So well expressed, Chris. As a writer, I want to take a moment to appreciate your writing.
Explaining how the hemachromatosis gene affects people by picking a specific food and specific cultures really made this pop out and impact me in a way that the last article about it just didn’t hit me.
I know I’m a hemachromatosis carrier – not homozygous, but still on the spectrum – so I need to pay attention to these issues. I deeply appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you’re putting into these articles, because sometimes it takes more than one to get it across to people.
I have friends in Finland who moved there from Iran and from Cameroon. I have cautioned them they may need to take extra precautions to eat consistently with their native diet and to be more intentional about getting sunlight which is much less in Finland than closer to the Equator.
Hi Chris, Just wanting to make sure there are not 2 typos in this paragraph where it talks about absorption of MAGNESIUM in regard to eating coconuts that are very rich in manganese. Does coconut also have high levels of MAGNESIUM? I don't quite understand how the one impairment affects an impairment of the other mineral.
"Coconut is very high in manganese, which is great if you have no impairments in your regulation of magnesium absorption, because it’s also super-convenient as one of the few magnesium-rich, potassium-rich, low-anti-nutrient sources of fat."
Thank you, Chris. This is important information for me, but a little sad lol. I've got one H gene which occasionally drives my ferritin up a bit. Possibly another of those HFE's you mentioned is pitching in to make me not just a carrier. Anyway it's not a big deal for me, as I've got good doctors. However, what feels like a big deal is that I'm intolerant/allergic to wheat, dairy, and eggs. I tend toward the Perfect Health Diet, with potatoes, rice, grass fed beef, good oils, and veggies, but oh how in love I am with So Delicious coconut milk, yogurt, and ice cream! Since I read your recent articles, I've been frantically busy with my pencil and calculator trying to figure out just how much I can get away with. Meanwhile I'm going to join your Masterpass, and an even bigger reason why I'm doing this is that my daughter has two genes, an H and an S (if I'm remembering correctly) and, I've just learned, a manganese problem with their well water (which they are fixing.) Thank you for your very important work.
This is very interesting but I'm not interested in genetic testing despite the fact that I have some “headaches, irritability, insomnia, depression, loss of balance”.
Lately I've been having most of the symptoms of B12 deficiency including severe insomnia.
My GP/NP said a blood test showed I have high B12 but I don't think it was a MMA test.
Today it felt like I'm dying but the worst part is that where I live (rural south Georgia) there are *no* 'nutritionally aware' medical professionals.
So how do I deal w/ what may be hemachromatosis or some SNP?
PS
I've been eating an oz or so of coconut chips off & on most days for a few months now, so who knows?
Sorry to hear about your health problems. You may have to travel elsewhere away from your rural south Georgia home, to consult with a nutritionally aware medical professional.
Also, I have found Chinese medicine helpful; unfortunately it has been reduced to acupuncture + herbs if you can even find a TCM doctor who prescribes herbs anymore; the original Chinese medicine was wider ranging, looking into things more deeply. Acupuncture is becoming quite an industry these days but still, it is worth a try.
My Wife suffers from “headaches, irritability, insomnia, depression, loss of balance” , coconut however we don’t eat. What tests could we conduct to see what food affects her?
What do you think of the claim that humans absorb only 1-5% of dietary manganese? I'm not arguing for high coconut ingestion, but if you agree about manganese absorption, then generous amounts of coconut may not be detrimental. High coconut usage is sometimes seen on videos from the raw vegan community in making coconut yogurt, etc. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Manganese-HealthProfessional/
Thanks for interesting article. Is coconut water also reach in manganese? And can one have iron and manganese overload while having low ferritin or is it is really rare?
Canadian Italian Fusion? Spaghetti and Mooseballs with Maple Syrup?
Since we have genetic testing we have a far more precise instrument to determine what we should and shouldn't be eating (or what's causing problems) we really don't need to rely on simple heuristics like "did it grow here ancestrally?".
No need to actually grow food year-round. You grow it during the growing season and preserve it one way or another. Freezing/pickling/cool storage/drying/canning. Etc. You can be healthy without fresh vegetables from California and Mexico in January. For Vitamin C, you can sprout seeds and beans.
Yes,, that's what I've heard. But how many of us want to consume uncooked sauerkraut? It is rather unpleasant unless cooked, which reduces or eliminates Vitamin C. However, others may not agree with me.
Thanks for replying! It all depends, I would say, on how we define "native". The only foods which are truly native are wild plants and animals of our local area. However, we have adapted over the past 500 generations to non-native foods. It all very much depends on where we choose to draw the line.
About coconut (all portions) - it is hard to say. Some seem to benefit, some don't, I guess (manganese?) This is a topic which could be discussed til the cows come home! Maybe we need a discussion here about the gluten-free business. Replacing one non-native food (wheat flour) with another non-native food, ie, coconuts. Are coconut meal and coconut fat just another fad?
Fascinating, luckily I love coconut and I'm a Pacific Islander. But it raises a very good question about eating ancestral foods!
I was recently eating Brazil nuts and thought they tasted just like coconut and look like mini coconuts.
Also begs the question of why VAERS data is not released by race when we know race is obtained and matters ????
They’re eliminating race from all the medical stuff because it’s racist.
In Australia, some Pacific Islanders are called "coconuts" behind their backs.
So well expressed, Chris. As a writer, I want to take a moment to appreciate your writing.
Explaining how the hemachromatosis gene affects people by picking a specific food and specific cultures really made this pop out and impact me in a way that the last article about it just didn’t hit me.
I know I’m a hemachromatosis carrier – not homozygous, but still on the spectrum – so I need to pay attention to these issues. I deeply appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you’re putting into these articles, because sometimes it takes more than one to get it across to people.
Glad to be a subscriber!
I have found that I cannot digest it all that well, French, Canadian, Romanian heritage...
The key principles are: regionality, seasonality, ripeness and freshness.
Don't give the Eskimos a tropical or Mediterranean diet - and vice versa!
Follow what people traditionally ate.
Of course, apply common sense.
This is a useful rule of thumb, but most of us are too mixed to use it as our only guide.
I have friends in Finland who moved there from Iran and from Cameroon. I have cautioned them they may need to take extra precautions to eat consistently with their native diet and to be more intentional about getting sunlight which is much less in Finland than closer to the Equator.
Does this apply to other palm products?
Not sure you could look individual products up in a database for manganese content.
Hi Chris, Just wanting to make sure there are not 2 typos in this paragraph where it talks about absorption of MAGNESIUM in regard to eating coconuts that are very rich in manganese. Does coconut also have high levels of MAGNESIUM? I don't quite understand how the one impairment affects an impairment of the other mineral.
"Coconut is very high in manganese, which is great if you have no impairments in your regulation of magnesium absorption, because it’s also super-convenient as one of the few magnesium-rich, potassium-rich, low-anti-nutrient sources of fat."
Typo, fixed it. The first magnesium should be manganese and the second is correct. It is a good source of magnesium but that’s not a problem.
Does this mean drinking coconut water regularly is also risky?
Thank you, Chris. This is important information for me, but a little sad lol. I've got one H gene which occasionally drives my ferritin up a bit. Possibly another of those HFE's you mentioned is pitching in to make me not just a carrier. Anyway it's not a big deal for me, as I've got good doctors. However, what feels like a big deal is that I'm intolerant/allergic to wheat, dairy, and eggs. I tend toward the Perfect Health Diet, with potatoes, rice, grass fed beef, good oils, and veggies, but oh how in love I am with So Delicious coconut milk, yogurt, and ice cream! Since I read your recent articles, I've been frantically busy with my pencil and calculator trying to figure out just how much I can get away with. Meanwhile I'm going to join your Masterpass, and an even bigger reason why I'm doing this is that my daughter has two genes, an H and an S (if I'm remembering correctly) and, I've just learned, a manganese problem with their well water (which they are fixing.) Thank you for your very important work.
This is very interesting but I'm not interested in genetic testing despite the fact that I have some “headaches, irritability, insomnia, depression, loss of balance”.
Lately I've been having most of the symptoms of B12 deficiency including severe insomnia.
My GP/NP said a blood test showed I have high B12 but I don't think it was a MMA test.
Today it felt like I'm dying but the worst part is that where I live (rural south Georgia) there are *no* 'nutritionally aware' medical professionals.
So how do I deal w/ what may be hemachromatosis or some SNP?
PS
I've been eating an oz or so of coconut chips off & on most days for a few months now, so who knows?
Sorry to hear about your health problems. You may have to travel elsewhere away from your rural south Georgia home, to consult with a nutritionally aware medical professional.
Also, I have found Chinese medicine helpful; unfortunately it has been reduced to acupuncture + herbs if you can even find a TCM doctor who prescribes herbs anymore; the original Chinese medicine was wider ranging, looking into things more deeply. Acupuncture is becoming quite an industry these days but still, it is worth a try.
Thank you! Will manganese overload show in a hair test?
It showed up in the C272Y folks around the ferromanganese plant.
Probably, but it's probably not very sensitive.
My Wife suffers from “headaches, irritability, insomnia, depression, loss of balance” , coconut however we don’t eat. What tests could we conduct to see what food affects her?
Reference “the bottom line” in yesterday’s post to consider if it’s manganese.
Thank you! What about using coconut oil for cooking? In home-made toothpaste? Appreciate
Coconut oil is fine.
What do you think of the claim that humans absorb only 1-5% of dietary manganese? I'm not arguing for high coconut ingestion, but if you agree about manganese absorption, then generous amounts of coconut may not be detrimental. High coconut usage is sometimes seen on videos from the raw vegan community in making coconut yogurt, etc. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Manganese-HealthProfessional/
Did you read yesterday’s article?
If the regulating system doesn’t work; that becomes untrue.
Makes me wonder why some people are so dis-regulated this way or that, and others are unaffected.
Because populations that subsisted on low-iron low-manganese diets allowed the mutations not to matter and they spread.
Thanks for interesting article. Is coconut water also reach in manganese? And can one have iron and manganese overload while having low ferritin or is it is really rare?
No not if you just have a cup or two.
Shredded coconut yes, water no. Water is high in manganese if you get all your calories from it but not if you drink a cup or two.
Here is a simple reply: do coconut trees grow where you live - or nearby? Did you grow up consuming them?
You should therefore subsist on Maple Syrup and Canola oil and maybe some Moose.
Canadian Italian Fusion? Spaghetti and Mooseballs with Maple Syrup?
Since we have genetic testing we have a far more precise instrument to determine what we should and shouldn't be eating (or what's causing problems) we really don't need to rely on simple heuristics like "did it grow here ancestrally?".
No need to actually grow food year-round. You grow it during the growing season and preserve it one way or another. Freezing/pickling/cool storage/drying/canning. Etc. You can be healthy without fresh vegetables from California and Mexico in January. For Vitamin C, you can sprout seeds and beans.
Sauerkraut (naturally fermented) has the highest vit. C content.
Yes,, that's what I've heard. But how many of us want to consume uncooked sauerkraut? It is rather unpleasant unless cooked, which reduces or eliminates Vitamin C. However, others may not agree with me.
Thanks for replying! It all depends, I would say, on how we define "native". The only foods which are truly native are wild plants and animals of our local area. However, we have adapted over the past 500 generations to non-native foods. It all very much depends on where we choose to draw the line.
About coconut (all portions) - it is hard to say. Some seem to benefit, some don't, I guess (manganese?) This is a topic which could be discussed til the cows come home! Maybe we need a discussion here about the gluten-free business. Replacing one non-native food (wheat flour) with another non-native food, ie, coconuts. Are coconut meal and coconut fat just another fad?