[Daniel]

Hey ,

There is no difference! Officially there are 2 glycinate molecules attached to magnesium and therefore it’s called magnesium bisglycinate.

But the name is also shortened to magnesium glycinate.

[Daniel]

Hey @nikolovaart ,

Your question made me curious: in what way is this persons diet limited? And could you provide us more information about why this person seeks supplementation? Are there any symptoms he/she is trying to get rid of? And if so, what are the top 5 symptoms this person is trying to improve?

Perhaps we can provide you with some additional tips to help him/her!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

If your friend’s main goal is to sleep better and reduce hot flashes, she is making some choices that could influence her symptoms. Keep in mind that hot flashes and sleep problems can have many different reasons. To see what works best or what influences her symptoms, keeping a journal will make things easier!

Her thyroid hormones are in balance, but Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease. With auto-immune issues, we often see some enhanced permeability of the gut lining (leaky gut). In these cases, the immune system can come in contact with undigested foods and can over time react more strongly to these foods. With autoimmune issues, it is quite common to have (hidden) food sensitivities and allergies which can contribute to her symptoms as well.

I’m quite sure you or your friend might find the guest expert call (on the 7th of December) with James White about food sensitivities quite interesting.
 
If she has allergies/food sensitivities, some gut healing might be a second logical step. Let me know if she is interested in taking the next steps so we can help her!

If she still has complaints after adjusting to her current lifestyle choices and her medications exploring how her blood sugar regulation works could be helpful as well. Insulin resistance can worsen her symptoms and a fasting insulin measurement can help her to spot it. Of course, you could also make her aware of the signs and symptoms of insulin resistance (you can find them here and here) and see if she recognises herself in any of these. I have found with my clients that a fasting insulin test is more reliable though.

I hope she finds some relief and she is lucky to have you as a friend!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Thank you for sharing these labs. The good news is that your vitamin D levels look pretty well! Looking at these other lab values, I’m becoming more curious.

At the moment of blood draw, did you have any symptoms? Your white blood cell count looks low, which could indicate your body was dealing with something.

In these labs, your hemoglobin levels are low as well making oxygen transport harder. This could be caused by an iron deficiency for example. We need good cellular energy production for all cells to perform optimally. But iron is also an important mineral for the synthesis of type 1 collagen (some of the enzymes that help build collagen, like prolyl-4-hydroxylase and lysyl-hydroxylase, require iron. This article goes in-depth about the relationship between iron and bone density).

Another reason why your hemoglobin could be low is that the amount of red blood cells is also at the lower end of the reference range. Just like white blood cells, red blood cells need certain nutrients to be built. Vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin A are key nutrients that are needed to produce red and white blood cells.

Many pearls coming from these labs!

Did your doctor measure your iron markers as well (for example, did he measure your iron, ferritin and transferrin)? And have your vitamin B12 and folate levels also been measured?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

I’m so sorry to hear! Fortunately, there are things you can do. For starters, did your doctors measure your serum vitamin D levels? If they didn’t, ask them! Vitamin D is important for calcium metabolism and bone density.

Other vitamins and minerals that are important are vitamin K2 (which brings calcium to the bones!) and magnesium (which is a building block for bones, just like calcium).

I honestly don’t know your age, but female sex hormones play an important role in bone density. If you know that your female hormone balance is changing: Hydrolyzed collagen has been shown to improve bone mineral density in perimenopausal women.

Getting the nutrients in your body is important, but telling the body it needs strong bones is just as important. Exercise will do that. My preference is some form of strength training. The stress from the weights on the bones and tendons will tell the body it needs strong bones. As a result bone density can improve naturally!

I hope this will help you improve your bone density. Let us know if you need more help!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Estrogen and progesterone values go up and down through a woman’s cycle in her reproductive years. For example, values of progesterone in the first half of her cycle (pre-ovulation) can be very low (lower than 1 ng/ml) compared to the second half of her cycle where values peak above 5 ng/ml. For estrogen levels, the monthly dance looks a bit different, but there is an up-and-down rhythm as well that depends on the day of her cycle.

If your friend is still cycling, it would be helpful to know when these values were measured in her cycle. It would also be helpful to know in which units her Estradiol was measured and what reference ranges her laboratory uses.

Although labs can be helpful, labs are also a snapshot of what is going on. Symptoms can provide other clues. For example, sudden drops in estrogen can cause (via a cascade of reactions) hot flashes. Low progesterone can contribute to having hot flashes as well. At her age, her progesterone production has likely decreased and what the ovaries don’t produce, the adrenal gland has to pick up.

Progesterone can also be lower because of chronic stress. Poor sleep hygiene, chronic dieting and other stressors can cause the body to prioritize survival and lower progesterone production further as a consequence.

Remember that cortisol helps produce blood sugars in the absence of food. With low cortisol production (as a result of ongoing stress) it gets harder to stabilize blood sugars during the night. As a result, the body can produce a surge of adrenaline that might wake your friend up in the middle of the night causing hot flashes as well. In this case, having a small snack an hour before bed can help her until she addresses the reason for her low cortisol production.

Other things that can contribute to hot flashes:
• Having imbalances in thyroid hormone. Do you know if your friend has a hypo(or hyper) thyroid? For example, for women with a slow thyroid, it is harder to produce progesterone.
• Insulin resistance. Again, this ties into blood sugar regulation. In this case, having a diet of low-glycemic foods will help while improving her insulin sensitivity (for example by making her move more if she has a sedentary lifestyle. Just keep in mind that if chronic stress is at play, aggressive workouts might not be helping her at all)
• Is she drinking coffee? Or Alcohol? Reducing coffee and alcohol can reduce the amount of hot flashes.
• Does she eat a lot of spicy foods? Eating spicy foods can trigger hot flashes as well.

You mentioned she is going to use hormonal medications. Is she already on them? And what medications is she going to use?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Kidney Stones:
You can try Chanca Piedra and see if it works. There aren’t big studies done on Chanca Piedra and kidney stones, but there were several smaller studies that showed a reduction in the size and number of kidney stones.

In this study, for example, researchers used 1 cup of 4.5 grams of powdered Chanca Piedra daily (12 weeks long) to observe a reduction in kidney stone size and numbers.

UTIs:
You mentioned you tried to find upstream causes. Can you help us understand what you tried exactly? Besides measuring BUN, creatinine and other markers you shared with us in the past (right here), did you for example had your white blood cells measured? Or other markers related to your immune system (like for example vitamin D levels)? A strong immune system is key to fight off infections.

The protocol you’ve used in the past might help you bring relief. Especially if the bacteria causing the UTI is E. Coli. Unfortunately, it doesn’t address upstream causes. Although most of the time E. Coli can cause UTIs, keep in mind there are other bacteria that can cause and contribute to UTIs as well.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

It’s because of the bitter taste, that Gentian works. There are currently 2 models through which this mechanism of action is explained. Directly as well as indirectly.

Indirectly through stimulating a special group of cells in the brain that stimulate the vagus nerve which in turn stimulates the stomach (called the cephalic-response model). The other model describes local responses when receptors are activated.

This is why we often recommend bitter foods and herbs to help produce digestive juices in the stomach.

So if you like to explore if Gentian helps, give it a try! Just go slow and easy. Bitters can irritate the digestive system in some sensitive people.

Other examples of digestive bitters are Dandelion, Wormwood, Bitter melon and Burdock root. There is also a handout here with a list of other options that you might find interesting!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

As Bernadette mentioned, if you’re confused, it helps to understand your doctor’s thoughts. Triglycerides are usually more influenced by diet. This is why lipid panels are often measured sober (minimum of 8 hours without food).

Perhaps when you talk to your gastroenterologist again this information helps you to bring some clarification.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

A cushion like this could bring relief when the root cause lies in for example misalignment of the hips. However, there can be various reasons why you might have lower back pain. For example: problems with a disc or bones will not be helped with a cushion. Finding out the root cause is step 1!

Your sitting position can also be a root cause. Before buying a cushion, check your sitting position for the following things:
• In a good sitting position, you should be able to put your feet on the ground with your knees slightly lower than your hips.
• If your chair or desk is too high, you could use a footrest to raise your knees.
• Slouching can contribute to back pain. Although not everyone who slouches gets back pain, slouching can contribute to back pain when other issues in the back are present (old injuries for example).

Sitting too long can on itself create back pain. The discs in your vertebrae might start losing their cushioning. As a result, there’s sharp, chronic back pain. Even with cushions, it is important that you’re not sitting too long.
Weakened core muscles can also be a root cause of bad sitting positions. Your core muscles include the ones on your sides and in your back, hips, abdomen, and buttocks. If these are weak, they may not be supporting your spine well enough, leading to pain. A coccyx cushion wouldn’t work in this case either. Often a wobble cushion is advised, but I would recommend strengthening your core with the right type of exercises. The strength built from exercise isn’t compared to building strength with these types of cushions. A stronger core translates to a better sitting posture as well.

The shape of the cushion is designed to redistribute pressure away from the coccyx. Numbness of the legs can occur when the sciatic nerve is getting too much pressure for too long. The sciatic nerve goes from the spine, through your but to your legs. It lies behind the piriformis muscle which is a flat, narrow muscle. It runs from your lower spine through your butt to the top of your thighs.

By the looks of the designs of the cushion, it is likely more pressure is redistributed to the area of the piriformis. For some people, this can cause numbness in the leg.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

The most important factor is determining why the body is experiencing this type of osteoarthritis. Osteitis is often seen in athletes who twist their core a lot (Soccer players, martial arts athletes, basketball players, etc). But there can be underlying health reasons as well.

With most forms of osteoarthritis, some source of inflammation is at play. The inflammation can cause immune complexes that get trapped in joints. Because joints are usually areas in which blood circulation is low, the inflammation can get trapped. If there is already low-grade inflammation in a joint due to overuse, injury, or surgery (or even the arthritis itself), then it’s going to be an even stronger trap as the immune system tries to respond.

Other symptoms can help you determine the cause of the inflammation. Gut-related symptoms (constipation, diarrhea, bloating, etc) could indicate the involvement of the gut (leaky gut, dysbiosis, mold, etc)

Symptoms related to blood sugar dysregulation (This video here and here dive deeper into what symptoms you might experience) can help you direct in another direction.

Allergies, food sensitivities, a histamine overload… all these things can be a source of inflammation as well. Therefore it is important to take a look at someone’s complete wellbeing!

Focussing on an anti-inflammatory lifestyle will help worsening symptoms. As I mentioned, what might cause inflammation can vary from person to person. Reduce refined carbs (anything made from flour) and fried foods, try to address gut issues, and avoid allergens and food sensitivities, all these things could help someone.

Nutrients, foods and supplements that help lessen inflammation are important as well:
• Omega 3 (DHA & EPA)
• Vitamin D
• Curcumin (search for ‘Meriva’ or ‘Phytosomal Curcumin’ on the supplement package)
• Boswellia

You can find more inspiration in this handout! All the tips mentioned there can help.

To help remove the immune complexes piled up in the joints you could consider Proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes usually help digest food, but when you take them away from foods, they can help resolve these immune complexes.

The first goal needs to be stopping the disease progression and tissue damage/loss.

Interestingly enough Undenatured Type 2 Collagen can help bring relief to symptoms as well. Although it isn’t clear why exactly, you might find this article interesting as well.

I hope this information helps you on your way!

[Daniel]

 Congratulations… and exciting!!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

You’re right! Hydroxocobalamin is one of the forms of vitamin B12 that is found in nature (it is made in the bacteria in the gut for example and it’s also found in small amount in foods). Hydroxocobalamin can also be used by the body to make the biological active forms of vitamin B12: methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin.

Although you find it less used in supplements, it is used as a prescription injection to treat someone who is low in vitamin B12.

It is a supplement you can try safely

[Daniel]

,

If your doing the course, let us know how you’ve experienced it. I’m curious to your opinion as well!

[Daniel]

,

Good luck. If she wasn’t on hormone replacement therapy, I would really recommend she talk with her doctor again and dive deeper into what might have caused the bleeding.

Let me know if we can do anything else for you!