Quote from Bella on April 12, 2019, 7:10 pm

Quote from rob on April 12, 2019, 5:56 pm

I've been low VitA diet for the past 6 months but just complete serum VitA blood test and I'm still at the upper limit (59.3ug/dL).  "Normal" range is 20.1-62.0.  Does anyone know if this is a reliable test and indicator for reducing VitA in the body?  Could blood levels still be high because of de-tox from tissues?

thx

Rob

Mine was 52.4 if/dL at 7.5 months low A. I think it must be A being released from storage?!?

Quote from Josh on April 14, 2019, 2:37 am

Quote from rob on April 12, 2019, 5:56 pm

Does anyone know if this is a reliable test and indicator for reducing VitA in the body?  Could blood levels still be high because of de-tox from tissues?

It is partially reliable: If you have a measurable retinol serum level, then it is a good indicator that you have vitamin A in your system. But you can have a low retinol serum level test but still have vita A toxicity. See this informative post from Garrett Smith: https://nutritionrestored.com/blog-forum/topic/testing-for-poison-vitamin-a-is-practically-designed-to-avoid-looking-in-the-right-places/

He just did a podcast with a vet about Gulf War Illness, and he said research he's seen says it can take up to two years to detox from vitamin A. So patience is the name of the game. There are things you can do to speed up the release of retinol from the liver. And to protect yourself from it while detoxing. You can find some of that advice on his public blog-forum. You can also pay for his detox protocol (highly recommended) or become a patient/client of his to get personalize advice.

Quote from rob on April 14, 2019, 8:51 am

Thanks Josh.  I'm interested to see if anyone else is tracking their retinol serum levels reduction over time...?  I'm also interested if anyone can reduce their retinol serum levels faster on Grant's diet (rice, beef, beans) than Dr. Smith (much more variety but still low VitA)....?

Since there are a number of folks at the 6+ month mark, we should start seeing how fast serum retinol levels drop with low VitA protocol as a function of time.  Agree with that?

thx, Rob

 

Quote from Mokus on April 14, 2019, 12:22 pm

I tested my VA at 3 months low VA and it was 70ug/dl (2.5 umol/L). I suspect this will be last to change as VA is being released. I am following a broader diet than Grant as i wanted to make life long changes easier. I am at the 6 month mark and not sure when I will retest. I had started a similar post but now I can't find it.

Quote from rob on April 14, 2019, 4:49 pm

I plan to test every 2-3 months (~$40 thru online blood testing).  Since Grant was able to reduce his serum retinol to 0.2umol/L after a few years, I would think we would start seeing some reduction after 6-12 months.  My concern is that the broader diet doesn't do the job nearly as well as Grant's restrictive diet and we think we're making progress but the retinol levels never end up decreasing.  If anyone else has measured a reduction in serum retinol levels, please let us know how long it took.

thx,

Rob

Quote from Josh on April 15, 2019, 12:58 am

Quote from rob on April 14, 2019, 8:51 am

Thanks Josh.  I'm interested to see if anyone else is tracking their retinol serum levels reduction over time...?  I'm also interested if anyone can reduce their retinol serum levels faster on Grant's diet (rice, beef, beans) than Dr. Smith (much more variety but still low VitA)....?

Since there are a number of folks at the 6+ month mark, we should start seeing how fast serum retinol levels drop with low VitA protocol as a function of time.  Agree with that?

thx, Rob

 

Yes, I agree that it would be good to see how fast serum retinol is dropping. Many labs will also test for retinol binding protein and beta carotene, which would also be good to measure. I don't know if 6 months is a reasonable time to expect to see a significant reduction, but it's an empirical question. And I also think there should be a lot of variability between people.  I think that Grant's insights about how glyphosate and other things (like SSRI's or birth control pills) inhibit the body's ability to break down retinoic acid is a very important variable in how quickly people will be able to bring down their retinol levels.

Quote from rob on July 8, 2019, 5:17 pm

As I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I've taken VitA blood tests for the last 3 months with following results:

4/8/19 =  59.3  ug/dL       ,       5/28/2019  =  56.8        ,      7/1/2019  =  53.2

So I'm decreasing VitA blood levels about 0.07 ug/dL per day.  That would equate to 2.1 decrease per month and ~25 ug/dL per year.

I started zero VitA about 6 months prior to the first test above.  Anyone else seeing similar rates of decrease?  I'm still worried this is too slow and I have hidden VitA somewhere in my diet...thx, Rob

 

 

Quote from ggenereux on July 9, 2019, 6:46 am

Hi Rob,

Thanks for posting your test results. I don’t think they indicate a hidden source of vitamin A in your diet. Rather, they are probably showing that the real decline rate is much less than the documented 0.5% per day. At least your numbers are not going up with time. Have you noticed any improvements in your health over the last six months?

Quote from lil chick on July 9, 2019, 6:51 am

I don't mean to be a debbie downer, but if A has a role in the body I would assume that some days the body decides to mobilize it and other days it doesn't.  However it is nice that you show a downward trend!

I liken this to blood pressure.  Probably my highest blood pressure OF THE YEAR is when I have to speak with Medical Doctors.  hahaha