What are the and how do we replenish these?

Eat!

And supplement. But mostly, just eat. If you are eating a nourishing diet, you shouldn’t need 100 pill bottles in your medicine cabinet.

Different bacteria leach deffient nutrients:

• Borrelia can leach your iron, magnesium, fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin A and D, CoQ10, selenium, zinc and collagen.
• Mycoplasma leaches nutrients even more aggressively, especially fatty acids, cholesterol, amino acids, nucleic acids, and glucose.
• Babesia leaches nucleic acid precursors.
• And Bartonella leaches iron. Actually, all four of these leach iron.

So what are good sources of these nutrients?

Iron

Eat heme iron from red meat, liver or oysters. Non-heme iron is not absorbed well and is usually leached by oxalates that are commonly found in non-heme foods.

Iron supplements can be dangerous. Sometimes anemia is hemolytic, meaning that red blood cells die faster than they can be replaced. So supplementing with iron won’t fix this type of anemia. If you could find out which type of anemia you have, you can take more effective measures.

Magnesium

We need magnesium for healthy a metabolism, but it is really hard to find in food. There are minimal amounts present in leafy greens, nuts, grains, cacao, coffee and beans, but the phytates and oxalates (a.k.a. anti-nutrients) found in these sources tend to leach magnesium.

Molasses, kelp and dulse contain some magnesium, but be cautious with the latter two if you have thyroid problems, since they contain iodine.

Magnesium citrates, malates, taurates and glycinates are the easiest to digest. I use magnesium glycinate every night before bed and always away from food (magnesium lowers your stomach’s acidity). You can also use trans-dermal magnesium chloride or take Epsom salt baths, which are high in magnesium sulfate.

Fatty acids

These include short-, medium-, and long-chain fatty acids.

Butter and saturated fats are good source of short-chain fatty acids. Butter and coconut oil are good sources of medium-chain fatty acids. And monounsaturated fats with oleic acid, found in olive oil and butter, are good sources of long-chain fatty acids.

Other fatty acids like palmitic acid and myristic acid can be found in butter and coconut oil. Coconut oil is also anti-microbial, awesome!

B vitamins

There is a lot of B6 in salmon, chicken, turkey, beef liver, potatoes, bananas and garbanzo beans. Beans need to be soaked to reduce the phytates.

Good sources of folate include liver, beets, lettuce, asparagus, spinach, oranges, lentils, pinto beans and garbanzo beans.

Good sources of B12 are found in meat, eggs and dairy products. Non-bioavailable sources are found in chlorella, but if you have the MTHFR mutation keep non-bioavailable B12 (and folic acid and synthetic B6, for that matter) to a minimal.

Egg yolks are the best source of choline. Beef organs are good, too, but I personally yak at the thought of these (you can always take desiccated liver supplements like this one, if eating liver makes you want to yak, as well).

Other decent sources of B vitamins include molasses, bananas, and beans.

**If you are going to supplement, make sure the B6, B12 and folate are in their bioavaiable forms (most B vitamins are not). I personally use this one.**

Vitamin A

Preformed vitamin A is superior to provitamin A and is found in liver and dairy. Provitamin A carotenoids are found in foods with orange pigment like carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. Some people can convert provitamin A into the bioavailable form, but most sick people cannot.

Vitamin D

The best source of vitamin D is the sun, but still, chronically infected people are deficient. Fish seems to be the only good source for vitamin D and GOOD quality fermented cod liver oil could be an appropriate supplement, but most fish contains unsafe levels of heavy metals these days, sadly.

Vitamin D3 in a liquid supplement form may be a better option.

CoQ10

Meat is a good source of Coenzyme Q10. If you eat beef, chicken and fish you should not need to supplement.

Selenium

I switched from a Selenomethionine supplement to four egg yolks a day. Just one brazil nut a day is a good source of selenium, but brazil nuts are high in phytates and as high in aflatoxins as peanuts, so be careful.

Other sources of selenium include liver, pork, oysters, cottage cheese, and beef. Keep in mind that pork commonly contains hard to kill parasites and that liver smells like shit.

Zinc

Oysters, beef, lamb, pork and chicken are good sources of zinc. Wheat germ, spinach, nuts, seeds, beans and cacao have a lot of zinc, too, but the phytates and oxalates in these like to leach zinc more than any other mineral.

Nucleic acids, aka RNA an DNA

Supporting the repair of nucleic acids is key in recovery, because your DNA is in many ways the essence of you.

Besides B vitamins (meat) and glycine (gelatin), purines are needed to repair nucleic acids. Good sources of purines are organ meats.

Caution: although purines are generally healthy, some people cannot metabolize purines well. A genetic test (click HERE to see the 23andme genetic test on Amazon) can help determine if this is a problem for you.

Buhner’s suggestion for repairing nucleic acids involves chlorella and cordyceps, but be wary of allergies. He also suggests supplements containing nucleotide complexes.

Collagen: replenish with protein, silica and vitamin C

Protein, especially protein high in glycine, proline and arginine, restores collagen. Gelatin and bone broth are especially high in collagen. Beef gelatin is superior to pork gelatin because pork is known to have hard-to-kill parasites. I used to drink bone broth every day, but holy crap did I ever feel domestic preparing this every couple days. Now I just use beef gelatin, and it makes food taste awesome.

Eat more than 50 grams of protein a day. Sometimes over 100 grams is needed. Meat is generally inflammatory, but pairing it with anti-inflammatory gelatin neutralizes it.

Silica can be taken in the form of BioSil, a product that Stephen Buhner recommends. BioSil provides choline-stabilised orthosilicic acid (a bioavailable form of silica).

Silica can also be taken in the form of diatomaceous earth and bentonite clay. These also bind to heavy metals while supplying minerals to the body. But don’t overdo it; some people claim it makes their insides feel like cement. Probably best to take this only if you know your bowels are generally functional.

The bioflavonoids in vitamin C help make this vitamin more bioavailable. So getting your vitamin C from foods or herbs is better than from ascorbic acid. I was taking 10 GRAMS of ascorbic acid a day and sometimes more, but have since switched to 2-3 grams of Camu Camu (a natural form of vitamin C) with no problems. Rosehips, acerola and amalaki (herb in triphala) also up your vitamin C.

Catechins and anthocyanins prevent the breakdown of collagen. Green tea has a lot of catechins, but be aware that the fluoride content in green tea is bad for thyroid function. Cacao, berries, apples, cherries, and Japanese knotweed are good sources of catechins.

Anthocyanins, besides preventing the breakdown of collagen, are also anti-inflammatory. Blue food is high in this, so eat things like berries, eggplant and purple corn.

In summary

• • Meat, butter, and egg yolks are superior to supplements. If you are a vegan for ethical reasons, good on you, but make sure you supplement.
  • Don’t take iron supplements but do eat heme iron food sources like red meat.
  • If you have anemia, find out which type before treating it.
  • Magnesium is hard to get enough of in diet alone. Supplement with magnesium citrate, malate, taurate, or glycinate. Other kinds are harsh on the stomach.
  • Eat butter and coconut oil for short-, medium-, and long-chain fatty acids.
  • Eat your B6 in the form of salmon, chicken, turkey, potatoes, bananas, garbanzo beans and liver.
  • Eat your folate in the form of liver, beets, lettuce, asparagus, spinach, oranges, lentils, pinto beans or garbanzo beans.
  • Eat your B12 in the form of meat, dairy and eggs. There are other food sources, but these generally supply non-bioavailable forms of B12.
  • Eat egg yolks! They are the best source of choline. They are also good for selenium.
  • Get you vitamin A in the provitamin form from liver and dairy.
  • If you think liver is gross, supplement every couple days with dessicated liver.
  • If you can’t live without beans, grains, nuts and seeds, soak them to reduce to phytates (antinutrients).
  • If you eat pork, be aware that you may be eating parasites that can survive high heat.
  • Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamin D, but may be unsafe for a few reasons. Liquid vitamin D3 may be a better choice.
  • You should be able to get enough CoQ10 from meat.
  • Brazil nuts are good sources of selenium but are high in phytates and aflatoxins so be careful. Meats provide selenium.
  • Phytates leech zinc, and are found in grains, beans, nuts and seeds. If you are going to eat these things, eat them away from zinc-rich meals of oysters, beef, lamb and chicken.
  • Purines repair nucleic acids, but some people cannot metabolize them well. Organ meats, chlorella, cordyceps and nucleotide complexes support nucleic acids, as well.
  • A genetic test can tell you a lot about how well you metabolize nutrients.
  • Collagen can be replenished with protein (especially glycine, proline and arginine), silica and vitamin C.
  • Gelatin, a good collagen booster, is easier to prepare than bone broth, and can be eaten with meat to neutralize the inflammatory nature of meat.
  • Silica can be found in diatomaceous earth, clay and BioSil.
  • Natural vitamin C is superior to synthetic C.
  • Catechins and anthocyanins prevent the breakdown of collagen. Japanese knotweed is a good source of catechins and purple foods supply anthocyanins.

For further information I recommend reading Healing Chronic Lyme Disease Naturally: 2nd Edition