This is very interesting information Dude. I watched both the video on micronutrient testing, and the video on "what i wish someone had told me in medical school on nutrition" video w/ the vegan.
Wrt to vitamins: You make some great points. The beta-carotene thing is a great point, and I will certainly watch out for it. I lean towards the view that you have, that we should be able to get most of our nutrients from the food we eat. But i do not think that all nutrient testing/supplementation is useless. Low vit D levels correlate with autoimmune disease, and there's a whole protocol (coimbra) which some people have used to reverse their AI disease w/ Vit D. Europeans evolved to have light skin color specifically because Vit D is that important, and it does seem to be something a lot of us are lacking. Vit b6/b12/ala have all been shown to help neuropathy. B2/methfyolate supplementation can lower homocysteine. There are plenty of examples like this, so I'm not sure that the whole its all useless idea holds. I do agree with you, however, that its gone too far and people can be doing more harm than good. You have really made me take a harder look at this stuff and whats in the supplements that I take, and i will certainly be taking a closer look and possibly cutting it down to just a few targeted supplements.
Wrt to b12, that's an interesting point you made about
how its stored in the liver and you can go for years without it. I read some papers on it after you pointed this out, however, and it seems like this is a little misleading. For people with neuropathy, like me, there is evidence that supplementing w/ B12 may be beneficial. It seems that higher circulating serum levels of b12 correlate with better outcomes in diabetic neuropathy. In addition, serum b12 levels <350 can indicate a b12 malabsorption problem, and even though b12 is stored in the liver and a normal person may have a 15y supply, apparently its circulated from the liver into the Small intestine and then reabosrobed back into the liver, so if youre having absorption issues, your levels can fall quickly. My last serum reading was 305, so I'm going to continue to supplement with this.
In addition, wrt to the video on "what i wish someone had told me in medical school on nutrition", the guy goes on a rant against ketosis and animal meat. I just dont agree with it. I've been on a ketogenic diet for 5m, and my nervous system is healing. My skin and hair are glowing and have never looked healthier. I look like I'm 5y younger. I gained back 10 lbs of weight. I know people who have done the Wahls protocol for autoimmunity to horrendous results, only to try ketogenic and finally see a turnaround. Plants are great, and I eat plenty of them, but there are also plenty of plants that are extremely inflammatory. High levels of fiber can wreak havoc on a dysbiotic gut. Vegans often find themselves sicker and more tired several years in. I think a well rounded whole foods diet is probably best, and but ketosis works for some people, depending on your disease. Its all very nuanced.
Anyway, thank you for sharing this information. I will think more deeply about
it, and it will affect the way I supplement. You can make yourself crazy trying to cover every base w/ every supplement and antioxidant and vitamin every different guru tells you you need, but i will try to limit it to a few target things, and get the rest from diet. For now, b12 seems very important for me. B6 and ALA are also shown to help neuropathy, so i will stay on those. I will stay on my cod liver oil for dha/epa, very important. My codyceps mushrooms are shown to help w/ autoimmunity and lowering ANA markers, so i will stay on that. You've got me questioning if i should cut out my A/D/K supplement, however. I am low in all fat-soluble vitamins. I think this is an absoption issue. the one i use is high quality, it isnt a beta-carotene bomb like you pointed out. Not sure, maybe i will just switch to a vit D supplmeent.
Post Edited (dcd2103) : 2/12/2021 5:58:26 AM (GMT-7)