Sun (B12 ? me again)

[Guest guest]

I'm thinking it's either a healing thing, or a b12

thing. Lately I have been doing a lot of B12 research.

It's a complicated topic, but I feel that I have

gained a basic understanding.

 

This is what I have learned. The B12 thing is not a

raw Vs. cooked argument. We only need about a half a

dime's worth of B12 for the duration of our life. We

re digest B12 in our bile, and recycle it. When

eating and living in a healthy way, we need VERY

little B12 in our diet.

 

The modern diet destroys vast amounts of B12..sugar,

coffee, beer etc.... All the usual suspects. So when

we have a poor diet, we need a lot of B12.

Coincidentally some things like meet and eggs contain

B12. Our stomach needs to be very acidic to digest

these foods, and therefor not much of this B12 can be

absorbed. These are not good sources of B12.

 

Raw food on the other hand should have plenty of B12

if the soil it is grown in has some cobalt in it, or

is fertilized with night soil (composted human poop).

Cobalt is essential to the production of b12. The

problem is that most of our farm land is mineral

deplete. If we all foraged our food we would get

plenty of B12, but not many have the time to forage.

 

We create some good B12, but it's too far down our

digestive tract to be absorbed. Our poop is a good

source of B12. The Chinese have been fertilizing

with night soil for thousands of years. I did not

look for information on B12 deficiencies in China, but

have to assume it's low. There is a sect of raw

vegans in Iran who grow their food in night soil,

their produce is b12 rich and they are not deficient.

 

One of the best ways to become B12 deficient is by

drinking large amounts of beer. I guess the hops are

full of analog B12 that tricks the body into expelling

the good B12. A beer drinker might not not appear to

be deficient when taking a b12 test, when in fact they

are. This is important to me because I drank massive

quantities of beer on a daily basis for years and

years. I have not had a sip in over a year, but I'm 37

and have to believe that the damage is done.

 

So, all of this ties back to my thinking that I might

be B12 deficient (and have subsequent nerve damage),

and that might be why a sunburn itched for weeks and

weeks. One of the things that B12 does is help

produce a protective sheath that surrounds our nerve

endings. I started taking B12 in it's most common

form cyanocobalamin I did not seem to make any

difference. I read some more and found out that the

only form of B12 that does help reverse nerve damage

is methylcobalamin. I started to take it two weeks

ago, and for the past two days my sunburn feeling on

my neck and arms seems to have subsided, and I was out

in the sun for 4 hours today, and feel fine.

 

I want to add that if I could have my way, I would

immediately start composting night soil, but my higher

power (girlfriend said no way. I eat my dinner

right out of the garden, and she just could not deal

with it. I have decided to continue to take a high

quality supplement.

 

I am interested in your thoughts on all of this. Do

you all agree with my research ? Do you believe that

my sunburn might be due to nerve damage caused by B12

deficiency ?

 

For now I think I will continue to take the B12

methylcobalamin.

 

Rufus

[Guest guest]

Dear Rufus,

 

I don't think that a B12 deficiency has much to do with

increased photosensitivity.

 

I also think that your decision to supplement with

methylcobalamin is a good one. Large doses at

first, maybe for a few weeks, to get your stores

back up to " normal " levels, tapering back down

to lower maintenance doses for long-term.

 

B12 deficiency is not a joke. TC Fry had a severe

B12 deficiency when he died. There is a disturbing

trend among some of the raw vegan folks to

look for reasons to dismiss the research. In my

view this is a very dangerous approach. The solution

is so simple. Why people look for excuses not to

take their little pills or lozenges or whatever is

beyond my comprehension.

 

It would not be an issue in the wild, in the wild,

food is contaminated with bacteria and there is

also some inadvertent ingestion of small insects.

 

But, our modern food supply is so hygenic that

without an external source, we may become

depleted. It can take 20 years or more.

 

Other supplements to consider:

 

D: 400 IU per day. This is safer than exposure to UV

radiation. UV is a potent carcinogen and we are in

the midst of a melanoma epidemic which will only

become worse.

 

Conditionally essential amino acids:

 

Taurine, arginine: these are in short supply in the

vegan diet.

 

Others:

 

L-carnitine, creatine: levels are very depressed in

vegans.

 

EPA, DHA. Some people might be convert needed

amounts of these from ALA intake, for others, maybe

not. The research has not effectively removed all

doubt. Until then, supplementation may be the wisest

course.

 

These recommendations assume that you have the

best of all possible raw vegan diets and that all other

vitamin and mineral needs are being satisfied. Considering

the continual depletion of the soils and the typical

food choices of most raw fooders, these are very big

assumptions.

 

Do not be led astray by the propagandists that would

tell you that there is no need to meet RDA/DRI requirements.

These are typically minmal values derived to alleviate

conditions of disease. They are far from optimal. Our

close relatives, the wild howler monkeys, have diets that

are orders of magnitude richer in vitamins and minerals

than ours, even with the best choices from our modern

food supply. But, their food is wild, and ours is not.

 

Carol

[Guest guest]

Hi Rufus,

 

Thanks for the education!! One thing was not really clear to me,

that is the part about the false tests. What is being tested? You

claim they do not appear to be deficient when they are. Why are

these tests false? And how then do you know when people are

dificient when tests are untrustworthy?

 

cheers, Leoni

 

A beer drinker might not not appear to

> be deficient when taking a b12 test, when in fact they

> are.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Leoni,

 

Beer and blue green algae(as Roger just mentioned) are

both a source of analog B12. Not only is analog B12

not what we need, but it tricks the body into purging

the good B12 instead of reabsorbing it.

When tested, beer drinkers and blue green algae

eaters often appear to have a healthy level of B12 in

the system, when in fact their good B12 levels are

dropping.

 

The analog B12 causes a false positive reading on a

blood test, because the test picks up the analog B12.

Often times it is not until these people start to show

serious symptoms that they are diagnosed as deficient.

 

 

As said by Dr. Elson Haas: " Toxicity can occur from

excess inorganic cobalt found as a food contaminant.

Beer drinker's cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart) and

congestive heart failure have been traced to cobalt

introduced into beer during manufacturing. Increased

intake may affect the thyroid or cause overproduction

of red blood cells, thickened blood, and increased

activity in the bone marrow. "

 

Rufus