Oded Kishony Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Vitamin D is one of the vits that dissolve in fat (vits D,E,A,K). An overdose produces high calcium levels in blood, from bone and diet, and can cause kidney failure, calcifications of soft tissues, mental status changes, coma and death. Once toxic its takes months to years to get back to normal because the fat stores have to be depleted. 1000-2000 IU (international units)/day is usually safe. I have seen hypercalcemia in patients taking 4000 IU/day. On the other hand, if you are vit D deficient you have to be loaded to bring the fat stores up to normal before the blood levels come up. There are many loading regimens, but in general it takes about 400,000 IU to load up. I prescribe 50,000 IU each week for 8 weeks, others use different regimens. I have never seen toxicity using my (standard) loading dose. I'M an endocrinologist and see lots of vitamin D deficient people here in far N. California. Vitamin D toxicity is rare, but very problematic when it occurs, requiring treatment with prednisone for a long time (it counteracts the effects of vitamin D). Thanks, I'm taking 4k/day maybe I should lower my dose to 2k/day. Are there any symptoms I might notice if the dosage is too high? Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB3 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 In full agreement. Why doesn't the food industry take any responsibility for the consequences of what they sell? If any other product is defective and causes harm it is recalled or removed from the market. Oded The problem is not that those foods are defective, it is just that they just are "not as healthy as other foods". Would you rather your computer (or TV...pick your poison) shut down every 45 minutes, with the requirement that you go do some calesthenics, and read a good book in between uses? Or some other thing? Maybe require that all TV sets and computers run only on pedal power, so we don't continue to become couch potatos? The problem is human nature and our tendency toward excess...at least I think that is probably the case. I have never had a deep fried twinkie, though I have heard they exist. Can't be a healthy food item. But I can't see banning them, or even regulating them. Where would you stop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Richwine Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 The easiest way to avoid harmful foods is simply to COOK for yourself, IME. I don't buy any prepared foods at all, other than frozen vegetables and a couple of carefully chosen sauces. I live alone, so I cook fairly large batches of recipes that can be frozen and still taste good, and then do stir-fry dishes to break the monotony. Also eat whatever fresh fruit is in season. I feel much better, not that I was feeling all that bad before, but my energy and skin are better, I feel stronger and a little more energetic. Fewer migraines. I eat awfully well, too. It's a shock, after eating well for a few months, to take a fresh look and see how bad fast food and prepared foods really are, generally. I think we are all responsible for our own lives. I do resent it a bit that food companies put so much questionable junk in prepared foods, but that's what seems to sell. Nobody's forcing people to eat junk; if the demand were there for more wholesome foods, it would be met. As a matter of fact, niche marketers seem to do pretty well doing exactly that. I never blamed anybody for my own bad choices, and I've made plenty. Scapegoating is SO lame. BTW you can eat all the "right" foods and still gain weight, but you have to work harder at it. DAMHIK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Catoira Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 So I happen to have this new job going. When I went to discuss the conditions, one of them was that I would be fed everyday. My boss cooks Spanish style, hearty big meal everyday, which normally include dessert and coffee. We sit at the table, have long nice chats, bla bla bla... I am gaining weight. (and go around with a big smile at all times) Is violinmaking to be blamed of my fattiness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Eastman Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks, I'm taking 4k/day maybe I should lower my dose to 2k/day. Are there any symptoms I might notice if the dosage is too high? Oded Sx only very late. Elevated blood calcium and high 25-OH-vitamin D level(25 hydroxy vitamin D is made in the liver from dietary or UV converted cholesterol). Both are biologically inactive. The active metabolite is 1,25 -OH vitamin D. the second -OH is added by the kidney. 25-OH vit D level is routinely available and the best test for both deficiency and vitamin D intoxification. Levels of about 30 are considered normal (with the societies recommending 20-30 as the optimum for general bone health). Not unusual to see levels of 50-100 in people taking 4K. If you get some sun exposure it just adds to the total level. Generally 1-2K/day is ok and doesn't produce toxicity (people with kidney disease may need more and often if not always, need to take 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D because they don't have enough functioning kidney tissue to activate the precursor hormone (25 OH vitamin D)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 My boss cooks Spanish style, hearty big meal everyday, which normally include dessert and coffee. We sit at the table, have long nice chats, bla bla bla... I used to visit Barcelona a lot for design meetings. I still remember going for lunch at 1400, 3 courses, tinto, solos, getting back to the office at 1630 and then having to wait a couple of hours until everyone's brain got back up to speed.... then dinner at 2200. It took a few days of simple food back home to recover. Happy days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardz Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 New info: In my search for relief for my recent back trouble (sciatic nerve) I stumbled on using Turmeric. It really works! I made tea. I usually make green tea in the morning....enough water for a couple of cups using one teabag. After the tea steeps, I put in a small amount of coconut oil (oil helps release the compounds) and then 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of organic Turmeric spice (from the grocery store). Over the course of the day I drink aboout 4 cups of this mixture and it has a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect. Prior to taking it I was pretty much useless and feeling a general pain all the time. After taking it there is no pain most of the time, and when there is, like if I jangle the nerve, it goes away immediately. The best part is I looked up Turmeric and it has an immense amount of additional healthy properties, so I'll probably take it every day now anyway. Just passing this info along because for me it didn't just "kinda work"....it really works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_N Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 This thread has a lot of cool stuff. I always thought workbenches were too low, and I'm only 5'7" (or was anyway). Now that I wear glasses even for sawing I'd rather have the stock shoulder height or so to see what I'm doing better. With the progressive lenses you have to crank your neck to find the right distance, you do it automatically after a while, but if you have to hold your head up and bend over something might get sore. I like those easel stands, will have to make something like that up. Again the vison thing would make that helpful, everthing would be about the same length away. My biggest pain are my elbows. Years of running manual machines, turning handles and tightening jaws have made the inside of my elbows very painful. Can't hold the phone up to my ear for more than a minute or so, then have to switch hands. Usually if I'm working it doesn't bother me. Sitting around is when I'm in pain, gotta keep moving. My diet is fairly good, but I think maybe gluten free may help. Or turmeric and ginger tea. Last year my wife got rheumatoid arthritis. It would probably help her too. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Tucker Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 One more contribution. My opinion. Some things I have discovered. Stress, the biggest killer around in my opinion, and the one reliable thing that universally exhausts our natural stores and ruins our health - must be hunted down and eliminated ruthlessly wherever possible. Stress in combination with smoking, is a particularly rotten combination for maintaining health. Natural - fresh foods (meats, seafood, fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes - and pure, but not distilled water, with minute amounts of trace minerals added if necessary) are very important also. And even, a reasonable minimum daily exposure to sunlight. Also very important, with regard to maintaining our physical body health, is posture and exercise. A conscious attitude must be adopted by those wanting the body to last a long time, and still be able to function well, even if it seems difficult to change a lifetime of slouching (which I am guilty of) or laziness. (which, probably, we’re all guilty of) Currently I am using exercise diet and posture (& much stretching & walking) to help ward off ever-worsening RA/ joint problems. ct Great thread. I have learned the hard way that most, if not all vitamins and many herbs are easy to "overdose" on - becoming toxic in their own right, when used as a "medicine". Exercise caution. When you find one that works, Great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPherson Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 One thing no one has mentioned that i noticed is chlorophyll. Extracted from seaweed it is a natural and powerful detox of heavy metals and for VOC's. The molecular structure is vary, vary close to the synthetic pill sold for 100's each without the side effects. Well the taste is one side effect, you got to mix it with something strong like cranberry juice. Not a silver bullet but with all things it must be part of a regime especially in the environment that we seem to work in. FWIW Jesse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Natural - fresh foods (meats, seafood, fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes - and pure, but not distilled water, with minute amounts of trace minerals added if necessary) are very important also. Grains and legumes can be problematic for some people, and pro-inflamatory. These are a couple of things which probably weren't consumed in large quantities (along with dairy) in the pre-agriculture and domesticated animal days (most of human history). A paleolithic diet will consist of lean wild game meat (not artificially fattened), and fruits and vegetables which can be gathered without farming. A useful question can be, "What foods have we been designed to thrive on? New info: In my search for relief for my recent back trouble (sciatic nerve) I stumbled on using Turmeric. It really works! Both tumeric and ginger can be potent anti-imflamatories. Tumeric didn't work particularly well for me, but one must realize that we probably have a host of separate diseases masquerading behind shared symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 A useful question can be, "What foods have we been designed to thrive on? A similar question led me to adopt an intermittent fasting diet. Basically I eat one meal a day, around 4-5 PM. During the day I drink a mix of fruit juice (apple in winter carrot in summer) various teas (green, herbal, black)coffee and water. Previous to this diet I suffered from very bad gastric reflux, taking a proton pump inhibitor (prilosec) every day and Tums and baking soda when the reflux broke through. I could not eat certain foods without suffering intense heartburn. After going on this diet I never have heartburn no matter what I eat, hot spicy food, pasta etc etc I've given away all my heartburn medicine. I had a blood test for 'C reactive protein', a measure of inflamation and on a scale of 1-5 my number is 0.5 (one half). I've been on this diet for about 2-3 years. It's no panacea, but I enjoy eating this way as I look forward to my one meal and always make it a special occasion. Not to mention that I'm quite hungry by 4PM. I also believe that prehistoric humans did not have a steady supply of food. Oded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 A similar question led me to adopt an intermittent fasting diet. That's interesting too. We probably weren't designed to require routine and regular feeding. If one has never fasted, it can be a fascinating learning experience, if for no other reason than it can eliminate dietary inflammation triggers for a short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janito Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I had a colleague who would detoxify himself periodically by eating only apples for a week. He was a fabulous pianist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janito Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 And it is possible to train the size of one's stomach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oded Kishony Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I was surprised when I fasted for a few days to what extent eating is a conditioned behavior. I would get hungry at meal times but not in between. It's also amazing at how sensitive your sense of smell becomes. Eating really pollutes your olfactory senses. There's a reason why all the major religions practice ritual fasting. Oded That's interesting too. We probably weren't designed to require routine and regular feeding. If one has never fasted, it can be a fascinating learning experience, if for no other reason than it can eliminate dietary inflammation triggers for a short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvin Goldsmith Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 That's interesting too. We probably weren't designed to require routine and regular feeding. If one has never fasted, it can be a fascinating learning experience, if for no other reason than it can eliminate dietary inflammation triggers for a short time. .............. You make some very good points David, as do others. I never get back pain (so far) but that is possibly because I am 5'6" and quite solidly built from growing up working on a farm & genetically lucky in not getting back pain. Diet on the other hand I do understand a bit and tend to look at it in a similar way to David....asking 'did humans evolve eating this?' My first insight into this was when I was a kid in my early 20's. I contracted Amoebic Dysentry when travelling in India. Delayed treatment left my digestive system scarred and unable to deal with food as I had previously taken it. The most useful thing I found was suggested to me by my Grandmother and was called the Hay Diet..It did not involve eating hay fortunately. Basically the principal was to avoid combining protein and carbohydrates in the same meal. Following this simple principal gave me a lot more energy and I believe helped my wounded innards to heal. I can eat anything I like now 20 years later BUT certain foods make me feel slow and lazy. The worst of these is white bread or anything made using modern wheat. I find older less optimized grains like spelt wheat or oats to be OK. If I had a choice I would eat twice a day...oats in the morning.... some protein and lots of vegetables at about 7pm..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen maloney Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I never see a violinist on the fat side. My favorite overweight violinists: Ysaye, Elman, Oistrakh, Shumsky, Rabin, Perlman, Zukerman, Mintz, Brainin, Lara St. John, Barton, Li Chuanyun...the list goes on and on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 .............. If I had a choice I would eat twice a day...oats in the morning.... some protein and lots of vegetables at about 7pm..... I eat porridge at about 1pm then a main meal, not often meat, at about 7pm. Works really well. I generally run before lunch and have no problems with lack of energy. In fact instead of my running times increasing by 1% per year, as would be expected at my age, they have decreased. Mind you that might also be due to some weight loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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