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Progress report and a warning about brown rice
@ggenereux2014"... the damage is localized and severe, almost as if Vitamin A had carved out tunnels in specific areas of the body". At time 10:30
Wow, this stuck with me and I had to come back and quote it. I know what he means!
I do wonder with the tongue problems that he has... if B12 is needed. Taking B12 has caused an overhaul of the surface of my tongue. Still in progress.
I don't think this is limited to the tongue, though. I would wonder about things like missing tissues around vertebra, and the damage done to kidneys. Or anywhere really. The tongue is just a place you can SEE.
@ourania has talked about changes to the fascia which may be a part of this.
I think old "injury" sites become the first to show signs of systemic problems regardless of whether it's from Vitamin A toxicity, other toxicities, or immune system dysfunction...Vitamin A is probably not unique in that regard. For example, the low oxalate groups suggest that oxalates accumulate at old injury sites.
I strongly suspect that a lot of people who think they have Vitamin A toxicity are actually dealing with gut problems and immune dysfunction aggravated by plant compounds and refined foods, possibly with a burden of Vitamin A on top of it that is exacerbating their symptoms. I had a long history of gut problems that preceded my Vitamin A issues, and the more I fixed my gut the more obvious the symptoms of Vitamin A toxicity became (i.e. my body was redirecting its attention from gut inflammation to resolving stored toxin loads).
I suppose there is a chicken and egg problem with the gut. Which comes first? Maybe some people come out of the womb with high VA and an OK gut, while others come out of the womb with a broken gut and low VA.
Then another chicken egg problem: Can you gut-fix if you are still VA toxic? Can you detox with a broken gut?
IMO, we are all living through slightly different incarnations of this problem.
Grant's personal diet has some gut fixing ideas (such as dropping gluten)--but he didn't especially go out to fix his gut.
Some people here have had benefits from gut-fixing ideas during detox. Like tim-2 and his herbs.
Injury sites could be a thing. We've discussed whether VA is mobilized for reasons such as infection or etc. I don't think it's known. I think many here frown on the idea that the body uses VA for much.
To me it seems apparent that VA itself (in high enough concentrations) causes injury, wherever the body decides to squirrel it away! But it is interesting to think of WHY it ends up the places it ends up. Some of us don't seem to be very good at hiding it in extra fat stores. Besides the liver, fat might be the body's safest bet. Which is probably why so many struggle with weight issues.
To be sure, Vitamin A toxicity is going to predispose you to intestinal inflammation and some form of gut problems, and gut problems are probably going to predispose you to Vitamin A toxicity and other toxicities. But it's also possible to have one without the other, and I think gut problems in the absence of Vitamin A toxicity are probably a more common cause of chronic illness than Vitamin A toxicity by itself.
My own experience is that I gradually improved my gut condition by first removing starch, and then increasing fat, and then removing oxalates, and finally all plant foods. By the time I was on carnivore, my gut almost felt normal for the first time in over 10 years, but then I started to get both constipation and bile acid diarrhea from Vitamin A excretion.
I tried all kinds of probiotics, prebiotics, and antimicrobials before I went carnivore, and in retrospect I think they were all a waste of time and money when it's so much easier to just remove the fuel (carbs, fiber, and plant toxins) and hit the reset button.
I've been an endurance athlete for most of my life, on a low-fat high-carb diet until recently. I've never had much body fat. My weight was highly consistent despite having Vitamin A toxicity. I don't think Vitamin A toxicity alone leads to extra weight, I think you have to be giving it unsaturated fat or fructose, and other carbs could make it worse. But if you ARE eating unsaturated fat or fructose, Vitamin A toxicity may further encourage the addition of fat stores.
I might've wound up with more nervous system problems from Vitamin A toxicity than others because I have little other fat to hide it in. I hope that also means I'll be rid of it sooner because I had less stored up elsewhere!
I’m a vA fat storer. I was dismayed, upset and furious when I suddenly for no apparent reason got fat, having been slim all my life until then. I was 49 when I suddenly put on 20lbs. Oh it must be menopause. Then later another 10lbs. Then I discovered vA toxicity and realised I’d been poisoned. Then I went back over my history and the very month I added cod liver oil was when it all started to go wrong as far as weight was concerned. I didn’t see this at the time.
I now look back and think ‘clever body’ as I’m quite sure if I hadn’t piled on fat I would be much sicker.
On the matter of rice. I eat organic basmati brown or white rice from a U.K. shop called Waitrose. I eat it at least twice a week. It apparently comes from ‘the foothills of the Himalayas’. I soak it well and boil in plenty of water. I have regular hair tests with Dr Smith, every six months, and arsenic has never been a problem. Just showing that some rice is ok.
However, when my sister went gluten free and was eating lots of rice products her arsenic went through the roof so I do think it is an issue to be aware of.
Quote from wavygravygadzooks on April 13, 2021, 10:55 amI think old "injury" sites become the first to show signs of systemic problems regardless of whether it's from Vitamin A toxicity, other toxicities, or immune system dysfunction...Vitamin A is probably not unique in that regard. For example, the low oxalate groups suggest that oxalates accumulate at old injury sites.
I strongly suspect that a lot of people who think they have Vitamin A toxicity are actually dealing with gut problems and immune dysfunction aggravated by plant compounds and refined foods, possibly with a burden of Vitamin A on top of it that is exacerbating their symptoms. I had a long history of gut problems that preceded my Vitamin A issues, and the more I fixed my gut the more obvious the symptoms of Vitamin A toxicity became (i.e. my body was redirecting its attention from gut inflammation to resolving stored toxin loads).
I think withdrawal/limiting A could also lead to IRIS(immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome), since A also has powerful steroidal effects(like many other vitamins), so people thinking of detox are probably experience effects from the immune system instead, since a lot of damage to gut and tissues should be repaired which was previously masked/balanced with continuous A intake.
BTW, brown rice could be seen as dirty(unclean) food IMO - it contains a lot of staff in bran like γ-ORZ with poorly defined influence on the human body.
wavygravygadzooks said: "I think withdrawal/limiting A could also lead to IRIS(immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome), since A also has powerful steroidal effects(like many other vitamins), so people thinking of detox are probably experience effects from the immune system instead, since a lot of damage to gut and tissues should be fixed which was previously masked/balanced with continuous A intake."
This is a new idea that I haven't seen yet on this site: that VA would have steroidal effects. I had to go out to the interwebs to find a quick answer to "what are steroidal effects". I got this quick answer: "Steroids reduce the production of chemicals that cause inflammation. This helps keep tissue damage as low as possible. Steroids also reduce the activity of the immune system by affecting the way white blood cells work"
It's nice to have new people like you here, @wavygravygadzooks because we get some new ideas in.
It does seem like most "commonly accepted ideas" about VA get turned on their head here, though, LOL.
Do we know that it is true, this idea that VA has steroidal effects? I suppose it might explain why people use it on acne, or in antibiotic ointments.
BUT If VA has steroidal effects, then why is steroid cream the go-to medicine for VA-affected areas, like eczema? It seems to me that steroids reduce almost all bad effects of VA, (but of course, temporarily, with hell to pay later).
It seems to me that VA has the opposite of a steroid effect, LOL.