Why You Want MSM

Summary
Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane (MSM) is a naturally occuring sulfur compound found in every plant and animal tissue. It is the only bioavailable form of sulfur -- a macro mineral that is used in significant amounts in the body. This article examines the requirements and benefits of MSM for health.
[800 words]

by Eric Armstrong

Quite simply, MSM is probably the most significant discovery since Vitamin C. It's pretty much a miracle in a pill. (Since we don't eat raw food, fresh picked, we need to get it in a pill, just like Vitamin C.) It's good for preventing muscle aches and sprains, general health, and a whole lot more:

It's a sulfur compound isolated from food, so it's more of a food that a supplement.
It is apparently the only form of sulpfur the body can assimilate.
(Why garlic is so healthy: Its high sulfur content.)
The compound (methyl-sulfonyl-methane, or MSM) is found in every plant and animal tissue.
But apparently it's really volatile, easily destroyed by cooking, food processing, pickling, and even storage.
So taking an MSM "supplement" is like getting back to a healthy raw foods diet.

Why Sulfur is Important

It's used in the formation of collagen -- the "lattice" framework the cells fit in. Because of that, it's required in large quantities. It's a "macro mineral", not a trace mineral. (Vitamin C is a "macro vitamin", for the same reason.)
It creates the flexible bonds between cells, instead of the stiff cross-linked bonds.
That means it's good for flexibility and prevents wrinkles.
I suspect that also helps ameliorate age-induced near-sightedness, which is essentially a stiffening of the cornea over time.
It's very helpful for arthritis.
It produces strong, healthy nails, hair, and skin.
It promotes healing with flexible tissue. (Otherwise, scar tissue forms, which tears rather than stretches -- the typical cause of reinjury.)
On the surface, wounds heal with healthy skin instead of scar tissue. Inside, muscles and tendons heal with flexible tissue instead of easily torn scar tissue.
Because recovery from a workout is essentially a building process, MSM users report "no soreness after workouts".
How good is it? They've been giving it to multi-million dollar racehorses for decades to prevent sore legs and promote muscle recovery.
MSM is also an antioxidant, and it helps flush toxins.

That helps explain how it prevents muscle soreness, and why (along with Vitamin C and selenium) it would be good for the eyes. (The eyes see major free radical attacks from X-Rays, flourescent lights, ultra-violet sunlight. Vitamin C combats it, but destructs in the process. Glutathione peroxidase reconstitutes vitamin C, but it requires selenium, which is deficient in most U.S. soils -- hence the need for a selenium supplement.)

Because the toxin flushing occurs through the skin via sweat, it's good for the liver. (Reduces strain on the liver, promotes healing.)
Apparently, it "paints" the insides of your stomach and intestines, in such a way that it effectively prevents food allergies.
Sulfur is also a major part of insulin. So MSM improves energy levels.
I'm not sure if it's due to its insulin activity or to its intestinal activity, but MSM appears to have suddenly and dramatically, drastically reduced my sweet tooth. Could be that it is promoting the good intestinal flora. (Sugar promotes the bad ones.)
I also notice that I feel definitely, totally full at the end of a meal, now, as in not wanting to eat anything else. (On the minus side, it does seem to promote indigestion. So after taking it internally for a while, I began to restrict it to external applications--but it's highly likely that I got what I needed before I stopped taking it internally.)
Probably because it heals the mylein sheaths around the nerves, it promotes inner calm. (Alcohol wears away those nerve coverings which produces, quite literally, "raw nerves", irritability, anxiety, and anger.)

Healing Carpal Tunnel / Repetetive Stress Injury (RSI)

In the absence of sulphur, scar tissue forms. The problem with scar tissue is that it's not flexible. When you pull on it, it tears. So if you rest for a couple of days, you feel fine. But the minute you start you to use those muscles, the scar tissue tears and you're in pain again.

The solution is to work on relaxing the muscles as you're using them, and to vigorously rub in MSM lotion twice a day for a few weeks. When typing for example, I work to lighten my strokes on the keys, and I consciously relax the muscles between strokes. That minimizes strain on the muscles. But it's the MSM lotion that is the real solution.

Vigorous rubbing breaks the adhesions in the muscle (the places where scar tissue has formed). The MSM lotion then provides the sulfur needed to rebuild with healthy, flexible tissue. Do that twice a day, and see if your RSI hasn't cleared up entirely in 2 or 3 weeks. (It did for me. The first time I did it, it was two years before I had carpal tunnel again. After the second time, it has been four years, and counting.)

Note:
Read the label. Be sure MSM is the first or second ingredient. My favorite has aloe vera as the first ingredient (also quite healing), and MSM as the second. Right after MSM became popular, several products came out that said MSM in large, proud letters on the front, but which MSM back at the end of the ingredients list--the ones that were measured with an eye dropper. Those are useless.

More Information

MSM is available in health food stores, and it's quite cheap. When taken internally:

It's best taken 1-for-1 with Vitamin C and a phytochemical supplement.
- Both vitamin C and MSM are used to form collagen
- 1gm Vit C + 1gm phytochem + 1gm MSM per day for a 200lb person.
  (1.5 to 3 gms per day is the standard requirement)
Think that's a lot?
- Gorillas share our metabolism with respect to Vitamin C, and they are very expensive. Linus Pauling (the discoverer of Vitamin C) reported that veterinarians make sure gorillas get about 1.5 to 2gm for every 100 lbs of body weight every day.
For cartilege healing, add a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement
- Glucosamine is the precursor for cartilege formation.
- Chondroitin becomes part of cartilege, creating spaces that absorb water for a cushioning effect.
- Amount: 1 gm glucosamine/chondroitin per gm of Vitamin C.

Resources

Here are some references from the Web:

http://www.all-natural.com/msm.html

http://www.intohealth.com/research.html

http://www.user.shentel.net/nbaker/msm-2.htm

http://www.alsleben.com/lect4.htm

http://www.kombuchapower.com/arthritis_and_msm.htm

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