I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
My progress - Jean
Quote from Jean on January 20, 2023, 9:00 am
@tobias I forgot to mention that along with my loss of libido, Im now gaining fat on my belly, and muscle mass is reducing even though I keep training.
Loss of muscle mass, increased belly fat, dysphonia, anxiety and hair loss could indicate that you have low testosterone. It is possible to supplement testosterone, but doing so without cutting vitamin A (the main culprit behind the depletion) will just lead to prostate cancer. Your testosterone will replenish naturally over the years on the diet anyway.
As for where to start, most people opted to use Grant's rice, beans and lean meat diet as a template and modified it to suit their personal needs. I doubt it's optimal, but it's the best we have for now. Read some of the logs people are keeping and don't be afraid to create new threads if you have questions.
Quote from Jean on January 20, 2023, 8:47 amQuote from Tobias on January 20, 2023, 6:43 amSounds like a classic case of vitamin A toxicity, which you can acquire before you're even conceived. I had all of the symptoms you listed, but after 3 years on the diet they've been almost completely resolved.
Do you remember the order which you gained the symptoms? I believe the earlier they appeared, the longer it will take to resolve. The latest symptoms disappear first, at least it did for me and a few others.
@tobias The constipation/gas/bloating/gastroparesis came first, then the fatigue, lethargy/depression, then all the other symptoms came up later on in life, like joint pain, nausea, excessive sweating, mucous, weak voice, stage fright.
I remember a time in my childhood where I used to be extremely extravert, joyful, spontaneous, creative, energised, enthusiastic and social. Over time, I became a very different person, secluded, shy, depressed and fearful.
Ive tried so many diets, so many protocols to regain health, and return to my true self, nothing really worked. Now embarking on the the vit A journey combined with liver flushing.
@jean Even though I still have a ways to go on this diet, mostly from pushing too hard at times and some new deficiencies, it's important to share that I still have experienced much more joy and well-being in the last year or more, depression has lifted as has irritability. Friends have commented on it as has my family. Energy has sky rocketed and I feel less phobic, less fearful in general. Detoxing too hard can sometimes make me scared again but at least I know what is happening and I react to it less emotionally. So I am hoping the same positive changes will soon happen for you too.
Hi @jean
I was reading through your list and I suspect you may have issues with your gallbladder leading to you suffering from chronic gastritis.
I highly recommend getting a HIDA scan so you can either rule out or confirm a faulty gallbladder being the root cause of that particular problem.
The gallbladder is the most methylation sensitive organ in the body - Andrew Rostenberg.
Vitamin A toxicity/detox imbalances methylation by upregulating the GNMT gene and also causing nutrient deficiencies of vital methylation nutrients. Also, the vA detox diet may be deficient in vital nutrients (such as choline) further exacerbating these imbalances. I think it’s important to ensure that the body has enough of these vital nutrients during the vA detox. If methylation is struggling the body can take choline from cell membranes apparently. This is bad.
@jean-2 well that’s the million dollar question! What I’ve done is go back to my classic nutritional therapy roots and re-include the nutrient dense foods, like eggs, that I was excluding. I’m using Cronometer (free) every day to see what nutrients I’m lacking. I came up very low for folate, vC and vE. I’m trying to increase these. My aim is a nutrient replete diet. I’m trying to eat organic too and avoid all processed foods. I don’t have the perfect answer for this and each person will have different needs too. I just think that having a too limited diet can have unforeseen consequences. I think I’m suffering from these consequences currently.
@jean-2 Not sure if I shared this before with you. My suggested diet. https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/topic/a-best-practices-diet/?part=9
In any case I wanted to add that fat digestion of everything improved for me after eating eggs. Initially I only had 1-2 eggs a day but may have had some sulfite digestion issues for the first year. It may have been a factor that I was 3 years into the Vitamin A reduction as well.
@andrew-b@andrew-b Thanks for sharing. How do you cook your eggs? I noticed that fried eggs are the hardest for me to digest, followed by poached then boiled. Also worth mentioning that animal fats are a major trigger for my symptoms, especially gastritis, nausea and slowing down of my digestion. I'm guessing this is due to toxins, hormones and vitA being stored in meat fat.
@jean-2 I lightly fry the eggs. Often using them in pancakes, fishcakes, apple sponges and beef burgers. I'd suggest your stomach acid may be low. Reducing vit A will help. I wouldnt 'force' too much meat if that's the case. Eggs might be the best thing gradually if you tolerate them sufficiently.