burning you’re pretty much ok. I’m in the light skin/eyes boat as well. I try to get some sun in the morning and evening but if I’m going to be out in the yard during the weekend it’s long sleeves and wide brimmed hat. My mom has a similar complexion, and is having to keep a close eye the past 10 years or so for melanoma. She’s had a number of biopsies. Fortunately nothing crazy so far. My dad in the other hand, basically doesn’t burn

The AM/PM light exposure is also really good for helping to maintain circadian rhythms.

Captain Suave · May 26, 2024

Gurgeh said:
People were exposing themselves a lot more in the 80's than now, and yet cancer rates tripled

That chart is entirely consistent with the standard medical narrative on sun exposure.

Skin cancers, like many other types, take multiple decades to manifest. In 2024 the average melanoma patient is 66. Their primary exposures would have come in the 80's and earlier. People who were born post ~1980 haven't lived long enough yet to get their cancers. The increasing rate per 100k population is a demographic effect of aging populations. Proportionally speaking there are 50% more people over the age of 65 now than in 1980. They also live longer, thus not dying before cancers emerge, and we have a great deal more early screening and diagnosis. Fortunately, despite that the incidence rates are higher mortality has been about flat.

There are some questions to be answered about why sunscreen use hasn't reduced skin cancer rates as we had all hoped for, but their curious inefficacy doesn't mean that the sun isn't something to be concerned about. (The main theories have to do with the fact that until recently chemical sunscreens have not blocked the UVA light band well, that sunscreens have given a false sense of security and people have increased their exposure, or that chemical sunscreens have some counterbalancing toxicities.) What's not particularly debatable is that UV light ~~is ionizing radiation and~~ causes DNA damage linearly with exposure. That's just physics. [Source: Mutiple family members with melanoma and a physicist wife who spent a decade working in radiation oncology.]

Foler , IMO, wear mineral sunscreens when out for prolonged periods and supplement Vit D as necessary.

Gurgeh · May 26, 2024

⁰

Captain Suave said:
That chart is entirely consistent with the standard medical narrative on sun exposure.

Skin cancers, like many other types, take multiple decades to manifest. In 2024 the average melanoma patient is 66. Their primary exposures would have come in the 80's and earlier. People who were born post ~1980 haven't lived long enough yet to get their cancers. The increasing rate per 100k population is a demographic effect of aging populations. Proportionally speaking there are 50% more people over the age of 65 now than in 1980. They also live longer, thus not dying before cancers emerge, and we have a great deal more early screening and diagnosis. Fortunately, despite that the incidence rates are higher mortality has been about flat.

There are some questions to be answered about why sunscreen use hasn't reduced skin cancer rates as we had all hoped for, but their curious inefficacy doesn't mean that the sun isn't something to be concerned about. (The main theories have to do with the fact that until recently chemical sunscreens have not blocked the UVA light band well, that sunscreens have given a false sense of security and people have increased their exposure, or that chemical sunscreens have some counterbalancing toxicities.) What's not particularly debatable is that UV light is ionizing radiation and causes DNA damage linearly with exposure. That's just physics. [Source: Mutiple family members with melanoma and a physicist wife who spent a decade working in radiation oncology.]

Foler , IMO, wear mineral sunscreens when out for prolonged periods and supplement Vit D as necessary.

The data is age corrected, and if cancer takes more than 50 years to manifest, even if true (which is not) that would not be a serious concern to a 40 year old.

I feel like that's something extremely important. The way we're dealing with the sun is completely retarded, and probably as much an health issue as our sugar addiction. While sugar is now widely recognized as a problem, sun avoidance isn't.

That video is a nice compilation of the current knowledge. It's a lenghty one, but the topic is complicated, and it's worth looking at, it could change your lifestyle.

Professor Seheult is a serious doctor, you'll find him quoted by other serious doctors like Huberman.

Health Problems

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