Tenacity
Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2016
- Messages
- 844
TLDR; Have acne? Have a history of iron supplementation or a diet rich in iron fortified foods? Have skeletal deformities? Try a diet high in manganese and low in iron.
I believe I have finally come to a greater understanding of what has caused my physical ailments throughout my life.
When I was a newborn I was given liquid iron on the basis that I had anaemia. I had/have a hypothyroid mother so I suppose that shouldn't have been too surprising.
At the age of 14, following fainting spells and blood tests to confirm low iron levels (which from what I understand is a faulty way of measuring the body's iron stores), I once again went through a regimen of iron supplementation. This is also about the time my acne began, and when boys would point out my pectus excavatum in the locker room when we had sports practice.
I have recently posted that mussels have reduced the number of my acne lesions, believing it to be due to their high selenium content. Selenium is known for its antioxidant qualities, so that explanation seemed to make sense to me. I wondered if it was truly selenium deficiency that was causing my acne, however, and if so, why had other family members not suffered the same way I had? Was it just unlucky genetics? We all ate the same diet as I was growing up. I realised that my condition had to be caused by conditions specific to my own context.
Given my history of iron supplementation (which is unique to me in my family as far as I know), I decided to investigate the effects of iron more closely. Iron and manganese share the same pathway, so an excess of one will cause a deficiency of the other. Due to that I looked up the symptoms of manganese deficiency, and what do you know, skeletal deformity is one of them. So that would explain the pectus excavatum.
At this point I realised it was possibly the high manganese content of mussels that was healing my acne, and not the high selenium content. To test this I completely removed mussels from my diet and added foods high in manganese (and low in iron and selenium, unlike mussels). I chose pineapple juice and instant tea leaves. Lo and behold, my skin condition continues to improve. Give it a try if you have a similar history to me.
I believe I have finally come to a greater understanding of what has caused my physical ailments throughout my life.
When I was a newborn I was given liquid iron on the basis that I had anaemia. I had/have a hypothyroid mother so I suppose that shouldn't have been too surprising.
At the age of 14, following fainting spells and blood tests to confirm low iron levels (which from what I understand is a faulty way of measuring the body's iron stores), I once again went through a regimen of iron supplementation. This is also about the time my acne began, and when boys would point out my pectus excavatum in the locker room when we had sports practice.
I have recently posted that mussels have reduced the number of my acne lesions, believing it to be due to their high selenium content. Selenium is known for its antioxidant qualities, so that explanation seemed to make sense to me. I wondered if it was truly selenium deficiency that was causing my acne, however, and if so, why had other family members not suffered the same way I had? Was it just unlucky genetics? We all ate the same diet as I was growing up. I realised that my condition had to be caused by conditions specific to my own context.
Given my history of iron supplementation (which is unique to me in my family as far as I know), I decided to investigate the effects of iron more closely. Iron and manganese share the same pathway, so an excess of one will cause a deficiency of the other. Due to that I looked up the symptoms of manganese deficiency, and what do you know, skeletal deformity is one of them. So that would explain the pectus excavatum.
At this point I realised it was possibly the high manganese content of mussels that was healing my acne, and not the high selenium content. To test this I completely removed mussels from my diet and added foods high in manganese (and low in iron and selenium, unlike mussels). I chose pineapple juice and instant tea leaves. Lo and behold, my skin condition continues to improve. Give it a try if you have a similar history to me.
