Thread by @Helios_Movement

If you are struggling with dandruff address the following:

Number 1: Gut issues.
Even though multiple studies have shown 10 times more Malassezia on scalps with dandruff compared to healthy scalps, most people who struggle with dandruff are rarely been told to pay attention to their gut health.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC61…

Tea tree oil or zinc pyrithione for example are often recommended because it has antimicrobial and antifungal properties.

So if you have dandruff you can either, start paying attention to your overall gut health for just a few weeks if you haven't already or get some tests to see if you have issues with SIBO, SIFO or some form of candida.

Number 2: Toxic hygiene products, shower in unfiltered tap water, too much sauna/blow drying etc

The later is pretty simple.
You are just damaging the skin on your scalp and reactions such as flakiness (why it was mentioned that some people can think they have dandruff while this might not be the issue) are to be expected.

Now regarding things such as hygiene products, if you grab the vast majority of shampoos (even the ones who are for dry skin), they have alcohol derivatives in them so let me ask you the following: How is putting a mix of alcohol and a million other chemicals good for your scalp?

They of course also contain things such as selenium sulfide that can in fact help, but the additives are simply too many and can damage our overall health as we now know.

So stick to natural products in my opinion when it comes to hygiene products and then chill with the blow-drying.

Number 3: Hormonal issues.

Things such as high cortisol or IGF-1 for example will increase sebum production quite a lot and thus if you already have issues they will create an environment where things such as Malassezia can grow very efficiently.

Think of it like eating 400 grams of sugar while having candida. It's not a good idea.

Number 4: Vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
This one was probably obvious from the previous cause, but in case it wasn't, the function of the sebaceous glands is affected by hormones and hormones are affected by our diet among other things such as sunlight as well, which is why exposing your scalp to sunlight can have benefits.

In theory, all vitamin and mineral deficiencies can causes issues, in practice, unless you are vegan or vegetarian pay attention to:
-Glycine
-Vitamin E
-All B vitamins
-Magnesium
-Potassium

Number 5: Oxalate intolerance / consuming way too many oxalates and/or histamine intolerance / MCAS.

These are way more common than someone might think and you would be surprised by the amount of people who struggle with one (or more) of them for a long time and still think that it is dandruff.

Now i personally eat foods that are high in oxalates and histamine such as kefir, kiwis and berries for example since they are great micronutrient sources, but this does not mean that all people can or should.

This does not make these foods bad obviously.
All healthy people can eat 300 grams of raspberries and not die (unless they have an actual allergy).

Oxalate / histamine intolerance is the symptom not the root cause.

When it comes to oxalates, most people know them as a component of kidney stones.

But that's not the full story.
Oxalates could cause joint pain, insomnia, prostate issues, skin issues, brain fog, fatigue, hair loss, issues with eyesight and even affect autism and your blood vessels believe it or not.

How are they able to affect all these? Well the easiest rabbit hole to go down to is how they can deplete glutathione.

But before we blame everything to high oxalate foods, let's remember that we also produce oxalates endogenously by the liver for example and that things such as candida also produce them.

And this a lot of the time, is more important that how much you consume through your diet.

A serving of a high oxalate food such as blackberries, figs, blueberries, kiwis, raspberries, tangerines, cacao, beets, beans, kale, carrots, celery, spinach, almonds and so on, will be far easier to handle than a candida overgrowth for example.

Far easier.

The problem with foods is usually when a truly dumb amount is consumed.

You don't need for example to use turmeric every day, eat spinach every day, drink carrot juice, beets, celery juice, use almond flour daily because "it's keto" and so on.

The total amount of oxalates in this case is truly insane.

But at this point i assume that you want to know if oxalates are an issue for you and what to do if they happen to be.

Well, first and foremost ask yourself the following questions:
-Is my diet high in high oxalate foods?
Am i consuming a green powder as a supplement while eating almonds and spinach for example?
-Do i consume any calcium?
-Do i struggle with issues such as candida?
-Do i consume any B vitamins?
-Do i supplement with ascorbic acid?
-Do you have issues with bile / fat malabsorption? (poor bile flow is a very underrated cause of reacting badly to oxalates since one of the functions of conjugated bile acids is preventing the reabsorption of oxalates).
-Do i have a polymorphism in things such as ALPL or AGXT (you could make an argument for things such as RFK as well but these are secondary in my opinion)?

How can all these lead to issues with oxalates?

Well B6 for example is required for the conversion of glyoxalate to glycine.

Or calcium binds oxalates in the intestines and makes them get out through the back door.

Which is not a small thing since without this, A LOT, of oxalic acid will go into the bloodstream.

So, if your diet is high in oxalates, you don't consume any calcium, you supplement with ascorbic acid, have candida, have a polymorphism and don't get enough B vitamins, well, then oxalates might be an issue for you and it is a great idea to go and do an OAT test or in general test:
-Oxalic acid
-Pyridoxic acid
-Ascorbic acid
-Glyceric acid
-Arabinose
-Glycolic acid

Now what you should do if you do in fact have issues with oxalates?
Number 1: GRADUALLY consume less oxalates.
Number 2: Consume enough calcium.
Number 3: Consume enough B vitamins from dietary sources first. If you have issues with oxalates and choose to take 5mg of biotin or B9 for example, you could even get a rash.
Number 4: If you have issues with candida go to the doctor in order to get prescribed an antifungal since the typical herbs might not be that great for you.
Number 5: If you don't have candida or a pathogen overgrowth, starting to use probiotics (or colostrum) could help, A LOT since certain gastrointestinal bacteria are great oxalate degraders.
Even lactobacillus (and some) Bifidobacterium strains seem to help.
Number 6: Get enough choline, glycine and taurine in order to support bile. Number 7: Supplement with magnesium. Number 8: Get enough vitamin E Number 9: Take care of your kidneys overall
These are the non negotiables in my opinion and everything else is a gray area.

For way more sauce:
fitandball.gumroad.com