Michael569

Agreed. There is a degree of showmanship and pressure from his viewers and subscribers as well. People have a fetish for pushing others into things they would not do themselves which is why bodybuilding competitions are so fascinating despite it being completely unappealing to look like that. Same for steroids and loading oneself with chemicals and drugs.

To a degree yes. But so is there air we breathe and water we drink pretty much anywhere in the world now. It's all about avoiding the major contaminants that are not necessary for survival. Plants are, animals mostly aren't. in animals, it is the fat tissue because some of the things like POPs attach to lipids and stay there pretty much forever. But also the way cattle and birds are being raised & fed, there is a lot of exposure, cross-contamination through each other's faeces, often grazing on fertilised lands etc. Ofcourse this is less of a problem if cattle is pasture-raised in a clean environment, somewhere close to the coast. Additionally, you've got the fact that compared to wild animals who have minimum fat, cattle grown on-farm are fattened to the point of bovine obesity. SO the steak you'd eat is filled with saturated fats and highly pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid. Oh and then high levels of bovine sex hormones post-birth are a concern as well. With fish, it comes down to global water pollution, volcanic activity throwing ever more heavy metals in the ocean, microplastics and toxins from human origin, leakage of oil, acidic rainfall and all the garbage we dump in oceans. I used to believe some fish is healthy but nowadays I am not so sure anymore. It's getting worse Sugar isn't polluted per se but it is proinflammatory which is the biggest issue with it. Alcohol is a systemic toxin and hepatotoxin and when you detox the last thing you wanna do is to have competitive detoxification between alcohol and the actual toxins that are coming out. With salt again, it is the high amounts ae proinflammatory, this depletes glutathione which is essential when you detox. It also forces kidneys to work extra hard which again is not something you want f you cleanse.

@charlie cho ?

It is certainly better for people who experience caffeine-induced symptoms. But decaf coffee is like sex without orgasm (although many people do practice that as well). The problem is the decaf coffee are often made through chemical treatment so something like gentle green tea would probably be better.

@Olivia24 I don't want to hijack OP's topic so happy to chat about this through DM. Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like

I'd start with identifying what causes it in the first place. Some of the potential culprits are: high salt, high consumption of saturated fats, tomatoes & other nightshades, citrus fruits, sugar, coffee, milk and chocolate. Then other potential suspects are: helicobacter pylori infection, excessive portion sizes, stress, chronic gastritis, hiatus hernia, smoking, alcohol, some medical drugs (e.g. painkillers, antibiotics, PPIs, antacids rebound etc), being overweight , overexercising. Do you have any more info you could share? Is there any pattern? Do you know when did it start? What makes it worse? It's also important not to use the number on the scale as end-all-be-all. Anthropometric parameters are valuable in predicting the risk of chronic disease but they are not always necessarily the most reliable way to measure health status. For example, something like waist-hip ratio combined with BMI and body fat measurement is much better than just weighting oneself. This is because genetically people have different constitutions, bone density, fat deposition. SOme people also have naturally very thin bodies while others are more stocky. This cannot be changed with any amount of weight loss. This is especially profound in women where there can be many different body shapes, especially in the pelvic area. Sure exercising at home is an option. You could try something like TRX and hang it on a doorframe or in a park. Maddie Lymburner has a Maddiefit channel where she does guide workout videos for women, those are quite helpful. Maybe check that one out. Other than that a bench and 2 dumbels (adjustable), skipping rope, 1 or 2 rubber bands would be all you need really to build a decent home gym.

This is the lower end of the perfect range. 18.3 is healthy, minimises your risk of chronic health complications. Your weight is very decent to your height. You could consider doing some weight lifting, that's the healthiest way to gain weight to make some muscle. DOn't worry you won't look like Kristen Nun, more like you'll tone your tights and abdominals and round up the bum. Which girl wouldn't want that This process will also strengthen your bones and joints to prevent osteoporosis postmenopausal and support healthy sex-hormone balance and brain. The best way to start is to buy a gym membership and hiring a trainer (most gyms have them) for 2-3 sessions to give you a plan and show you the exercises so that you don't hurt yourself and train safely. Weightlifting can be very enjoyable and there is no need to go heavy or use powders and supplements. Stay with food, good sleep, recovery and give it few months. Results will come and you'll feel amazing. No need for any superfoods. Beans & lentils are the cheapest foods on the planet when you consider nutritional value per dollar. Healthy diet is anything but expensive. Stay away from those prestige shops selling you acai berries, superfood powders and all that crap, you don't need it. Natural whole food is the cheapest there is. If you can support local produce to maximise cost savings and nutritional value. You need to eat in excess if you want your cells to be in anabolic phase (growth). Food deprivation will lead to catabolism (weight loss & muscle loss). No need not count calories, make sure to eat regularly and if you feel fatigued and hungry a lot, eat some more especially protein-rich foods. Also don't avoid carbohydrates, they will be essential for energy if you want to exercise. Exercising with energy deprivation will lead to loss of muscle and strength. Hope that helps

On its own that's not a detox protocol but it will reduce how much stuff is coming in for sure A structured detox/cleanse protocol takes some time and should last at least 4 weeks, ideally 12

Thanks for sharing, this helped put things into perspective. What I really see is a desperate man just trying to fix his shit using any means necessary. However, it seems he is kinda resistant to seeking guided professional help of somebody like naturopathic doctor who could probably fix him up in 6 months and rather self prescribes a lot of bs supplements he sees on the internet. (even tic toc bloody hell!!!!, never take health advice on tic toc). Going down the TRT and steroid road won't fix the root cause since it seems his HPO hormones are messed up. But the journey of a healing is always difficult, mysterious and includes a lot of bumps and obstacles. Maybe that's what he has to do for now.

@Twega That's true but LO is nowhere near as effective. I assume OP is either struggling with MDD or bipolar or something like that and the non-medical lithium just isn't effective enough unfortunately. But maybe it could be a way towards withdrawal, maybe. The risk is symptoms flaring up tho so this is why these things need to be managed very cautiously

Absolutely! the last thing you want to do is get off cold turkey. Reduction needs to be approach very cautiously and you need to keep an eye for rapid worsening of symptoms. You could also potentially ask the doctor about something like St John's Wort. The evidence in depressive disorders is actually pretty good even when compared to something like fluoxetine or amitryptiline. But SJW must not be mixed with anything else, that's the tricky bit. Again, the doctor needs to be involved 100% of the time. Good luck!

YES! Detoxification is the exact opposite of stripping the body of food and juice cleansing, proper nourishment is essential otherwise the liver struggles and toxins actually end up being reopened and turned into free radicals. Great post @Twega ! @vindicated erudite It's a very very complex topic however it appears the most effective way we have at the moment to pull heavy metals out, is indeed the chelation protocol that has been discussed here many times. At least once toxicity of mercury, lead or other metals has been confirmed on the test. However for general cleanse and removal of any built-up of things like persistent organic pollutants, pesticide residue, hydrocarbons etc, chelation is not needed and regular protocol at strengthening the main elimination organs is a good way forward during which the most polluted foods (e.g. most animal products) need to be eliminated for a short time as well as alcohol, sugar and salt.

The ideal balance is somewhere between 7.5 - 8.5 . At least statistically speaking. It's better to get a little bit more than chronically not getting enough. It is a bit tricky because the body compensates to a large degree. If you get little sleep, your stress hormones go through the roof the next day which can give a false assumption that the body is energised but in reality, the body is stressed and running on adrenaline & cortisol. It can be done for a short time if you're young and healthy but long term sleep deprivation can cause burnout & exhaustion of the coping mechanisms (e.g. adrenal deficiency & mitochondrial dysfunction) in mid 30s early 40s and then people end up with something like chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. I'd probably focus on getting at least 7, more on days when you were exceptionally active. It's probably not worth the long term risk

interesting, seems the issues with shitty sport supplements is much worse than I thought so point taken on that

How much roughly (cups or jugs) do you drink daily? Is your urine colour darker or lighter?

You can always shower your bum

Well most filtration jugs are based on principle of activated carbon that attract particles with opposite charge. Id say this works the same way but not sure about the cost compared to something like britta jug. These fancy things tend to be overpriced for no reason.

sweet potatoes are good but this doesn't seem right. Have you had any basic blood tests? Maybe something like long-term blood sugar balance and some gut testing.

The Calm app has some pretty nice guided full body relax meditations and the annual membership is quite low

What's your source? I agree many supplements can be contaminated with microscopic doses of heavy metals but as far as I know major causes of liver failure is acute viral hepatitis and drug-induced hepatitis. There are also other sources like Budd-Chiari syndrome, Wilson disease, acute food sepsis (e.g. eating wrong mushrooms), autoimmune hepatitis etc. If you come to the hospital with acute liver failure, it is usually really easy to find out what caused it on blood tests. However you may be right that many supplements are neither registered with any governing body nor treated in accordance with any rigorous protocols especially in developing countries. Historically certain brands like Hydroxycut have been suspected for a few cases of liver problems but these products are quickly pulled of the market. Saying that they cause more ALF than all hepatitis together (e.g. hundreds of thousands of cases) seems a bit bold claim

I found a lot of this comes from a learned habit. For those who were active as kids, exercise comes naturally and effortlessly. But it is a habit you can build by sticking to consistency. It is important not to only go exercise when you feel the best but also to pack the backpack and trainers and go out there even if you feel like shit. If you do that consistently the body will become accustomed and over time it actually desires exercise if you haven't done it for a while. I was fortunate to have been pushed into martial arts as a kid so exercising has stuck as a habit by now but even today it is still often a struggle between a lazy body and an excited brain. Maybe there are other ways you can exercise without calling it as such: join a local club for a sport or activity you like (e.g. martial arts, basketball, baseball...whatever). I used to do CrossFit in the gym for a couple of months when I lived in Greece and absolutely loved it, the only reason I quit once coming back was the price but it was very motivating and a lot of it remained a habit. mountain biking and road biking works well, is a nice way to get out in nature and remain active following a guided program purchased online to feel a sense of commitment or signing up with a live training program where you will have to show up. There are also a lot of organised outdoor boot camps, workout sessions or even pad boxing outdoors has become a popular way of fitness training. hiring a personal trainer for a month or two may help a habit to stick but it will be the most costly way joining various hiking in groups is also an option You could take challenges and compete with other people on apps like Strava or Garmin In the end, it comes down to learning to value health as your number 1 priority. A healthy man has thousands of dreams, a sick man only has one. Might be worth doing some journalling on what health means to you and what could be some practical tips you could take in your life every day to start to truly value to a level that compromising on on your health just won't be an option anymore. A strong morning routine is a good start hope any of that is helpful

This would be my main concern with TRT, anabolic steroids, HGH agonists and anything that works on HPO pathway. Basically there is some research (albeit inconclusive) that excess testosterone, synthetic or natural may increase how much DHT is being produced and in post-pubertal age that DHT may attach to androgen receptors in prostate excessively and make it grow. The first line of prostate cancer treatment are blockers of testosterone-> DHT conversion so this is a known issue. We also have research that shows women on HRT have increase risk of heart disease (and some inconclusive research for men on TRT as well). These protocols are not super safe like we tend to think Couldn't give an f about muscle knowing that i might be diagnosed with prostate cancer 30 years later. Life without huge muscle is tolerable but life without prostate after radical prostatectomy sux and you can wave goodbye to erection, sex life and not needing extra pants at night. And that is if you are lucky that the tumours are localised and not spread to for example lungs and bones.

Most of the time yes, when it comes to food in USA & EU the tests and fines for violation are pretty significant. But since herbs & supplements do not fall under the same category, I don't think the testing is as rigorous. But if the company says their products are clean and can provide some sort of valid certification of a reputable testing company, I guess that's good.

@Preety_India fair enough i'll delete my answer. I apologise if it came up as too preaching, that was not the intention. There were practical suggestions btw, but maybe not appropriate at this time so retracting that response.

This is nothing new. Herbal products are often contaminated even from organic sources which is one of the risks of following something like Ayurvedic medicine treatment for a long term because they import a lot of these herbs from China & India where for example Arsenic is still used as a herbicide and the restrictions are likely to be fewer than for example in EU. Lead contamination is also a concern because not all areas in the world have switched to unleaded petrol and that stuff seeps in soil and water. Not to mention shit like insecticides, termicides etc that have only been banned in US couple decades ago but the soil is still largely contaminated. So possible in many asian countries they are still being used. It sucks but that's a harsh reality of this polluted planet. If you can make sure those products are locally grown and harvested from controlled sources, it's probably best. Organically grown helps but is not 100% guarantee again depends on the country of origin. If you are privileged enough to live ina country where there are rigorous quality standards, research those and support those businesses. For example B-Corp does great work in EU, UK & USA and their certified businesses are as close to excellent quality standards as we can get but even there are loopholes. Whatever you do, don't just order random products without any certifications of quality and purity and don't buy some cheap products in places like Walmart and similar. Support the most conscious and caring businesses. There are still many that care as Herbalists should generally be stage green companies with a healthy hint of orange