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Theory Collection
Here is a thread to collect your best theories. I think it would be best to update your response if you change your mind about your theory! That will keep the thread succinct. 🙂 Ideas for theories:
1: Is vit-A toxicity a real thing?
2: How do you know you've got vit-A toxicity?
3: Why do certain people seem to have severe Vit-A toxicity diseases?
4: How do we quickly fix Vit-A toxicity?
5: What causes detox cycles?
6. Why are VA problems so bad during female hormonal times?
7. Why do so many here have chronic fatigue?
8. What does thyroid have to do with VA issues?
This is a "live post" and I last edited it 11/21/19.
1: "Is vit-A toxicity a real thing?"-- Yes--and it may be a really hard thing to believe if you don't suffer from it!
I think that it is normal to have stored vit A in the liver. It is normal to have a low amount of vit A circulating in the blood (with an escort). Elevations of VA in the blood during infection is normal. There may be an upper limit to the amount of time elevated blood levels can be endured without harm.
My theory is that problems arise when VA is stored other places besides the liver, and the more storage of VA outside the liver... the worse things get.
It is not normal or healthy to be blanched orange from eating carotenes.
2: "How do you know you've got vit-A toxicity?"
I'm happy with most of the lists that I've seen here and on Dr. Garret Smith's site, although I think over time we might just call it "eczema of any organ".
3: "Why do certain people seem to have severe Vit-A toxicity diseases?"
I believe we do use Vitamin A to do some important things (for instance, as a weapon). I believe that occasionally at some times/places in human history...people who were "stingy" with vitamin A had a better chance of survival (in other words, they ran out of A slower and survived). Of course, the opposite may also be true, that at some times/places in human history... people who could tolerate lots of vitamin A had a better chance of survival (for example arctic people). And so we have variable genetic tolerance.
An alternate theory is that sometimes people get multiple sets of genes from their family tree that are VA stingy (much like the inbred mice that are used for Lupus research). I'd like to point out that lupus is a not a new disease, it was named hundreds of years ago.
Perhaps we become deficient in important nutrients that handle vitamin A. (such as zinc, B6, vit C)
If you have kidney damage you might end up in a vicious cycle in which a damaged kidney doesn't get rid of A properly, ending up in a more damaged kidney. Other organs may be like this as well.
Exposure to Glyphosate and perhaps other chemicals might harm your ability to detox VA. Some foods may also block pathways.
Perhaps some people start off life VA toxic because of the VA-status of their mother during in-vitro and nursing.
Naturally string-bean people 🙂 might have specific issues because they have less fat in which to hide away VA (which the body probably shouldn't be doing anyways, but it is probably better than no backup plan)
4: "How do we quickly fix Vit-A toxicity?"
I personally doubt there is any painless or quick way to recover from vit-A toxicity. Just as it hurts to knit a broken toe back together, there will be discomfort during healing.
People with life-threatening disease might want to limit VA more severely than those with time on their hands.
5: "What causes detox cycles?"
My theory is that SOME detox cycles may be about utilizing stored fats and exposing the body to the VA that is also stored there, adding to the VA load that the liver is currently keeping as a baseline.
It is probably NECESSARY to eventually get this "work" done. But knowing that there will be hell to pay, perhaps we can try to get this "work" done during calm times in our lives and not when we are under duress.
Did you know that the hump on a camel is not water but FAT? When you burn fat you get energy, water and carbon dioxide. There are a million articles on the web saying that you will loose fat by drinking water but I'm pretty sure that they have it backwards. I believe that if you are dehydrated you will burn fat to get water. But why would modern people have things backwards? (Wait a minute...retinoid drugs!)
To have a little control of things, when we are having ordinary times perhaps we should (gently) try to enter fat-burning mode. Skip the snacks, have a good workout, feel some hunger.
When you need to be able to count on your your body (you're moving house, getting married, going on travel, spouse in the hospital, big interview etc), snack and drink water adequately to keep yourself out of fat burning mode! Keep exercize gentle!
I've started to think that some of detox is moving calcium from where it shouldn't be, back to where it should be.
6. "Why are VA problems so bad during female hormonal times?"
A woman will stop menstruating when their body fat goes too low. That makes me think that stored body fat is utilized to make hormonal times happen--releasing VA into the system! (possibly the bloating associated with mensing is from the release of water that happens when utilizing fat cells)
Follow the advice above -- endeavor not to enter into fat-burning mode during hormonal times (pre-menstrually, menstrually and ovulatory)
Do try to enter fat-burning mode (gently) during other times of the cycle. (there might be a few days in there lol)
7. "Why do so many here have chronic fatigue?"
Because anything that causes us to go into fat-burning mode sends us into higher VA territory!
RAMP UP EVER SO SLOWLY
8. "What does thyroid have to do with VA toxicity?"
Perhaps the whole stringbean vs not stringbean thing is a clue to the thyroid issue.
Perhaps many people's bodies realize that a LOW METABOLISM state is safer!
When the body goes into HIGH METABOLISM state the VA comes streaming out of the fat cells like Flying Monkeys out of the Wicked Witch of the West's castle!
“Eczema of any organ” <— love that description!
1. I have been wondering since starting low VA diet if I am in the right track. I still don’t know.
2. I have always had orangy tint to the palms of my hands and orangy tint to my skin. As a child, I had skin peeling off my feet in sheets. It wasn’t painful, just fascinating for a little girl. I also used to eat a lot of grated carrots and carrot juice as a child. My mom did it to help my eyesight.😼) it didn’t and I still need corrective glasses.
Short time ago I went on a carnivore diet that included 400g of liver per week. I developed xanthelasma and yellow spots around my eyes which still persist. I also have had Hashimoto’s for the last 30 years if not longer.
My blood tests show vitamin A within range. This is what confuses me, wouldn’t a blood test show excessive vitamin A?
3. I wonder if hypothyroidism has something to do with it. Difficulties in detox, perhaps due to weakened liver or some genetic mutations?
4. I very much doubt that this can be done quickly with what we know at this point.
@beata-2 I think you’re right. I don’t know if hypothyroidism is a consequence of VA toxicity, or if it’s part of a protective mechanism against VA toxicity and when broken down allows more damage or what. But there were some papers I read that showed TTR (transthyretin) was able to protect areas of the body from damage that would occour if RBP (retinol binding protein) levels were high. TTR is made from thyroid hormone, and carries RBP in such a way as to sheild the body from it (I hope I’m understanding that correctly). Now, I’m not a scientist and this might be wrong, but this is what I remember reading. I will try to find those studies and put them in a post at some point because that information might be one piece of the puzzle in regards to #4. Thyroid hormones are made from protein (tyrosine) and iodine.
I have edited the first post to add 3 new questions (detox, female hormones, CFS, thyroid).
I have edited the second post on this list to reflect some of my new theories.