Easy markers of GI/endocrine function

[Theloose]

Everyone's talking about red pee after eating beets indicating low stomach acid.

Riboflavin will turn non-acidic pee neon - which can be an indicator of low aldosterone, especially when combined with a salt craving.

Are there other easy at home tests of how well we're doing at healing ourselves?

[tanyalynn]

Are you saying some people can take high amounts of riboflavin (glad to learn which B vitamin does it) _without_ getting that bright yellow pee?

I probably don't have anything helpful to add, but I'll keep watching!

eta--it sounds like you're asking about more concrete things than, say, brown, formed poop (which I still struggle with with my daughter).

But in case anyone wants to read about poop, I'll include the two links I shamelessly stole from JaneS:

http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtstools.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale

[Theloose]

Yeah, I've watched my pee turn from neon yellow to normal yellow without changing the riboflavin dosage, by being kind to my adrenals. The salt cravings have lessened as well :

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by whoMe

Yeah, I've watched my pee turn from neon yellow to normal yellow without changing the riboflavin dosage, by being kind to my adrenals. The salt cravings have lessened as well :

Very cool! I need to start watching (but more than that, I need to start getting to bed earlier!).

[Panserbjorne]

you can check thyroid function ( to a point) by using basal body temp.

you can check iodine levels by painting iodine on your belly and seeing how long it takes to disappear.

You can use blood pressure changes to check for adrenal function (if going from sitting to standing it drops you have adrenal fatigue.)

There's plenty more! Sorry these are not directly GI related....

[changingseasons]

:

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

you can check thyroid function ( to a point) by using basal body temp.

you can check iodine levels by painting iodine on your belly and seeing how long it takes to disappear.

You can use blood pressure changes to check for adrenal function (if going from sitting to standing it drops you have adrenal fatigue.)

There's plenty more! Sorry these are not directly GI related....

Thanks! I added endocrine to the title cause I meant to include that as well

I heard on the iodine group that iodine painting wasn't very accurate when compared to the urine loading test.

[Panserbjorne]

oh, make no mistake, it's not! These are just at home indicators to see if it's worth pursuing. If it after 20 hours you can still see the iodine I wouldnt' pay for a test.

Most all of these are like that. Little checks to see if things should be pursued.

[changingseasons]

Does mag count for GI stuff?

I just did this taste test. It tasted just slightly bitter to me. Well, just kind of funky, but definitely a little different than regular water. Does that mean I'm ok with mag, or just slightly deficient?

[Panserbjorne]

ah, we shouldn't forget zinc either as a taste test....though I'm finding that *can* have flaws.

[krankedyann]

Well, now I finally know why the B vitamins don't turn my pee neon anymore. I have healted my adrenals over the past year.

[FireWithin]

Can you get the zinc taste test somewhere OTC? I remember doing it with my NP two years ago.

[Panserbjorne]

all you need is zinc sulfate in liquid form!

[krankedyann]

If you can't get that, Solgar's flavo-zinc lozenges will work to test it, too.

[lil_miss_understood]

Okay, get me up to speed here... what's the zinc test?

[tanyalynn]

Google oral zinc tally test for a better explanation.

The short answer is that a certain formulation of zinc is a mostly good indicator of zinc status. If the liquid solution tastes like water, or even better than water, you're zinc deficient, and if it tastes nasty bad, you're probably okay (PB talked about some other type of heavy metal toxicity messing with that--I can say that mercury alone, with somewhat high arsenic, allows the test to work fine, it tasted like water for me). But as a practical matter for you, our bodies need zinc to make thyroid hormones and glutathione, so it's a fair bet you're low. I'm having such a hard time getting and keeping my son's zinc up (he got 50 ant bites a few weeks ago, and a week after that he started putting his fingers in his mouth, and I think it's his zinc going low with the effort of detoxifying all the ant toxin), it makes me wonder about my own as well, even though I've been supplementing myself for quite a while now too.

[chlobo]

Well, now I finally know why the B vitamins don't turn my pee neon anymore. I have healted my adrenals over the past year.

What specifically does this mean? B vitamins turn my pee neon.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by chlobo

What specifically does this mean? B vitamins turn my pee neon.

It means your pee isn't as acidic as it might be. For me, it was an indicator that my adrenals, and more specifically my aldosterone was low.

[lil_miss_understood]

Now that I have Epsom salts... I did the mag. test.
Yeah. Tastes like water... or maybe better than water. Not sure. All I know is, after I tasted it, I was suddenly *really thirsty*. This comes as no real surprise to me.

[tanyalynn]

Wait... I've changed the pH of my urine by supplementing with minerals, will that affect the yellow color from the B vitamins?