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Viktor's progress
Interesting about the mango helping night blindness (possibly!). Several of us have seen it come and go. For myself, I am only moderate with my low-VA diet and so I assume that I still get carotenes enough to handle night blindness, and yet I still saw it now and then. Don't really know what to make of it.
Some people have put forward the idea of "fresh carotenes" (if carotenes get stored for later removal, are they now dead to us?). Others have put forward the idea that you can get away with carotenes better when you take them without fats. (are they more likely not to "stick around"? then)
One thing I've noticed is that the occasional times I have had carotenes (which I do avoid, but sometimes can't) I've had itchiness in the nether regions as they worked their way through the system.
I haven't done it (because I'm dumb, not stupid) but I am well aware that I could eat a cheddar omelette fried in butter and cure my night blindness overnight. Or half a pumpkin pie. Or mangoes. I don't, because I understand the mechanism and that, long term, it's not to my benefit. Not a slight against you, Victor. You should do you. I read Grant's books 3 times and cannot forget them.
I'm not so sure that Joseph eating the pumpkin pie or the omelette is going to cure the night blindness.
We had that interesting story about the kid who only ate chicken nuggets and soda who lost his vision. I would expect that he was deficient in loads of nutrients. Zeroing in on the missing VA is kind of myopic. (see what I did there?)
Could it be that some here go through night blindness during times that we are bottoming out on nutrients that VA-detox burns through?
(aside: I wonder if anthocyanins are helpful or not, I remember that story about world war 2 fighter pilots, probably a rumor brought to you by Big Jam LOL)
As I've said, I've never gone zero VA and yet I've seen it happen. I eat eggs and dairy in moderate amounts, I eat pale salads, pineapple I sometimes even eat tomato. I know I hover close to lots of nutrient deficiencies, especially some of the B's. I don't like to take supps. B-vitamin deficiencies would be my guess for my night blindness.
My detox continues very slowly, at the pace of glaciers. I'm not saying this is the way to go. What I'm saying is I still sometimes get night blindness despite eating VA.
I'm also not saying take supps. I don't trust them anymore. Pork is very high in B1.
Hi everyone! An update (nothing new here though).
I think I've kinda hit my threshold with b-carotene from mangoes as eating them every day lately has resulted in pronounced hypothyroid symptoms. Those resolve in less than a day and are way way milder than what I used to experience when I was overeating carrots or liver (before that) but still unpleasant. Thankfully, it happened just as a "cheap mangoes from Egypt" season is coming to a close here, so I'm glad I had time to enjoy the best mangoes during the year lol
I feel better and can ingest more A/carotene, when: I eat at least a bit of red meat on a regular basis (probably due to zinc); I get enough protein; I stick to a diet that's as much varied as possible in my case. Yesterday I made a salad with one huge tomato, 2 cucumbers, dill, parsley and greek yougurt and feel alright (did several sets of pull-ups/push-ups yesterday evening and in the morning today); I eat at least some whole-meal rye or wheat bread (probably fiber and B-vitamins). Night blindness isn't an issue anymore.
I no longer have severe toxic reactions to any kind of air pollution or off-gassing. The worst was in 2022 when we had smog from wildfires and I just so happened to have folate deficiency (like folate levels being below the reference range, which isn't even common in modern populations). I started having severe brain fog after a few minutes in a polluted environment and an air purifier at home was my only savior. I ate next to none of greens or fruit or vegetables back then, so that's my fault. Anyway, my serum folate levels have finally almost reached the recommended level and I think that's also played a part in my feeling better. Now I'm at 7,7 ng/mL (hopefully more as the test was taken some time ago), while back in 2022 I tested at 2,9, which is very very low and means my methylation was all screwed up. My homocysteine isn't optimal yet but I hope to bring it down to below 8.
So, my plan for the near future is: mangoes/persimmon or any other high-carotene foods in moderation once in 2-3 days; enough protein from all kinds of foods; red meat in moderation; no liver; D3 and magnesium, no other supplements; dried nori chips 2-3 times a week for iodine; weightlifting with enough rest between workouts. I'll update whenever I do a new set of labs or start feeling any different.
A small update! I'd been noticing lately that my usual vitamin D3 supplements were making me feel very bad: tired, brain fog, very irritable (!) and generally sick. I've tried upping magnesium, calcium, whole grains, fruit, veggies for other vitamins and minerals, to no avail. My digestion has also gotten very sluggish.
In the end, 4 days ago I quit caffeine entirely as it was giving me extra anxiety anyway. Lo and behold, I have no irritability or brain fog after taking D3 anymore. My digestion is also better and faster.
Get sunshine or use a lamp? I haven't taken vitamin D for a long long time. I live pretty far north. One of the things no one takes into account is bright sun on new snow. Sit in front of the snow field. I'd say it's more sun than spring or fall!
Quote from lil chick on December 5, 2025, 10:55 amGet sunshine or use a lamp? I haven't taken vitamin D for a long long time. I live pretty far north. One of the things no one takes into account is bright sun on new snow. Sit in front of the snow field. I'd say it's more sun than spring or fall!
No sunshine till late spring for me, unfortunately, and the lamp seems too complicated tbh. In any case, I've tried taking D3 again and haven't noticed adverse affects this time either. I've read that caffeine blocks vitamin D receptors in the cells, so that may be why I have such a toxic reation to it when there's caffeine in my blood.
Think my opinion that oral vitamin D is rat poison is already well known. Plenty of documentation to that effect already. Item below was written January, 2024. Since then @will turned me on to a much cheaper much more powerful DIY unit. Just make sure to stay at least 5' away from the unit. Since I started to work out in front of it 20 minutes a day from 5 to 10' from it, I have not gotten a burn. My first time in front of it for 2 minutes at 3' away got me the worst burn ever.
http
s://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFT6S43?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1
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s://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWPIMJE?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
Topic related archived from another blog - anecdotal
It is your decision. Might want to read through all the lessons, comments and related posts on UVB lamps on LYL. I did before we bought our Sperti. I think right after I bought the UVB lamp, Doc switched his preference to UVB / UVA lamps. I think his rationale was that UVA provides a good warning against overuse while UVB provides the good vitamin D.
From experience and reading here and elsewhere:
Irish with lots of freckles and way white skin. First 50 years I burned badly in sun more than an hour. Burned easily in half hour. Mosty kept covered. Never liked lotions. Siblings and my Mom have had small spots removed a number of times after turning 60. They all think I am crazy and they all cover up and slather on sunscreen. It is clear that the sun hurts their skin.
Mercola and others got me started on digging into the topic more. I think Doc has addressed it more on recent livestreams too. The model I am currently working with:
Our skin makes and secretes vitamin D while we are in the sun in proportion to our lack of melanin. During the following 4 to 24 hours, the skin reabsorbs that secreted vitamin D. Besides all the other uses of that natural endogenous vitamin D, it protects our skin from sunburn. My latest guess is that it helps remove retinols in the skin that sunlight bakes and forms burns.
So I started experimenting by working outside with plenty of skin exposed only when I knew I could go 24 hours without bathing / showering. Tried this and tested the theory many times over 3 years. The model so far works consistently. I got so I could work outside without a shirt for 12 plus hours in full sun with no burn.
The first few times were weird the same way nicotinic acid flushes are weird (related?). After going in for the night, my skin felt warm not burned. I also felt chilled. Had to wear long sleeve shirt and pajama pants to bed even on hot nights. Slept well. Woke up next day fine. No burn no pealing.
Tested it by taking a shower one night after being out in sun. Had felt warm skin and comfortable until the water hit me. Immediately the burn was horrific. There was not enough cold water in the shower. Took a lot of aloe vera gel to relieve that pain. Had to keep applying it for days. And I pealed. Have done it a few times. It is consistent. I will not do it again on purpose.
Mercola (in his saner years) sited a study of lifeguards tested for vitamin D levels. Half the group stayed out of the water. The other half was in and out of the water all day. The dry half had crazy higher vitamin D levels. The wet half had seriously low vitamin D levels in spite of being in the sun all day.
During the last few summers while slamming down organ meats, ikura, eggs, nori, dairy and all the other foods that enhance the WAPF keto experience, the sun was not much of a problem for me until fall of 2022. That is when my liver overflowed. Everything went to joint pain and rashes. In order get relief on the eczema, I bought a Sperti January of 2023. It works. I feel much better immediately. Natural sun is better. UVB lamp works.
Please be mindful, I worked through all of "the order of adding stuff" list and stay on my zinc, beef and other LYL minerals. These aspects are at least as important as UVB. Meanwhile, all of my moles, freckles, warts, age spots, everything faded away and or scabbed up and fell off. Topical zinc daily is vital. I do the Sperti few times a week unless I can get natural sun. My wife has same experience even though she is DIY on LYL.
Hope this helps.
BTW, you are aware that the sunscreens our close personal friends at pharma / cdc / fda tell us prevents cancers actually causes cancers, right? My guess is lack of UVB causes cancers too. It is stored toxins that UVB helps to break down with endogenous vitamin D.
Victor, I would if I were you avoid all fat soluble vitamins if your liver is full up as is.
I'm intrigued by the idea that vitamin d is nothing more than a byproduct of the breakdown of vitamin a. The sun hits our skin and catabolizes the vitamin a stored there. If we don't wash our skin this degraded vitamin a (now called vitamin d) is reabsorbed and unsurprisingly binds to the same receptors. Which is why it can coincidentally protect cells from up-taking vitamin a.
The idea is not original to me and I suspect it was Grant's but I can't find the origin..
(mind blown)
So perhaps the statistical benefit of vitamin D we see (for instance, the number of cases of Multiple Sclerosis is higher in more northern places) is because the sun is exploding vitamin A in the skin, and not because D is made!
Remember there was an online way-of-living (can't remember the name, but it has been discussed on this forum) in which people totally avoided D in all it's forms including sun and food? And those that were trying it thought it helped?