It's possible to be thin and have a fair amount of fat. One of the ladies in our group weighed in at 140-ish pounds but was 40% fat according to her DEXA scan. You could try fasting if you can safely fast. You'd want to read how to do it, though, and ideally have a doctor monitor you. (Good luck there.) Jason Fung and Valter Longo discuss fasting and techniques, what to watch out for. Tummy fat is the first to go during a fast. Fat in the organs, then fat around the organs. I'm doing a mini-fast right now actually. :D

If anything has been vilified in the past 30 years in the US, it's been fat. I agree that carbs can and should be eaten. Most people I know, even those on very low carb diets, do eat carbs but they tend to be vegetables and fruit. For some, grains cause problems. My youngest for some reason has problems with gluten. Both my husband and I carry one of the genes for Celiac so maybe that's it. I also know people who have no digestive problems eating bread while in many European countries but do have problems with US bread. There must be some difference. Maybe ours has been more hybridized? I don't know. People should eat what works for their body. Sugar in great abundance is not a good idea, though. I think most people except the US sugar lobby would agree.

In regard to carbs/fats, the Lancet just came out with the results of the following mortality studies. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32252-3/fulltext?elsca1=tlpr http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/29/low-fat-diet-linked-higher-death-rates-major-lancet-study-finds/

I would love that recipe!

TRE and somatic therapies have piqued my interest lately, especially after reading about and seeing accounts of the tremors in action and how individuals felt it helped them. I've read Berceli and am starting to read one of Levine's books. I am just curious about the topic in general. Actually, kind of in awe how they help some people. Anyone have experience with these therapies?

Very nice!!! I am practically having to poke my rising junior with an electric cow prodder to get his stuff in order for the upcoming internship fair. Ugh! Time for you to breathe a little easier. :)

Congratulations!!! He is going to love not having the stress of interviewing during the school year! :D

Different nut flours can work well as substitutes. Some of the almond flour/meal breads use baking powder to give it more of a "real" bread texture. There's one on Reddit that's supposed to be good. Pinterest is also a good resource for these kinds of recipes. I prefer nut flours over grains nowadays. Tasty and filling.

Robert Lustig has talked about the harmful effects of sugar. Years ago, Linus Pauling discussed very well-designed studies in his book and came to the conclusion that sugar consumption is harmful, too. As for CICO, circadian rhythm significantly affects weight gain or loss. Satchin Panda studies this. Additionally, hormone signaling affects weight and body composition. I belong to a group that follows Jason Fung's advice (keto / low carb / fasting). Many of Fung's followers have lost and kept off large amounts of weight, especially fat which some measure with DEXA scans and not a scale. These are people who've had weight problems for decades, trying many different diets with little success. They experience all kinds of health benefits. I am not overweight but I follow Fung's and Valter Longo's fasting protocols for the health benefits of autophagy. The people I think are worth checking out: Just about anyone Rhonda Patrick interviews Robert Lustig Valter Longo Jason Fung Thomas Seyfried Dominic D'Agostino

Is it okay to walk outside if you don't look directly at the sun? My son has to walk to an appointment during the eclipse.

Definitely Hawaii! It has oceans, mountains, canyons, volcanoes, rain forests, waterfalls. You can ski (sometimes) and hike, and swim, surf and snorkel. It's super laid back and relaxing. The weather is gorgeous. The food is fantastic. We try to go there every year. This year we are going to Kauai. I like many places in the US. In less than 3 years, dh and I will be doing a lot of traveling, I hope, when he retires.

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/221787-x-post-11-yo-math-and-concentration/?p=2151662 A school in Illinois developed the exercise program Ratey discusses thanks to an inquisitive phys ed teacher who happened to read about neurology. If you like his book, you might also like Daniel Goleman's book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. The part about the importance of developing self control is worth reading. Then, if you want to learn what self control is from a neurological point of view (rather, what we know now :)) and how to strengthen it, read Richard Davidson's book The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live--And How You Can Change Them. What Jeffrey Schwartz has written about free will is also interesting.

I used a pulsed electromagnetic frequency (pemf) device, the SOTA, to get rid of my pain. A PEMF device sends a magnetic pulse through tissue which helps your body heal through several pathways. It took several weeks using the device as often as possible but worked very well. Today I'm pain free but use it for other problems that crop up. The SOTA would be a good choice for problems in deeper areas. https://www.drpawluk.com/health/back-pain-lumbar-disc/

CS Lewis has written about suffering in his book The Problem of Pain. Other have, too, but his book helped me the most of the ones I've read.

I like Mother Teresa's take on what prayer can do: “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that He will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.†The Peace Intention Experiment, where people have meditated for peace, has had interesting results. Prayer may be similar. http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/peace/about.htm

I'll be looking into the Oak Iron (White Oak Bark?) and Vitamin C as well as the video. Thank you for mentioning them.

I leave mine on a chair near the bedroom door and have it set so I can get phone calls but not notifications. I'm going to use it to play pink music at night to see if it helps dh sleep deeper and longer. We'll see if it helps.

Thanks for all the input. It's given me some much-needed information and ideas to pursue. We've decided to see a gastro. Someone not recommended by my son's internist but the gastro is very good and also closer to us. We're not going to schedule the endoscopy at this point because all of ds's symptoms have gone away within the past 10 days that he has gone gluten free. The current doctor wants the endoscopy to see if ds had an ulcer and also to check if he might be one of the oddballs who has Celiac Disease despite testing negative for it. At this point I want another doctor's opinion regardless. What I'm going to ask about is Cyrex Lab's Array 3 and also the stool test Crimson Wife linked (thanks!). I really dislike the idea of having an endoscopy done at this point. DS is also going to remain gluten free. What I want to ask the gastro about is the iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Specifically, I want to find out if he would recommend an IV of iron sucrose and possibly erythropoietin. I'm not so sure ds will be able to absorb much extra iron orally at this point and if oral iron might cause more problems. Ds has begun to eat more foods that are high in iron and is taking vitamin c with plant sources high in iron. So far, so good as far as tolerating them but I just don't know if it is the best way to go about helping the IDA. Thanks again for all the advice.

Adolescents go through a process of pruning out neurons and other neuro changes that can cause mental health issues, so at the very least, I would think finding someone who reads up on that would be helpful. For example, pre-adolescents have a "wall" of neurons that help to buffer signals between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex on the left side. During adolescence, if this wall is pruned out too much, signals that are normally buffered out can get through and cause distress. Dan Siegel talks about some of the issues that affect adolescents in his book. I'm not at home and don't remember the name but it's the one about adolescents. You can also hear him speak about this on YouTube. In a nutshell, if you can find someone who has read about these findings or is at least willing to consider them, you might be okay with a non-specialist.

Thanks, Jean. I hope all goes well for your daughter tomorrow.

Yes, we want to avoid the endoscopy if at all possible. Thanks for linking that test. I'm going to look into it. Interestingly, I wonder if DS2 had a growth problem due to gluten that wasn't detected. His older brother is 6'3" and ds2 is 5'6.5". When he was three, he saw a gastro specialist at UChicago who noted he hadn't grown much in over a year. The pediatrician just pooh-poohed it. DS2 also has other quirks that make me wonder. One is a tic where he snaps his elbow up. He has trouble controlling that.

My 20 year old, who was having a lot of nausea and lower GI problems, recently got back his blood work and tested negative for Celiac Disease. However, his ferritin was 9 out of a range where 20 is the low. In the past week since seeing his doctor, he's cut out gluten and symptoms have improved quite a bit, so it appears gluten is causing the problems. His doctor wants to schedule an endoscopy and have him take Prilosec. My son is handling all communication with his doctor himself and does not know what questions to ask or how to clarify and also does not have the good sense to write down the med or procedure! So, I hear this from him, "I just spoke with the nurse and she said I need to take something and get something done." Ooookay. Luckily, he has an online portal with this info but before he contacts the doctor again, I thought I'd contact the hive to get some input. My understanding for taking the Prilosec is that gluten may have damaged cells in the stomach that have something to do with acid. Anyone know? I'm trying to study up but thought someone here might have a quick clarification. Is the endoscopy necessary quite yet if the symptoms are going away after a week? I would prefer to avoid gluten, increase iron-rich foods in his diet and wait two months or so to see if ferritin increases. I know the endoscopy could shed some light but it's so invasive. I'm also thinking of getting all of us tested using the Cyrex Lab Array 3 which screens for antibodies to many of the proteome in wheat as opposed to just alpha gliadin. I wonder if I might have "silent" gluten sensitivity which, although it's not harming the GI, it could be affecting other parts of the body. Then there's FODMAP intolerance which I have not read much about either. Any info on any of the above is much appreciated. TIA.

LOL. You probably ran across some of the strange things I do, Sparkly.

SKL is an accountant, IIRC. Taxes were the tricky part back in the day when I was technically an independent contractor and not a freelancer.

Here's a story about a visitor who brought a horse to visit the recovering patient. :) http://www.nbcnews.com/id/23764759/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/horse-thwarts-hawaii-hospitals-visitation-rules/#.WZH_DK2ZOV4