Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Finding foods that are low in B6

Hello, all. A commenter wanted me to make a list of foods that are relatively low in B6. That might take a while, so for now I want to give everyone a tip on how to find low-B6 foods. Google makes this very easy to do: Just search "b6 in food," where food is the specific food that you are searching for. For example, here is the result for "b6 in potato."



As you can see, one medium potato has 0.6 mg in it (according to the USDA). You can change the Type and Quantity to get the results for different sizes and kinds of potatoes.

The highest foods -- corn, potatoes, bananas, etc. -- tend to have 0.4mg or more B6 in one serving. So if you see a food that has 0.4mg or more, then you probably want to avoid it. Instead, look for foods that have 0.2mg or less. Just make sure that you are paying attention to the quantity. For example, 0.7mg is a lot of B6, but what if it's 0.7mg in a gallon? If you are only eating a few tablespoons, then you are only eating a small fraction of that 0.7mg. So always pay attention to quantity when searching.

Hope that helps!

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Day 670+: Quick Update

Hi, folks! I hope you are all doing well. I haven't posted in a long time because my B6 toxicity symptoms have gradually lessened. I have been able to incorporate more and more foods back into my diet to the point where B6 toxicity plays only a small role in my life (I should note that I've essentially been vegetarian since my symptoms started, since meat is so high in B6. That might be a bigger struggle for some people than others).

My recent meals have included chili and a medium-sized baked potato, avocado and tomato sandwiches, and even a few french fries here and there. I could not have eaten those things 670 days ago.

The last time I had noticeable B6 toxicity symptoms was over the holidays (baked ham) and about two months ago, when I ate a a lot of candies that contained walnuts. The recurrence in December was pretty bad, but the more recent one was over within a few hours.

For the most part, I feel like my life is back to normal. There's still some lingering nerve damage, but not enough to cause concern. I feel good.

Before I sign off (probably for another few months, at least), I want to share a few habits that have helped me in my own recovery:

(1) Drink water with every meal. Drinking water is always important, but it's most important when you are digesting food. If you drink water when you eat, then the B6 has a higher chance of passing from your body; otherwise your body absorbs the B6 like any other nutrient. I always drink a full glass of water with my meals, and if I eat something unusually high in B6 (like potato or avocado), then I continue to drink for another 30 minutes after eating.

(2) If I start to feel burning, twinging, or spasms in my muscles after eating B6, then I exercise those muscles immediately! I don't know why this seems to help for me, but it does. Recently, when my arms started to twinge after eating those walnut candies, I hit the weights. The symptoms went away almost immediately.

That's it. Those are the only things I've found that help -- besides time and patience, of course.

Good luck on your recovery!