I generally like Dr. Lynch’s products but haven’t tried his electrolyte so can’t really provide an opinion.

I have been using Humantra (a Dubai-based product), and really like it. I’ll try to get B Better members a discount code.

I would be cautious using the electrolyte if it started clumping. Maybe reach out to the company and ask them directly.

have you seen this acne handout in Symptom Dictionary to help you rule out the possible root causes?

Here’s the summary of the possible root causes and additional comments/questions for you to consider:

1. Diet high in refined carbohydrate; majority of acne is initiated by poor diet and/or hormonal imbalance

->Here’s a fillable 3-day food journal you can fill in and upload for us to take a look at.

2. Increased androgens (DHEA, DHT or testosterone) and decreased estrogen or progesterone

->Have you ever measured your hormone levels? These can be done in blood, but I always like to start off with the DUTCH Plus to see how your body is breaking down hormones it makes. It’s a comprehensive dry urine test that looks at all sex hormones, including cortisol, melatonin, and some organic acid markers.

3. Excess iron in the diet. Iron opposes zinc and zinc insufficiency is common with acne

->Do you know what your levels are? Have you measured zinc and copper levels before?

4. Nutrient insufficiencies: vitamin A, E, zinc and magnesium

->If you haven’t measured these markers before, it would be a good idea to make sure they’re optimal, especially zinc and vitamin A which are also needed for thyroid conversion.

5. Stress (encourages sebaceous glands to create more oil)

->Another reason to get the DUTCH Plus, which measures adrenal health by looking at cortisol metabolism and the cortisol rhythm throughout the day.

6. Food sensitivities (especially dairy and gluten)

->This can also be measured but the best test is an elimination diet. Do you consume dairy and gluten? Have you tried an elimination before for a minimum of 30 days followed by a proper reintroduction? If you’re curious to try, here’s a handout that explains it.

7. Toxic burden affecting detox pathways (i.e. mold & mycotoxins, agrichemicals, heavy metals)

->You said you’ve done many cleanses before which is great. Have you ever investigated mold, heavy metals? Here’s a mold symptom questionnaire you can fill in. Let me know how you score if you do.

8. Dysbiosis (imbalance in gut microbiome)

->Do you have any GI symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, etc?

Let me know.

I will reply to your points 1 by 1 below:

1. If you’re single supplementing with zinc, be cautious and test your copper. These 2 minerals compete and one can cause a deficiency in the other if not careful with supplementation.

3. If you’ve ruled out LDL being sufficient (>70mg/dl), then it would be a good idea to check your adrenal status. Please watch this video here in the Adrenal Balance course where I explain the different tests. If you wake-up with good energy, and don’t need to measure your cortisol awakening response, you can simply get the DUTCH Adrenal test which measures your total cortisol metabolism and the pattern/rhythm throughout the day. The DUTCH Plus includes the adrenal panel + all the sex hormones and cortisol awakening response and some organic acid markers. It’s also more expensive.

4. Bio-identical progesterone is pretty safe and helps replenish what we no longer make as we approach menopause. It is this drop in progesterone that creates the estrogen dominance; that is, where estrogen is relatively higher than progesterone so it’s helpful to keep hormones balanced.

Pregnenolone on the other hand is a “starting point” hormone that the body can choose to use how it prefers. It’s intended purpose as I had mentioned in my previous reply may not go as planned, unless someone’s overall downstream hormone levels are overall all low. That’s not the case for you since you’re still producing a good amount of estrogen.

If I was in your shoes, I would personally try to work on raising pregnenolone by figuring out and working on upstream root causes first as I had suggested.

5. Yes, I would repeat a liver panel. Here’s a simple panel you can request from your doctor.

In terms of dosages for hormone therapy, this needs to be discussed with your doctor, and monitored every 3 months or so.

would be interesting to ask them what part of the leaf is extracted

I’m not surprised since conventional doctors look at the reference ranges with a very different look than functional medicine.

Pregnenolone is often referred to as the “master” or “mother” hormone. This is a diagram I frequently use to explain some of the most important elements of the stress and sex hormone cascade.  As you can see, pregnenolone in the top left is the first hormone stepping stone to be produced from cholesterol in the steroid cascade.  The body then decides how much pregnenolone it wishes to retain and how much of other downstream hormones it wishes to synthesize and retain.  The amount of enzymes we retain to catalyze the conversion of one hormone to another is determined by many factors e.g. stress, diet, immune system status, inflammation, other hormone levels, genetics.  And of course, all of the hormones affect each other too (ex. higher insulin drives higher testosterone production in women, a common dynamic in PCOS).
Here’s my most important guidance.  If a person’s pregnenolone is low, make sure to address the true root causes first.  Keep in mind (as in the diagram above) that cholesterol is the precursor of pregnenolone, and the body will supply cholesterol for this purpose via LDL coming from the liver (either from diet or made in the liver itself).  If a person’s LDL level is too low (ex. <70 mg/dl), this may simply provide the insufficient raw material for the body to make adequate pregnenolone. Have you ever measured your lipids before to rule this out?

It’s common in those using statin drugs.  It may also happen more readily to those who do not consume dietary cholesterol (ex. vegans) and who are thus fully dependent on the liver to produce adequate cholesterol (which it should optimally do, but we know that’s not always the case).

If LDL is too low (in the absence of medication specifically causing it), I would consider boosting it with clean, dietary sources such as organic and grass-fed butter or ghee and/or free-range eggs.  Fattier cuts of beef are also a good option, though eggs and butter/ghee will have higher content and are usually easier to find from high-quality sources.
It’s also important to realize that ongoing stress demands that can cause a “stress steal” can also deplete pregnenolone (often as well as progesterone and DHEA actually). More specifically, this HPATG axis modulation on purpose to support sympathetic nervous sytem response and the need to survive will lead to this specific hormone pathway choice.  The body is prioritizing all of the hormonal cascade “fodder” to respond to stress, and there is not much left for producing sex hormones or keeping a responsive “reservoir” of adequate pregnenolone either.

This is why adrenal health is one of the foundational courses I’ve created. It’s critical to address sources of chronic stress which can be mental/emotional in origin (ex. trauma, crisis) or physiological (ex. toxicity, unaddressed food sensitivities, simmering ongoing infection, especially in the gut), or physical (ex. over-exercising, undersleeping, undereating, etc). Would you say stress might be at play in your case? Have you ever measured cortisol levels with a functional test like the DUTCH Adrenal test?

Addressing the root cause of why the hormone cascade has become depleted is key. Certainly there are times when it makes sense to do both (work on root cause and supplement) because a person is so depleted and needs relief.

Just keep in mind that supplemental use of any hormone is very likely to suppress the body’s own production of that hormone.  Over time, steady, higher levels of any hormone from supplementation are also likely to cause the body to develop reduced hormone receptor sensitivity.  This is why an initial dose that seems to work so well often eventually becomes ineffective and needs an increase.
The challenge with using pregnenelone as a supplemental hormone is that you cannot control what the body is going to use it to make downstream.  For example, if adrenal hormones like cortisol are low yet estrogen is high, then simply supplementing with prenenelone is more likely to boost the estrogen further than to boost cortisol because that’s what the body is already preferring to do at that point in time.
It can be valuable as a supplemental hormone when its level is low AND when downstream hormones below are all consistently suboptimal. It’s also important (as with all other hormones) to check the level of all hormones no more than ~3 months after initiation to ensure a good balance has been achieved and that the dosage is optimal.  This is a well-written summary (with research links embedded) of some of the benefits of pregnenolone supplementation.

Now regarding your thyroid… FT3 is suboptimal. Thyroid conversion happens primarily in the liver. Have you measured a liver panel in the past? Thyroid conversion also needs nutrients; iron, vitamin A, zinc, selenium. Here’s a video on reasons for low FT3 and foods that support thyroid function.

Given the fact that your progesterone is low relative to estrogen, this is what is considered estrogen dominance, and a possible root cause for fibroids. With the natural aging process, women reaching perimenopausal years do not ovulate as often and do not produce as much progesterone. So supplementing with bio-identical progesterone, taking vitex etc. should help in that regard.

I hope this helps answer your questions and gives you a few additional areas to explore…

  we’ve got our answer! Non decolorized whole leaf extract is referring to the whole leaf which includes the green outer part. This part has the chemicals (makes sense since that’s how the plant defends itself). So you’re good if you’re only using the pulp/gel!!

It was fun reading about aloe… but if you’re curious, the description of Aloe Vera Nondecolorized Whole Leaf Extract is found on p.19 of this toxicology report which I found a few clicks away from the Prop 65 website. The definition of aloe vera decolorized whole leaf extract is found on p. 21 and basically is referred to as whole leaf aloe vera gel. This type has the chemicals removed.

Hope that helps!

Hi – great question! Let’s prepare you for your next travel!

Here’s what I would do to help build immune resiliency leading up to my travel:
• Systemic immune support: if you know when you’re travelling, I would test my vitamin D, vitamin A and RBC zinc levels 2-3 months before travel, and optimize these immune nutrients accordingly. Here’s a handout on optimizing vitamin D levels. We want vitamin A and zinc to be in the upper 2/3rds of the reference range.
• Support gut immunity: since our gut microbiome regulates our immunity, I would also want to ensure my gut microbiome is well supported a few months before travel as well. I recommend a food-first approach with fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut, but supplementation can also be helpful if someone has histamine intolerance. Other things that can help boost gut immunity is omega-3, s. boulardii, arabinogalactans, etc. Here’s a video from the Gut Health Masterclass with other recommendations for supporting gut immunity and probiotic recommendations.
• Prioritize sleep hygiene, grounding, oral health; all of which have a direct impact on gut health and immunity.

During travel, I would also pack the following “B punch trio” to prevent and even immediately use for an acute case of traveler’s diarrhea (TD) due to an infectious pathogen. These can be taken a few days before travel as prevention, and more aggressively in acute situations:
• Berberine is an herbal antimicrobial (usually extracted from goldenseal) that prevents E Coli proliferation, the most common TD culprit.  For this use, 200-300mg taken 1-3x/day (less if preventive; more if reactionary) is usually recommended.

• Bismuth salts impairs bacterial metabolism and also prevents adhesion to the mucosal lining (where it seeks to thrive). The recommendation is 200-250mg taken 1-3x/day.• Thorne “PeptiGuard” is a handy mix of both berberine and bismuth that also includes some soothing herbal agents such as aloe and DGL.

• Saccharomyces Boulardi is a beneficial yeast sold as a probiotic that has been shown to be particularly effective against TD (many other probiotics are not).  It can be taken once a day in preventive mode (to prime immune function) and up to three times a day to counter an infection.

In addition to the “B punch trio”, I always carry Biocidin’s GI Detox with me when I travel in the event of food poisoning. It has activated charcoal and other binders that can help mop up toxins.

Post-travel, if I caught a stomach bug that I never quite recovered from, I would definitely do a parasite cleanse for safe measures. I generally recommend them at least 1 x per year as prevention. Here’s the video on my favorite brands and how I use them.

Let me know if you have any clarifying questions.

Hope this helps with your next travel!

Hi  – great question. Are you using the whole leaf including the green skin, or just the gel that’s inside? 

As an aside… Prop 65 was originally created for safe drinking water. Now everything in California has the warning because it’s often easier/more affordable for companies to add the warning than it is to do all the testing needed not to have it. So alot of people take this warning with a grain of salt if that’s any comfort. 

But decolorized aloe is new to me and I want to know if they’re referring to the whole leaf or just the gel, so I will investigate this.

 thank you for sharing this additional information. Unless your doctor wants to run labs to see what’s causing your sore throat, I would actually wait 2 weeks after you’re feeling better to get those other labs drawn to get a proper baseline level, and not when you’re sick.

Hi, please let us know what symptoms you are experiencing, as this will help us provide a more tailored interpretation.

Were you recovering from an infection or illness when these were drawn? What time were the labs drawn, and were you fasting? Are you currently taking any supplements? What was your perceived level of stress in the days leading up to the blood draw?

In addition to Daniel’s great reply, I’d like to add a few more things to consider:

There are several markers that point to a need for supporting the liver/gallbladder:

• Direct bilirubin: 0.23 (ideally below 0.2) – this could suggest biliary tract congestion. D-limonene is usually my go-to. You can watch this video for more details on supporting liver/gallbladder.

• Suboptimal low triglycerides: 35 (ideal range: 70–100) – this can occur when there’s liver/biliary dysfunction, an autoimmune dynamic, or thyroid/adrenal hyperfunction (such as high stress). I’d suggest running a full thyroid panel, including antibodies, since your T4 seemed to be struggling a bit.

• Increased monocytes: 8% (ideal < 7%) – may indicate the recovery phase of an infection (hence my earlier question), or a need for liver support.

• Consistently high MCV (>89) along with low GGT and historically low ALT/AST levels may indicate a need for B vitamins, specifically B9, B12, and B6. How is your diet? Do you consume animal proteins?

If you can answer these questions and share a few more details, we’ll be better able to guide you further.

did you go see a doctor to get a stool test done to see what type of pathogen it is (viral, bacterial, parasitic)?

If not, I would personally do a parasite cleanse just for safe assurance. Here’s a video with my favorite parasite cleanse products from the Gut Health Masterclass course.

Let me know if you have any questions.

yes that’s the one!

Hi
– when did the food poisoning happen? What symptoms did you experience when it happened? And what symptoms are you currently still experiencing?

please do keep us posted and also please fill in the 3-day food journal for her