Hi, Gang:

Been lurking a while...very interesting reading!

I have a question or two, if you please...

I ballooned up to a high of 288 pounds about three years ago. Using a
low-fat vegetarian diet and lots of exercise, I trimmed to 225...but my
blood fats were in the "imminent death" range and my hair was brittle, etc.

After returning to normal eating (not necessaarily good!), I plumped back
to 252 pounds...which prompted me to try Atkins...which I had tried as a
teen (lost 30 pounds in a month! Stopped because I though the diet was
unhealthy!). Using Atkins I dropped to 235 pounds...when I added Phen-fen.

The drugs helped me drop to 218--a 12-year low not that far from my
185-pound goal weight. After two months on PF, however, the weight loss
stopped and the drug's newest side effects became known.

After I stopped taking PF -- and thanks to not being very vigilant about
adding carbs to my diet -- I quickly gained weight back to 242. Enter my
discovery of Neanderthin, Instincto, and the low-carb and paleo-dieting
archives.

In my first week on Neanderhtin I'm down three pounds to 239...which is
still not terribly significant. I'm not sure the nuts and fruit components
of Neanderthin are gonna work well with my goofy metabolism. At my
pre-Phen-Fen weight of 235, I had been plateaued for four months.
Eliminating diet pop, coffee and cream (for the coffee) WAS PURE HELL! Tea
and sparkling water still taste like crap, but I'm getting used to them --
and the caffeine withdrawl is now over.

But the body temperature question still plagues me. My "normal" body temp
is 97.8 or so -- for years. I mentioned this to the doctor who prescribed
PF, and she said it was not a reliable predictor for low thyroid, or
whatever. She says my Thyroid function tests are all fine.

Can anyone tell me more about the relationship between body temp and
metabolism -- and what to do about it, if anything?

Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

--Kirk, in Minnesota

re:


At 05:20 PM 12/27/97 EST, you wrote:
>Don,
>
>98.6 seems to be optimal body temp.   Slight variations either above or below
>this level adversely affect enzyme systems and other metabolic processes.
>
>As far as I know, members of H % G societies have normal body temperatures at
>98.6.
>
>Ed Campbell, DC,CSCS
>