I've Got Summink to Say

Tag: diet

  • I Must Be Nuts

    I decided to test my theory that eating nuts would help me with nicotine cravings so early yesterday evening I ate a whole 250g bag of unshelled roasted peanuts and it seemed to have the following effects: after a few hours I became sleepy, although I can’t be sure this wasn’t just normal tiredness. But then I only slept for a few hours (note the time of this post) and I woke up feeling poorly but seem to have recovered quickly. They also left an unusual aftertaste in my mouth.

    I found out peanuts are a source of choline so it will be interesting to see whether my digestion is worse for a couple of days (it had improved dramatically after I stopped taking Lactulose and just started drinking a pint of orange juice in the morning.

    I should point out that one of the reasons I came round to thinking about natural remedies for physical and mental health problems was due to being given a massive dose of an antipsychotic called Paliperidone which seems to have caused me a serious hormonal imbalance. Although I am withdrawing from the drug naturally with time as the drug is metabolised I have found my own rapidly researched natural remedies seem to have dramatically sped this process up.

    Whether eating so many peanuts at once was such a wise idea I can’t be sure but I think from now on I’ll stick to eating a smaller portion of mixed nuts later in the evening to get a broad spread of essential compounds. This is a recommended part of good healthy nutrition anyway.

    Our grandparents had so many sensible phrases that have stood the test of time.

    ‘Everything in moderation’

    ‘You are what you eat’

    ‘A little of what you fancy’

    If you’re interested in any of my theories on nutrition and mental health please see my earlier posts:

    Delusional or Deficient?

    Food for Thought

    Squaring the Circadian

    But please do not stop taking any prescribed medication without speaking to your doctor and psychiatrist (if you have one).

  • Smoking Sensation

    Please note: I am not a medical professional or nutritionist, these are only my own ideas. However, I’m willing to bet your Doctor would tell you it was fine to bite the head off a live bat if it stopped you smoking.

    I’ve been feeling generally a lot more positive lately and I am hoping to make it my new year’s resolution to quit smoking (I managed to quit for 14 years cold turkey when I was younger but eventually started again).

    Working with the knowledge that improvements in health and nutrition are vital in keeping the body’s hormones balanced I started thinking of a few changes that I could make to help which goes back to some of my earlier posts.

    I intend to also have nicotine replacement therapy to hand, I’ve found a couple of these effective in the past, particularly the mouth sprays and inhalators but if you want to try NRT find the one that suits you, there’s also patches and gum.

    But on to the dietary changes I think could help me bearing in mind that nicotine stimulates dopamine in the brain.

    Looking at the Nicotinell website the fruits and vegetables they are recommending are all summer fruits and vegetables. My theory (untested) is that these will lower dopamine and make quitting harder (I have a theory that dopamine and acetylcholine may work in opposition to each other to balance out).

    What to eat when quitting smoking | Nicotinell UK

    This is what I’m going to try then:

    To start the day with a strong coffee in the morning before breakfast and a couple of squirts on the mouth spray. A glass of orange juice after breakfast. A glass of orange juice after a lunch with winter veg, and some nuts in the evening. I intend to use the mouth spray as required and I’m certain positive thought will help, it’s known to.

    Of course it makes a lot of sense to listen to your body so if you crave an apple, eat one.

    You and I will just have to wait until at least February to see how I get on.