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Andrew's Progress Log
I wonder about meat - hair connection too. For now I have two theories: either it's iron that does the harm, or the protein from meat gets vA moving.
@andrew2 I had bad varicocel pains as well. I think it has to do with copper imbalance. So maybe low ceruloplasmin, low bioavailable copper, low vit C etc.. SImply bad collagen production=weak veins. High estrogen will create varicose veins very effectively. I developed it while having high estrogen from steroids for sure... I would stop extreme diets and looking for single toxin that is the culprit for all issues. Most likely it is many things together. I would suggest balanced diet. What feels right. Maybe more vit C. Eating a lot of beef high in iron is probably not ideal..
Btw nickel is the new toxin in the spotlight? I saw that Dr.Smith is doing videos about it, but I stopped following all this. It will get you nowhere. Just chasing your tail. Doing even more damage with restrictive diets and stuff.. Have you tried hair tissue mineral analysis in ARL laboratory from the US just to see? Maybe you are high in toxic metals other than copper/iron and you run low on minerals that are antagonistic to toxic metals like selenium, iodine, molybdenum, chromium, manganese etc.. Or simply you have imbalance of those elements.. Btw Nickel is on ARL hair test included as well.. Do you feel bad detox reaction if you take more iodine or selenium? Like couple mg of iodine from lugol or like 400mcg of selenium? That would be good sight that you are toxic in stuff.. Are you doing sauna?
@grapes - I do not believe it is the iron (or at least, not for me). Reason being (I can't remember if I have mentioned this before in my log - getting a bit long to search now):
(1) I noticed a few years ago that the more meat I eat, the more my hair sheds. It could almost be observed on a daily basis. If I had next to no meat for a week, my hair shedding would drastically fall. If I ate 1/2lb daily, my shedding would increase, if I ate 1lb daily, it would be even higher... I repeated this experiment many times, and the finding was undeniable (I must stress, this is just n=1). I would go between weeks of low meat intake, to high the next, and the pattern was consistent.
(2) Naturally, I wondered why this was happening. I also wondered if it could be the iron in the beef at the time (I did have high ferritin back then, and high transferrin saturation) so I swapped out beef for lower iron meats (actually white fish) and repeated the experiment. I saw exactly the same trend, and roughly the same increases in number of hairs falling on the comb every morning at each different level of intake (0g, 100g, 200g, 400g etc) - and yes, I literally did count the hairs...
So I do not think it is the iron, given that the white fish I was eating was anywhere from 5 to 10 times lower in iron than beef typically would be.
(3) I came to the conclusion that it is either specifically the phosphate (I have had a lot of meat in my life and probably in excess), certain aminos etc. that are likely causing a stress on the kidneys / system. Protein can require a lot of the body to digest it, especially in excess, and I think it can have a very *drying* effect on the body - dry mouth, dry skin (ankles especially), dandruff. And I think this seems to be one contributor to hair loss over the long term.
Hey @jiri - thanks! I have heard a lot of theories around varicose veins in general:
(1) I have heard about estrogen (I have sometimes had elevated estrogen compared to ideal levels for sure)
(2) I have heard about vA just damaging the walls of the blood vessels themselves
(3) I have heard about the idea that liver blockages / inefficiencies (e.g. fatty liver , toxins in liver, congestion in general) leading to a "traffic jam" of sorts in the blood circulationbefore the blood can return to the heart. This blockage in the liver then stops the blood coming back up the body in the veins from being able to keep moving with each heart pump, so the pressure has no where to go but outwards, causing bulging veins / damaging valves / leading to blow-outs.
Who knows...
Haven't really used vitamin C much, not sure about it for a number of reasons. And yes, the nickel stuff was brought to my attention by the ND stuff - I'm not normally one to jump on new things on a dime (especially new supplements), but this stuff was very convincing. I did find it particularly interesting the evidence about nickel causing early greying, and also its contributons to vitiligo. Since starting this diet, I was having 1/2 to 1 can of black beans pretty much every day, which is very high in nickel... and in that time I have gone from a few grey hairs here and there, to almost half the sides of my head being grey hair in the space of about two years at age 33-36. I have found numerous other comments from people doing a lot of beans and oats that they have seen a huge increase in grey hairs and couldn't figure out why. Obviously this is not proof, but there was enough evidence for me to want to give it a try. I have been doing the 'low nickel' for about 3 months now, and I genuinely do think the number of greys on the sides is reversing already - though it's a bit too early to tell for sure. If you recall, I took some photos of the side of my head and mentioned this as a finding a couple of pages back on this log.
I appreciate this is not proof. Greying could literally have been from aging / genes / just life. But somehow I don't think so... going from a couple of greys sprinkled in, to almost fully grey on the sides in 3 years, in the mid-30s ... I don't think that's just a natural thing.
I feel fine taking iodine and selenium - no observable reactions, positive or negative. I have experimented with them on and off over the years. But you talk about "chasing your tail" - I think we'd be chasing our tails to be focusing on trying to get every single micro-mineral into some perfect range through hair mineral analysis. I'm not saying there's nothing to it, but it can be extremely complex - it's certainly much simpler to me to focus on depletion or repletion of one key toxin or nutrient at a time (though I recognise this isn't necessarily a god way to go either).
I am sure that my nutrition is not perfect, and I know my diet is quite restrictive. But, like Grant, my main goal is to get vA (and now, temporarily, nickel) out of me as fast as I can - once it's gone, maybe then I could focus more on getting everything else completely right and closer to optimal. I also specifically wanted to add to the evidence pool of what can happen to serum blood levels, autoimmune levels, symptoms etc. on this diet, good or bad. Because of thism I am trying not to deviate much.
Quote from Jiří on October 12, 2026, 10:38 am@andrew2 I had bad varicocel pains as well. I think it has to do with copper imbalance. So maybe low ceruloplasmin, low bioavailable copper, low vit C etc.. SImply bad collagen production=weak veins. High estrogen will create varicose veins very effectively. I developed it while having high estrogen from steroids for sure... I would stop extreme diets and looking for single toxin that is the culprit for all issues. Most likely it is many things together. I would suggest balanced diet. What feels right. Maybe more vit C. Eating a lot of beef high in iron is probably not ideal..
Btw nickel is the new toxin in the spotlight? I saw that Dr.Smith is doing videos about it, but I stopped following all this. It will get you nowhere. Just chasing your tail. Doing even more damage with restrictive diets and stuff.. Have you tried hair tissue mineral analysis in ARL laboratory from the US just to see? Maybe you are high in toxic metals other than copper/iron and you run low on minerals that are antagonistic to toxic metals like selenium, iodine, molybdenum, chromium, manganese etc.. Or simply you have imbalance of those elements.. Btw Nickel is on ARL hair test included as well.. Do you feel bad detox reaction if you take more iodine or selenium? Like couple mg of iodine from lugol or like 400mcg of selenium? That would be good sight that you are toxic in stuff.. Are you doing sauna?
It is very easy to go down the rabbit holes. A couple of things:
- I have had that same varicocele pain in my right testicle. Did not happen before going low vA so it could be related or it could be coincidence. I have used one drop of lugols on it and when I experience pain and it seems to go away. I have not had to do it in a week or more. My theory is that I am very low in iodine as I supplement erratically, do not really eat anything with iodine in it, and well … my testes need it. If you go that route, be careful. Some people say it burns, but I never feel anything except pain relief.
- The whole nickel thing is interesting. I did not know oatmeal is high in nickel, but I did give up black beans in favor of black eyed peas (also known as cowpeas in some parts). Not ready to give up my morning bowl of oatmeal just yet.
- Been down the low oxalate path as well, which has some promising results, but also didn't relieve everything. What is nice is that a lot of low vA concepts pair nicely with low oxalate eating so it is not so much a matter of further cutting anything out, as being aware of quantities.
Good health to you and to us all!
Quote from Andrew W on October 13, 2026, 3:06 amHey @jiri - thanks! I have heard a lot of theories around varicose veins in general:
(1) I have heard about estrogen (I have sometimes had elevated estrogen compared to ideal levels for sure)
(2) I have heard about vA just damaging the walls of the blood vessels themselves
(3) I have heard about the idea that liver blockages / inefficiencies (e.g. fatty liver , toxins in liver, congestion in general) leading to a "traffic jam" of sorts in the blood circulationbefore the blood can return to the heart. This blockage in the liver then stops the blood coming back up the body in the veins from being able to keep moving with each heart pump, so the pressure has no where to go but outwards, causing bulging veins / damaging valves / leading to blow-outs.
Who knows...
Haven't really used vitamin C much, not sure about it for a number of reasons. And yes, the nickel stuff was brought to my attention by the ND stuff - I'm not normally one to jump on new things on a dime (especially new supplements), but this stuff was very convincing. I did find it particularly interesting the evidence about nickel causing early greying, and also its contributons to vitiligo. Since starting this diet, I was having 1/2 to 1 can of black beans pretty much every day, which is very high in nickel... and in that time I have gone from a few grey hairs here and there, to almost half the sides of my head being grey hair in the space of about two years at age 33-36. I have found numerous other comments from people doing a lot of beans and oats that they have seen a huge increase in grey hairs and couldn't figure out why. Obviously this is not proof, but there was enough evidence for me to want to give it a try. I have been doing the 'low nickel' for about 3 months now, and I genuinely do think the number of greys on the sides is reversing already - though it's a bit too early to tell for sure. If you recall, I took some photos of the side of my head and mentioned this as a finding a couple of pages back on this log.
I appreciate this is not proof. Greying could literally have been from aging / genes / just life. But somehow I don't think so... going from a couple of greys sprinkled in, to almost fully grey on the sides in 3 years, in the mid-30s ... I don't think that's just a natural thing.
I feel fine taking iodine and selenium - no observable reactions, positive or negative. I have experimented with them on and off over the years. But you talk about "chasing your tail" - I think we'd be chasing our tails to be focusing on trying to get every single micro-mineral into some perfect range through hair mineral analysis. I'm not saying there's nothing to it, but it can be extremely complex - it's certainly much simpler to me to focus on depletion or repletion of one key toxin or nutrient at a time (though I recognise this isn't necessarily a god way to go either).
I am sure that my nutrition is not perfect, and I know my diet is quite restrictive. But, like Grant, my main goal is to get vA (and now, temporarily, nickel) out of me as fast as I can - once it's gone, maybe then I could focus more on getting everything else completely right and closer to optimal. I also specifically wanted to add to the evidence pool of what can happen to serum blood levels, autoimmune levels, symptoms etc. on this diet, good or bad. Because of thism I am trying not to deviate much.
- Vitamin C is so underrated. I do not supplement it, but I have increased my lemon intake. I wouldn't say a game-changer, but it has made some difference in how I feel. vC is needed for collagen (skin, joints, ligaments, etc.) and not just immunity, but it is vital for that as well.
- Do you know for sure you are high in nickel or is that just conjecture? As I mentioned in another post, it is easy to go down a lot of false rabbit holes (copper, nickel, iodine, B6 toxicity … . the list is endless).
Quote from Andrew W on October 12, 2026, 4:57 amI will add some context around the above, just to be fully open. I really wanted this log to really lay everything out in truth, and not hide anything. So to that end:
I started the whole "low nickel" thing around 3 months ago - I haven't really noticed any major benefits, but I was quite convinced about nickel and its association with early greying, vitiligo, and other stuff, so I thought I would try it and am sticking to it.
This mostly meant dropping the beans, breads and the occasional oats I was having - which in turn meant that my main meals are basically beef and rice.
I am aware that a fibre is important, and have been experimenting with some things, but not found anything that fully works on that front. Seeing as nickel is excreted primarily from the kidneys (urine), I figured I could probably be okay without a soluble fiber (at least in the short term) as long as I had adequate fat from the beef.
Unofrtunately, I was really struggling to make up the calories on such a limited diet, and had started to sneak in additional things. I started adding small amounts of cheese, with an aim of adding less than 1000IU of vA (not ideal, but still maybe "okay") and getting in some calcium (which I have probably been deficient in).
Unfortunately, cheese backs me up pretty bad, which I remembered shortly thereafter its introduction (I think it's the proteins), so I then foolishly swapped it out for ice cream...
Because I was struggling to get in enough calories, I ended up eating quite a bit of extra ice cream to make up the deficit. Sometimes even up to 400g per day (a small pot). Google seems to suggest that this is approximately 1600IU of vA per day, which is certainly too high... but I sorta justified it to myself by saying that:
- "the low nickel diet is temporary, maybe only a few months, then we can go back to something without the dairy, and replace the calories back again with something low vA."
- "it's only 1600IU of vA, that's only half the RDA. Whilst I may be stalling my depletion, I shouldn't be accumulating any more..."
So I have effectively spent the last 90 days having on average c. 1000IU of vA from dairy every day... I was not craving this food specifically, and certainly don't see this as a craving for vA (a note to any detractors). But I was wasting away - I have gone from 181lbs (tbh carrying a little extra fat than I'd like, my six pack was disappearing) down to 168 lbs , and I did that in about the 4-6 weeks in July / August... and that's WITH the ice cream included... I have been using the ice cream to add more calories since I just can't stomach all the rice, and too much meat makes my hair shed and fall out (as I have mentioned before, I still don't know why this might be).
More generally, I am struggling quite a lot. I am 36 now, my sexual function is completely in the dirt and has been since I started this 3+ years ago , which has been extremely distressing and is putting my life hopes on hold.
I am having varicocele pain quite frequently on the left side, which has been very difficult... not debilitating, but extremely difficult to stay motivated to continue living. One good thing, I have noticed quite recently that the varicocele pain is way worse the morning after a day of high sodium intake... this makes sense, increased blood pressure could certainly make this problem worse.
As such, I have tried to completely cut out sodium salt use, and tried t stay away from any foods with added sodium salt in them. I have also been thinking about supplementing potassium in much larger amounts, since I have been aware for some time about imbalances / deficiencies in macro minerals sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium,and how common they are in today's world. This article was very interesting for me, not sure if his protocol is necessarily the most optimal, but his points are interesting:
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/salud/salud_potassium.htm
I will also say, when I wake up with varicocele pain on my left side, I can also feel it in my left lower back. I am wondering if this is a kidney issue (and that the varicocele is a downstream symptom of kidney issues, rather than directly from liver problems). For those unaware, the veins leaving the testes go up to the kidneys before entering the main portal veins etc. in the centre of the body.
I am also wondering if I have kidney blockages, possibly from the 20 liver flushes I did 18 months ago. Andreas Moritz does recommend kidney cleanses too (mostly drinks / concoctions) and I have read a little about chanca piedra...
Life has been so full-on, that I haven't had the time to get blood tests done (also a bit scared of what I'll see), and I certainly haven't had my kidneys checked for stones / CKD...
Pretty rough time, and pretty sad that I am still in this state after 3+ years of trying this (barring the 3 month hiccup recently). I really hope I can fix myself, and am fighting to keep going - I don't want to give up.
All that said, I am actually pretty pleased with the weight loss. Looking pretty muscular and lean now, which is good - just a shame about what's under the hood!
Anyways, beg pardon for the doom rant. I hope people are improving and feeling well.
Cheers all.
Hi,
I responded to your post indirectly in other replies, just minutes ago, but wanted you to know that I have gotten that same varicocele pain in my right testicle. I don't eat a lot of iodine-containing foods, and I am wary of supplementing large doses of iodine anyhow, but I have found 1-drop of Lugol's 2% iodine on my testicle really helps—I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS. I haven't had to do that in a week or so, but it was an option for me as my intake of iodine is low. If you do decide to try it (not advised), be aware that some people report burning, but it never burns me (guess I have balls of steel) and I am only using 1-drop anyway.
I hear you on the dairy. I am not a big dairy-eater, even before going low vA, but I struggle with calcium and I think that, along with high vA (before all of this) was on the way to destroying my bones and joints. When I say I struggle with calcium, I often get 200 mg per day (when I need 1,000 according to RDA). I have resorted to the occasional 50-100 grams of cheese (yes, I know there is vA in it, but it is a tradeoff I am willing to make without completely crashing my internals), and also tofu which is normally calcium-set, and can generate an extra 300 mg of calcium with a standard serving (who only eats that though?). So for the past few weeks, I have upped my calcium, just from that, to anywhere from 800 mg - 1100 mg daily, and my bones have been feeling better. Mind you, I am a 60 year old male, but we need even more calcium than women, so don't let folks downplay the importance of calcium. Also, there is a movement to demonize calcium, claiming it creates high blood pressure to all sorts of things, but just like all the other electrolytes, it is needed also. It's a fine line we walk, I guess.
Thanks for sharing your update, hope you start feeling better, and best of health to you!
(PS: I didn't do my blood labs this month because I was a little bummed that my last vA serum went from 56 to 61, even though cronometer showed my intake of vA was even lower than the month before. I might retest again in early December).
I am currently having lots of asthma, after a very stressful month. Thanks for the idea of getting more vitamin C! Interesting too about the iodine.
The adrenal needs C...
Limes/lemons helped people who probably had vitamin A overload (or other toxins) symptoms on ships... in a prolonged, stressful situation...
@bruce look how much vit C can synthesize animals that can synthesize their own vit C. In normal state and in stress/injury/infection etc. state and how much vit C are eting animals in nature that can't synthesize vit C. Healthy dog can synthesize around 40mg per kg of bodyweight. Other animals like goats even 200mg or more per kg. Primates who can't synthesize their own vit C have intake around 10-40mg per kg of bodyweight.
Taking this to account. Don't you think that it is really weird that they recommend for people only around 1-2mg per kg of bodyweight? Especially when you consider that we no longer live healthy natural life and it only makes sense that we probably need constantly higher intake like those animals under stress who can synthesize much more vit C???
If I just use my common sense to me it looks like we should have at least 30mg per kg of bodyweight. So for 83kg dude like me it is around 2500mg as normal intake and during some stress/injury/illness it should be probably 2-3 times more at least..
Buffered version is probably best as we probably don't want that acidic load on the body. I mix vit C with baking soda to make sodium ascorbate...
Quote from lil chick on October 13, 2026, 6:22 amI am currently having lots of asthma, after a very stressful month. Thanks for the idea of getting more vitamin C! Interesting too about the iodine.
The adrenal needs C...
Limes/lemons helped people who probably had vitamin A overload (or other toxins) symptoms on ships... in a prolonged, stressful situation...
@lil-chick most definitely!
We definitely need more vC. From what I have been reading (too much Internet time!) there is a resurgence (or maybe just an occurence) of sub-clinical scurvy.