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MSM Side Effects, Safety and Dosage.

MSM Safety

In long-term toxicity trials with laboratory animals, no toxic MSM effects were found with oral doses of 8 grams MSM per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight. This non-toxic MSM dosage is comparable to 400 grams daily MSM for a 110-pound person. Most people take from 2 to 8 grams total as a daily supplement.

A standard test, known as LD-50 was used to determine the Lethal Dose of MSM. The LD-50 test means Lethal Dose for 50% of the subjects in the test. For MSM, the LD-50 was 20 grams per kilogram of body weight. For perspective, the LD-50 of table salt is 2.5 to 3 grams per kilogram of body weight. MSM thus rates as one of the least toxic substances in biology and medicine. It compares to water, which has an LD-50 rating also greater than 20 grams per kilogram of weight. This is equivalent to taking 2.2 pounds per day for a 110 pound person. Imagine eating 2.2 pounds of anything every day.

Follow-up experiments with human volunteers, found no MSM toxic effects at intake levels of up to 1 gram MSM per kilogram of body weight per day for 30 days. That is equivalent to about 68 grams MSM daily for an average 150-pound person.

MSM presence in the human body was first reported during the 1960s, when a laboratory analysis of the urine of men, women and children found that 4 to 11 milligrams of MSM was excreted over a 24-hour period. In the late 1980s, W. Martin, a researcher at Pharmakin Gmbh, a major German pharmaceutical company, found that MSM is present in human blood plasma. He found about 4 milligrams of MSM in the plasma of an average-size adult.

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MSM Side Effects

Jacob, M.D. and Lawrence, M.D. report that too much MSM may cause minor gastrointestinal discomfort (stomach ache), headache, or more frequent stools. Taken near bedtime, MSM may keep you awake, as it has a tendency to increase your energy level. The solution is to reduce the level of MSM taken, split the dose, and to take MSM with meals, rather than on an empty stomach. Also, MSM may interfere with the accuracy of the blood test for liver enzymes. It is recommended to stop taking MSM 4 days prior to any liver related blood test.

Reported side effects of taking MSM include softer skin, harder nails, and thicker hair.

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MSM Dosage

In their book, Jacob, M.D. and Lawrence, M.D. responsibly recommend that, whether taking a medication or a nutritional supplement, you should take the least possible amount that gives you the benefit you desire. More is not necessarily better. They describe uniqueness of individuals, such as individual makeup, size, hormones, tolerances, energy, resistance, and levels of health or illness.

Their experience with thousands of patients shows that healing benefits can be experienced by taking 2 to 8 grams (2,000 to 8,000 mg) of MSM a day. For general maintenance and health, a dosage of around 2 grams MSM or less is usually adequate. Higher MSM doses are typically needed to experience therapeutic effects. 3 to 4 grams MSM a day may control allergic symptoms. Daily MSM doses of up to 40 to 60 grams were used by some patients for severe conditions, but these people were under their personal supervision.

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