ZeroGravitas Health

I've been contemplating splitting off my few health related posts from my main sci-tech & culture Blogger . That spans back to 2006 and is a pain to post in, due to a heavily customised layout causing glitches. Also, it's best to stay focused on one topic in this (late) content algorithm age. Linktree for my social media accounts, including Twitter, which is heavily on this topic, for the last few years (taking my full focus). I've also made a Google sheet listing direct links to my biggest, best and more interesting Tweet threads and (Phoenix Rising, etc) forum posts, related to ME/CFS. New blog's banner image - stylised crop from my health tracking spreadsheet visualising an unexpected post-Covid health improvement, in 2023.

In honour of hitting the big four-oh, overnight, I felt like turning this excessively long Reddit comment of mine (in r/AutisticWithADHD) into an impromptu blog post. Maybe it could kick off writing up more health history, for useful proposes... December 1987 (Age 4) with Stickle Brick robots. I hit all the normal infant development milestones. But was a late starter in some academic respects; last in class to move from pencil to pen, at the start of middle school . But by the end I was getting top grades and passed the entrance exam for our selective grammar (high) school. Where I was basically on mostly As until age 16, except for chemistry and languages (dyslexia spoiler warning). Starting secondary school. Over the two years of sixth form , I really started struggling with DSPD (delayed sleep phase). To get to school on time, be exhausted when getting home and then still not sleeping until late. Also with executive function to do homework and revise maths, in particular. The first...

 ... Says a university blog reporting on a conference talk by a guy referring to 3 old studies (and this 2012 review ). My headline comes from the Guardian online [ 1 ]. It's pretty distorted (bad) reporting, but what it talks about is still very relevant: Smokers who have already done large amounts of DNA damage in their lungs should not super-dose supplemental vitamin A (in particular). High dose vitamin E supplementation increases risk of prostate cancer in those deficient in selenium. Vitamins can not cure cancer. In fact, folate in particular is like steroids for tumours; do not supplement with this (and certain other things) if you already have cancer! Basically, the name of the game is balanced your personal nutrition and avoiding deficiencies. Interestingly, the main reason most people on a 'standard diet' aren't deficient in most B-vitamins is because breakfast cereals are fortified with supplemental B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12 (and iron). You needn...

" It's not until I'd been vegetarian for a year that I suddenly came to the conclusion that it's a bit odd that we're (most people, anyway) ok with seeing chunks of dismembered animal randomly across the course of the day, be it on TV or (as per what triggered me writing this) an image in the side bar of Facebook. I used to be ok with it, but now I'm faintly horrified/disgusted. This makes me wonder what else we're ok with but wouldn't be after a very slight perspective shift? " - L.S. (Facebook status) I think that everything we do falls somewhere in this territory... Inserting into our bodies the mangled remains of life-forms (plant and/or animal) right through our sensory nexus is pretty weird in general (for example). Even from one gob full to the next it can turn from a compulsive need, to pure revulsion. The negative feeling (e.g. of imminent vomiting) suddenly starts promoting all the ugly aspects of this ...

Depression Comix  ( 015 ) Just from looking through a couple sites like Depression Comix  ( via io9 ) and Hyperbole and a Half (also via iO9 ) it should be painfully obvious that depression (like most/all mental illness) produces impediments to mental functioning that simply can NOT be willed away. Also, personal experience has really highlighted how arbitrary mental state can be; uncorrelated to outside events that might be reasoned to induce happiness/sadness. But when I take a little tyrosine, I clearly feel the (positive) effects of dopamine and adrenaline, hours or days down the line. This supplement leads to motivation but also agitation and anxiety if not balanced with tryptophan, the essential amino acid for human synthesis of serotonin and melatonin (happy and calming modulators). Sure, I'm only one particular case, in that I seem to be naturally short of all (essential) amino acids  (probably due to maldigestion). But these same effects are widely known...

The Histamine Segué In my previous post , I explained how I'd found wonderful, unexpected, relief from the worst of my CFS type 'fatigues', by excluding certain foods. I went into a lot of detail about the specifics of food intolerance testing, and histamine intolerance, but did not cover most of the possible underlying mechanisms. Problems with histamine tie in with the following: Methylation cycle insufficiency/disfunction. My Nutritionist considers that HIT may be due to gut damage leading to DAO insufficiency, and/or dysbiosis with opportunistic bacteria producing histamine and other unhelpful by-products. Histamine problems common in methylation deficiency, as SAMe used by HNMT. Nutritional therapy Super-foods: - Milk (cow's) - 81-89% water, the rest split equally 3 ways: fat, protein (80% casein), carbs (mostly lactose - 40% of milk calories), vitamins, minerals, bacteria and white blood cells. - Egg Coconut Phoenix Rising Longcity, ...