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I've recently and suddenly been experiencing creaky knees and night blindness. (Damn, I'm only 44 and walk "everywhere", those joints should be OK, right?) I'm guessing I'm missing a nutrient or two or 30 years as a vegetarian is catching up to me. Any suggestions?

Here's the overview of my diet + supplements which has been the same for about the last 6mos:

Breakfast: 12 oz. Salmon + 1/8c butter + 1/8c lemon, 3 eggs + butter + red onions, or 1C chicken broth + 2 eggs

Lunch: Scoop of coconut butter or "fake nutella" + cup of coffee + cream + sugar (I know, I know...)

Dinner: Veggie soup (all the colors of the rainbow) + homemade chicken broth (most fat removed), beef stew w/ mushrooms and onions, big ass salad w/eggs, or steak + greens

Snacks: blue or black berries and dark chocolate, brie cheese and apple slices (rarely)

Vices: Red wine - w/dinner on weekend, never smoked

Supplements:

Morning

4 g Omega 3s

5000-10,000 Vit D3 (depends upon my mood and sun exposure)

100 mg CoQ10

Prenatal Multi Vitamin

330 mg curcumin

B Complex 50

Evening

400 mg Mag Citrate

EDIT: I just had an eye exam and am 20/25 on the L and 20/70 on the R with no "significant" issues requiring glasses. I've reduced the D3 and will be increasing my green leaf vegs and liver (blech.).

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5 Answers

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VITAMIN A!!!!!!! READ comment 43 on my latest blog. http://jackkruse.com/what-can-you-find-about-your-own-health/#comments

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lol, I was typing my answer but you beat me to it – Chris Antenucci Dec 1 2011 at 2:18
Yup, got it. I'm really bad about liver :( I try once a week, but always seem to push it to every 10 days or so. Thx guys! – Marie Dec 1 2011 at 2:40
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It's likely that your vitamin A levels are low. Dr. Kruse wrote about this in a recent blog post: "Rhodopsin is found in the retina and is composed of retinal, which is an active form of vitamin A, and opsin a protein made by the retina. Basically, if you “over do” the use of Vitamin D3, you will not make enough rhodopsin (from a relative Vitamin A deficiency) and you will suffer from night blindness. Each cell in our body has 2 vitamin A receptors for every Vitamin D receptor. So as our vitamin D level rises our endogenous Vitamin A source is used up even quicker. We need to make sure we are getting enough of the fat soluble Vitamin A too as Vitamin D3 goes up." http://jackkruse.com/what-can-you-find-about-your-own-health/. So I'd say either decrease your dose of vitamin D or increase vitamin A in the diet, beef liver is a good way to do that. You don't seem to have any vitamin K2 in your diet so that's one explanation for the creaky joints. If you also have plaque buildup on your teeth that's a pretty sure sign you're deficient in K2.

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good info. i was just reading this article library.mothernature.com/l/… which says "Night blindness resulting from vitamin A deficiency is very, very, very, very rare in individuals who live in America," (says Dr. Reichel). cont... – daz Dec 1 2011 at 4:12
...& "since a healthy liver is usually able to store up to a year's supply of vitamin A, you'd have to be chronically deprived of vitamin A food sources for quite a while for it to affect your sight, as is the case with millions of children in developing nations."....Tho i am presuming that this article was Not taking in to account higher Vitamin D levels (ie. from D3 supplementation) resulting in a reduced A to D ratio. – daz Dec 1 2011 at 4:18
He's right, but only because he's talking about the average american who is also not getting tons of vit D. The more vit D you have the more vit A is used up regardless of how much the liver can store. Marie is supplementing with it at a relatively high dose so she's using up more of her vitamin A. – Chris Antenucci Dec 1 2011 at 4:45
thx Chris. I think this potentially applies (or at least applied) to me as well. I was supping with D3 as high as 7000 IU per day with No Vit A supp. & my Serum 25(OH)D hit 85 ng/ml. I have slowly dropped my D3 supp to bring my serum levels down in to the 50-70 ng/ml range. Last test was 65 ng/ml on 1000 IU per day (in summer here now). Currently taking 5000 IU Vit A (1.5mg R.E. retinyl palmitate) every Other day, & thinking about upping the Vit A supp to Every Day, now i know more about the D3 relationship – daz Dec 1 2011 at 6:05
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My first glance makes me wonder about your A and zinc intake? Do you eat liver? Oysters?

And maybe some C is needed, too, to deal with the alcohol & sugar.

Also, a good idea to get your D level tested.

FWIW, I'm 48 & have much better vision & no creaks at all after fine-tuning my diet/supplements. I was a vegetarian for 14 years...

ps Are you pregnant (you are taking a prenatal?) If so, it could explain the sudden changes.

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Yeah, I was thinking C, too. Yes, I eat liver, but not enough. Oysters, now that's something I should be doing more :)) THX! And, nope, not pregnant, just following the advice of my college nutrition professor. – Marie Nov 14 2011 at 16:37
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Two supplements improved my eyesight - vitamin E with tocepherols (vitamin E on its own had no effect) and lutein.

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panteleimon, out of interest how much Vit E do you take? & do you have a link or name for the one you use, so i can look it up & check the ingredients etc. thx – daz Nov 16 2011 at 19:39
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I have both of those symptoms with pregnancies and when my lady hormones start to get out of whack. At 44, is it possible that pre-menopause symptoms are setting in?

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Maybe...I do have (had?) estrogen dominance per The Quilt's latest comments re red skin spots. Time for a blood test... – Marie Dec 5 2011 at 21:36

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