Forum Replies Created

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  • Daniel

    Member
    November 1, 2022 at 11:51 pm in reply to: Help for Gallbladder Polyp

    Hey ,

    There are different kinds of gallbladder polyps. Somewhere between 60-90% of the polyps are made of cholesterol and are called pseudopolyps. We know D-Limonene can help dissolve cholesterol. I usually recommend my clients 1000 mg 2x daily, but it has to be this type of polyp. Bile acids might help as well since sometimes it is the lack of bile salts that can lead to those types of polyps or gallstones.

    I would also recommend you watch this video where different support for the gallbladder is discussed. Since bile is produced in the liver, some ‘love for the liver’ could help you as well.

    Another simple thing that can help is drinking enough water. Water helps the organ empty and keeps the bile from building up.

    Be aware that there are different types of polyps. About 5-10% are inflammatory polyps. These are a type of scar tissue caused by chronic inflammation of the gallbladder. In these cases, treatment is more difficult since they are scars. Do you know if your gallbladder was inflamed?

  • Daniel

    Member
    November 1, 2022 at 3:39 pm in reply to: Help with my mom

    Hey ,

    I think gave you really good advice. I would like to add that painkillers can cause some damage to the gut and the stomach. This article from 2006 are describing even elevations in liver enzymes from 2 weeks of use of Tylenol. Painkillers are usually treated as innocent, but they definitely are medications and they can have side effects!

    If there is some damage to the lining of the stomach, building up the protective lining can be done by using a supplement like Thorne’s GI-Relief (click here). I usually recommend starting low in dose and when well tolerated, working up to higher doses between meals for at least 2 months.

    It is however important to know if the damage to the lining of the gut was done by H. Pylori or painkillers. An infection with H. Pylori should be adressed first/

    As an alternative to Tylenol, your mother could experiment with supplements if she is using painkillers to deal with the pain from her osteoarthritis. I sometimes recommend people try Meriva curcumin 2x per day. Boswellia is also an excellent targeted anti-inflammatory for arthritis. Pure encapsulations (click here) has Boswellia you can try.

    A little side note to the list of medications you mentioned:

    With long-term use of Pantoprazole nutrient deficiencies like calcium, magnesium, vitamin B12 and iron can occur.

    Pravastatin can cause deficiencies in selenium, CoQ10 and vitamin E.

    Obviously, my message is not to stop her use of medications. But maybe you can recommend to your mother the use of supplements like CoQ10 or a high-quality multivitamin as well!

  • Daniel

    Member
    November 1, 2022 at 2:52 pm in reply to: Multiple Digestive Issues

    Hey ,

    I agree 100% with . Yeast & mold can be a cause of elevated oxalates. Sometimes yeast & mold can ‘steal’ nutrients, leaving your body with lower values.

    What supplements do you currently take? And I’m also interested in what supplements seem to make your condition worse. Have you been using probiotics or saccharomyces boulardii? If so, did this made the symptoms worse or did you tolerated this well?

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 30, 2022 at 9:07 pm in reply to: Help with my mom

    Hi ,

    I can imagine you want the best for your mom! I hope the tips,  gave, you can help your mom with her stomach pain.

    With what you have written, I am also curious about why your mom needed the aortic valve replacement. Do you know? Did her valve for example needed to be replaced because the valve was calcified and therefore started to leak blood back into the heart? Or was there some other reason?

    Are there any medications your mum is taking, for example, painkillers to ease the pain caused by osteoarthritis? Or maybe medications for her heart like beta-blockers?

    I am asking because painkillers might ease the pain, but chronic use of painkillers can do some damage to the GI tract as well.

    Some beta-blockers can, with long-term use, cause problems with energy production. Beta-blockers can also cause stomach upset and other GI symptoms like nausea, diarrhea or constipation.

    If she is using medications, it would help us to know which medications to give you the best possible advice!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 28, 2022 at 12:50 pm in reply to: Anemic!

    Hey ,

    I have never heard of it. Is it this lucky fish here? I think the idea is brilliant. I do however have some doubts. It is hard to determine dosages with this fish. More importantly, I can’t tell what form of iron you are actually supplementing with.

    Usually water, iron and heat change the metal iron into 4Fe(OH)₃ which is rust. I have never seen this used as a supplement form. Research does show it can reduce anemia (Click here to dive deeper if you would like to). 

    According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ingesting rust in small amounts will not harm your health (unless you have a rare disease called hemochromatosis, which causes your internal organs to retain iron).

    Personally, I have my doubts if this is the way to go and wouldn’t recommend it.

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 28, 2022 at 11:05 am in reply to: Anemic!

    Hey ,

    Being anaemic is no joke! I hope you feel fine soon! Usually, I tell my clients that red blood cells live for around 3 months. Many people can feel after 6 weeks already a change in their energy levels. 

    If you don’t feel the progress you could test after 6 weeks. If you feel improvement but would like to know how your values are, you could retest after 3 months to see how your red blood cell has changed.

    Another thing that influences your health journey is how low your iron really is. If your iron was really low, it could take a while longer to get your numbers back in the optimal range. If you don’t feel improvement after 6 weeks with very low iron, it would be important to retest after 6 weeks as well. Perhaps you can share your numbers!

    I hope this was an answer to your question!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 26, 2022 at 8:10 pm in reply to: low immunity post covid

    Hey ,

    I’m so sorry to hear! It looks like your immune system & gut could use some support.

    Could you help us help you and describe exactly what kind of symptoms you experience in your gut? Do you feel boated? Cramps? Diarrhea? Constipation? Lots of gas? Do symptoms seem to be worse at special times of the day?

    Gut problems can sometimes be at the root of some nutrient deficiencies. For example, iron absorption can be blocked by an inflamed gut. An iron deficiency can lead to hair loss. A doctor could test your iron status.

    A zinc deficiency can lead to poor immune health & hair loss as well.

    Another reason for hair loss is a slow thyroid. Have you been ever tested for that? Common other symptoms with a slow thyroid are feeling fatigued, easy weight gain or a hard time losing weight, feeling depressed, feeling slow, constipation, and thinning of the outer parts of the eyebrows. Do recognize any symptoms?

    Since you are feeling sick often you could start with the immune-boosting protocol (click here to find the protocol). I would recommend, as soon as you feel better, you focus on your gut health and dive in a little deeper into why you are losing hair.

    We are happy to help you!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 26, 2022 at 10:48 am in reply to: Iodine Supplementation

    Hey ,

    You for sure can try supplementing with Iodine. I just mentioned the 1100 mcg to let you know that supplementing with Iodine, in general, is very safe (unless your friend uses other supplements containing iodine!)

    And yes, you can take iodine without supplementing selenium if there is no autoimmune thyroid disease.

    Are you referring to the RBC Iodine test? Or to the iodine patch test? (For the serum Iodine test we don’t have functional ranges because the marker isn’t considered that reliable)

    RBC Iodine
    Because the RBC Iodine test isn’t everywhere available this one is harder to order. Honestly, I think RBC Iodine is a better marker than the urine iodine test. But since most iodine (70-80%) is stored in the thyroid gland, I would personally go for the Iodine Patch Test. Since most iodine is stored in the thyroid gland, it might be more sensitive to a lack of nutritional iodine.

    24- hour urine test
    The 24- hour urine test is a little less convenient, but if the body has enough iodine, we would like to see 90% of the iodine excreted via urine. Everything lower is an indication of iodine deficiency (you can find more information in this study.

    And here’s more information about the Patch test (here’s the video to see how to execute it), which is a self-test.

    Again, if you think that a low-iodine diet is at play, just use an iodine supplement and see what happens.

    If nothing happens, it could still be a subclinical hypothyroid state. It just wasn’t caused by an iodine deficiency.

    I hope this answered your questions!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 25, 2022 at 1:13 pm in reply to: Help with choosing supplements please

    Hey ,

    You are welcome

    180-200 grams of protein can raise your BUN levels. However, 100 grams of cooked lean beef give you around 25 grams of protein. Am I right if I assume that the other proteins come from other sources?

    If you are eating 180-200 grams of protein in total for athletic goals like increasing muscle mass I can tell you what research shows:

    Depending on the study you will find numbers between 1.5-1.8 g of protein per kg body weight don’t give you extra benefits when it comes to building muscle mass. This link will bring you to a 2020 review of 105 studies (done with a total of 5402 study participants) that concludes and I quote:
    “The rate of increase in the effect of protein supplementation rapidly diminished after 1.3 g/kg BW/d was exceeded, and resistance training markedly suppressed this decline.”

    That doesn’t mean it’s ‘wrong’ to eat more or there are no benefits of higher protein consumption, but the benefits contributing to muscle synthesis become lesser over a certain point.

    This information might give you some flexibility in choosing the optimal amount of protein you like to consume!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 24, 2022 at 6:20 pm in reply to: Vitamin D injection

    Hi ,

    There are some benefits to vitamin D injections compared to supplements. For example, a vitamin D injection goes directly into the bloodstream and bypasses digestion. So if you have a hard time absorbing vitamin D is the quickest way to raise vitamin D levels.

    There are however some (potential) risks with vitamin D shots.

    Vitamin D increases calcium absorption
    With a injection or bolus dosing, calcium levels can rise quicker and higher as well. Sometimes, a bolus dosing of vitamin D can lead to hypercalcemia. If you want to know how to recognize the signs & symptoms of calcium click here. To help calcium metabolism, we need vitamin K2 to direct calcium to the bones. This is why many high-quality brands like Thorne also combine vitamin K2 in their supplements. I personally recommend my clients a vitamin K2 supplement when they supplement or inject vitamin D.

    Magnesium
    Magnesium is necessary to build & maintain healthy bones. To convert the injected or supplemented vitamin D to its final form we also need sufficient magnesium levels. If you suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, both processes will be ramped up leading to a higher demand for magnesium. I usually recommend addressing a magnesium insufficiency first before supplementing with vitamin D. Since a magnesium deficiency is common you might wanna check for signs & symptoms in this video here.

    Vitamin A
    Vitamin A & D bind to the final cellular receptor. This means that if you are vitamin D deficient and you start increasing vitamin D, you will need more vitamin A as a consequence. Vitamin A is in foods like liver, sweet potatoes and spinach (for a more comprehensive list look here). Depending on what types of foods your diet contains you can use supplements accordingly.

    The upper tolerable limit for vitamin A is 10.000 IU (or 3000 mcg). For women the RDA is 2333 IU (or 700mcg). For men the RDA is 3000 IU (or 900 mcg).

    Vitamin A, K2 and magnesium are the most important nutriënts to take a look at. If you suspect magnesium deficiency, it would be wise to take care of this first before you use vitamin D either in supplement form or as an injection.

    One last thought
    If you are going for an injection, maker sure they use vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 has also been used, but is the lesser effective form of this nutrient.

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 21, 2022 at 3:59 pm in reply to: Help with choosing supplements please

    ,

    Being on a high-protein diet and supplementing with creatine can elevate BUN & Creatinine respectively. I don’t know how well you could answer these questions, but it would help to provide you with an answer
    • Can you tell me how many grams of protein you consume per day? And what is your body weight? 
    • Meat is a source of creatine as well and contains between 1.4 & 2.3 grams of creatine per pound (or 0.45 kg). How much meat are you eating on average?

    Cystatin-C levels can help you if you don’t trust your BUN & Creatinine levels. If you have signs & symptoms of kidney disease I would definitely dive deeper.

    But looking at your labs knowing you supplement with creatine, I would expect your creatinine levels to be higher in the reference range. They would probably drop a bit without using creatine as a supplement. But again, this is an educated guess.

    In this chapter of the book Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations, they would expect a BUN of 20 mg/dl when people consume an excess of 125 grams of protein.

    Again, if you’re experiencing symptoms of kidney disease, I personally would delve deeper and check Cystatin-C levels. If you are unsure but would like to know if your kidneys work fine, I would test them as well.

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 21, 2022 at 2:41 pm in reply to: Iodine Supplementation

    Hey ,

    Sure, this can be iodine deficiency, but there are other possibilities as well. The first thing your friend can do is estimate how much iodine is in her diet.

    We need 150 mcg per day, but people who do not eat processed foods or a low-salt diet might miss their daily quota easily. By the way, you can find a list of how much iodine is in foods here.

    Iodine toxicity can happen when you consume more than 1100 mcg. This is hard to do with foods only. The supplements that I know of are much lower in dosing as well, so taking a supplement, in general, is safe.

    If you would like to test for iodine to be sure, this is also possible. I recommend watching this video here.

    But developing a slow thyroid can be done in several ways. For optimal thyroid hormone metabolism, we need iron, selenium, zinc, vitamin D, and magnesium as well.

    Hashimoto Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease that leads to a slow thyroid as well. On top of that, stress hormones can all on their own cause a slow thyroid as well.

    If you would like to learn more about the signs and symptoms of mineral deficiencies click here for Magnesium, here for zinc, here for iron and here for iodine. Maybe your friend can recognize some other symptoms. This can help to point in the right direction.

    If she experiences the typical slow thyroid symptoms (fatigue, concentration problems, hard to lose weight or weight gain, losing hair and/or thinning of the outer part of the eyebrows, constipation, depression, etc) I would recommend doing a full thyroid panel:
    • TSH
    • fT4 & fT3
    • Reverse T3
    • Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO) & Thyroglobulin Antibodies

    I hope this helps!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 20, 2022 at 5:38 pm in reply to: Help with choosing supplements please

    Hey ,

    Thank you for sharing your labs with us! I will start with your last question first. Since your vitamin D is clinically low, your calcium will probably correct itself once you start supplementing. Of course, calcium has to be in your diet as well. If you don’t consume milk products, there are still a lot of excellent calcium-rich foods like seeds, beans, lentils, nuts, leaves greens, salmon and figs. But I do recommend retesting after a while to be sure.

    Did you know because you are a B Better member you have access to Fullscript and The Swell Score? These are just like iHerb online stores where you can find a lot of high-quality brand products. You can find the link here.

    If you like I could recommend you some high-quality brands I like and use. I will put the link to fullscript to them as well:

    Vitamin D/K2
    • Thorne has a nice liquid formula: vitamin D + K2 liquid – click here

    Magnesium Glycinate
    Here are a few options I recommend to my clients:
    • Designs for Health is a high-quality brand that has a formulation for people who experience GI discomfort with magnesium supplements. Its a buffered form called Magnesium Buffered Chelate – Click here
    • Pure Encapsulations has this one here
    • Metagenics has Mag Glycinate – click here

    if you are looking for a liquid form because swallowing pills is difficult you could use this one:
    • Pure Encapsulations – Magnesium Glycinate Liquid – click here

    Omega 3
    High-Quality liquid brands:
    • Thorne – Omega Superb – click here
    • Biotic Research has a more concentrated liquid form – Biomega 3 – click here
    • Integrative Therapeutics has also a more concentrated dose – Pure Omega Liquid – click here

    Whey
    Thorne has a Whey protein isolate
    This one is without flavor
    • And this one is the chocolate flavor

    But since your hemoglobin is in the lower part of the reference range (ideal would be in the middle), you could also go for the whey protein isolate from biotics research. It has lactoferrin in it which is a very absorbable form of iron. Besides that, it also contains important immune factors.
    • Look here if you want tasteless
    • Look here if you want Vanilla
    • Look here if you like Chocolate

    Because I live in Europe, my iHerb options might be different then yours. When I look, I don’t see high-quality brands for whey between my options.

    For omega 3, Nordic Naturals is third-party tested and would be my iHerb personal choice.

    Thorne vitamin d/k2 liquid is on iherb (again, where I live)

    Magnesium glycinate: again no high-quality brands in my options, and with most other options I don’t have experience either. The brand KAL I wouldn’t recommend. I have used it for a while, but when I switched to Designs for Health I could notice the difference immediately.

    I hope you have more higher end options in iHerb than I do, but if it doesn’t matter to you where you would order, try fullscript!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 19, 2022 at 9:05 pm in reply to: Hypoglycemia

    Hey ,

    It would be interesting to know what the train of thoughts of her doctor are. Glucophage (or metformin) is in insulin resistance persons can lower blood glucose.

    Dr. Peter Attia believes that insuline resistance can sometimes be pretty wel hidden. He believes that even fasting insulin sometimes can’t diagnose insulin resistance. He believes the best way to spot insulin resistance is measuring blood glucose an insuline 1,2 and 3 hours after a dose of 100 grams of glucose after a fasting glucose is obtained.

    I’m not necessary saying you should recommend this by the way. Just know that if other signs of insulin resistance are pressent, this something she can do.

    I would love to see how the blood sugars fluctuate over a day as well.
    I am very curious about the data from her blood glucose monitor. I for example would love to see how her blood sugars change around a carb containing meal. Preferable I would love to know what she has eaten than as well, inclusive an indication af the amount of carbs.

    I would also love to know a bit more of her background. Does she experience gut problems (constipation/diarrhea/bloating/nausea, etc)? Has she ever been operated to her gut?

    Is there some recent data about her liver function test (ALAT/ASAT/alkaline phosphatase) and kidney function (Blood Urea Nitrogen(BUN), eGFR, creatinine, microalbumin)?

    Are there other symptoms besides low blood sugar? Does she frequently urinate? Is there swelling in feet & ankles? How is her blood pressure? How do her stools and urine look? Does she experience itchy skin? Are her eyes and skin looking yellow?

    Other stuff about her live might also be important: does she drink (and yes, how much)? Is she doing sports (and if yes, what kind & how much). How would her typical diet look like?

    Lots of questions, I know! But if she for example doesn’t digest carbs & absorb sugars we could recommend some digestive enzymes to give her support. Digestive enzymes however wouldn’t help her necessarily if she overproduces insulin during a meal!

  • Daniel

    Member
    October 18, 2022 at 10:45 pm in reply to: Hypoglycemia

    Hey ,

    There can be several reasons for hypoglycemia. Players in blood sugar regulation are besides the pancreas, the liver & the kidneys. The liver for example stores and manufactures glucose depending on the body’s needs to keep glucose levels within range. Also, the kidneys help regulate blood sugars.

    Dysfunction in these organs can all lead to low blood sugar.

    Certain disorders in for example the adrenals or pituitary can also cause low blood sugar. 

    Also when there is uncontrolled gastric emptying, for example, like in ‘Dumping Syndrome’ the small intestine can signal the pancreas to produce extra insulin leading to a sharp drop in blood sugars causing more fluctuations. With Dumping Syndrome people feel often all kinds of gut-related symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, etc.

    Do you know what her doctor suspects to be the reason? This could give us some leads on how to give you the best possible advice!

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