When “just eat real food” isn’t enough
“Eat clean” didn’t fix my health. Neither did sleep, cardio, or quitting seed oils. This did.
Maybe you’re in your 20s and just cutting alcohol will 10x your energy and drop 10kg.
But once your health is properly wrecked, the hacks from health gurus stop working. Guaranteed.
“Just eat real food” won’t save you. For more people than you think, food alone isn’t enough.
I know because my health collapsed 15 years ago. And I’ve tried everything since.
For context:
I never drank more than one glass of wine a month
I’ve been sleeping 8+ hours for years and mouth-taped before it was trendy
I ditched seed oils before it was a Twitter meme
I’ve cycled through every diet imaginable — paleo, keto, carnivore, vegan, low-FODMAP, SCD, you name it
Nothing worked.
My lowest point was beyond exhaustion
At my worst:
I needed 14–16 hours of sleep just to function
Brain fog so heavy I couldn’t think straight
Walking 10k steps wiped me out for a full day
Migraines every other day
Digestion? Let’s not go there
I built a life around low input: 10 hours of work a week, zero stress, just to survive.
I'm better now — but not because of food
Now? I’m better. Not cured, not perfect. But I can work more — just not full-time. I’ll never go back to 8-hour days.
And the thing that helped me most is why I get so angry at the “just eat real food” crowd.
Because it wasn’t enough.
My energy flipped with two things
I have gene mutations (MTHFR and others) that mess with methylation. It reduces choline and creatine synthesis. Which flattens dopamine. Leading to disastrous energy and motivation.
I could eat a dozen eggs and a steak a day — didn’t matter. My gut doesn’t absorb everything properly.
Here’s what actually worked for me:
250–500mg CDP-Choline
10–15g creatine daily
Yeah, 10–15g. When I say that, people look at me like I’m insane. But 5g? Nothing. Might as well be a sugar pill.
Some people get side effects on that much creatine. Others — like me — need it just to feel normal.
Look into MTHFR and creatine. You’ll find stories like:
“Fixed my erectile dysfunction”
“ADHD symptoms gone”
“Energy came back after 10 years”
Then you’ll find others saying the opposite. Because genes matter. Gut health matters. Deficiencies matter.
But there’s no money in figuring out your specific biochemical mess. The research will never be enough.
So stop waiting for it. Start experimenting. Carefully, methodically — but don’t mindlessly outsource your body to gurus and PubMed abstracts.
You have to become your own case study.