Hi everyone,

I'm doing some personal research into how to regulate electrolyte levels in the bloodstream with raw foods. I'll be reading lots online, but if anyone had some information regarding this matter I'd be glad to hear it.

In particular, I'm going to look into how sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium (as well as others I may not be aware of) help regulate the correct balance of electrolytes in the system, and their interactions. Also interested in the possible effects of having grossly unbalanced mineral intakes with regards to electrolyte balance.

Cheers,
J

It sounds in part like what Sapoty Brooks' capnak chart and accompanying book is about. I don't have the website that covers the basic concept.

Wishing you vibrant health

Is this a study regarding endurance athletic performance?

Just curious.....

David

K+, Cl-, Na+
[books.nap.edu]

Fe++
[books.nap.edu]

Ca++, Mg++
[books.nap.edu]

celery is often talked about as a good food to balance/restore electrolytes

Also Jose, this is from that paleo paper I sent you a few years ago:

mg/1000 kcal
PALEO SAD
Fe 28.5 4.9
Ca 653 392
Zn 14.5 5.3
Na 256 1882
K 3500 1177

source: Eaton, Eaton, Konner (1997) Eur J Clin Nutr

I don't think we need to go so high on iron and zinc. The main things for electrolyte balance are Ca, K, and Na. The endocrine system does its darndest to regulate balance tightly regardless of intake but in the SAD diet the Na is usually way out of whack and most pathogenic, usually showing up as higher blood pressure than necessary.

Thanks Pistachio, I know which one you mean.

Hey David, no, I'm trying to get to the root of a health problem my brother has been having recently, which involves the endocrine system, irregular electrolyte levels and temporary muscular paralysis.

Hey jono, thanks.

Hey arugula, thanks so much for the recommendations, I've been flipping though them and they look like a great place to start. I still have that paper, thanks for reminding me. I think I want to find more on interactions between minerals, electrolytes and the endocrine system and its relation to abnormal muscular function.

Have you considered whether neurotransmitters could be involved as well?

Wishing you vibrant health

Hey Pistachio, yes, neurotransmitters seem ok, although he did have peripheral neuropathy a few years ago. I believe it is related to the endocrine system since testosterone and TSH/T4 levels are persistently too low, cortisol regularly high and when muscle failure occurs potassium is very low.

Cheers,
J

For a good overview I will suggest the endocrine chapter from Campbell and Reece, Biology, 7th ed or Tortora and Derrickson's Anatomy & Physiology (2007). Your uni should have both. Marieb's A&P book will do in a pinch but T&D is more thorough.

Also this is a nice powerpoint:
[216.101.58.17]

ooh interesting Jose... trying to solve medical mysteries the RIGHT way. If doctors did this, they might actually cure people instead of just treating symptoms. Please keep us posted!

Could your brother be on medication(s) that could be creating these problems as a side effect or by interacting with each other?

Wishing you vibrant health

Hey arugula, thanks again, really appreciated.

Hey sunshine79, I'll let you all know what I find

Hey Pistachio, the only medication he is on at the moment is thyroid drugs for his low T4. He has taken all sorts of body-building related rubbish in the past though, not drugs per se, but all manner of awful "supplements". I believe the peripheral neuropathy from a few years ago was brought on by these.

It's a bit infuriating because he thinks that until he/the doctors realise EXACTLY what is wrong with him (ie give it a name) then nothing he does will be of any benefit. I tell him that it could be a million years before the exact causes and pathways of what is happening are known precisely, but it doesn't seem to sink in. I also tell him that there are millions of ways that internal damage manifests itself, and that disease does not have specific triggers but is a complex phenomenon associated with external and internal toxicity and so on, but that doesn't help either. I can't seem to get the point across that it is the body that does the healing, if only we let it.

He has a pretty appalling diet, consisting of "no-carb" processed foods with tons and tons of dairy. He seems to think that carbs make him sluggish and protein (mostly animal) and fat are the way to go. He has been getting more open to eating healthily though, so he has been eating lots of fruit recently, and maybe I can convince him to do so even more when I get to the bottom of this.

Cheers,
J





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2007 03:06PM by Jose.

Hi Jose. I hope you find something that helps your brother. At least he is eating some fruit, that is good.

I always think it is funny how labelling a set of symptoms with a disease name somehow makes it sound like that is the cause, which of course you know is far from the truth.

I think this article is good and maybe your brother would read it (then again maybe not ;-) ) [www.newstarget.com].

The article is titled "Disease names like diabetes and osteoporosis are misleading and misinform patients about disease prevention"

Take care.

It sounds as if you may be on the right track looking at the endocrine system. However, with the body being such a complex structure, like you said you may never get to the root of it.

Does your brother agree with you that the underlying cause of his problems could be an imbalanced endocrine system, even if a label is not pinpointing what specific syndrome, -itis, -osis, etc. he's experiencing? If so, then moving towards living in accordance to natural principles could very likely balance all if not most of his disorders with the added benefit of resolving even other problems that he may not be aware of that may not have surfaced yet because these could still be in a subclinical stage (symptoms not showing and modern testing not designed to pick them up that early).

As you know, many on this forum have made dietary and other changes towards healthier living to resolve a specific problem and ended up resolving many others in addition to the original one. So he may end up pleasantly surprised about the other benefits he may experience if he chooses to keep moving in that direction beyond his first step of increasing fruit intake.

Wishing you vibrant health

>>>He has a pretty appalling diet, consisting of "no-carb" processed foods with tons and tons of dairy. He seems to think that carbs make him sluggish and protein (mostly animal) and fat are the way to go.
<<<

Jose, you might tell him that milk has a lot of carbs. Lactose breaks down to glucose and galactose. Galactose, like frutose, is a rapid glycotoxin former. And milk consumption has been linked to metabolic syndrome: [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

If he wants to eat low carb, a raw nut-based diet might be healthier.

I and alot of people I know have done (or are still doing) the bodybuilding diet, and I've noticed on myself and others that in order to get results from it, you have to cook your own food and be very vigilant that it be wholesome, healthy food. Protein bars are crap. But it's hard to eat just plain rice and dry chicken and steamed vegetables, in my opinion. I personally think raw is a hell of alot easier to do and gives better results. However if you're a guy and want that really beefy, bulky physique, that's hard to attain without cooked food (esp junk food) since you need that to make you look bloated which will add to the bulky appearance. Most bodybuilders in magazines take anabolics and things like clenbuterol to cut the fat while retaining muscle, I mean everyone knows that of course but I'm just saying it's almost impossible to look huge and be healthy at the same time. Also bodybuilders have "off-season" weights - that's when you really notice the effect of the bodybuilding diet - when the fat & bloat are present on the body before they either switch to eating ALOT of vegetables or fat-burning drugs.

Anyway I like a bulky physique on a man so I'm not criticizing, just sayin that it's not that healthy, unfortunately. boohoo for me. I wouldn't want someone I love to be unhealthy, no matter how aesthetically pleasing I may find it.

Also Jose when I did the bodybuilding diet I was the same way as your brother - I avoided carbs because they made me feel sluggish.

Now I eat coarse grains and raw food and the coarse grains give me energy.

I don't know how to explain it but somehow in my switching to raw it just changed like that. Weird!