new supplement experiment

I first heard of inositol on Wooo's blog -- that's not unusual!  Her historic collection of health-problems-to-solve led her (armed with her medical training) into places it never would have occurred to me to seek out.  Her reasons for using inositol, i believe, had to do with mood issues, so i didn't explore it for a long time -- i had no idea that its other physiological functions might be closer-to-home for me.

Somewhere-or-other, i read an intimation that inositol might be interesting to me;  some general link-following confirmed it.  i came across this, too (thanks, George!):  www.lucastafur.com/2011/10/is-phytate-really-problem.html ... though i felt Lucas' essay might indicate the answer is "yes" whereas he seems to be implying "no."

Inositol doesn't seem to be well-studied, though it has been found to be in smaller concentrations in people with disease than in "normal" ones.  Of all the B-vitamins, only niacin is in the body in higher quantities -- but that might be misleading, as inositol (originally labeled b8) isn't a true vitamin because we can manufacture it ourselves.  Part of the confusion about it might simply be how widespread it is in our food-supply, and that we can "create it from glucose" and we can also theoretically KNOCK THE PHOSPHATE GROUPS OFF PHYTATE to make it, too.

It requires just the right microbiome to do that.  Do YOU have it?  Do i?  Who the hell knows, unless we get some damned fecal test.  Personally, i have better uses for my time and money than in constant lab-testing.

Interestingly, a number of our diseases-of-civilization seem to afflict those sufferers who show low inositol levels.  The pool includes people with diabetes, MS, and several mental illnesses.  Some problems associated with low inositol are:

• eczema,
• constipation,
• eye problems,
• hair loss,
• depression,
• elevated cholesterol ...

Whoa.  Do i see what i see?  ;-)  Several "hypothyroidism symptoms"....  If there's ANYTHING i've learned over the last five years, it's that many "hypothyroidism symptoms" are in fact from NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES.  The well-known problems of low stomach-acid and impaired digestion drive MANY of these deficiencies in my experience.  Supplementing nutrients i'm already eating, but in an isolated fashion, ensures that i actually absorb them.

Parenthetically, coffee-drinking depletes your inositol.  Usually i only have two cups in the morning -- is that enough to cause me to require more?  According to www.healthy.net/scr/article.aspx?ID=1663 more than two cups a day indicates i do -- but if i'm ALREADY absorbing/manufacturing less because of my digestion issues, i'm thinking this is a no-brainer.

There is no RDA, and no LD50 (a measure of toxicity) defined.  It's estimated that we take in about a gram of inositol every day, and therapeutic doses start at a half-gram and go up to about 18.

Wooo once wrote about mixing inositol powder (which resembles powdered sugar in texture and taste) up into little candies to facilitate ingestion;  i might try this myself.  For the last couple of days i've been taking about a teaspoonful in divided doses, but i need to get out my antique gram-scale and see how much that is, weight-wise.  Fifteen grams of this stuff sounds like a lot, and just shoveling it into my mouth and chasing with coffee (as i have been doing) doesn't sound optimal.

I'll be experimenting with the myo-inositol powder i bought from Jarrow, over the next few weeks, and will keep you posted on whether or not i see any results.  Any one of you readers use this stuff?   Tell us all about it!