Droopy skin, aging and wasting while on a vegetarian diet

If you have a healthy vegetarian diet or lifestyle, you may be getting lots of important carotenoids, flavonoids, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other beneficial nutrients (although to be sure, I would take plant derived trace minerals) unless you are eating lots of simple carbohydrates. However, as a vegetarian or vegan, even if you have a good diet, you may still be missing some key nutrients if you don't consume animal or dairy products.

• The vitamin most commonly missing from a vegetarian diet is vitamin B12, also known as methylcobalamin. B12 is crucial for healthy red blood cells and the neural system.
• Carnitine is a nutrient that helps with energy production in mitochondria and helps form acetylcarnitine. Carnitine, carnosine and DMAE are the three main items recommended by Jon Barron to help prevent and reverse aging.  See The Nature of Aging for more information..
• CoQ10 is another nutrient crucial for energy metabolism within mitochondria.
• Creatine is a nutrient that helps form stronger muscles and adds strength. Vegetarian body building enthusiasts could benefit from creatine.
• Fish oils provide important omega3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA. Alternatively, flax seed oil could be a partial substitute. Flax seed oil provides omega3 fatty acids that may be converted into EPA and DHA, but there is no guarantee that such conversion will occur in adequate amounts. If you wish to take DHA in fish oils from a vegetarian source, consider DHA (DHEA) from algae.
• Iron - Iron deficiency can cause fatigue. Iron deficiency, even to a moderate degree, can hinder memory and learning -- but iron supplements can turn those problems around.
   

If it were me, I would also supplement with digestive enzymes like Enzyme Plus (although take note of the ox bile it contains if you are stuck on remaining vegetarian) or Digestive Enzymes.  And, I would absolutely try colloidal silver and, if possible, the Sutherlandia OPC product from South Africa.  It has amazing immune boosting and overall health benefits and has restored hundreds of people who were wasting away from HIV-AIDS in South Africa..

This is all just my opinion, but I believe that if you were to take the measures outlined above, you would have a very good chance of not only correcting your current decline, but also regaining a lot of the youth.  Given the right nutrition and care, the body can do an amazing job of regenerating itself.  You might just go from looking like 40 as you describe it to looking like you were in your 20's again.

I know that sounds like a pretty good handful of supplements, but it sounds like you need a lot of help - and it is but a fraction of what I take every day and I am not a vegetarian nor do I have any serious health concerns.

I am not walking in your shoes, so to speak, but I have to add that since you cannot pay your rent, much less buy proper supplements and nutrients, and you continue to prematurely age and have problems, I would say that you should do everything you could to find a way to work a job that will at least provide for your very vital and basic needs.

Tony M. Isaacs
Natural Health Advocate, Researcher and Author
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