I’ve been a bit quiet for the last six months. But, I’ve not at all lost interest in the vitamin A research topic. It’s just that, like with millions of other families, we’ve been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Fortunately though, no one in my family, nor myself, have been sick from COVID.

Redoing the 1925 Wolback and Howe study

In last year’s community survey, and in forum posts, I inquired about and wrote about interest in redoing the 1925 Wolback and Howe study.  Towards that goal I had submitted a proposal to have this study replicated at an American University. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, that proposal was cancelled.

This does not mean that we won’t be redoing this study at all. Rather, it just needs to be put on hold until after things get back to normal. I’m still very interested in having this study replicated. If you want to help me to get it re-organized please contact me directly.

Detox setback / diet failures / diet successes

The detox setback cycle is still being encountered by too many people. It’s often not short term and is causing people to abandon their low vA diets. In the past we’ve had several theories as to why people are encountering the setback cycle. We’ve suspected a vitamin B deficiency due to increased demands of higher carbs etc. on the B vitamins. We’ve suspected the lack of zinc and other resources needed to sustain the increased requirement for ADH and ALDH enzymes. We’ve suspected that a possible increase in protein intake is causing a surge of stored retinyl esters being released from the liver into bile, and with that the addition vA is being reabsorbed into circulation. 

Probably all of the above suspected mechanisms are at play to some degree. Of course, it’s going to vary by individual. Whatever the reasons and mechanisms are, we’ve still not pinned it down enough to where people can reliably avoid getting into this detox state. I see this as a very serious problem, and one that we need to solve. But, it’s way beyond my capabilities to come up with a solution.  We probably need some dedicated research on it.

Of course there’s a lot of good news with the low vA diet too. We are still seeing success stories. I hope there are many more successes as more people get into year 3+ with their low vA diets.

Diabetes

Over the last six months I’ve been looking more into how and why vA toxicity is likely causing both Type I and Type II diabetes. There’s actually a lot of research back over the last 30 years that supports this theory.  So, diabetes will likely be my primary topic of interest next year. I’ve gotten a private email (not shared on my forum) from a parent about their child who has reversed Type I diabetes using a low vA diet. Although it is just one case, I see it as being really important. Firstly, it’s so important to know that the disease can be reversed, and is not always life-long. Secondly, if reversing the disease has happened once, it can most certainly happen again. 

Personal Health

My personal health remains good. I’d say that I’m still seeing small improvements; such as the last few spots of dry/ damaged skin are improving.  In August I’ll post a more comprehensive health assessment with my 7 year update.