Smart lady.
Unfortunately, sulfur, also spelled sulphur, is all but forgotten as a critical nutrient in recent decades. Yet, this important element is very necessary for the maintenance of health. Moreover, it is important for the prevention of debilitating illnesses such as Metabolic Syndrome and perhaps Alzheimer’s.
Shockingly, a Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) to avoid sulfur deficiency does not even exist! This despite the fact that this mineral is the eighth most common element by mass in the human body.
Countries With High Sulfur Intake Are Some of the Healthiest
The countries of Greece, Italy, and Japan are the primary suppliers of sulphur to the rest of the world. Isn’t it coincidental that these same countries enjoy some of the lowest rates of heart disease and obesity on the planet?
Perhaps not. Icelanders’ remarkably low rates of depression, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease can possibly be attributed to the country’s distinctive line of volcanoes. Periodic eruptions blanket the soil with sulphur containing volcanic rock. This enriched soil is of tremendous benefit to any plants grown or animals grazing there. In turn, people who use these plants and livestock for food enjoy greatly enhanced health.
It was once thought that the Icelandic diet was so protective against chronic illness due to a high intake of fish. This theory does not hold up, however, as Icelanders who move to Canada and continue eating a lot of fish do not continue to enjoy the same low rates of disease.
It seems that the Icelandic soil which is unusually rich in sulphur may indeed play a pivotal role in the health and avoidance of sulfur deficiency of its residents.
Sulphur’s Critical Role in the Body
Sulphur is critical to many of the body’s biological processes, metabolism included.
Without adequate sulphur, glucose metabolism becomes defective. This leads to muscle and fat cell damage as the result of becoming glucose intolerant. Over time, sulphur deficiency can lead to all manner of skeletal and muscle disorders with corresponding pain and inflammation.
This impaired glucose metabolism resulting from insufficient sulphur is also implicated as a factor in obesity and the dangerous condition known as Metabolic Syndrome. This occurs because one way the body compensates for defective glucose metabolism is by gaining weight.
When sulphur deficiency occurs within the context of a lowfat diet, the problem becomes more serious. Additional sources of glucose present in a lowfat diet in the form of carbohydrates are converted to fat. Worse, these lipids are released into the bloodstream as triglycerides to fuel damaged and inflamed muscle cells.
Alzheimer’s Disease Partly Due to Sulfur Deficiency?
Analysis of the minerals present in the cells of the typical Alzheimer’s patient reveals that sulphur is almost nonexistent compared with a normal profile.
Some research has indicated that reversal of a serious sulphur deficiency state can prevent or halt progression of this horrible disease. In addition, it may potentially reverse it provided the patient is still in the early stages where little brain damage has occurred. Coconut oil for Alzheimer’s has shown promise as well.
Could the skyrocketing cases of Alzheimer’s in recent years be related to the shunning of eggs by older Americans? Eggs are an excellent source of sulfur and yet in adult living facilities and nursing homes, Egg Beaters are commonly used instead.
Sulphur Helps Mobilize Vitamin D from the Sun?
When unprotected skin is exposed to the sun, the skin synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. While vitamin D is fat soluble, vitamin D3 sulfate is a form of the vitamin that is actually water soluble. This allows it to travel freely in the blood throughout the body.
On a side note, the vitamin D3 in supplements is not the same vitamin D3 as what you get from the sun and should not be considered an adequate substitute.
Sunlight exposed skin also produces large amounts of cholesterol sulfate, providing cholesterol levels are sufficient for this to happen.
The sun, then, has the potential to provide sulfur to the body in the form of vitamin D3 sulfate and cholesterol sulfate.
Could undiagnosed sulfur deficiency and/or insufficient natural cholesterol in the diet be contributing to the epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency?
Make Sure You Get Enough to Avoid Sulphur Deficiency!
It is quite shocking that sulfur is basically ignored in nutritional circles. Nonetheless, it is a critical nutrient and one that is necessary for vibrant health and prevention of chronic disease.
One very simple way to improve the body’s sulfur status quickly is through regular epsom salt baths. 2-3 per week soaking for 20 minutes is a sensible regimen. Epsom salt is comprised of magnesium sulfate, and both magnesium and sulfur absorb readily into the body via the skin. One caveat: Be sure to buy USP certified epsom salts. Avoid lower quality agricultural grades.
With regard to dietary sources, another excellent way to ensure you get enough is to eat more eggs! The incredible edible egg contains high amounts of natural sulfur. Eggs also supply natural cholesterol to ensure enough is available to mobilize sulfur combined with Vitamin D in the blood. Other foods high in this element include onions, garlic, and cabbage.
Do not rely on dried fruit treated with sulfur dioxide. This is not a healthy source of sulfur!
Another caveat to note is that while certain plant foods should contain lots of sulphur, it is likely the amounts are low. Why? Sulfur rich produce is dependent upon cultivation in sulfur rich soil.
Most soils today are depleted of this critical nutrient (unless of volcanic origin or organically treated with volcanic rock dust like azomite). Thus, unless you are sure about where your vegetables are grown, relying on eggs for adequate sulfur in the diet is the decidedly better way to go!
Reference
Sulfur Deficiency: A Possible Contributing Factor in Obesity, Heart Disease, Alzheirmer’s and Chronic Fatigue
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
Classical Welsh Rarebit Recipe
@Dawn, where can one get a zinc and sulfur cream? i use sulfur homeopathic tabs and that helps my skin breakouts.
Sulphur: The Forgotten Nutrient – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/fNr5gnm #sulphur #Icel… http://t.co/4JpqvpY #economics #econ
Thanks, Catherine – that was helpful.
Thanks, Catherine – that was helpful.
Is there a safe way of extracting it from the Earth? It is a VERY grueling job for the men who go into active volcanoes and chip out the sulphur, carry 200lbs. of it on their shoulders/back, and have to stop working in their 30s due to the damage the toxic gases released during the extracting process do to their lungs. Very sad but it is a very profitable job for these men and their families. Obviously they have a choice to do this or not, just wanting to know if there is an easier way to get it to use it for it’s wonderful properties.
Is there a safe way of extracting it from the Earth? It is a VERY grueling job for the men who go into active volcanoes and chip out the sulphur, carry 200lbs. of it on their shoulders/back, and have to stop working in their 30s due to the damage the toxic gases released during the extracting process do to their lungs. Very sad but it is a very profitable job for these men and their families. Obviously they have a choice to do this or not, just wanting to know if there is an easier way to get it to use it for it’s wonderful properties.
I wonder–app how many free range eggs it would take to get sufficient dose of sulfur. Maybe the sun exposure and eggs would do it.
How would you treatment infections with sulfur? Anyone know. I have a dog that i just cant afford to keep taking to the dr for antibiotics. I think his anal glands keep getting infected.
When you take your dog in to be groomed, ask the groomer to evacuate the anal glands. Normally they will do this as a matter of course, but not all of them do. I think just putting some in your dog’s water or sprinkling it on his food would be a good way, because it will work from the inside out, as well as an external application would. It would be pretty hard to put gauze pad packs on a dog’s butt! Just sayin’.
I should clarify a little about the anal gland thing – we have a cocker, who naturally has a bobbed-tail. The person we bought him from docked it a tad too short though, and now there is really nothing there to wag, so the groomer told us when a dog can’t wag it’s tail properly, the anal glands won’t evacuate on their own. That’s why they usually do it manually, especially for a dog with a bobbed-tail. Get your dog excited and maybe he’ll get that tail wagging, unless you have the same situation we do.
Also, make sure your dog is getting enough iodine. Very important for dogs. We use white iodine which we order online or pick up from a local alternative medicine place. Made by Progressive Labs.
Putting just a dash of unrefined, natural celtic sea salt in your dog’s water bowl helps with those trace minerals, too.
I just wanted to share another view on the anal gland issue. This is a very informative video on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA9SeHAEyQ4
Peggy – I use Our Kids Zinc Sulfate cream. It’s casein free, soy free, corn free, gluten free. Not sure any of that matters to you but it seems to be a good product; it’s a bit pricey though.
Peggy – I use Our Kids Zinc Sulfate cream. It’s casein free, soy free, corn free, gluten free. Not sure any of that matters to you but it seems to be a good product; it’s a bit pricey though.
Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. Are epsom salt soaks a good way to increase sulphur? Especially in winter when sun is hiding and chickens are not laying as much…
Hi Kristen, I wouldn’t rely on this. Eggs or the sun would be best. Red meat is also high in sulfur containing amino acids.
Once again a great article! Thank you so much Sarah for all the sharing and caring that you do!
Interesting post on #sulfur from thehealthyhomeeconomist http://t.co/NlA6jH9
Sulphur: The Forgotten Nutrient – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/OHtgYBu
Surprised no one has mentioned how awesome sulphur is for your hair. Many people wash their hair with yeast infection creams for
The sulphur and get crazy hair growth. Adding some of the sulphur powder to your fav shampoo will do wonders for growth.
Surprised no one has mentioned how awesome sulphur is for your hair. Many people wash their hair with yeast infection creams for
The sulphur and get crazy hair growth. Adding some of the sulphur powder to your fav shampoo will do wonders for growth.
Wow, that’s really interesting… I wonder why it does that?
Anyway, I’ve had fabulous experiences with sulpher. I had been trying to loose weight for a while, and the only thing that worked at first was eating copious ammounts of coconut oil (we’re talking a minimum of a 1/4 cup a day), but progress, though steady, was slow. However, when I began eating the coconut oil in conjunction with lots of supher-rich foods, like raw egg yolks in my smoothie, lots of grassfed beef, and well water (and yes, it’s quite smelly), the weight just fell off!
How on earth do you wash your hair with vaginal creams? Are you talking about creams like Gyne-Lotrimin or Nystatin or Monistat??
So sulphur is good for treating yeast infections too?
Make that reason number eight-million why farm-fresh, pastured eggs are my favorite food.
Does cooking the eggs damage the sulfur content at all?
Not that I am aware of Kelsey.
What the eggs have in them for sulphur content will vary greatly depending on the chicken’s main diet. Pasture fed chickens would always vary because they are getting a variety of weeds and grasses, as a rule. MSM is a great supplemental way for humans to get sulphur, don’t know how well it would go over in chicken feed or sprinkled onto their pasture area though. It’s mighty stinky in its base form, but the MSM doesn’t smell. I added mine to smoothies, along with magnesium chloride and dolomite.