What causes nutrient deficiency along with metabolic disfunction?


#1

I’m curious about this due to my own persistent anemia despite a whole-foods, low-carb diet for several years.

I have been thinking about the severe deficiencies that Dr. Bosworth uncovered, and I’m wondering about possible causes beyond lack of nutrients in a poor diet. What would cause a deficiency in the presence of a diet containing supposedly sufficent nutrients?

I have a lot of ideas including gut biome, food intolerance, and nutrient imbalance. Any thoughts, ideas?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Well, it used to be said that iron-rich foods such as liver were the antidote to anaemia. There is a difference in how bioavailable iron is in different foods, and I am sorry to say that I’m not up to date on this. But I would hazard a guess that iron-rich meats are probably a better source of iron than iron-rich plants, in terms of containing it in a form most useful to the human body.


#3

I have read that the iron content in foods like spinach are really not available for absorption in the same way that iron from liver or meat is. But what would cause someone to continue to be anemic even with a diet with plenty of iron-rich food?


(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

Possibly eating foods high oxalate or phytic acid with your iron rich foods? :cowboy_hat_face:


#5

B12(Methylcobalamin) deficiency if you’re eating feedlot meat. I was borderline B12 deficient when eating mostly feedlot carnivore.

Vitamin D deficiency since Vitamin D is required for the absorption of essential minerals.

Heavy metal toxicity from mercury fillings, lead from adulterated spices, lead from using brass musical instruments, etc… can interfere with our biology.


(Kristen Ann) #6

Anemia may be due to things other than nutrient deficiency. I was severely anemic for years due to blood loss. I had eosinophilic gastritis which caused 5 ulcers and I was losing a lot of blood (but completely unaware).


#7

You mean grains were wrecking your insides?


(Kristen Ann) #8

Could have been, eosinophilic gastritis is considered an autoimmune disease. Even if grains were the cause of the ulcers, the anemia still was still caused by blood loss not nutrient deficiency.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

I thought gastric ulcers were caused by Helicobacter pylori, which is treatable with antibiotics.


(Doug) #10

I have a nephew with that - it’s really a pretty rare thing, at least to the severity of his case. Took a horribly long time to get it diagnosed correctly. Enough scarring that his stomach doesn’t act normally - hunger hormones are suppressed. He’s 25 now and doing well, but there are many things he just can’t eat.


(Kristen Ann) #11

Maybe there is more than one cause? I was 17 at the time and had stomach issues since I was a child. I was told that it was an autoimmune disorder and was likely born with it. But maybe things have changed since then? Certainly knowledge on the gut microbiome has increased in the 15 years. I know my rheumatologist still considers it may be an autoimmune issue because she thinks it may be part of Churg-strauss syndrome (in my case).


(Kristen Ann) #12

I’m glad to hear he’s doing better. I had stomach issues until I was in my early twenties, then all symptoms disappeared… I was getting iron IV’s on a monthly basis to help replace the blood I was losing through my ulcers. I was told I would have to stay on iron IV’s and antacids for the rest of my life, but I stopped all treatment when my symptoms disappeared. Shortly after my gastritis magically healed, I started having symptoms of other autoimmune diseases affecting my joints and connective tissues.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

I suppose it is possible. After all, Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome are considered autoimmune disorders (though caused by too much carbohydrate in the diet). But doctors used to believe that gastric ulcers were caused by eating spicy foods, or by stress, until two Australian doctors proved that they were caused by a bacterium. It took decades for that to be accepted, however, and where the human body is concerned it is always possible for the situation to be more nuanced than we think.