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I over supplement. I know it and I hate it. And sometimes I don't have the mortgage because of it!
I take stuff to sleep, to digest, to have good BMs, to train better, to not have allergies, to not fill in the blank. Fortunately not yet for sex, but it seems that every other aspect of my life has a supplement attached to it. Yes, I have weaned myself off these things slowly, and other times cold-turkey. What happened? I didn't sleep for months, no period, completely screwed up digestion, etc. I grew up on an extreme SAD way of life, never had normalacy. Never slept. I was always sick. I have had major illnesses (I'm really surprised I'm still walking this earth), and a pituitary tumor, which even though gone, left my hormones all out of whack. I have been off SAD for 10+ years, off gluten for 4 years, experimented with just about every meat-free diet out there, and now Paleo for about 6 months.

So my question is, how can a body go back to a "normal" human life if it's something that's never been experienced, not even as an infant? I'm also one of those hypersensitive folks - my body responds to things far sooner than my mind understands why.

I know this post is similar, but not quite what I'm asking: http://paleohacks.com/questions/28847/could-obsession-with-supplements-be-problematic#axzz1LVEuWbsP

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 Post your diet so we can see what supplements are actually necessary. – Travis Culp♦ May 5 2011 at 18:29
Sometimes I have 3 meals, sometimes not. Dropped the supplements (most, except Vit D and Sea Buckthorn) last month again, bad results. Anyway, here was yesterday: 4 slices uncured bacon with 2 eggs, garden fresh kale, in coconut oil. Can't eat that without ACV or Betaine HCL without awful heartburn/indigestion. Decaf coffee with a splash of almond milk and cinnamon. Snack - 3 squares chocolate, with 8-9 macadamia nuts, and a Banana. Dinner- Grass-fed short ribs, beef not pork, smothered in homemade bbq sauce with broccoli. I went VLC for a bit, felt bad. Have fruit in morning or lunch – valkyrie May 5 2011 at 18:39

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Well, I'm not as pro-bacon as most are here. It's almost as much linoleic acid as chicken, since they're both just fed a ton of grain their whole lives. I'd recommend replacing the bacon with more eggs and some fruit (I choose low fructose/high fiber berries such as raspberries). Hell, I'll just post my diet and you can try it and see how it goes. I never have any heartburn/indigestion/constipation even though I eat 2 lbs of red meat per day. I'm really boring, so you can alter it to make it less so:

Breakfast: 3-4 scrambled eggs plus 1 sweet potato

Lunch: 1 lb lamb steak + rice & a red pepper

Dinner 1: Can of sardines + sweet potato or rice

Dinner 2: (right before bed) 1 lb lamb steak + tray of raspberries

.25-.75lb lamb liver per week (absolutely necessary)

4-5000 IU of D3 is needed if you're not getting it via the sun, and you need to couple that with 1-200mcg of K2 or you'll run into calcium issues.

On non-liver days I take 200 mcg of selenium, though you get about 75mcg from the sardines, so you could skip it.

I take about 400mg of calcium and magnesium per day.

Red peppers and raspberries have vitamin C, but I supplement with some food-sourced vitamin C every day as well.

I take 30mg of a zinc chelate every morning, but I'm not sure how necessary this is (I eat liver at night so the zinc and copper don't interfere with each other's uptake).

That will cover all of your bases nutrient-wise, and there is sufficient fiber to address any digestive issues. There's sufficient carbohydrates to prevent hypoglycemia. I don't bother with green vegetables anymore since little of the "advertised" nutrient content is bioavailable due to oxalates etc. I seemed to have worse digestion when I was eating a bunch of spinach every day.

Anyway, this diet has made all of my workouts easier, has caused me to finally start gaining muscle, and has just made me feel great all day every day. If I get sick, it's that first day of sickness headachey thing and then nothing more.

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Hi Travis. My bacon is not grain fed (or so the farmer says), and I eat it about 2x a week. Your diet looks the same as mine actually on a different day, though less sweet potato, and smaller portions/less calories. I've been working in sardines, although I hate them. Can't do dinner right before bed, or I won't sleep. I need about 4 hours break after dinner. My liver hasn't been from lamb, I can't find it, but from beef. Is that worse? Nat Calm keeps me wide awake, I take L-tryptophan before bed. Interesting on the green veggies, that's something I've never tried to eliminate. Thanks! – valkyrie May 5 2011 at 19:45
A pound of lamb every night just before bed? Really?! – UncleLongHair May 5 2011 at 20:10
Good to hear about the bacon. Beef liver should be fine. I wonder if my minimal seasoning might make my food more digestible? I usually only use salt and a little garlic powder. Yeah, that pound of lamb makes me sleep like a baby. – Travis Culp♦ May 5 2011 at 20:34
I wake up out of a sound sleep with severe reflux and vomiting if I eat a meal with lots of meat soon before I lie down to sleep. This never happened before paleo. So YMMV on this one! I can eat starch before bed no problem. – animalcule May 6 2011 at 4:14
Same here animalcule, well reflux, not vomiting. Though any big meal will do that to me if it's soon before bed. – valkyrie May 6 2011 at 4:35
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I think you need to check out Robb Wolf's autoimmunity protocol on his website. You have serious chronic issues that may require a strict adherence. You would be advised to cut the eggs, spices, nuts, tomatoes, fruit etc. Sounds harsh, but if it can help it may be worth it.

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You are probably right. I've been cutting out the nightshades, but not eggs. I stopped with the nuts and fruit, but felt no better, so added them back. But I will def check out his suggestions. Thanks! – valkyrie May 7 2011 at 22:18

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