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March 27, 2016

Thank You.











So the blog’s been quieter than usual, eh?

Sorry about that.

I have many posts in various stages of completion, but I haven’t been able to get myself to finish any of them. It may or may not have been reflected in the blog, but for the last six to eight months or so, I have been experiencing the worst depression of my life. The long-time readers among you may have gathered by now that I am not, and never have been, a happy-go-lucky type. I’ve always been pessimistic and gloomy. Definitely an Eeyore, as opposed to a Tigger or Piglet. (At least, when it comes to myself, and my life. For other people, I could see roses and rainbows and magical unicorn happiness, no problem.) Anyway, so yeah, I’ve always been this way to some extent, but the past few months have really been awful. To the point that, for the first time in my life, I was actually worried about myself.


I’ll spare you the details and simply say that I seem to be coming out of it now. (And I’ll also point out that things aren’t always peachy even for people who seem to know a little bit about food, nutrients, and how they affect physical and mental health. No one – no one—is immune to getting whacked upside the head with “stuff” we’d rather avoid, and which we feel like we’re impervious to, because we “should know better.”)

I’m doing things somewhat differently in more than one area of my life, and I am starting to come back to life. I don’t feel great, and there are other things I need to chip away at in order to get past whatever it is that is still gunking up the works in my head and my heart, but even so, how I feel now compared to just a few weeks ago is like night and day. It’s like someone flipped a switch in me. And thank goodness, because I really couldn’t imagine it getting any worse.

I could go on and on about the whys and wherefores in typical Amy encyclopedic-length fashion, but frankly, none of it really matters.

What matters is how grateful I am for all of you out there who actually read this stuff. I have a humble little corner of the blogosphere here, and I am routinely amazed that anyone thinks there’s value in what I have to say. I have temporarily stopped frequenting many of my former go-to places for information and debate on LCHF, keto, and Paleo nutrition, partly because the vitriol, zealotry, and absolute whacko nut-jobbery was really starting to disgust me. Also, it was making me feel like I know nothing, which was not doing much for my self-confidence as a practitioner. Compared to many people out there, I do know nothing, which is why I am amazed that anyone cares about my opinions on anything. (Or the actual facts, when I post links to studies, rather than just spouting my opinion.)

That being said, I may not know everything (no one does), but I know that as I struggle to find a niche in all this—a role I can fill that a hundred other people aren’t already filling—signs are pointing toward people (some people, anyway) needing a voice of temperance and sanity. A non-zealot voice. A voice that is concerned when people don’t lose weight on a low-carb diet and the only answer they hear is to eat MOAR FAT. Or concerned that there are people who really DO NOT NEED to be on a strict ketogenic diet who are following one anyway, and have become terrified of consuming too much carbohydrate from broccoli.

(Please see this related mini-rant if you haven’t already. For once, I put something on Facebook, rather than the blog.)

Okay.
Aaaaaaanyway, the point of this is not to wallow in self-pity or get angry about the ridiculousness of the poop-slinging, catfights, and ego-stroking that are, in my opinion, debasing the entire low-carb, keto, Paleo, ancestral health “thing.”

The point is actually a very nice one.
It’s to say thank you.

Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you for hanging in there. Thank you for sticking with what can only be described as a total mixed-bag of whatever happens to be on my mind and inspiring me to write at any given moment. There’s digestion, cancer, insulin, organ meats, Alzheimer’s, food labels, and a random assortment of stuff with no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever, other than it might be at least tangentially related to food, health, and/or low-carbing.

I’ve come a long way since my first post in August 2012. I regularly receive emails from you complimenting my writing. I cannot tell you what that does to me. (In a good way.) I’m happy to share what I’ve learned about all this food & health stuff, and I love that what you enjoy about my blog is the same thing I enjoy about it: translating the scientific and medical gobbledygook into plain English and making it accessible and understandable for everyone. (Well, maybe not everyone. You do still have to have at least some basic understanding of the human animal, but you know what I mean.) So I like getting emails where someone says they understand something better or something “clicked” because of something I wrote. But what really lifts me up is when someone says something nice about my writing, in general. Doesn’t matter the topic, or what my particular spin on it is; it’s the writing, itself, that some of you like, and it’s the writing, itself, that I love the hell out of.


So thanks for reading. I’ll be posting more again soon.








Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

41 comments:

  1. Thank you for all your hard work. We look forward to your posts and wonder if you are overwhelmed by your work...It happens to me all the time, as well. I pre-ordered your book and am looking forward to reading it.
    L Romeo MD

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    1. Thanks for getting the book! It's the same as the pdf version, except for one unfortunate thing: there are pretty graphics in the pdf, but I was told that for Kindle, it's better to have few images. So I got rid of all but only a few that I thought were essential to understanding the material.

      As for the reason(s) for the depression, no, I can't say I'm overwhelmed by work. If anything, it's the dead opposite. I have way too much down time in which to wallow, and the little bits of work I *do* get done are very unfulfilling. I think things are going to change soon for me, professionally. I've been planting some seeds for a few years now that I hope are going to start bearing fruit. But overall, there were/are physical reasons for the depression too, and I think I've hit on a protocol that is finally turning the lights on and pushing the darkness away.

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  2. Glad you are feeling better. I enjoy reading your blog.

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    1. Thanks. Feeling much better. Here's hoping it lasts!

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  4. Hi Amy-- I love your blog and regularly check for new posts a couple of times a week, which is how I found this latest post. Just want to say that you matter to those of us who read your blog - you have a unique perspective, one that I think particularly resonates with women. I've learned so much from you, hope to learn more, and I hope you will be feeling much better soon. Take care - Liz

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  5. I love freading your blog, I await new posts eagerly. I think it's great that you not only explain stuff but I often also follow links you give and follow those too, which is extremely helpful of you. But what I really love is how you write, it's like you are talking to just me, and you have so many interesting things to say! If I have one complaint about this post, it is that it is a bit short! Best wishes, Amy, I'm glad you're feeling better xx

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  6. Hello Amy,
    Your welcome, but I feel that it is I who should be thanking you for enriching my life with your writing. With the content, with the writing style, with your wit and with your insights. So yes there is value to what you write.

    I have a 45 minute commute to work and I look forward to your posts which I print out (double sided on recycled paper) and read on the train. There are times that I have to force myself to look up from the pages to make sure that I haven't gone past my station. If it's a series, I read each section as it comes out and then I put them all together and re-read that whole series.

    How much do you know? I believe that you know a lot. Among other things you know how to translate scientific speak to English and then turn that into something that is not only enjoyable to read but provides useful information. It is my honest opinion that instead of saying that you "...do know nothing" you could say what Albert Einstein said: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know".

    Looking forward to your next post.
    Luis (Madrid, Spain)

    P.S. Looking forward to reading your book which I pre-ordered and should receive this week.

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    1. ¿Un admirador en Madrid? Ahora yo sé donde voy a quedarme cuando yo visito España otra vez! (Visité hace muchos años, pero solamente Barcelona.) ¿Sabes que me especialicé en el español en la universidad? Yes: double major in creative writing and Spanish. :) Thank you so much for what you've said. I love that you print out my posts to read on the train! Wow! (When I used to take the bus to work, I listened to podcasts, or sometimes read *other* people's blogs.)

      Por cierto quiero visitar España otra vez. Y será diferente esta vez, porque ahora soy una "foodie," y puedo disfrutar el vino, el queso, el jamon Serrano...y todo lo más. Pienso que probablemente es fácil comer una dieta bajo en carbohidratos en tu país. YUM. Some chorizo, some Manchego, some vino rojo...I would be a happy girl! :D

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  7. I think it would be fun to read AB even if the subject were 2016 Republican candidates... (* is candidate somehow related to candid? gotta be...) Thanks for the good - and healthy - fun you bring out to us.

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    1. Ha! Oy...don't get me started on this election! Frankly, I don't like *any* of the options, from *either* party! I would like to retweet a lot of great political stuff, but I don't want to lose followers over political and religious differences. Those have nothing to do with diet and the science behind a low carb approach. (Well, maybe religion has something to do with diet if we're talking about kosher, halal, proscriptions on eating cow, etc. But you know what I mean.)

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  8. It's a good read, Amy. I haven't missed a word since I discovered your blog in January. I think it was Franziska who turned my on to you. I have even gone back to read your insulin series and to refer to you and it in my own blog. Keep up the good work, and hang in there!

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  9. I found your blog just a few weeks ago (I *think* it was a google search related to thyroid, but I can't be sure, as I've read so many of your past posts) I LOVE your writing style, and appreciate that you take difficult (for fuzzy brains, at least) topics and make them (somewhat) understandable. And I can't express how much I appreciate that you recognize that *one size does not fit all*!!
    I am so sorry you have been struggling with depression. I've been there, and it is an awful place to be! I'm happy that you are feeling more like yourself again. I still don't feel entirely like my old self, though I had 2 days last May where I felt *great* - completely out of the blue, and I thought "I'm healed! I'm back" But alas, I was not. But it was a nice 2 days, and it gives me hope that one day I will be completely healthy again... (that makes me sound more upbeat than I feel. I *feel* as if I'm doomed to be fat and in pain and foggy-headed forever. I just refuse to accept that...)
    looking forward to those posts ~ Tracy

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    1. Thanks, Tracy! No, do *not* accept that you are doomed to feel awful! If I did that, I'd still be deep in the hole I was in for all those months. I'm still a little scared that the way I'm feeling now won't last, but so far, so good. And I'll take what I can get! Please, feel free to contact me (tuitnutrition@gmail.com) and let me know a little more about your situation. I'd love to help, if I can. I truly believe there's a *reason* why people feel the way they do -- whether it's depression, anxiety, or something else. There *are* physical/physiological reasons for these things -- they are *not* "all in your head." (They weren't in mine! It was just a matter of finding out what was going wrong and why, and seeing what I could do about it.) Two days almost a year ago is not good enough! YOU deserve to feel well *all the time.*

      And thanks for the love for the blog!

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  10. Thank YOU Amy! I wish I had more time so I could read everything you have written. I appreciate you sharing your personal struggles with depression. None of us are perfect, and it is good to know that. When we do not feel good, we often tend to hide it because we feel shame. I am currently homeless and living in a van with my dog. I barely have enough money to eat. But I remain hopeful because I know from past experience that every unpleasant contrasting experience I have ever had, has been a catalyst to me becoming a bigger person in some way or other. But it is still hard in the moment. Don't beat yourself up for where you are. Just try to love yourself unconditionally.

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    1. Esmee! :) Thanks for reading. Sorry you're struggling...and you've already been through so much! I can't imagine how you're managing your diet in your current living situation. (If you're eating mostly raw meat, then I guess cooking isn't an obstacle, but I wonder about storage.) Anyway, thank you. Yes, I tried to be patient with myself and just do the best I could until I got myself out of wherever it was my soul and spirit got trapped in. I tried to stick with my Louise Hay affirmations and some of the Abraham Hicks stuff, but when you're really at the bottom of a deep place, even that doesn't help life you out much. Still worth doing, and I did them, but it sure felt like they were falling flat most of the time.

      It's funny that it's so hard to love ourselves unconditionally and be patient and kind to ourselves, when we so easily muster those feeling for people we love.

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  11. On a different note: L. Amber O'Hearn www.empiri.ca suffered severely from Bipolar II for many years. She required medication, but even that was not totally helpful. She had been on a Ketogenic diet for many years as well, and it never had any affect on her mental illness. However, once she removed ALL plant foods from her diet, the Bipolar II completely vanished. She tested plant foods (fruits or vegetables) a few times after that, and each time she ate them, she would have a relapse that last several weeks. I am sure she would share more with you if you contacted her directly. I have been trying to do an interview with her for my blog for over a year now, but she has not yet fulfilled my desire. Her story and experience is so very important.

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    1. Oh, I know Amber. I mean, not personally, but I know her work. Yes, she's great. I've learned *so much* from her and also from Zooko. (Don't think they're together anymore, but they were still blogging together a bit, I think.) I am fascinated by the zero carb approach. I keep saying I'm going try it sometime and I haven't done it yet. I'm on some new supplements and have cleaned up my diet a little, and I think it's all helping. Very targeted supplementation specific to the signs & symptoms I was experiencing. I'm actually eating a bit more vegetables than I had been for a while. And I did a food sensitivity test for the first time. Very interesting results. I honestly think it's the supplements that are having the biggest effect, but I also think I feel better (and maintain a weight I'm happier with) when I'm low-carb, but not micromanaging the macros and adding lots of extra fat to things. I seem to do better with a generous amount of protein, a good bit of fat - but not adding a lot of *extra* fat, and not worrying too much about carbs, as long as they're coming mostly from non-starchy, very LC veg. Still fascinated by ZC, but I'm going to stick with what's working, for now.

      Thanks again. {{Hugs}} You are such a loving, sweet individual!

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  12. Great writing as always, Amy :) Feel better.

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  13. Hang in there Amy, wishing the best for you.

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    1. Thanks, big guy. It's been rough, but I seem to be emerging from the pit now.

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  14. The content and information on your blog is so important and very much appreciated. I try to spread it around as much as I can. I've been trying to read through all your archives in the few months since I discovered your blog. I love your passion, get a good laugh out of your snark, and truly treasure the breadth and depth of the information you provide.

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    1. Thanks! :) (The snark is one of my favorite parts, too, hehheh.)

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  15. Having listened to so many reports in our zero carb Facebook group Principia Carnivora, one of the biggest things I have learned is that everyone is not the same and some people do better on more fat and less protein, while others are just the opposite. So, listening to your body and how you feel is paramount. If I over do fat, I get really nauseated 5 hours later and there are others in the group just like me. Believe me, I hear what you are saying.

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  16. Someone asked about about affirmations and they said that if your vibration is too low on the emotional scale, then they will not help you because the affirmations are to vibrationally high compared to where you are. So, your experience simply validates this.

    I am really glad you are finding supplements that are helping you. I am sure you have read Julia Ross's book The Mood Cure, but shevhas clearly shown how effective targeted nutritional supplementation can be for depression, anxiety, and other similar issues.

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    1. That makes sense about the affirmations. My vibration was lower than low. I can see how they wouldn't even be able to reach me. And I tend to *want* to do the affirmations more when I'm feeling better. They need to find something that can help when someone is at the deepest, darkest place. Some kind of super-strength emotional energy that can reach even those depths.

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  17. Glad your feeling better Amy. I love your writing and am looking forward to more of it.

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  18. Amy, i have experience in a similar place where you seem to have been. we all feel and live our darkness in our own way. and finding our way to the light is our own too. glad you are finding yours. please, please know your writing is more sane and educational than many. and yes, the petty nutritional wars are insane.

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    1. Thanks. Yes, I'm feeling more and more that may be my niche -- talking people down from the nutritional ledge, so to speak.

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  19. Hi Amy! Your book is fabulous. Just your style of writing - so beautiful and fluent english, that even non-english speaking persons like me can easily understand it. I just finished the first chapter and I must say the book was really worth every euro. Thank you!

    Best Regards, Ari

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  20. I read your book and it was just as good as expected. There's just one problem in appendix B - figure 1 is so small it is impossible to read and enlargement is not possible. Other than that, I agree with all what you say. Milk proteins' capability to increase insulin should be emphasized - they can be even more potent than many carbohydrates (muffins for instance). Whey is one of the detrimental proteins. I have come across this when studying causes of acne. See following links:
    http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v59/n3/full/1602086a.html
    and the studies of Mr. Bodo C. Melnik:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bodo+c+melnik

    Maybe you'll include this information in the second edition of your book?
    Ari

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  21. Hi Amy,

    I enjoy reading your blog, especially the longer series like the one on digestion. It is hard to have the feeling that you do not know what your aim and place in this world really is. But please trust your own feelings and have confidence that with time you will know.

    Marijke

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  22. Dear Amy, I know that it is a chick think to listen sympathetically as opposed to a guy thing to try to fix everything, but I am a guy. And I do have experience with this sort of thing, so I will try to help.

    First of all, it seems to me that you are still drifting (even if you feel better), as opposed to steering. Recall that George Bernard Shaw said that hell is where we drift towards and heaven is where we steer towards. So may I suggest that you steer towards these links:

    http://www.emofree.com/ You may already know about EFT. It works like a charm.

    http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Archives/archives_main.htm You may also already know about near death experiences. I prescribe reading as many reports as possible for as long as possible. The fear of death is the core of most all anxiety and depression. And it turns out to be basically unreal. Only the body dies. YOU, your real self, your real consciousness, is forever. And given how you have served so many people with such heartfelt dedication, I see only happiness for you in your afterlife.

    http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/ You probably haven't heard of Meher Baba. I hope that you will find Him as I find Him, which is indescribably wonderful in everything that ultimately matters.

    Sincerely,

    Roger Bird

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    1. Hey Roger, thanks for these recommendations. Sometimes I want someone to just listen, hug me, and tell me everything's going to be okay, but there's definitely also a need for concrete steps to take that can HELP. So thank you. And yes, I am still drifting to some degree. I am feeling worlds better than I was, but there's still a lot lacking. I forget the exact quote and who said it, but there's a quote that goes something like: "We sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it, but sail we must, and not drift, nor live at anchor." So true, and yes, I have been drifting for a long time, letting myself be propelled in whatever direction things are going, but rarely taking control of the ship and *steering.*

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  23. Thx. Been reading your blog for the past 2 hours again. You give a lot. Don't thank me as a reader. As a reader, I thank you.

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