Warning! This is a higher level more technical article. This represents my own thoughts on neuropathy and consulting with a medical practitioner should always be your first approach.
Neuropathy is generally poorly understood by medicine. We know which disease processes come with neuropathy ie diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases etc. But we poorly understand the physiology behind it.
My guess is it is centred around failed energy supply to the neural tissue - namely failed glucose oxidation. Let me explain. The body generally runs from two fuel sources - fat and glucose. Certain cells, tissues and organ systems can use either but some can only use one fuel. Or they have a strong preference. Parts of the brain and the neurological system require glucose to function optimally. They can’t use fat. The problem with this is many people have dysfunctional glucose metabolism/use in the body. The increasing number of people who have a metabolic issue such as insulin resistance is now the norm in western population. If you have problems using glucose in the body, the neurological system will not work properly. The way you fix this is to fix glucose oxidation and restore metabolic function.
There are a few different ways you could do this. Firstly by reducing carbohydrates and subsequent glucose, you take away the high demand of glucose oxidation in the body. We thus avoid spreading glucose oxidation across too many systems. If you can switch to fat oxidation - fat as a fuel. You may save the glucose for the systems that need it and avoid using up the cofactors involved in this. In the short term this is effective but ultimately does not fix the glucose issue but takes some burden away from the body ie. a good starting point.
In combination with this or after this process, it is important to re-establish minerals and nutrients that support glucose oxidation. Most notably B1, B2, B3, copper, zinc, magnesium and the fat-soluble vitamins ADEK. This can either be done with smart supplementation or via the diet. If via the diet, a high emphasis on animal organs, shellfish and fruits should be considered. Avoiding grains and seed oils that negatively impact the gut and metabolic systems is essential too. These may be the root cause of the issue so any positive results would be temporary until this is fixed.
My belief is once the demand on glucose oxidation is reduced and the cofactors to support this lower demand are met, the neurological system should restore and neuropathy corrected.
Diet: Hard to fix on a plant-based diet.
- Eat plenty: organs, fish, shellfish, meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy.
- Avoid: grains, nuts, seed oils ie no cereals, breads, pasta, packeted
foods, takeaways.
Supplements
- Base; B complex (I use IdeaLabs energin), vitamin K2 complex, vitamin
E, magnesium.
- Extra; methylene Blue, Shilajit, liver organ capsules