AI Is Now My Naturopath: How I Ditched Pills for Coconut Oil and Saved My Toe (and Maybe My Liver!)

About 18 months ago, I noticed something funky going on with one of my big toenails, it was golden colored. It wasn’t just an aesthetic glitch—it was yellowing, thickening, and gross—it was toenail fungus. I did enjoy teasing the kids, waving it at them at the pool and singing my version of the James Bond song Goldeneye, renamed Golden Toe. Don’t worry, our kids will be fine after a couple of decades of therapy. Despite the fun and games, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist to take a look at it. Little did I know, that visit would send me down a Big Pharma rabbit hole that failed and sent me searching AI for an alternative..

The dermatologist took one look at my toe and prescribed a pill. “This’ll knock that fungus right out,” he said with that confidence they must teach in med school. “Are there any adverse effects?” I asked. He explained that in rare cases it can destroy your liver and require a liver transplant. Knowing my luck, that would be me. So I informed him that I would rather stand out at the beach from my gold toe than have a liver transplant. “What else ya got?” I asked. He suggested a medicated nail lacquer. 

So I painted my nails with this medicated nail polish for about a year. I applied it daily like clockwork. Fun Fact: During this year, I came across an article about how Cristiano Ronaldo, superstar soccer player, had issues with toe fungus because his feet are in hot moist soccer cleats far too regularly. He paints his nails to avoid a relapse. Apparently, I’m not the only world class athlete suffering from this problem. But I digress, at the end of the year, my big toenail was still thick and golden, Big Pharma had failed me.

Desperate, I turned to Grok 3 AI. I wanted a natural solution, one that didn’t require another trip to the doctor and his liver-killing solution. I told Grok that he’s a world class naturopath. I described the problem and asked for its solution. It offered two primary approaches, soaking in vinegar and rubbing it with a combo of coconut oil and tea tree oil. Apparently, both coconut oil and tea tree oil have strong anti-fungal properties. I opted to start with the coconut oil mixture and see if I need to add vinegar soaks later. After just a week, my toenail color looks a bit better and best of all my liver is still intact. Needless to say, Grok 3 AI is now my go to naturopath for any little ailments that pop up.