Another myth busted, at least for me.

My wife had a medical procedure recently that ended up with complications.  This had me cooling my heels in the waiting room of our local hospital for several hours with all the uninsured kids with runny noses and the flu.

Of course I’m very smug in my knowledge that I’m well protected against such common ills as I’m doing all the right things.  I’m eating the proper raw foods, taking large doses of Vitamin C every day,  I’m taking large doses of Zinc daily (the active ingredient in Zicam), I’m taking large doses of selenium daily, and of course, I’m taking large doses of iodine – to the point that my skin has turned yellow.

Yup, I ended up with the common cold.  Sore throat, runny nose, swollen sinuses, hacking cough – the whole nine yards.  It’s been 5 or 6 years since I had a cold like this.  I expect many of you are sure that this is some sort of detox reaction.  I’m unconvinced.  It looks like a common cold, feels like a common cold, and coughs like a common cold – that tells me that it is probably a common cold.  I’ve also had the best medical doctors available (the ones attending to my wife in the hospital for the last 5 days) verify that it is indeed a common cold. 

Anyway, so much for all the theories about perfect diet, Vitamin C, Zinc, and iodine protecting us from things like the cold and flu.  I now have some personal experience to the contrary.

Lex

Van,
I always have lots of rendered fat around as I make a lot of pemmican during demos.  I've gone through phases where I used mostly rendered fat in my food mix as it is easiest to store, but for quite some time I've gone back to using ground suet for my mix.  Just tastes better.  If Slankers is out of Suet or fat then I'll go back to using rendered fat for a month but will return to suet again when it is available.

The only fat from freshly killed animals that I've had much exposure to is bloated dead cats and dogs on the side of the road.  Not overly appetizing to me.  Most of the fat I'm exposed to comes in plastic bags or shrink wrap packages from meat suppliers or the local market.  Maybe if I was younger I'd be excited about putting on a coon skin cap and foraging for fresh meat, but at this point in my life I prefer to spend what time I have left working in my shop.  Admittedly my shop is not paleo, but it brings me joy.

Lex

I don't know Tyler.  I eat so little cooked food, maybe 2 times per month and then it is cooked blu (grill marks but cold and raw under the surface), that I don't see how this could be much of a factor.  If we humans are that sensitive I'm not sure how our species have survived this long.

Have tried several herbal remedies in the last several years and none of them have had any effect whatever.  Some were recommended by my doctor.  If there had been any improvement at all I'd have mentioned it here in my journal.  I know others are afflicted with the same condition and all of us are looking for relief.

Still working on the iodine protocol.  Will know in July if it has had any significant effect.  At this point there is less urgency, a small but measurable increase in time between urination, and a small increase in voided volume, but certianly not the Holy Grail of an overnight cure.  At this point improvements are small and slow in coming.

Lex

Wattlebird,
I prefer barefoot as well.  Since I live in Southern California I can go barefoot all year around rain or shine.  Some stores insist on some kind of shoe so I carry flip-flops in the car.  They are super easy to slip on and off and I find that once in the store or restaurant I can slip them off and it is seldom noticed.  If someone does say something I can put them back on in an instant.

I bought a couple of pairs of VFF's but found them annoying on my feet.  There was unnatural pressure on the bottom of the heel, across the ball of the foot, as well as across the top of my foot.  Since going barefoot my feet now spread when I walk and the closed toe box restricts this as well.  They are also much more difficult to slip on and off compared to flip-flops so I ended up giving them away.

There is a drawback to flip-flops in that your toes must curl unnaturally as you lift your foot or they will fall off.  This problem can be kept to a minimum by choosing the lightest ones you can find.  Weighing all the positives and negatives, flip-flops win hands down for me.  They are much closer to barefoot than VFF's or any of the other "barefoot shoe" alternatives, and nothing else allows you to remove and put back on so quickly.

I believe Sports Chalet carries the full VFF line here in the US and you can order then over the web if you know your size.  I don't know if they ship overseas but it shouldn't be too difficult to find out.  If they won't ship and you don't find any other alternative, I'll be happy to purchase them for you and ship them myself.  We have relatives in Australia (Melbourne, Sidney, and Mildura), and we send things back and forth several times per year so it's not a big deal.  Just PM me if you want something.

http://www.sportchalet.com/p2p/endecaSearch.do?search=endeca&keyword=302045&page=1&sortby=newArrivals&sortType=1

Lex

Lex, if you review your zero carb diet from day one. What are the TOP 10 benefits, from your experience?

I'm not much good at figuring out a list of top 10 benefits.  The specifics things on such a list change depending on point of view or context of a discussion.

What I can say is that my overall general health has improved dramatically.  My annual lab work is very good for someone my age.  I don't have to take medication for cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, and elevated triglycerides.  My weight is "normal" and I feel great and can physically do most anything I want to do.

Compared to 10 years ago when I was 50+ pounds overweight, was always tired, and often didn't feel like getting out of bed in the morning, not to mention all the pills my doctor wanted me to take, life today is wonderful.

Lex

i could have kept up with the lugol's+dmso experiment but i'm quickly getting bored with stuff if i don't get immediate results so i stopped it after three or four weeks. i think dmso+mms would be the best and fastest way but i haven't tried that yet. i'm afraid of the pain, haha

I've found that many things take months or even years to see all the changes that will result.  I was still seeing changes from my zero carb diet after 2 years or more.  The changes were small but still measurable.  For this reason I commit to each change for at least 6 months before I decide whether to continue or not.  Three to four weeks just isn't enough for most things.

Lex

Thanks for the feedback Bio-shell.

From what I've read, iodine itself will absorb through the skin without a carrier like DMSO so it may be worthwhile to but a dab here and there on brown spots and rough patches of skin to see what happens.  I'm sure DMSO would make the absorption more efficient, but it would also add an other layer of complication to what I'm currently doing.  For now I'll stick with the basic protocol I'm following and when I do a skin patch test, I'll put the iodine on areas of brown spots and/or rough places to see if there is a noticable change in skin color or texture in these areas.

Lex

Do you know what the mechanism behind this is?

Not a clue.  The information that I have comes from the breast  cancer sites that William pointed me too.  I also had a confirmation from the nice lady in Canada that I ordered the 500ml of Lugol's from.  She said that if she takes Lugol's orally then she gets severe reactions in the form of rash and headaches.  However, she has put it on her stomach over the area of her ovaries and several cysts have disappeared.  The diagnosis of the cysts was from an ultrasound and after several months of topical applications of 5% Lugol's over the area they are no longer detectable with the ultrasound.  She's very happy and wished me well on my experiment.

Lex

I'm rather surprised that I've had no identifiable detox reactions (other than one small blister on my left index finger and there is no way of knowing if that was caused by the iodine) .  All the stern warnings and handwringing on the iodine forums would make one think that severe detox reactions are a foregone conclusion.  All the suggested protocols work up to 50mg/day over about a 6 month period.  I started with 50mg for the first month and have been on 100mg for about a week now and have had no problems at all.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Lex

Adora,
I actually like to sleep on the cool side.  Especially my feet.  I can't stand my feet to be too warm.  Most of the time I sleep with only a sheet and even then I keep my feet uncovered.  This has driven my wife nuts for over 35 years.  I have the window over my bed open during most of the year and only close it during late fall and winter when the night time temps drop below 50F.  If it gets down into the low 60's or 50's I'll add a blanket but I still keep my feet uncovered unless it gets really cold. 

I haven't had any problem waking up due to temp.  Most of my problem is having to get up to urinate several times during the night.  Since this wakes me up about 3 times during the night, I'll adjust my covers at that time.  My normal routine is to get about 3 hours sleep when I first go to bed.  After that I'm usually up every 2 hours until morning.

There is some discussion in other groups about directly applying Lugol's to the prostate through suppositories.  No real feedback yet on how well this works.  I'll be staying with my original protocol of taking the Lugol's orally for at least 6 months and maybe up to a full year.  If I keep changing protocols then it is difficult to determine what, if anything, is working.  It has taken 60 years for my prostate to get into its current condition.  It may take a good bit of time to see any measurable results from the simple protocol that I'm following just as it took about 2 years for my body to adapt to my ZC diet.

I found a couple of US chemical companies that have 500ml (about 16 oz) of 5% Lugol's for around $25.  Unfortunately they can't sell it to me without a copy of my business license (I don't have one because I'm not a business), as well as several forms that must be filled out, notification to the US Department of Justice, and then a 21 day wait.  Supposedly this is saving us from some sort of illegal drug manufacturing.  What illegal drug is made with Lugol's I have no idea. 

The J. Crow company where I get my current supply is forced to sell 5% Lugol's in 30ml bottles to meet US Department of Justice requirements.  They sell 30ml for the same $25.  What is silly is that I can order as many 30ml bottles as I want, I just have to enter each one as a separate order and pay $25 for each order.  Doing it this way makes 500ml cost over $400.

Another member on this forum pointed me to a Canadian Pharmacy that sells 500ml of 5% Lugol's for $50 which includes shipping.  They will ship to the US but won't guarantee delivery as it may be confiscated by customs.  I take the risk but I've ordered it anyway. If it is delivered then I have a year's supply for the cost of about 2 months of the J. Crow stuff.  I have my fingers crossed.

Lex

On Saturday I upped the dose to 100mg of iodine per day by adding 6 drops of 5% Lugol's solution to 16oz (500ml) of water 3 times per day - upon arising in the morning, with my daily afternoon meal, and a couple of hours before bedtime.  Accourding to Crow's, 1 drop of their 5% Lugol's contains 6.25mg iodine.  6 drops is 37.5mg taken 3 times per day is 112.5mg/day. 

I also take the recommended supplements.  As suggested by those who supposedly know, I take 1000mg Vit C in the morning, then 1000mg Vit C again with my afternoon meal.  The other supplements (400mg Magnesium, 200mg Selenium, Vit B2, Vit B3) are also taken with my single daily meal.  The only supplement that gets divided is the Vit C.

I've been so focused on the metabolic (body temp), and prostate issues that I failed to notice changes in my skin.  I've had flaky patches of skin and brown age spots on my hands, face and thighs have proliferated as I've gotten older, especially in the past 15 years or so.

The flaky patches have smoothed out and/or become much smaller to the point where they are almost gone.  They were easily felt on my forehead but now my forehead is noticeably smoother with almost no flaky areas.

The brown spots are still there but they have gotten lighter in color.  Where they were a dark brownish color, they are now several shades lighter and more of a medium tan.  I had two dark spots develop on my thighs - one on my outer left thigh and one on my inner right thigh over the past 8 years or so.  They are about 1/4"  (0.75cm) in diameter.  They started out as normal brown age spots, but over time the one on the outer left thigh changed character and became very rough and started to itch.  I had it removed about 3 years ago and lab tests on it came back as noncancerous. 

The remaining large brown spot on my inner right thigh started to go through the same change a few months ago.  It got somewhat darker in color and the texture changed so that it was easily felt by running a finger over it.  My doctor took a look at it at this year's physical and we decided to leave it alone for the time begin but figured it would probably need to be removed about the time I have my annual physical next year.

Well, noticed today that the texture has changed back to normal skin and I can no longer feel it with my fingers.  The color has also noticeably lightened back to what it was a couple of years ago.  This improvement has happened very quickly just over the last 4 weeks or so since I've been on the iodine protocol.

Generally, my skin feels much smoother and more supple.  Don't get me wrong, my skin is still that of someone that is 60 years old, with lines and wrinkles, it just feels smoother to the touch and the age spots are noticeably lighter in color.

Lex

Welcome aboard.  I think you'll find a great group of people and no shortage of opinions and ideas - and that's a good thing.

Lex

About temp.. the only way to take accurate temps is "down there"..
I mean, serious.

I remember that when I was a kid.  I think they used to take babies and children's temps in the bum because the thermometers were glass filled with mercury and there was a great risk that we'd bite down on them and break them.  I suppose the digital age has significantly lessened this risk.

Lex