Most of us are taking too much of each various supplement. This could be just as bad as missing these nutrients though. Plus, it’s expensive.
Watch me read this page and elaborate a bit here https://youtu.be/8Bi3cu8Pr5U
Article Highlights
- What is pulse dosing?
- Why pulse dose?
- Firewood example
- How I pulse dose
- How I pulse dose iodine
- More about pulse dosing
What is Pulse Dosing?
Have you ever met someone that enjoys a few alcoholic beverages once or twice a week and uses the opportunity to relax without ever becoming fully intoxicated or allowing it to turn into a full-time habit? This is a great way to help explain Pulse Dosing. Look past the fact that it is alcohol and use it as a simple example to see how a person uses a substance to remedy a situation, which is stress in this example.
- If the person does not consume any of this substance, they might stress out, which is not healthy.
- If they get small amounts every so often, they relieve stress.
- If they were to either consume the substance daily or way too much of it, they are eventually going to end up consuming too much alcohol.
We are essentially doing the same thing for our cells with nutrients. Our cells are stressed out because they are burdened by toxicity or somehow low on a nutrient they need. Similar to how someone may decide to pick up some alcohol, our cells are telling us what type of nutrients they need for their stress. But our cells are low on so many nutrients that it’s hard to have any idea what they are trying to tell us.
There are a lot of basic nutrients we can start with that should eventually get us to the point where we can hear our cells. My other site sickoftired.com lays out a few good starting points. All of the nutrients I mention along the way benefit from Pulse Dosing.
Why Pulse Dose?
Sometimes people do not notice benefits as they take various supplements. Although this can be annoying and sometimes discouraging, if we just continue to take a bunch of nutrients, we could potentially make the situation worse.
This would almost be like adding more oil to an engine every time we stop for fuel even though the oil is already full. We can get away with this for a little while but if the engine is not somehow using up oil quickly, we’re going to eventually overfill it and most likely cause some type of issue.
So instead of just adding random amounts of nutrients to our system, Pulse Dosing allows us to gain a better idea of how much or little our system needs of various nutrients.
If I am trying a new supplement, I will open the capsule and mix some of it with a glass of water. As long as this does not taste horrible, I will sip on it slowly while paying attention to how I feel. Although the amounts I am providing my body are very small, they are much larger than my system has been exposed to previously. If I notice energy or digestive noises etc, I will continue to sip on this supplement slowly for at least a day. Then depending on how busy I am, I might try a capsule the next day. I do this to avoid finally finding a nutrient my body has been waiting for and sending my system flying which can be uncomfortable. There have been a handful of times I tried a full capsule of something I’ve tried in the past, and it sent me on a rollercoaster of healing reactions.
Sometimes I take a break from a nutrient completely while keeping an eye out for symptoms of being deficient. This way I can reintroduce it slowly and get a better idea of what it does or does not do for me. If I do not ever seem to notice anything at all from a nutrient, I don’t take it often at all.
Firewood example
To keep a fire burning at the right temperature, we can adjust the amount of wood we add as well as how often we add more. By adding small amounts of wood and waiting a bit, we can gain a better idea of how much or how little wood needs to be added as well as how often.
But if we just dump a ton of wood in at once, we will most likely go past our ideal amount and remain there for a while even after stopping that supplement. Even if we just use a constant dose without paying attention to what it is or is not doing for us, we might slowly or quickly max out as well.
How I Pulse Dose
I own thousands of dollars of supplements. But 90% of them are 90% full and several years old. I use individual nutrients and various blends and I pulse dose each one from time to time. If I don’t notice anything a few times, that supplement makes its way further back on the shelf where I won’t try it again for a few months.
If I take a supplement and notice better digestion, sleep, clarity, energy, mood etc, I will take it again potentially the same day or daily till I no longer notice it providing extra results. At this point, I will pause that supplement and try to see how many days go by before I notice its benefits wear off. Then I will take it again in a few days and see if I notice benefits again. If I do not, I add more days to the amount of time I’ll wait till I take it again.
As I continue to do this and find nutrients that help me move forward, supplements that I have tried in the past without results may start working differently now that my body has balanced a few other nutrients. This is why I just rotate through everything over time without just taking it daily only because that’s what the bottle says.
I pulse everything. I buy a lot of alkaline bottled water every once in a while and drink that for a week straight. Sometimes I’ll just grab a quality spring water and do the same thing. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle salt in my water and sometimes I’ll try salt loading several days in a row. Sometimes I’ll pulse through various sources of protein or fat.
I like to try a lot of different tea. I only continue drinking ones that I notice some type of healing reaction from which means I have one of each about once a month or less.
I pulse through pretty much every form of magnesium. I own almost every form individually as well as various blends. I try different forms every so often and stick with whatever causes me to notice anything. I am also pulsing through electrolytes and various forms of unrefined salt. I take a small amount of calcium once or twice a month.
After years of doing this with various nutrients, I tend to not supplement most of the time and only sparingly take most nutrients. Magnesium and unrefined salt are about the only things I take daily, and even then I don’t always take them. I take selenium pretty often because I can feel brain fog drift in when I go long enough without it.
How I Pulse Dose iodine
I pulse very slowly with iodine. Over the years I have tried various doses of iodine. But focusing on nutritional balancing while slowly pulsing enough iodine allows me to push a small amount of detox without exceeding what my body is currently capable of due to my nutrient balance. There are times I go weeks without any iodine, and when I finally do get more, I don’t notice much of anything at any dose. And then there are times I reintroduce iodine and my body responds very well to it so I continue getting more for a bit. I am rebuilding my trillions of cells by giving them what they want without overdoing it.
Just like any nutrient, when I restart after taking a break, I start just about as low as possible and slowly work my way back up. This allows me to judge how well this nutrient does or does not work for me. If I am restarting a nutrient that I know is capable of pushing me a bit too far, like iodine as one example, I am a bit more cautious and pay a lot more attention. This has helped me realize there are times even small amounts of iodine seemed to cause me more headaches. Sometimes my body just isn’t ready for more of certain nutrients, but then months later I might be able to use a lot of it again with great results.
More info about Pulse Dosing
I’ve seen this idea mentioned in various ways over the years but Dr. Ben Lynch is the first doctor explaining it in a similar way as I see it.
At just after 5 minutes into this video, he explains his idea of Pulse Dosing https://www.facebook.com/drbenjaminlynch/videos/387238138782069
Dr. Ben’s book Dirty Genes explains a little more about Pulse Dosing. But he covered most of it in the video above.