Last Thursday’s post was mainly concerned with Abby’s bone injury that refused to heal. I noted that four nutrients – vitamins C, D, and K2, and magnesium – were essential for bone health, and that deficiencies could have contributed both to Abby’s injury and her slow healing.
Today’s post is about another group of people who frequently break their bones and don’t heal well: the Boston Red Sox.
Injury-Prone Sox
Those who follow baseball may know that a promising 2010 Red Sox season was sabotaged by a rash of broken bones:
- Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury missed 144 games with hairline fractures in four ribs; they failed to heal properly and re-fractured months after the initial injury.
- Second baseman Dustin Pedroia missed all but two games after breaking his foot June 25.
- Catcher Victor Martinez missed a month with a broken thumb.
- Backup catcher Jason Varitek played just five games after breaking his foot on July 2.
There were muscle and joint injuries too, but let’s stick to bones.
Is it possible the Red Sox players are suffering from micronutrient deficiencies?
The Red Sox Hire a Dietitian
A few years ago the Red Sox hired a professional dietitian to advise their players: Tara Mardigan of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Ms Mardigan is a lovely woman, a marathoner and former gymnast, with a charming personality that shines through in radio interviews. She obtained her position with the Red Sox after meeting Red Sox president Larry Lucchino at a charity breakfast.
But what is her diet advice, and which players are taking it? I found a hint about the latter question in an interview in the student newspaper at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science, where Ms Mardigan studied:
I stopped working full-time at Dana-Farber to accommodate working with the Red Sox, and luckily they have a great relationship with the team so I was able to reduce my hours. I also work with the Red Sox’s minor league teams, the Lowell Spinners, Pawtucket Red Sox, and Portland Sea Dogs. This is where I really make changes. I work with young guys who are interesting in learning about how nutrition can improve their performance. They are hungry to get to the big leagues. It’s great to see them move up into the major league, and then become someone like Jacoby Ellsbury (Left Field/Center Field) who is now well-versed in nutrition.
Uh oh! Jacoby Ellsbury, who managed only 18 games in 2010, whose bones break on incidental contact and whose hairline fractures won’t heal in six months, is the dietitian’s prize pupil?
The Dietitian Advises Avoiding Supplements
The Friedman School interview didn’t tell us much about Ms. Mardigan’s dietary recommendations, other than that she opposes most nutritional supplements:
I try to get them to choose food before supplements, and only supplements when necessary. Athletes are vulnerable and think [supplements] are well made and well regulated, and they are shocked when they find out they are not.
Those who have read our book know that we have a chapter titled “Why Moderns are Malnourished” which explains why modern agriculturally-produced foods and treated water don’t provide enough micronutrients, and why supplements are needed to optimize health.
Among the micronutrients for which supplementation is most needed are vitamin K2 and magnesium – two crucial nutrients for bone health.
What Is Her Diet Advice?
To get an idea of what diet she might be recommending, I looked at the Dana-Farber nutrition team web site, and was surprised to see this graphic illustration of their “Optimal Diet plan for cancer survivors”:
Yikes! No fats, and no mention of healthy plant foods like starchy tubers. A quarter of the diet is toxic grains and the protein may be derived from toxic legumes. It looks like roughly 70% of calories come from carbs and 25% from protein.
Later in the page they suggest such omega-6-rich oils as soybean oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, wheat germ oil, and walnuts – all eliminated on the Perfect Health Diet.
It seems Ms Mardigan has recommended a similar diet to the Red Sox. From the Dana-Farber site:
On staff with the club since January 2006, she attends most home games to meet with players and make sure grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, and other healthful options are available in the team dining room.
Vegetables and lean protein, just like the Dana Farber diet. Another clue from this interview:
“My diet is very restricted right now, but Tara has been wonderful at helping me figure out what I can eat, like certain thick-skinned fruits and soy products,” says Anne Forgit, a leukemia patient and recent bone marrow transplant recipient.
Soy products. As readers of our book know, this is a highly toxic food.
Ms Mardigan does have a personal home page. The only clues I found there to her diet advice reside on her “Resources” page, where she recommends Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food and Dr. Walter Willett’s Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. Pollan is a journalism professor who has made a career attacking industrial agriculture, and has likened the Atkins diet to an eating disorder. He seems to avoid specific diet advice, but it looks like he favors grains and omega-6-rich plant fats over animal fats. Dr. Willett is mentioned in our book, where we object to his opposition to coconut oil and saturated fat. He is a promoter of polyunsaturated fat and whole grain consumption.
If this is what Ms Mardigan is recommending to the Red Sox, it’s no wonder their bones are breaking:
- Grains are toxic to bones. Wheat, oats, and other grains induce rickets, a softening of the bones that leads to frequent fractures. (This is discussed extensively in our book, and has been known since Mellanby’s original experimental investigations into rickets in dogs [1].)
- Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats reduce bone mineral density. [2]
The Missing Nutrients
So the Red Sox players are being recommended a diet that is highly toxic to bones. But what about the key bone nutrients? Are they lacking in those as well?
The answer is almost certainly yes. The fat-soluble nutrients are critical to bone remodeling, and it seems the Red Sox diet is completely lacking in vitamin K2. Plant sources of vitamin K1 aren’t sufficient for bones, and animal sources of K2 seem to be excluded from the Red Sox diet.
Bone fracture rates are very strongly dependent on vitamin K2 levels. Most people are deficient, and supplementation with K2 reduces risk of vertebral fractures by 60%, hip fractures by 77%, and non-vertebral fractures by a remarkable 81%. [3]
If that happens on ordinary diets, the reduction in fracture rates would probably be even more remarkable on a K2-empty diet like the one that has been recommended to the Red Sox.
Conclusion
If a biomedical scientist were asked to contrive a diet that maximized the likelihood of bone fractures, the advice would be:
- Eat lots of grains to induce rickets.
- Eat vegetable oils and non-tropical fatty plants to reduce bone mineral density.
- Avoid animal and dairy fats to deprive the body of fat-soluble vitamins needed for bone mineralization, such as vitamin K2.
- Do not take nutritional supplements, in order to maintain a deficiency of bone nutrients.
It seems that this is precisely the advice that is being given to the Red Sox and their minor league players.
This year’s broken bones cost the Red Sox a chance at a World Series. The player who followed this diet advice most rigorously, Jacoby Ellsbury, lost a full season to bone fractures, and his injury history could cost him millions when he becomes a free agent next year.
As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I beseech the team to reconsider their diet advice.
References
[1] Mellanby E. (March 15 1919) An experimental investigation on rickets. The Lancet 193(4985):407-412. Reprinted in Nutrition. 1989 Mar-Apr; 5(2): 81-6; discussion 87. http://pmid.us/2520279.
[2] Watkins BA et al. Dietary ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFAs and docosahexaenoic acid: actions on bone mineral and serum biomarkers in ovariectomized rats. J Nutr Biochem. 2006 Apr;17(4):282-9. http://pmid.us/16102959. Watkins BA et al. Dietary ratio of (n-6)/(n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids alters the fatty acid composition of bone compartments and biomarkers of bone formation in rats. J Nutr. 2000 Sep;130(9):2274-84. http://pmid.us/10958824.
[3] Cockayne S et al. Vitamin K and the prevention of fractures: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2006 Jun 26;166(12):1256-61. http://pmid.us/16801507.
via this link:
I bet the vegetables are cooked in vegetable oil which inhibit thyroid function, and some of the vegetables are crucifers which also inhibit thyroid function. This is the perfect recipe for hypothyroidism!
At least she said “vegetables are steamed rather than cooked” in her Red Sox dietary plan.
Welcome, Luming! It’s a good point about vegetable oil and the thyroid. Soy products are also promoters of hypothyroidism.
Any suggestions on the type / brand of vitamin C to take? Does it matter?
I don’t think it matters. Vitamin C is a pretty simple compound.
Hi again, Paul. Thanks for all the great advice.
Not really an aside, but not directly addressing bone health either, but since you referred to a leukemia patient and leukemia starts in the bones, what kind of dietary advice (supplements and all) would you recommend to someone with, let’s say, AML?
Hi Poisonguy,
You know, I almost addressed that in the post, since in addition to the bone fractures the Red Sox have had a rash of lymphomas. For blood cancers vitamin K2 is very important, see http://pmid.us/12946240. In AML specifically, a dose of 45 mg/day K2 led to regression of AML in 71% of patients, see http://pmid.us/10865985.
In general, for AML I would say vitamins D and K2 and magnesium, selenium, and iodine are very important. Diet – they should follow the Perfect Health Diet with some ketogenic fasting days.
hi paul, great post! this reminds me of a 46y old male friend who unexpectedly suffered several rib fractures just from falling from his mountain bike (he is very experienced and bikes for decades). i of course immediately sent him into the lab to test his D level, and it was only 12ng/L (as expected, after asking what he usually eats and seeing his pale skin, even at the end of summer). i then recommended to take 5kIU D3 for 3 month and then test again (as usual). however, it is *very* difficult to transfer any of the new knowledge about nutrition, as most are still completely stuck in the old backwards low-fat and healthy grains recommendations (even here in Europe. thanks, USA..). so he continues to mostly eat pasta, grains and dairy for now..
another case just around the same time: another friend (female 25y young) with chronic fatigue and officially diagnosed beginning osteoporosis(!). of course, she didn’t know her D level and has never been tested so far. so i recommended she gets her D level checked at her next doctors (gynecologist) visit. result: wrong test was performed (1,25 instead of 25-OH) by her doctor. then i sent her to the walk-in lab herself for the proper test. result: 7ng/L!
she’s a vegetarian who’s afraid of “skin damage from the sun” btw. so, no wonder.. i now recommended taking 5kIU for a month, see how she does, and then going up to 10kIU and test after 3 months. i also tried to convince her to at least include some eggs and salmon into the diet, and take some 400mg magnesium a day together with the 800mg calcium she already was taking for the osteoporosis. Q1: do you think her recovery will suffer (i mean, not just “in theory”, but in practice) if she doesn’t take an additional K2 supplement? she also (luckily) already takes a quality 100% RDA MV, which also has some K1 (100ug) in it. can K1 somehow be converted into K2 in the body? also Q2: the MV also has 800ug (100%) of “Vitamin A Palmitate” in it. do you think this a serious problem for the absorption of the supplementary D3, and if, can it be alleviated by taking these not together at the same meal, or is it more a problem of competing at the target receptors? thanks!
Hi qualia,
Great job helping your friends. I would advise the reverse order, 10,000 IU D3 for 2 weeks to restore her depleted D, then 5,000 IU or less thereafter. She should definitely supplement K2 as well, very important, especially if she is taking 800 mg calcium. Getting D and calcium but not K2 will cause her arteries to calcify. K1 can be converted but at a low rate and you need massive doses to obtain the optimal amount of K2. Magnesium is very important also, she should take C as well.
The vitamin A should be OK as long as she’s getting optimal D, but the vitamin has been making her D deficiency worse. I think everyone who gets osteoporosis at a young age must be seriously malnourished. There’s no issue with absorption, it’s heterodimeric transcription factors that account for the A-D synergy/competition.
Paul,
No walnuts? According to Mark Sisson, a one-quarter cup serving of walnuts contains 9.5 grams of Omega 6. But brazil nuts contain nearly as much: 7.2 grams. I also read somewhere that brazil nuts have the highest Omega 6: Omega 3 ratio of any food. Yet, you recommend brazil nuts for selenium. Why are they OK but not walnuts? The more I learn about nutrition, the more confusing it gets!
Hi Art,
We don’t recommend brazil nuts so much as offer them as an alternative food source of selenium for people who don’t like to supplement. But supplements or animal sources of selenium may be better, to avoid the omega-6.
That said, only 2-3 brazilnuts are needed to supply selenium which is only 3 g / 20-30 calories omega-6. So that is much less omega-6 than a quarter-cup of walnuts.
We advise keeping daily omega-6 intake below 10 g / 80-100 calories. A quarter cup of walnuts would use the whole allotment, whereas 2-3 brazilnuts still leaves room for the omega-6 in meats, eggs, oils, and plant foods.
oh….my….goodness hahahahah this is so bad i feel sorry for the players. i have no idea how they make it through a game let alone function & practice!
selenium… i looked up whiting fish and it says they have a bunch… i CANNOT find brazil nuts here, even almonds are hard to find! i definitely load the whiting with butter but is it a relable source? i also think beef liver is a good source, no? haha i think its a good ource of everythign though as its my favorite food!
Hi Mallory, Liver is definitely a good source … if you eat a healthy diet with seafood and organ meats you should get enough selenium along with a multivitamin … I don’t want to overemphasize brazil nuts. Someone wrote to me pointing out that the selenomethionine in plants might not be as good for us as the selenocysteine in animal floods. Speculative, but possible.
As much as I love Michael Pollan’s writing, I gnash my teeth whenever I read his advice to “eat mostly plants”.
I’m sure Pollan is no fan of the Atkins diet. Or any “diet” with a person’s name attached to it, for that matter. He seems to think health and weight management are only a question of eating relatively un-manipulated food, as long as most of it is plants (and not too much food). Sigh.
At the same time, I had a different understanding of his 2006 comment about the Atkins diet:
[The other catalyst was the moment in the fall of 2002 when Americans en masse foreswore bread for bacon and embraced the Atkins diet. “All of a sudden we completely flopped the identity of good and evil in the diet we’d been eating since 1977. Carbohydrates, not fat, became the enemy,” marvels Pollan. “That said to me that this is a nation with an eating disorder.”]
To me, he is not saying that the Atkins diet per se represents an eating disorder, but that the en masse flipflop from one diet extreme to another represents an eating disorder, which is a valid point. Europeans love to poke fun at the Americans’ diet du jour – as I’ve experienced when I eat the schmaltz with a spoon instead of the bread.
Hi Anna,
Yes, I knew I was possibly being unfair to him there. I haven’t read his books, only a few essays, so it’s hard to be sure what his views of Atkins, low-carb, or Paleo are. Based on what I have read, I suspect I might not know even after reading his books.
But I have to say, if it was the flipflop and not the ultimate diet he was targeting, I disagree. If you are eating a radically unhealthy diet, it’s good to switch as quickly as possible to a healthy one, even if it’s a big change. That’s not an “eating disorder,” but good sense.
Interestingly, Pollan’s motto of “Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” fits our diet too. We recommend recently living plants and animals, not processed food; our diet is about 2/3 plants by mass; and we support intermittent fasting and other techniques for calorie restriction. Being well nourished and eating high fat both reduce appetite, so I think we provide a practical diet for implementing “Not too much”. My daily calorie intake has gone way down now that our diet is optimized.
So I don’t disagree with his motto, but with an implementation that involves grains, legumes, and vegetable oils, and is hostile to animal foods and nutritional supplements. And he – and his followers – seem to like those toxic foods.
Hi Paul. Excellent e-book & blog. I’m new to the site – am catching up on the previous material – forgive me if this has been answered earlier. I’m out of my usual multi, are there any particular products that you recommend? If not, do you recommend high-potency or RDA-ish levels? Thanks in advance.
The RedSox diet would have a net acid load – perhaps another cause for the bone problems. What are your views on the acid/alkaline theory?
Best wishes to you.
Hi KKC,
Thanks!
I recommend a standard multivitamin – we use Centrum Silver – and supplementing separately for the specific nutrients that should be taken in higher doses. The reason is that higher-dose multivitamins tend to give more of all nutrients, and that’s not necessarily desirable. The standard formulations plus diet are within the zone of safety for all nutrients.
I don’t think acid/alkaline mix is that important as long as mineral content is high/optimal because the urine can excrete excess acids or bases and dietary minerals, not bone minerals, can be used to accomplish this. Our diet is fairly acid/base neutral and high in minerals, so there’s no concern for us. But even highly acidic diets are only a problem if they are also malnourished. At least that’s my belief.
Of course the Red Sox diet may be acidic and malnourished, but I don’t think acidity is the primary source of the problem. I think it’s basic molecular biology – toxins and lack of vitamins and minerals.
Best, Paul
Paul, I saw an article in the Washington Post recently about how the Redskins brought in dieticians to (allegedly) teach the players how to eat right. It was mostly the lean meats (or meat substitutes–soy and legumes, bleh) and veggies shtick, with a little bit of olive oil thrown in for good measure (do people just forget that olive oil has a fair amount of saturated fat? I don’t know about yours, but mine solidifies when put in the fridge, whereas I think I’d have to get the -40 freezer out to solidify “vegetable oil”…).
Given what I see just on the player’s jerseys on a weekly basis, it seems like they often lose some blood, so I don’t know the wisdom of removing beef and other iron-rich meats from their diets. Also, given how much serious contact you have in professional football, I’d be even more worried down the line about the players sustaining significant injuries on this malnourished diet, as compared to baseball players who have significantly less contact.
Have you ever looked into whether there’s an increase today in the number of athletic injuries all the way from kids up to professional athletes (from sprained ankles to torn ligaments/tendons, broken bones, and concussions)? Maybe it’s just that it gets more air-time today, or we have better diagnostic tools, but I’ve wondered myself if it isn’t a serious lack of vitamins (particularly the fat-soluble vitamins D,E,A, and K2) and minerals and lack of animal fat that are doing people in.
I played soccer, rode bikes and rollerblades, and generally roughoused pretty significantly with both boys (including my older brother and his friends) and girls, and never once suffered from a single broken bone. I even went over the handlebars on my bike a few times and remember lots of skinned knees and smashing on the ground! I ocassionally twisted an ankle or something, but it was never serious…and I was a pretty brave little girl (I even collected bugs and spiders!). I definitely ate a varied and rich diet–it was cheaper in those days, so we ate lots of fat-rich ground beef, dark meat chicken with the skin and bones intact, and cream-based sauces. We always had veggies on the table, and I loved all different kinds of fruits–I introduced my Mom to kiwis in fact. I also LOVED to make milkshakes with real ice cream and whole milk.
As I got older, my parents got more fat phobic, but we always celebrated medium rare steaks and butter…I consider myself very fortunate as a late-20s female to have a wonderful relationship with red meat and butter. Most women I know look on it as if it’s the devil!
Hi Katie,
You are indeed lucky to have eaten so well! Give thanks to your parents.
I was shocked at the Red Sox diet and I’m shocked again at the Redskins diet. I never took conventional diet advice seriously, I guess I’m surprised that other people do. So many people are eager to play “follow the leader” without bothering to look into the science! Even highly educated specialists.
I don’t know if injuries have been increasing, but it’s possible: I found this report that hockey injuries have been increasing faster than participation (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920111346.htm).
I’ve also read that outdoor play has been decreasing and indoor video game and computer play has been increasing. Maybe that’s partly because poorly fed bodies don’t enjoy exercise.
Well, the good news is that there are many easy opportunities to improve health. The bad news is that it’s because we’re starting from such poor health!
Paul,
enjoying the blog the last few weeks since my friend Emily Deans introduced me. I am a die hard Sox fan. this is terrible. it makes perfect sense though. athletes in their 20s should not be breaking bones without big time physical contact and should heal quite easily.
i have a number of work friends who I have converted from veganism, one specifically after she snapped both radii mid-shaft after a simple fall. she was a buddhist monk prior to coming to work with us and had been vegan for a long time. she is now eating pastured butter, whole milk from a local pasture dairy, bacon and eggs. she has lowered her carb intake, started d3 and fish oil. she is down 20 pounds, looks much brighter, returned to work 3 months earlier than her doctors thought and feels great. so many n+1 experiments to get this message out.
the red sox could use some of this advice. please call them. please.
Hi Dan,
I am trying, I have emailed Ms. Mardigan and someone who has connections with the Red Sox front office. I am thinking of doing another post or two on this and I will continue trying to contact them.
It is a shame and the more I think about it the more disappointed I am. It’s not just the Red Sox, think of the poor Dana-Farber cancer patients!
Paul,
Great (and entertaining) post.
Have a couple of questions —
You are pretty hard on wheat/grains in this post as well as on the rest of the site. You and others make a pretty strong case and I’m coming around to it, but I have one nagging question. Why is it that wheat is producing these 20th century diseases now, and didn’t for centuries before? Europeans have been consuming wheat as a staple food for eons (pasta, baguettes, etc), yet diabetes/cardiovascular disease/obesity are classified as 20th century epidemics (at least at the rates we’re currently seeing). If wheat/grains are so toxic, why didn’t we see these epidemics before?
Second question, a little off topic — will your book be available in kindle format by any chance?
Thanks!
Hi TL,
Most diseases have multiple causes. Diabetes and obesity needed vegetable oils and cheap fructose to be invented; those are recent (20th century) inventions.
However, grains were inducing epidemic rickets in the 19th century.
In medieval times, through the 1700s, people detoxified grains by turning them into beer/ale/mead/liquor. Alcohol was over 50% of calories. This may have been safer.
Yes, I am planning a kindle version. I’m going to start work on an HTML version tomorrow, and have been investigating the legal and business issues. I don’t have a date for when it will be available, but if you have a Kindle I recommend waiting for the Kindle edition.
Paul, do you have a date for the book yet?
Hi erp, It should be very soon. I’m waiting for the proof copy. I’ll do an update on the blog this weekend.
What is the basis behind iodine supplementation in AML? And why would you supplement to a high level? Thanks again.
Hi Poisonguy – Perhaps I was rash to recommend the iodine. High doses are very helpful against solid tumor cancers but I on a cursory look I don’t see much information re blood cancers. I would be very careful to tend to any hypothyroidism he may have. Iodine, if you choose to go the high iodine route, should be increased slowly to avoid any thyroid issues.
I never saw any skinny NFL player before. Body mass is the major requirement when you want to be an NFL player.
As a dietitian I found this point very interesting indeed! My biggest question in all of this is why would a pro baseball team hire an RD who specializes in cancer?? There are different diet recommendations for different conditions and while her cancer recommnedations are research-based and not in need of too much modification, the needs of athletes are quite different. They really should hire an RD with a sports nutrition/ exercise physiology expertise.
Hi Tiny,
The Red Sox president had cancer and got to know her through his personal care.
I’m sure she is very charming. She was an athlete herself, and no doubt had a strong interest in sports nutrition. And her advice is in line with the USDA standards.
So I guess I’m not too surprised the Red Sox hired her … but surprised that the advice has been adhered to!
Best, Paul
I was intrigued by this hypothesis, but it turns out that Mardigan started working for the Red Sox in late 2002, after giving them some free advice during that year (http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5522/profile-alum-tara-mardigan-keeps-the-red-sox-on-a-healthy-diet-1.593050#.UGhSxo1lQ4I). They went on to win two World Series.
She quoted Loren Cordain stressing “real” over processed foods (http://www.hawkinsfoundation.com/events/june_10_talks_files/Nutrition%20for%20Athletes.pdf). Surprisingly, she told pitcher Alfredo Aceves to cut down his carb intake and he lost weight and increased his pitching velocity (http://tiny.cc/3ucglw).
Even relatively successful teams like the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays promote foods similar to those Mardigan recommendeds:
> Texas Rangers: “High carbohydrate (50-60% of meal), moderate protein, low fat & fiber…. Energy bar and a banana or a baggie of dry cereal, granola, and a few nuts or shake with fruit and low-fat milk … oatmeal w/ 1 spoon peanut butter … low-fat milk … Thick wheat bread sandwich … cold pasta or fruit, energy bar/trail mix granola bar.” (http://www.rangerstrength.com/conditioning/nutrition/)
> Tampa Bay Rays: “These days, the menus feature lean meats, fish and whole wheat pasta — topped with marinara sauce, please, not cream-based Alfredo sauce. … Fruits, nuts and seeds are among the acceptable snacks.” (http://tiny.cc/mffglw)
So the overall picture is less clear than at first blush. Bone degeneration does take time, so maybe Mardigan’s advice had a long-term negative effect? Still, given that the players that don’t follow her advice tend to guzzle beer and eat Popeyes’ fried chicken and biscuits (http://tiny.cc/0geglw), and the players for most other teams probably don’t eat much better than the Red Sox, it doesn’t seem likely that she’s the main factor in their poor performance during 2010-2012.
Hi guys,
Really interested in K2 and it’s properties and I know Paul recommends 100mcg a day which I have been taking now for a couple of months.
Reading up on this seems that many people say it is a wonderful source for a lot of things, teeth, bones etc. I just want to ask one thing, could it be responsible for me now not getting full and undisturbed sleep. Very broken sleep really, not insomnia?
I also follow Paul’s guidelines with D3, magnesium, Zinc and B-50.
Any thoughts and comments much appreciated.
Hi Lorenzo,
I don’t know, but it’s always a good idea to stop supplements periodically and see if symptoms change. Try stopping the K2 and see if your sleep gets better. Let me know the outcome.
Best, Paul
Lorenzo and Paul-
I had the same thing. I stopped all supplements and sleep returned to normal after 2 days. Now I just do the weekly recommendations and the daily peirodically, except I still do Vit C every day.
Great stuff Paul/TR
I’ll stop and report back.
Thanks
Hi guys, Well just reporting back in to say stopping K2 (100mcg), improved my sleep substantially. I stopped for a week and it was way better and I started again and my sleep went down hill again. I will consider a smaller dose and in the meantime I am implementing a slice of Gouda daily.
I have read a great deal about K2 and it seems that it is really beneficial, I guess it is now up to me to get a workable solution to get on board with it.
Lorenzo-
Excellent!! I had the issue narrowed down to the iodine (225mcg), the copper or the K2. Thanks for the info!
TR
Also to note…I’ve been eating 3 pastured eggs daily on average, so I think my K2 consumption is “topped off”.
“…Well just reporting back in to say stopping K2 (100mcg)…”
out of interest Lorenzo, was the K2 mk7 or mk4…?
Another ‘side effect’ i watch closely for in supps, is itching.
If i start feeling itchy, esp during the night or on waking, i start looking at any new supps i’ve introduced over the past few days.
All good info TR. The path to good health is seldom straight.