Random additional thoughts

1) Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance occurs when your cells cannot utilize the carbohydrates that you consume because of one or more of the following factors: 1) You have consumed too many calories—carbohydrates, fats, and/or protein—relative to your energy requirements, 2) Your metabolic machinery is dysfunctional, or 3) You are on a very low carb diet, and your body wants to spare as much glucose as possible for your brain, so it shuts down glucose uptake by your liver and muscles.

Number one is not a problem in the short term, but eventually becomes a problem in the long term.

Number two is always a pathological, and can be caused by numerous factors such as nutrient deficiencies, nutrient excesses, heavy metals and other environmental toxins, oxalate overload, etc.

Number three has been termed “physiological insulin resistance” because it’s a normal adaptation, that is quickly reversed upon the resumption of carbohydrate intake.

2) Get enough calories

While chronic calorie restriction below the estimated basal metabolic rate has been linked to increased longevity in multiple animal studies, it also has multiple downsides, including atrophy of cerebral gray matter,¹ chronically suppressed basal metabolic rate, which may increase the risk of cognitive decline,² and decreased testosterone levels.³

You should consume the amount of calories necessary to match your estimated basal metabolic rate and activity level. Here is a good online calculator:⁴

3) Magnesium and calcium

RDA notwithstanding, 200 mg of magnesium per day is probably more than enough for most healthy people (more precisely, 2.4 mg/kg body weight),⁵ and 750 mg of calcium per day is probably more than enough for most healthy people (more precisely, 9.4 mg/kg body weight).⁶

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-018-0024-8

2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39545511/

3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20096034/

4. https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17023712/

6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17921384/