KALA HEALTH MSMPure Coarse MSM Powder Flakes – Organic Sulfur for Joint Flexibility, Skin Appearance, and Hair & Nail Support – 2.2 lb, USA Made, Distilled Crystals

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GO WITH THESE FLAKES as I had worried about some reviewers saying they did not dissolve easily & were too bitter in taste but I found none of it to be a problem. The item name had me concerned that they would be coarse & big flakes but this is much finer in texture than coarse sea salt & looks almost as fine as table salt or sugar. And as soon as I put it in some room temperature water (that comes out of the faucet of my reverse osmosis filter), it started dissolving easily.I initially was mixing it with some Innate Response - C-Complete Powder, Unique and Gentle Powdered Vitamin C Formula, 81 Grams as I found that C powder too sweet on its own but since have found an even better totally natural C powder Terrasoul Superfoods Organic Acerola Cherry Powder (Freeze-dried), 4-ounce one can take on an empty stomach important for the l-proline combo. The Cherry Powder is not as sweet but I find I can simply dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of the Kala MSM flakes in some room temperature water along with 1 gram of BulkSupplements Pure L-Lysine HCL Powder (1 Kilogram) & quickly swallow that & the bitterness is hardly noticeble taken that way. I immediately follow it with 750 mg of BulkSupplements Pure L-Proline Powder (500 grams) straight in my mouth as that powder has a sweet taste that makes it feel like finishing with dessert. I also immediately before & after this combo put 1/4 teaspoon of the Acerola Cherry Powder straight in my mouth as I've found that the easiest way to get the full benefit of the natural vitamin C & I enjoy the slightly tart fruity taste of it as it dissolves in my mouth which makes it almost like eating a piece of fruit or fruit pudding. And I sometimes follow this by chewing on 1 piece of PUR Gum Aspartame Free, Spearmint, 2.8 Ounce for the ph & oral & dental benefits xylitol gum brings as this specific one brings the most beneficial ingredients with least chemicals of the many I've looked into & tried over the past few years.AND IT'S IDEAL TO TAKE THE MSM THIS WAY BECAUSE TAKING IT WITH VITAMIN C IMPROVES ITS EFFECTIVENESS SO WHEN I TAKE MY 2nd DOSE OF THE DAY around 3 p.m., I JUST TAKE THE MSM WITH THE C. That's BECAUSE I found that SINCE ADDING THE MSM, I am as many other reviewers mentioned indeed RAPIDLY NEEDING LESS OF THE OTHER SUPPLEMENTS I USED TO FIND NECESSARY including the proline + lysine + C combo which I used to have to take twice a day in order to avoid recurring tendinitis problems with my right big toe that used to make me limp badly unless I was wearing a specific Orthaheel slip-on that is no longer sold. In fact I will at some point experiment with not taking the proline & lysine at all as I may not need them if the MSM is fixing whatever was causing the need for those products but I currently have a lot on hand so I figured for now I'd continue it at 1 dose per day till my supplies run down.DESPITE FAIRLY LOW (1/2 teaspoon/day which I only recently increased to twice a day) DOSAGE OF THIS MSM, I NOTICED A BIG RAPID IMPROVEMENT IN HOW I FEEL & MY STAMINA LEVEL DURING THIS EXTRA DEMANDING WORK STRETCH with ridiculously long hours needed at times. AND EVEN MORE AMAZINGLY, THE HAIR LOSS I THOUGHT WAS INEVITABLE BECAUSE I'VE ALWAYS HAD A LOT OF HAIR ALSO ALMOST IMMEDIATELY GREATLY REDUCED both in terms of hairs falling on my sheet & in the shower. Even my hairdresser commented on how my hair seems stronger & fuller & that one area that had been thinning out seems to be filling back in & that's with only having been taking the MSM for 3 weeks now (as of this 3/21/16 update).I DON'T USUALLY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH MY JOINTS BUT HAVE SOME LONG-STANDING INDICATIONS OF SOME STILL REMAINING LIVER OVERLOAD/TOXICITY & KNOWN LEAD & MERCURY LEVELS THAT ARE TOO HIGH despite having done a lot of cleansing & nutritional support & detoxing for many years now for those issues. The metals have been difficult to get down to acceptable range because chelation proved too rough on me so I've had to use homeopathic & nutritional detox support instead which makes it all much slower & tougher to pull out of one's bones & scar tissue etc. where those metals often accumulate. SO I GOT THIS MSM PRODUCT BECAUSE MANY COMMENTS & DATA INDICATED IT CAN HELP WITH TOXICITY & LIVER ISSUES ALSO & SO FAR I'M VERY PLEASED WITH ITS IMPACT.I AM EVEN HOPING IT MIGHT HELP WITH THE HIGH EYE PRESSURE (28 each eye) PROBLEMS that started 3 years ago despite no glaucoma running in either side of my family & my blood pressure being excellent. The reason I'm hoping the MSM might help is BECAUSE my natural healing book said that liver issues can be an underlying cause of glaucoma as can iodine deficiency. I discovered tons of information about the latter in Dec-2013 because an Amazon review explained that a goiter indicates an over-worked thyroid usually caused by iodine deficiency. He recommended looking at[...] which has tons of information about all this as iodine deficiency has been found to be the main cause of hormonal cancers (=breast, uterine & prostate) & most people nowadays are very deficient in iodine as exposure to toxins or fluorides or bromides or chlorine as well as radiation & stress will rapidly deplete one's stores of iodine. Fortunately one can get a quick sense of extent of deficiency using the iodine skin test which my holistic M.D. brother in New Zealand along with many other great online sources all confirmed. One simply needs a 2% brown iodine skin tincture which comes in many first aid kits but which I found easy to stock up on through Swan Iodine Tincture U.S.P. - 1 fl oz (6 pack). Just rub 1-2 drops into an area of skin you won't mind going brown temporarily & that is easy to check every now & then e.g. an inside forearm. If you're not deficient it should take 24 hours before no trace of color can be seen though one online source said that as long as it lasts at least 8 hours you're likely ok because some evaporation through the skin may occur to make it vanish faster than the 24 hours but I have known people whose color did last 24 hours once they were properly supplementing. When I started doing my skin tests to get a quick sense of current iodine deficiency level following worsening goiter problems in late 2013, my iodine color would vanish within 5-15 minutes. I was stunned as I had been supplementing with 3x the RDA level of 150 mcg/day since a 2007 medical test of my iodine levels showed me at about 1/3 of minimum level needed. I had thought that by tripling my supplementation & switching to using iodized salt I should be more than covered. But I since found out that iodized salt is not a good way to add iodine & that all the lead & mercury detoxing I've been having to do in the years since my 2007 iodine test hugely worsened my iodine deficiency problems in the meantime.IN READING UP ABOUT SULFUR RECENTLY DUE TO AN AMAZON REVIEW MENTIONING IT AS IMPORTANT FOR IODINE ABSORPTION/UTILIZATION, I ALSO DISCOVERED THAT PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN VOLCANIC AREAS WHERE THE SOIL IS NATURALLY HIGH IN SULFUR HAVE WAY BETTER HEALTH STATISTICS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE. That's because soils nowadays are generally so depleted that even sulfur-rich vegetables are not providing sufficient sulfur for most people. This likely explains the finding that at least 70% of people are deficient in this critical nutrient essential for many important aspects of health including our ability to absorb nutrients & in keeping cell walls strong so toxins stay out. Further reading indicated that the OptiMSM flakes are the purest & best form of sulfur for internal absorption including in avoiding the heavy metals that come in most forms of sulfur.

My first order was for the smaller size. I wanted to get a feel for how my body would react to it before I committed to a larger container. I do not take pain meds unless I’m in excruciating pain. As a result, I’m super sensitive to anything I do take. I wanted to find a more natural way to treat the persistent right knee and low back pain I’ve been l with for about 2 years.DOSE:I am currently taking 4 tsp of the supplement first thing in the morning before breakfast. You need to work your way up to this amount. I started with 1 tsp daily and increased by 1 tsp about every 2 days.TASTE:Let’s address the taste straight on. It is BITTER! I mix it with a popular powdered vitamin C supplement and I don’t taste it at all. Plus the Vitamin C helps with absorption of the MSM. So I highly recommend mixing it this way.PAIN:My knee pain went away within a week of taking the MSM. The back pain took a little longer. I’d say about 3 weeks into taking it consistently is when I noticed I wasn’t waking up with excruciating low back pain.HAIR, SKIN, & NAILS:I read that there were some benefits for hair and nails and began looking for improvements in those areas. I noticed that my nails were a bit stronger and broke a lot less after about a month of taking. However, my skin (I have eczema) has improved DRASTICALLY! My skin is much smoother and the areas where there is hyperpigmentation, are significantly lighter. My skin isn’t as dry after showers as it once was. As far as hair, I’ve noticed that I have a lot of short hairs dispersed all over my scalp that are much thicker than the longer/older hairs. I assume this is a result of the MSM, as I’ve changed nothing else in my diet. I’ll update once I know for certain that my hair has grown/thickened significantly.FINAL REVIEW:I will continue to take this supplement for the rest of my life! I only wish I had know about it sooner. As a nurse, I am an advocate for finding natural ways to heal the body rather than treating just the symptoms. MSM seems that it would work wonders for anyone suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain. I highly recommend this brand as it dissolves fast and the taste really is palatable if you mix it with something to offset the bitterness.

Ordered a second container! I initially got this for hair growth and realized that it’s great for joint pain. I had chronic pain in my wrists which tested negative for carpal tunnel. The dr. advised that I take vitamin B6 and just go easy on my hands as I’m still young to get CT. His recommendation worked a little but not as effective as this. Pain is now down to 20% and is less frequent.I also have a leg with shooting pain from the ankle to the knee (sometimes the hip) due to an injury and that has went down too.It is a strong supplement, I started with half a teaspoon and had a headache 2 days straight. I worked my way up to 2 teaspoons now, 1/2 a teaspoon at a time whenever I felt pain again. I would suggest a 1/4 of a teaspoon as the 1/2 did cause headaches every time. I mix it with vitamin c (airborne or emergen-c) so the taste isn’t bad and I take vitamin D with it as well. I started taking this 2 months ago and I’m 2 thirds into the 1 lb container. I got the 2 lb container early to have it on hand and in case there was a delay in shipment due to Covid-19 however I got it within a couple of days. If I had $150 to dish out on the jumbo size I would’ve gotten it!As far as hair growth goes, I take collagen and biotin and when I added the MSM it seems to growing out faster but it’s too soon to tell. I had thick hair but lost a lot of volume over the years due to chemical treatments and stress. My issue is fall out more than length as baby hairs seem to be falling out anytime I brush my hair. I am hoping this will help with that.Even if it doesn’t do anything for my hair I would still take it for the pain relief! Thank you :)Update: I just finished the 1 lb container today after 12 weeks of use. I did not have to go over 2 teaspoons. For reference, I am 5’5” and started at 172lbs. Since this helped me with the pain I managed to start exercising again (HIIT training, light dumbbells and ankle weights, walking/jogging) and I am currently at 161lbs!I do feel slight joint pain from time to time but it’s mild enough where I’m not distracted by it and it’s way less frequent. Therefore, I didn’t see the need to go over 2 teaspoons. The weight loss probably helped as well.Hair growth is consistent at approximately 1/2 an inch every month and my nails are still strong and haven’t chipped yet. As for hair thickness, it’s too soon to tell as my ponytail feels the same. Maybe once all those baby hairs get to a certain length. Will update in the future! Thanks 😊

I finished my first bottle today and have placed an order for a bigger bottle. Due to the amount of pain I have from arthritis, I didn't start this slowly. I take two tbls a day; one in the morning with my vitamins and one with my evening vitamins. The taste isn't bad like some reviews say. I mix mine with about 6 ounces of water. You have to stir it for almost a minute to get the flakes to completely dissolve, that makes a Big difference in the taste. For the first few days, I ate a couple of walnuts right after drinking to get rid of the taste. Now, I'm so used to it, it's like drinking plain water and I don't have to chase anything behind it. The results have been outstanding. I usually have to take at least a daily anti-inflammatory and about 3x a week, take a pain killer, especially if I tried doing a lot of yard work. In the time I was taking the msm, I only took a pain killer once, another day took two excedrin for an unrelated headache. I'm 52 and have started a rather vigorous routine at the gym vs my light routine from previously. I can't believe how good I feel without medication! This isn't a miracle worker of course, I still have pain. But it's being controlled...without prescriptions. I highly recommend taking this. Just fyi, I also take other daily supplements which includes Doctor's Best Ubiquinol, Kaneka QH, 300 mg a day, which I think has greatly boosted my energy level and works very well with the opti-msm.