Does Pyroluria Actually Exist? Zinc/b6

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JohnBonham

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Is there any legitimate science out there that proves Pyroluria is a real condition? I've heard tons of people say they have it, but couldn't they just be having run-of-the-mill zinc deficiency symptoms because of high aldosterone/diet whatever? I'm especially interested if Dr. Peat has mentioned anything about it. I'm asking because it seems like I've been dealing with symptoms of Zinc Deficiency since I was a child that I've never been able to get rid of completely, I haven't had the same issue with b6 deficiency, though. At least I don't think so.

I know there are labs out there to test for Pyroluria, but I'm sure you could find someone to test if you're part elf or just about goshdarn anything if you look hard enough, and they're pretty expensive as well. I don't like the idea of having to take large doses of zinc and b6 for the rest of my life, even if I do test positive for Pyroluria. I just want to know if it's a real cause of Zinc/B6 deficiency. I'm always wary of these new "trendy" diseases because it seems like people just want to make money off of them, and I'm always left with more questions that answers.
 

answersfound

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It's just hypothyroidism.

Illnesses are made up all the time to push products or meds.

Here's a new one I just saw a commercial for: Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D.)

So basically if are really hungry and eat a lot, they now have an illness and need to be medicated. What a surprise.
 
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JohnBonham

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I bet you're right, I was thinking it had something to do with hypothyroidism. I'm just curious why so many people test "positive." And if that positive means absolutely anything. Funny enough, I've been experimenting with Zinc for the last two days, and today I woke up and the red bumps on my arms are nearly gone and my constant left eye twitch has almost completely stopped along with a drop in water retention/slimmer face. I haven't changed anything else. I'm guessing I didn't have enough Zinc to raise my serum vitamin A? I guess I'd like to know why I would have low zinc. One day of caffeine made my muscle twitch like crazy. Do PUFA's lower zinc as well?

Lexis, my cravings change pretty often. I almost always have sugar cravings but It seems like 2 days of zinc have lessened them. I've started really wanting meat the last few days. I always want chocolate, which I thought might mean I need magnesium, but I've been taking Magnesium for years and a RBC test showed my levels were perfect. And not a day goes by where I don't want smoked oysters.

I haven't been on antibiotics for several years. Would that help with something specific?

Thanks to the both of you for replying!
 

Brian

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I think the root issue is in mineral dysregulation or an absence of the essential things that should keep them in the right place.

Maybe for some people they were given an imbalance of minerals from their mother in the womb. Too much copper not enough zinc and their childhood diet was low in things that regulate minerals such as vitamin A, D, K, magnesium, sunlight as well as being low in both zinc and copper. I know mine was.

Adding in these missing elements and getting plenty of calories moved things in the right direction. Replenishing magnesium and lowering PTH with fat solubles and calcium seemed to be the biggest missing piece for me. More calcium without enough fat solubles and magnesium just made things worse by interfering with magnesium, copper and zinc even more.

More zinc and copper in the diet seem to have positive effects only when these fundamental things are in place.

The high dose zinc and b6 treatment for symptoms of low zinc is very old school even for the alternative medicine world. A little extra B6 in the diet doesn't hurt, but I'm not so sure it's essential for rebalancing mineral status beyond what is in food. And high dose zinc is not addressing the root issue.

Nowadays most legitimate practitioners (both in and outside of the Peat community) seem to be finding success with their clients by finding ways to lower soft tissue calcium and increase intercellular magnesium. Some are opposed to using vitamin D at all. I'm fairly undecided, but keeping vitamin D in a 1:5 ratio with vitamin A and additional K seems safe and effective in my experience.
 

aguilaroja

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JohnBonham said:
Is there any legitimate science out there that proves Pyroluria is a real condition?
....I just want to know if it's a real cause of Zinc/B6 deficiency....

The pyroluria reasoning goes back at least to Carl Pfeiffer, who wrote about the topic in the 1970's and 1980's. You can read about him and the citations questioning the pyroluria findings on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomolec ... #Pyroluria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Pfeif ... macologist)

I have not seen much different basic reasoning in generations following Pfeiffer. Some advocates, like Braverman, have gone in other directions.

Dr. Peat is certainly concerned about pyridoxine, zinc and magnesium nutrients. However, in addition to concern about isolated nutrients, he has in the past been concerned about high zinc intake in disproportion to copper. Years back, he discussed concerns about Pfeiffer's approach (and Broda Barnes's interest in Pfeiffer's work) in conversation. Maybe he might discuss it again in public interview.

http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/trans ... acts.shtml
"Several years ago, I saw what appeared to be oxidant-induced cataracts. Two women had a very sudden onset of cataracts, and I asked about their diet and supplements; it turned out that one of them had begun taking 500 mg of zinc daily a few months earlier, and the other had begun taking 600 mg of zinc and 250 mg of iron, on her doctor’s recommendation, just a couple of months before the cataracts appeared."

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/im ... ency.shtml
J Am Coll Nutr 1982;1(2):207-14. Auto-immune complications of D-penicillamine--a possible result of zinc and magnesium depletion and of pyridoxine inactivation. Seelig MS. Pyridoxine is necessary for cellular accumulation of zinc and magnesium, deficiencies of which have caused thymic and other immunologic abnormalities.
 
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JohnBonham

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Thanks for the replies!

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that you don't believe Pyroluria exists? At least not in the sense that it's a condition that forces you to take zinc for the rest of your life? Even if one would test "positive" on a urine test?
 

lexis

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JohnBonham said:
Thanks for the replies!

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that you don't believe Pyroluria exists? At least not in the sense that it's a condition that forces you to take zinc for the rest of your life? Even if one would test "positive" on a urine test?

Progesterone helps to retain magnesium.

Oysters and chocolates are actually high in copper. I have read somewhere that antibiotics prevents the loss of B6 and Zinc
 

Luann

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Dr. Peat is certainly concerned about pyridoxine, zinc and magnesium nutrients. However, in addition to concern about isolated nutrients, he has in the past been concerned about high zinc intake in disproportion to copper. Years back, he discussed concerns about Pfeiffer's approach (and Broda Barnes's interest in Pfeiffer's work) in conversation. Maybe he might discuss it again in public interview.

http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/trans ... acts.shtml
"Several years ago, I saw what appeared to be oxidant-induced cataracts. Two women had a very sudden onset of cataracts, and I asked about their diet and supplements; it turned out that one of them had begun taking 500 mg of zinc daily a few months earlier, and the other had begun taking 600 mg of zinc and 250 mg of iron, on her doctor’s recommendation, just a couple of months before the cataracts appeared."

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/im ... ency.shtml
J Am Coll Nutr 1982;1(2):207-14. Auto-immune complications of D-penicillamine--a possible result of zinc and magnesium depletion and of pyridoxine inactivation. Seelig MS. Pyridoxine is necessary for cellular accumulation of zinc and magnesium, deficiencies of which have caused thymic and other immunologic abnormalities.


Yeah if you think about healthy people around the world, not many of them are gulping down zinc foods. Like asia. They're doing ok and don't eat much red meat. I think it's a body problem that causes you to not use the zinc inside you: not a lack of zinc.
 

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