Absolutely yes unfortunately.

You'll have to give these up for your 5 days.

Now, Vit D is a little less problematic.

If I were to spell out the whole protocol in detail, I would get way too many 'what if' questions, so I keep it general. For example, 100,000 IU of vit D reduces hepcidin by 33%. But if I tell people that, they'll say eh, I can still take my usual 10,000 IU and be fine. And they still have some vit D in their system and then the protocol doesn't work and they blame the protocol.

Vit C on the other hand has like zero tolerance here. You really need to avoid all ascorbic acid because it transports iron and pushes hepcidin down. For us, it's going to raise hemoglobin and defeat what we're doing.

So during your week you do this, none of your usual fruits.

TBH when I do this, I often just have protein powder that has no vitamins in it just so I can maximize the result.