I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
Rapid Gum Recession
I’ve also been considering whether B vitamin problems could relate to my gum issues and angioma/capillary problems.
As I mentioned in my other Niacin Flush thread, about a year into my low Vitamin A diet I started getting what feels like a strong niacin flush from drinking meat broth, and then more recently I started getting it just from eating meat high in niacin like salmon and rabbit.
When I first went low Vitamin A, I was getting a similar sensation that was mostly isolated to my sinuses, except that sensation seemed to be instantaneously sparked by fat consumption during a meal. I’ve also been routinely getting this sinus sensation in the middle of the night throughout much of my detox.
The concept of niacin flush was never on my radar until I started getting more of a whole body sensation and lightheadedness from broth. Now I’m wondering if the flushing sensation in the middle of the night is somehow connected to niacin activity as a component of Vitamin A detox.
It looks like niacin deficiency is associated with gum problems that mimic gum disease, so I am about to start supplementing with niacinamide. Before I ordered the niacin supplement though, I started taking B1 (100-200 mg of TTFD from Thiamax) and a B Complex, which I’ve experimented with in the past. Two things seem to have happened: (1) The sinus flushing sensation seems to have returned full force when taking a larger dose of the B Complex, and (2) I’m pretty sure I had several more cherry angiomas just show up suddenly.
Several times in the past, I could swear I had a burst of angiomas appear within a few days of starting some kind of B1 supplement. That connection could be coincidence and/or my mind playing tricks on me, but it seems to have happened enough times now that I’m thinking there’s a causal relationship. B1 supplements also tend to make me feel weak and lackadaisical for a while after taking them, so I’m pretty sure they’re having some kind of strong effect.
My new hunch is that because B1 plays an important role in detox, taking it in isolation is pushing some aspect of detox really hard but my body doesn’t have enough of the other nutrients to balance it. In particular, I’m thinking now that it might be causing niacin deficiency, and is messing with ceruloplasmin/copper/Vitamin C levels in some way that results in angiomas and broken capillaries. So I’m going to see what happens when I take niacinamide by itself, and compare it to how I feel when taking it in a B Complex.
I feel like there's some nutrient in particular that I am most susceptible to using up in this detox process. I had hoped that not taking any supplements and just eating nutrient-dense meat and some berries would balance things on its own, but that doesn't seem to be the case for me, so I'm back to experimenting with supplements in the hopes of identifying a nutritional weak point.
@wavygravygadzooks, Thanks for sharing the details; invaluable for many of us here. Good luck experimenting with the B vitamins. I have always found them really hard on my system.
Maybe slowing down detox is another way to conserve what little of some nutrients we have…
For a while now I crave a bit of raw onions with my meals. I heard that onions slow down the VA detox (G.Smith) but this doesn’t worry me at all as I am here for a long haul. I also noticed that the onions (probably Quercetin) help to keep my teeth smooth and clear of plaque after meals. I had a huge issue with having to brush my teeth after each meal and now it is not necessary.
I guess there is not one approach to this arduous process. Time is an important factor - as long as we don’t cause some irreversible damage, like gum recession. So back to this topic - if you find that the B vitamins help with it, that will be a very important discovery.
@christian, I have experienced amazing recovery from many of my food sensitivities, so having a cup of green or black tea is not a problem at present. I choose not to drink it simply because I enjoy hot water with a pinch of salt the whole lot more - and because, losing my sense of smell post flu, (and subtle abilities to taste interesting flavors), tea taste like water and coffee like a nasty bitter brew.
If you enjoy it then who is to say green tea is bad for you? There will always be many and various theories about what is good or bad for us. We need to remember to trust our bodies and the messages that they provide. Everything else is really an academic discussion.
You're so right about listening to our bodies, trusting our intuition. I'm the expert on my own body much more so than anybody else. But then the thought of doing it RIGHT creeps up. I derive a lot of my internal safety from food. Doesn't sound too healthy. But that's how I've learned to cope over the years.
@christian, I viscerally understand what you mean about deriving internal safety from food. Probably most of us do so, as food is the easiest aspect of life to control (or lose control over). I am still weighing my food not trusting myself not to overeat. It became such a part of my routine that I don’t think about it - because when I do, I find it odd…
So you're turning to food as well for comfort, control, and safety. How does it make you feel to use food in such a way? When I think about it, it makes me feel sad. I don't think it needs to be this way, not that I know of an alternative. I wish I had other venues beside food to give myself a sense of peace. Right now, I have the impulse to bury my face in my two hands. I'm still looking for those other ways to get a sense of control. If you've found something that works for you, I'd be ready to listen.
@christian, what I meant was that food is the easiest aspect to control when trying to achieve robust health. In my life I have “gone nuts” with food, going through many and various diets, protocols and following other people’s idea about what I should be eating- to my own detriment. This approach created imbalances and toxicity which I am not repairing. 🤔
I have a weird approach to food as I have always suffered from excessive hunger (as did my mother). Not wanting to be overweight, I learned to control the food intake and be extremely disciplined not eating and snacking away from my meals. I wonder how this affected my personality as this constant vigilance is pretty hard on the soul! So, using food as a comfort blanket is a no go for me but controlling my food intake is the order of the day.
Finding ways to cope with life that doesn’t include food is probably essential to anyone’s well being. I have many interests and hobbies, so it helps. I love learning and every so often I add something to my knowledge base that moves my focus away from what I eat. Latest is my interest in German New Medicine, also the exercise regiment with Tommy John (as promoted by Dr. Tom Cowan https://www.bitchute.com/video/Bqh6m018jnh9/ that is based in holding the body in uncomfortable positions…). I also discovered Micheal Hoffman, a man who knows a thing or two about how the world works. https://soundcloud.com/guns-and-butter-1/the-twilight-language-zone-michael-hoffman-438
Not sure if this is helpful. Grant got his health back eating meat, beans and rice, so maybe we try to complicate things a bit too much. Time is an important aspect of healing - and often forgotten.
Isn't the trick to understand to whom you want to listen to when it comes to controlling your health with food? So there are people who totally vouch for Paleo, others for a fruitarian diet. Before I discovered the idea of low vitamin A, I was following Ray Peat and his ideas of a Pro Metabolic diet. It all sounded so coherent, like a perfect thought-out system. From all the vitamin A and beta-carotene I've ingested, I've developed hypervitaminosis.
As I reflect about it again, I eat more for comfort, less control. Not that control isn't an issue for me, but the feeling of emptiness and loneliness can be attenuated with food, and I think that's more pronounced in my case. For you, it sounds as if food is there to be measured and weighed in order to achieve a perfect ideal towards which you are striving, at least not to be obese as you're describing it. I can relate to this sentiment too. To me, it's about trading love, as if I can buy into it when I show this ideal self of myself. But it's so freaking hard, I want to let it go and want to choose authenticity and vulnerability instead because isn't that what builds the basis for meaningful connections? We're not robots but human beings with flaws, quirks, and imperfections. A perfect life is anyway a bogus mind confusion.
You've discovered some interesting things. I haven't looked into it more deeply, but I'm glad you find the energy and drive to learn new things and extend your world view (or, as I recently learned by the Bret Weinstein thread: to become less stupid over time :)). I think for me it's about addressing and acknowledging my hidden feelings, only this way I can grow. Otherwise, I'll be running from them time and time again. In the past I had this image of myself being someone who learns a lot, acquires all this knowledge like a Google bot crawling the world wide web. For me, it's about being in this world and sucking in the experience of life which makes me come alive. This is my new ideal.
What's helpful is that you take your time to share your experience and your point of view, that's valuable and helpful. Yeah, maybe I'll look back and think, damn, I've been overcomplicating things tremendously, maybe it's really all about a low vitamin A status that helps to become whoever you've meant to be all along. I think user @YH shared some really great progress which makes me hopeful. Some people take longer, I guess even snails arrive at their goals.
@christian, you articulated your thoughts beautifully! Life is both complex and simple - depending on the mood.
I now know that trying to achieve balance, I created imbalance which I am now correcting (hopefully).
I also followed Ray Peat for a time but nothing in his approach worked for me, so I left that crowd rather quickly. It seems to me that people such as Ray are great researchers and scientists but their theories are often based on theoretical studies that not necessarily work in practice.
Better option would be to observe healthy, long living populations and see how they are doing it. I had a fascination with this topic in the past and had a privilege of living next to a 106 old Greek lady. She was all about moderation, frequent abstinence from eating, hard physical work, family relations and a touch of wine!
My troubles were excess consumption of one type of food (different ones at different times)and subsequent imbalance and toxicity.
I came to believe that local, seasonal, organic food in moderate quantities is the answer to our search for the perfect diet. And relationships, nature, creativity, lightheartedness, laughter, movement, etc. completes the picture.
Now try to apply this in 2022 with constant barrage of adds for the fake foods, glyphosate, overmedication, strawberries in December, stress of trying to make a living and recently the authorities chasing us with a syringe full of crap - and the picture of health is a smudge on the computer screen we spend too much time at.
I sense that your loneliness seriously impedes your life. Is this something that you could work on? I am embarrassed to suggest anything as this is a very personal topic. But…would having a pet be of any help?
Your image of Google bot crawling…arrgh, I seem to be pretty close to it and this is the last thing I wished for myself! But the latest global events have swallowed me as trying to understand them opened a huge and deep rabbit hole where I presently reside. 🤨
Having said this, I better stop typing and go do some painful exercises to make myself feel better 🤔😂
@beata-2, I appreciate that you enjoyed my comment above. As you mention, it's hard to be in a healthy state of mind and body in current times, there are quite a few challenges we are facing right now. So many people buy into this idea of being vegetarian or even vegan in order for them to support their health and the environment. It's as if we're being further and further pushed away from the ways how our grandparents once ate, and it seemed to work for most of them. I think you're right that there are lots of things to be learned by centenarians. And that food is only one puzzle piece to the entire story of good health is not surprising. A sense of belonging and meaning in one's life is probably very important to overall well-being. Relationships that matter, curiosity and play come to mind too. I think these are things one can work on when there is a general baseline of health established. Surely, they are interdependent too, but I think one needs basic good health to have good relationships.
And this brings me to what you've suggested about having a pet. I like your suggestion. And it's totally fine to address the issue for you, I appreciate that you take it seriously and express concern. Having a cat would be nice. I need to think about it. It's not that I'm totally isolated per se, it's more I wish to have more meaningful and deep relationships. The sense of loneliness stems also from the fact that I broke off with my girlfriend at the beginning of this year. The breakup stings. And for long I didn't see it coming. Anyway, it doesn't make it easier if one anticipates it. There are a few issues that I could work on: A sense of inadequacy being one. Well, it's not there all the time, but creeps up occasionally. There was very little emotional support in my family, problems didn't exist as long as we didn't talk about them. Not very helpful to grow up and mature. Not that I want to look back that much and analyze family stuff, that's another rabbit hole that hasn't led me anywhere.
Haha, yes, the current geopolitical agendas really do raise my eyebrow. I hope you find your way out of the labyrinth soon enough. Life is happening now, but I guess there is also some joy to be derived from intellectual activities. BTW, I've read your recent progress report, that's really encouraging that the veil of brain fog has lifted for you. I hope you continue to improve and find energy to do all the things you still want to do in your life.