I think he's onto something. I personally experienced a lot of the problems that he and Paul Jaminet attribute to low carb paleo eating. I don't think that's the experience that everyone shares (and not everyone goes super low carb either) but I've also noticed that there are lots of questions on this site about things like food allergies, hypothyroid, and low testosterone.

Gave my answer in the linked thread below. This is an identical question to one previously. All the followers of Danny or Peat should really make a thread of some sort here as a "go-to" for all the "Who does Ray Peat/What Do you think of Danny" threads. Danny's (and thus Peat's) ideas are fascinating while seem to go against some standard nutritional ideas, they produce some real world results.

I have some minor quibbles about sugar.vs starch, iodine, and ferments, but overall the key ideas (limiting certain amino acids, consuming enough carbs, avoiding PUFAs, Vitamin A, gelatin, Zinc etc) are incredibly on the mark and should benefit everyone in some form or another.

I am not 100% Peat, but the ideas of his that I have included in my diet have taken me where strict Paleo (which took me really far) couldn't.

http://paleohacks.com/questions/77045/should-we-stop-blaming-fructose-as-well-thoughts-on-danny-roddy/77068#77068

I think they are bogus. Saying X (in this case low-carb) = Symptom, but then singing the praises of n=1 experimentation is contradictory.

Let's put the shoe on the other foot. If someone came onto Paleohacks and started lambasting folks because they believed rice caused toenail cancer and potatoes made people grow third eyes or some other odd ailment, that person would get their ass handed to them here.

I've been long-term lower-carb paleo, with intermittent breaks, for several years. All of my uncles (maternal side) were bald in their late 20's as well as my maternal grandfather. I might have a high hairline, (which I've had since the first hairs sprouted on my head) but I'm not bald (yet). I'm sure I will be in about 10 years or so (genetics are a bastard), but so far I've beaten the odds, despite eating this way since I was 28.

I know, I know, empirical vs. scientific, blah, blah.

And you know what? It's the same for sex drive - I still "rise at dawn" (and afternoon, and early evening, when I smell roasting meat, when I'm watching TV, when I'm meditating, using chopsticks, playing guitar, oh nevermind... ) in my 30's, years after adopting a low carb approach, my health is the best it's ever been, and I've always been a sufferer of allergies - when I'm not eating LC paleo. My allergies don't return when I reintroduce starch, but by golly my weight skyrockets and I start having IBS issues again.

So, even if he was right, I'd be left to choose between hair or health. Kinda fickle, if you ask me. But on every count, his assumptions do not apply to me.

And trust me, if I could eat gratuitous carbs again and without ramification, I would look for any excuse to do so.

Can someone explain what the Ray Peat diet consists of? He has so many essays with so much information I am having a hard time nailing down what he really recommends?

I'm fascinated by his ideas, but wish the science was cleaner, or at least better presented. I've been on a significant dose of 5-HTP for years specifically to raise my tryptophan, and the Roddy/Peat idea that you want to limit trytophan as much as possible really throws me for a loop in a good way. I think it's good to have some voices in my Paleo-stream that don't agree perfectly with the Paleo establishment; I'm planning on keeping my eye out to see if he (or others) do a more complete job explaining and corroborating Peat's hypotheses.

He is a Raypeatian. I follow his work, but not sure how much stock I should give it. I don't know of many people who follow his work and at times he seems to say to do the opposite of what works for me.

I am currently a "Peat-a-tarian" and a female with no-hair loss issues. I have noticed that all the little whispies hairs that surround my face (and have since childhood) have started growing like crazy. So it works for me and I wasn't even trying.

I have always had good hair so I have no idea. I was, however, a bit desperate to get my boss to try something. She's always complaining, but despite seeing me lose weight she's still eating SAD. She's also complaining about hair, so I tried to get her interested. Danny doesn't like grains or legumes, so I figure she'd be halfway there. Besides, what if she could give up bread if she could eat ice cream every once in a while?

Well, it was no use. She's still eating SAD and complaining.

The article just makes me want to become a biochemist again. We are having arguments that we can't figure out because we need real studies that the mainstream idiots won't fund. I remember Danny from back when he was a zero carber- one can say, with charity I believe, the man is a zealot. I would love to have him on my side. I just don't know what my side is. I start googling to figure out that whole thing about this hormone turning into that hormone, etc... Then, you know, at some point, life makes me step away from the computer and I've got to go with whatever seems to be working right now.