Subclinical Vitamin Deficiencies and Neurotoxins In Psoriasis
Many people recommend the food as the main part of the healing psoriasis. I mean real unprocessed food like salmon instead of salmon oil in capsules. Sure, if you have a lot of money to buy top quality foods you can do that. However, most psoriatics can’t afford buying like 1-2 pounds of wild salmon daily that’s why some supplement is the only answer for them. You must understand that digestion is the culprit when eating the real food as source of nutrients.
There is a high chance one will assimilate more of the salmon oil from the capsule than 2 or 3 ounces of real salmon filets. Chewing and stomach acid plays very important mechanical part of the digestion and then there is still a huge part left for the pancreatic lipase and bile acids before the salmon oil can be absorbed into the body and transported via lymph and blood. When taking the supplement you bypass the chewing and stomach acid part but still depends on pancreas and liver to do their jobs effectively. That’s why people with poor bile flow won’t fully absorb even the supplemental oils.
Pale stools or stools that float are strongly linked to fat malabsorption, low bile flow, low bile acids production, fatty liver, damaged liver and gallstones.
Another argument against the deficiency theory as disease cause is that there is enough of vitamins in food, even processed food. There are the vitamins in processed food but did we discover all of the vitamins that are inadvertently lost during the processing of food? If not then how can we add them back in the end? Folic acid is one of the vitamins that some countries are adding back to white flour after processing (removing the bran). But there are a lot of countries that do not fortify white flour with anything despite the diet of most people in that particular country consists mostly of processed foods – white flour, refined vegetable oils and sugar.
And even though there would be enough of all the nutrients in processed or unprocessed foods we still have to have effective digestive processes. That’s why people with psoriasis should think about the nutrients as the TOP important factor and take them possibly in therapeutic amounts in supplemental form.
Vitamin deficiencies cause subclinical symptoms
Opposing the deficiency theory “because there are vitamins in food” is the same as to say you can not be deficient in vitamin D because we have sun (outside) or amino acids if you eat meat (with antacids) a few times a week. Of course that you can be deficient – without stomach acid and pepsin you get nothing from meat. It is not about what you eat – it is about what you absorb.
Let me think about vitamin deficiencies and their possible implications in various subclinical health problems:
- vitamin A deficiency = visual problems (night blindness), gene transcription, bone health, immunity
- vitamin C deficiency = bleeding gums – scurvy; yes a lot of people have subclinical(?) scurvy, connective tissue disorders – varicose veins, hemorrhoids, hypermobility
- vitamin D deficiency = tooth decay, weak immunity, frequent infections
- vitamin E deficiency = nerve problems – nervous systems controls everything; hair loss
- vitamin K deficiency = atherosclerosis, bone spurs, tooth decay
- vitamin B12 deficiency = weight loss, depression, low energy
- vitamin B9 deficiency = low neurotransmitters = depression, anxiety; anemia, weak detoxification, DNA synthesis problems
- vitamin B3 deficiency – Niacin deficiency = symptoms Pellagra = skin lesions, aggression, mental problems, weakness
- vitamin B1 – Thiamin deficiency = the symptoms of Beriberi; hundreds of millions of people have symptoms of this “almost non-existent” disease – neuropathy, edema, orthostatic hypotension, heart diseases
- B-complex vitamins deficiency = dry skin, energy production problems, peeling lips, detoxification problems, impaired nervous system function, various metabolic issues, muscle loss, depression, anxiety, blood disorders, immune system problems, etc…
B-complex deficiencies and Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction
The correlation of the b-vitamins to the nervous system health is clear.
Here I will talk about 2 different diseases caused by vitamin deficiency – Beriberi and Pellagra. These two diseases which develop due to vitamin B1 and B3 deficiencies respectively, bring many of the symptoms that we consider as normal state of the body caused by aging or call them a disease and treat them with the drugs.
Beriberi – vitamin B1 deficiency
It is well known that symptoms like brain fog, edema, heart diseases, orthostatic hypotension are the symptoms of Beriberi. Yes, we may consume enough of vitamin B1 so our bodies are still alive and not yet in the last stage of Beriberi but how many people today actually suffer from the peripheral neuropathy, edema, heart diseases or orthostatic hypotension? Hundreds of millions!
And what connects all these symptoms of beriberi? Acetylcholine production problems!
Pellagra – vitamin B3 deficiency
In pellagra both sides of the body are affected – arms, hands, legs and even the area under the neck. In that case the rash is also referred to as “collar”.
In correlation to psoriasis one fact is very important – skin lesions – as symptom of Pellagra. But not just some skin rashes – symmetrical lesions like there are in case of psoriasis.
Subclinical deficiencies
Just because we are still alive that doesn’t mean you can not be deficient and have what we may call subclinical(?) Beriberi or Pellagra. It is all about the subjective opinion where you decide to put the line that defines Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), Beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency) or Pellagra (vitamin B3 deficiency).
Our small intestine is a mess with SIBO, fungal overgrowth and inflamed/atrophied villi with low digestive enzymes output so it is not so easy to absorb vitamins and other nutrients from food. Also keep in mind that especially many of the B-complex vitamins are naturally produced in adequate amounts by bacteria in the healthy colon so from the evolutionary perspective it was not meant to get these vitamins from food in the first place.
Toxins mimic the deficiency state in psoriasis
It does not have to be only the deficiency!
The problem is that in case of psoriasis there is often some infection – bacterial or fungal – which interferes with the balanced biochemistry of the body despite the fact that enough vitamins is present in the body. That’s why activated charcoal and cholestyramine may improve or even fully clear up psoriasis. Those are the agents capable of adsorbing or binding to the endotoxins, bacterial toxins, chemicals and mycotoxins which places a burden on the liver and whole body.
Drugs and bad working kidneys also affect the stores of vitamins in the body. Thiamine is essential for proper acetylcholine production. Low acetylcholine levels make everything that is taken care of by Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) underperforming. And everything in the body is controlled by ANS.
Since the toxins and infections may block the various enzymes or cell receptors the result is the similar or the same like if there would be serious vitamin deficiencies.
The chemicals that block the enzymes or receptors are called antagonists. The chemicals that trigger the process after binding to the receptor are called agonists.
Coping with toxins and infections may deplete the vitamins at so high rate that even though body assimilated enough of vitamins from food most of it would be wasted to clean up the mess caused by infections or toxins.
Another possibility is that the capacity of the body to synthesize the enzymes is not high enough to clean up the toxins (mycotoxins, bacterial toxins, heavy metals, pesticides,…). This is where binders like activated charcoal, clays or prescription drug cholestyramine are highly effective.
I believe that Pyroluria is one of those diseases. In my opinion it is an (subclinical ?) infection – fungal infection – or maybe I should say state of the body during which nutrients like vitamin B6 and zinc are depleted at very high rate what leads to further problems and symptoms.