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Why does it take so long?
Many threads lately (and in the past) have spoken about this topic: Why does it take so long, why am I still suffering, when will this end etc.
This is a thread to discuss theories about that.
My personal theory is very short and sweet, and it is the same answer to "why is it in breast milk". My answer is:
"Because it isn't IN you, it IS you.
In other words, the vitamin A and carotene are baked into YOU. If you give away fats in breast milk, it's there in the fats. If you gave someone a tooth, it would be yellow (all the way through).
It's baked in, like an egg is baked into a muffin.
If they were serving you for dinner, you'd have a vitamin A content. It wouldn't drain away with your blood, or be taken away with your guts. It is in the permanent parts of you.
Do we really know what happens to the VA in cells when they die? I wonder. Is the entire old, dead cell swept away and pooped out? They say you are new again every 7 years but that seems quite magical, doesn't it? Is seven years the answer to "how long is this going to take"?
I do think that many "acute" symptoms of having too much VA circulating will clear up "faster" (haha, I use that term loosely). Like (for me) nausea and migraines wrapped up in a year or 18 months.
I have been trying chicken, rice, pinto beans, raisins and activated charcoal for 4 weeks. After 3 weeks my skin started to get very very itchy and I got black patches. I thought it might be the activated charcoal so stopped it and yes, the itchiness went down in 2 days. I have subsequently read Grant’s introduction and saw that raisins might not be such a good idea (beta carotene) so I have changed to 1 apple mashed up with water to create an apple juice and this seems to be better (sometimes a small amount of honey). Just wanted to report back on the activated charcoal - that if it is used it may need to be in small amounts as Grant says and if you are very sensitive, it may be better not to use it.
Quote from Tanveen on May 23, 2025, 11:11 amI have been trying chicken, rice, pinto beans, raisins and activated charcoal for 4 weeks. After 3 weeks my skin started to get very very itchy and I got black patches. I thought it might be the activated charcoal so stopped it and yes, the itchiness went down in 2 days. I have subsequently read Grant’s introduction and saw that raisins might not be such a good idea (beta carotene) so I have changed to 1 apple mashed up with water to create an apple juice and this seems to be better (sometimes a small amount of honey). Just wanted to report back on the activated charcoal - that if it is used it may need to be in small amounts as Grant says and if you are very sensitive, it may be better not to use it.
I ate raisins daily for the first 3 years of low vitamin A eating. The only reason I quit is because the raisins had some kind of fly ash debris in them that is like glass and not good to eat. I wrote to the SunMaid people and sent them the bags/boxes but all they sent was a coupon for more of the same. Raisins don't have a lot of beta-carotene compared to most fruits. We eat a lot of peeled apples, raw or cooked.
Thank you - I’ve added raisins back in and seems to be ok. I’ve noticed, since stopping the charcoal that stool is very yellow. I think it is to do with billirubin and bile (yellow, thin itchy skin, tiredness, pain like a rope around the chest, major swelling of stomach, yellow stool, head pressure/sound in head like tinnitus, changed metabolism etc). I may try the psyllium. Have also tried turkey a few times instead of chicken. Has anyone else dealt with this? I had vitamin a blood level checked and was told it was normal. Billirubin and cholesterol are high. May be fits in with leaky liver theory (?)
Good things take time. Rome wasn't built in a day. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Patience is a virtue.
I had a horrible first few weeks on this diet, followed by a goldilocks period where I was superman, followed by the present, where my wanna-do is through the floor and I just want to eat, sleep, drink and daydream. I believe that during the goldilocks period I was almost zero circulating retinoids. Now my liver is taking its cue and I don't get to be superman anymore.
Another factor could be the absence of inflammation. I'm no longer driven the way these ubiquitous inflamed mother lovers are. If it's not fight or flight, I'm staying in bed, thanks very much. Another variable to consider is sunlight. I recommend lots. I had my superman period whilst swinging a pickax in the sun day after sunshiny day.
There's also the possibility that people supplementing have dug themselves a deep hole. I saw a guinea killed with its liver removed and not eaten. There's talk of what's added to the feeds of birds screwing with eggs, hence screwing with people. I think that people are putting themselves on "fowl" supplements and creating problems that might be insurmountable. So they don't recover and then they blame the diet. But if their detox pathways have been hiroshima-d, it's no fault of the diet. We happen to be in clown world and the clowns are a lot like Tim Curry in "It".
32 months in low vA. First 4 months the worst pain in 62 years. That includes kidney stones, gall stones, hernias, broken bones, electrocution, burns, crushes, animal bites, kicks, joint locks, poison ivy, arthritis, gout, anything. Relief came after 4th month. That allowed sleep. Had ups and downs throughout. It is always some other toxin I needed to learn. Each problem affects the same systems. Each problem resolves faster than the ones before. Each resolved problem feels like another step up. vA, vD, B6, copper, oxalates,...... Each one brings some different and some shared symptoms. Each one induces some different and some shared deficiencies. Each one leaves me sleeping, eating and feeling better. More strength, wind, stamina, speed, joint / skin integrity, calm, focus, coordinated, memory, tolerance,.......
So far am surprised each time I notice something else that went away. Or something else that improved. People around me are too.
So far my experience is the ups coincide with my liver kicking out toxins while my colon and kidneys excrete them faster than the liver kicks them out. The downs coincide with my colon and kidneys getting overwhelmed. Going too fast or too slow on detox / excretion makes for downs. Pace is needed. Hard part is that everyone's pace of detox is different. Everyone's pace of excretion is different. Everyone's ability to balance the two is different. Now add to that idea that everyone's toxicities are different.
My guess is there is a lot more at play than just retinoids and carotenoids. My bet is that the most successful results of all of us in low vA showed up in one man is because that one man took the simplest approach to all of this. He had the fewest factors to play with. He imbalanced his processes the least.
Quote from lil chick on May 21, 2025, 10:52 amMy personal theory is very short and sweet, and it is the same answer to "why is it in breast milk". My answer is:
"Because it isn't IN you, it IS you.
In other words, the vitamin A and carotene are baked into YOU. If you give away fats in breast milk, it's there in the fats. If you gave someone a tooth, it would be yellow (all the way through).
It's baked in, like an egg is baked into a muffin.
If they were serving you for dinner, you'd have a vitamin A content. It wouldn't drain away with your blood, or be taken away with your guts. It is in the permanent parts of you.
Do we really know what happens to the VA in cells when they die? I wonder. Is the entire old, dead cell swept away and pooped out? They say you are new again every 7 years but that seems quite magical, doesn't it? Is seven years the answer to "how long is this going to take"?
Are you sure about the teeth yellow all the way through?
Joe2 asked lilchick: "Are you sure about the teeth yellow all the way through?"
Hi @Joe2
Hey, I think you have a good point there, and no I don't think it goes all the way through teeth anymore. My recent dental experiments are showing me this.
Maybe this is more a problem of the surfaces of things. Now the surface of something is still part of it. And an important part of it.
I remember my naturopath telling me that the body tries to push bad things from the center out. And that we can run into problems when we get in the way of that.
Thanks for pointing this out! My theories do change as I experience more of this...
It does appear like VA isn't just on the surface of fat, though. With fat it might be all the way through. (this is from videos of what comes out of liposuction, and reading about visceral fat)