Also see:
Collection of Ray Peat Quote Blogs by FPS
Collection of FPS Charts
Master List – Ray Peat, PhD Interviews
Diabetes: Conversion of Alpha-cells into Beta-cells
The Streaming Organism
The Randle Cycle
Bisphenol A (BPA), Estrogen, and Diabetes
Insulin Inhibits Lipolysis
Aldosterone, Sodium Deficiency, and Insulin Resistance
“Many people with diabetes have used brewer’s yeast and DHEA to improve their sugar metabolism. In diabetes, very little sugar enters the cells, so fatigue is a problem.”
“Brewer’s yeast has been used successfully to treat diabetes. In the 1930s, my father had severe diabetes, but after a few weeks of living on brewer’s yeast, he recovered and never had any further evidence of diabetes. Besides its high B-vitamin and protein content, yeast is an unusual food that should be sparingly used, because of its high phosphorous/calcium ratio, high potassium to sodium ratio, and high estrogen content. The insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas have estrogen receptors, but I don’t know of any new research investigating this aspect of yeast therapy.”
“Zinc, as in oysters, and potassium and the B vitamins, as in brewer’s yeast, are sometimes necessary. Many people get gas from the complex carbohydrates in yeast. This can be prevented by steeping a tablespoonful in a cup of boiling water, and drinking only the yellow liquid and throwing away the sediment. Protein is lost, but the other nutrients are highly soluble.”
“Since early in this century, brewer’s yeast was used for treating diabetes. The pancreas has an estrogen receptor, and estrogen promotes insulin secretion. Since reading of yeasts’ responsiveness to sex hormones about 15 years ago, I have encouraged people to use liver when they need a vitamin-mineral supplement, and to restrict the use of brewer’s yeast mainly to treatment of diabetes.”
“Brewer’s yeast has been used traditionally to correct diabetes, and its high content of niacin and other B vitamins and potassium might account for it beneficial effects. However, eating a large quantity of it is likely to cause gas, so some people prefer to extract the soluble nutrients with hot water. Yeast contains a considerable amount of estrogen, and the water extract probably leaves much of that in the insoluble starchy residue.”
Is fresh yeast appropriate?
Thanks for all your info Rob.
A little unclear about whether or not to use boiling water and discard sediment (in interest of reducing estrogen). On the one hand he says estogen may be useful for insulin secretion, on the other he suggests removing it, both with diabetes control the goal. He doesn’t say what his father did in this regard.
Do you have a recommendation as to how much to use?
Do you have more info on managing prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance?
Thank you.
I think brewer’s yeast is the best choice.
Yes, boil the water and b. yeasts combination. Let simmer at rolling boil for 2-5 minutes. Then pour into glass. Let the sediment fall down to the bottom over a period of half hour or so. Pour off liquid. Discard sediment. Consume liquid only. 1T to 4T is the dose I use.
The randle cycle is an important idea to understand regarding diabetes and insulin resistance.
The Randle Cycle
http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2011/06/25/stress-and-pufa-cause-diabetes-randle-cycle/
Endotoxin (intestinal toxins) are an overlooked contributor to those problems as well.
Endotoxin: Poisoning from the Inside Out
http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2011/11/20/endotoxin-and-liver-health/
January 2009 The Journal of Lipid Research, 50, 1-2.
Endotoxin in the gut and chylomicrons: translocation or transportation?
Carl Grunfeld 2 and Kenneth R. Feingold, Associate Editor
The intestine contains trillions of microorganisms and massive amounts of endotoxin, which if absorbed from the intestinal lumen into the body would result in overwhelming septic shock and death. Recently there has been an increasing appreciation of the role of gut microorganisms and their translocation into the systemic circulation in promoting metabolic disorders including obesity and insulin resistance, as well as in the pathogenesis of very different disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, HIV infection, ethanol-induced liver disease, and hemorrhagic shock.
Diabetes Care. 2011 Feb;34(2):392-7.
Endotoxemia is associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes.
Pussinen PJ, Havulinna AS, Lehto M, Sundvall J, Salomaa V.
Both prevalent and incident diabetes were associated with endotoxemia, which may link metabolic disorders to inflammation. The results suggest that microbes play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.
Diabetes Care February 2011 vol. 34 no. 2 392-397
Endotoxemia Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Incident Diabetes
Pirkko J. Pussinen, PHD1, Aki S. Havulinna, MSC2, Markku Lehto, PHD3,4, Jouko Sundvall, MSC2 and Veikko Salomaa, MD2
OBJECTIVE Diabetes is accompanied with a chronic low-grade inflammation, which may in part be mediated by endotoxins derived from Gram-negative bacteria.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We investigated in a population-based cohort whether endotoxemia is associated with clinically incident diabetes. The serum endotoxin activity was measured by limulus assay from the FINRISK97 cohort comprising 7,169 subjects aged 25–74 years and followed up for 10 years.
RESULTS Both the subjects with prevalent diabetes (n = 537) and those with incident diabetes (n = 462) had higher endotoxin activity than the nondiabetic individuals (P < 0.001). The endotoxin activity was significantly associated with increased risk for incident diabetes with a hazard ratio 1.004 (95% CI 1.001–1.007; P = 0.019) per unit increase resulting in a 52% increased risk (P = 0.013) in the highest quartile compared with the lowest one. The association was independent of diabetes risk factors: serum lipids, γ-glutamyl transferase, C-reactive protein, BMI, and blood glucose. Furthermore, the association of endotoxemia with an increased risk of incident diabetes was independent of the metabolic syndrome as defined either by the National Cholesterol Educational Program-Adult Treatment Panel III or the International Diabetes Federation. Endotoxin activity was linearly related (P < 0.001) to the number of components of the metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Both prevalent and incident diabetes were associated with endotoxemia, which may link metabolic disorders to inflammation. The results suggest that microbes play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.