Without a proper diet, the right supplements will work, but only to a certain extent, and only for a little while. On the other hand, supplements taken with a healthy diet can radically speed up healing time.
1.) Get thee some probiotics – pronto. I’m not talking celebrity endorsed yogurt here. Chose fermented foods like kimchi, natural sauerkraut, and kefir. A refrigerated, concentrated probiotic supplement helps. Drink kombucha. Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei were found to extract BPA from the blood of mammals and were excreted out through the bowels. That is very good news!
Beneficial bacteria strengthen the gut and help break down chemicals like BPA so they can be cleared out. As a bonus, they break down pesticides, another major endocrine-disruptor, and other toxins as well. Probiotics are becoming well known for breaking down endocrine-disruptors and other toxins in the body.
Chelators are small molecules that bind very tightly to metal ions. Activated charcoal is proven to attach to heavy metals including beneficial macrominerals, so mineral supplementation is recommended when consuming activated charcoal, though this can be mitigated with a healthy diet like as mentioned above.
Activated charcoal is highly negatively charged. It seems to bind with positively charged particles. Pathogens typically have a high positive charge associated with them, and so do plastics. Activated charcoal filters have shown to remove BPA from water, but I don’t see any research on its ability to filter BPA from the body, but I think it works.
Like activated charcoal, bentonite clay is negatively charged. Unlike charcoal, bentonite clay provides minerals and other nutrients to the body while it sucks out toxins, as it helps repair the intestinal tract.
Another chelator, and much more. Any self-respecting eco-friendly health-nut has a bag of food-grade DE somewhere. Take it with water to kill pathogens in your gut, and use it outside or indoors for pest control.
Food grade DE is approximately 80-85% silica. Life cannot exist without silica. Most people are silica-deficient.
Chlorella has a well-documented history of helping remove heavy metals and other toxins like dioxin from the body expeditiously. Its high concentration of chlorophyll and fiber seems to be a big part of its exceptional detox benefits. It’s almost certain, considering the mechanism, that Chlorella (and spirulina) help pull out BPAs and other plastic residue.
Chlorella is a good source of protein, GLA, and phytochemicals, B12, B2, B3, iron, magnesium, Beta Carotene, and a bunch of powerful phytochemicals. Chlorella stimulates the growth of friendly bacteria. Furthermore, chlorella’s cell walls act to absorb toxic compounds within the intestines, restoring proper gastrointestinal pH and helping to promote normal peristalsis. And it is another chelator, as it is also very negatively charged, attracting positively charged molecules.
Phytochemicals found within Chlorella pyrenoidosa support the complex network of enzymatic reactions that drive the human detoxification system. This detoxification network involves the Phase I and Phase II enzymatic reactions that take place in nearly all cells in the body, though they are concentrated in the liver cells. Phase I detoxification reactions change non-polar chemicals that are not water-soluble into relatively polar, water-soluble compounds. The Phase I process can result in the formation of reactive chemicals that are typically more toxic than the original compounds. Phase II detoxification is necessary therefore to add chemical groups to the toxic intermediates to make them water-soluble so that they may easily be excreted via urine and/or feces. Phase I and Phase II detoxification pathways must remain functional for the removal of toxins from the body. This research focuses specifically on the Chlorella pyrenoidosa species of green algae recognized for its detoxification properties. – King Hardt Academy
Chlorella is green algae, but spirulina is more of a blue-green in color. These two algae have a lot in common. Chlorella’s green hue demonstrates that it’s richer in chlorophyll than spirulina, and chlorella is said to have stronger detoxification properties. But spirulina is an even better source of protein, and it offers iron, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, calcium, potassium, zinc, and a host of microminerals.
Digestive enzymes break down food. Metabolic enzymes, also known as systemic enzymes, break down foreign proteins, fibrin, and other toxins, and they clean the blood of impurities. Consider the ramifications of this. Probiotics and enzymes together help breakdown nearly everything in the gut that doesn’t belong. Read more about systemic enzymes here.
Green Tea
One way in which BPA harms body tissues is through oxidative stress. Two laboratory studies using extracts from both green tea and black tea were able to mitigate the damaging effects of BPA by protecting our cells from oxidative damage. Green tea has also been shown to stimulate glucuronidation, a detoxification pathway used for eliminating BPA from the body.
Lipoic Acid and folate have also been shown to reverse many of BPAs most damaging effects, especially oxidative stress.
Activated Charcoal: Binds with positively charged things in the gut, like Candida in its pathogenic form, and many of the toxins it produces, which then gets defecated out of the body. (more on activated charcoal)
Astragalus: A potent antimicrobial that also is anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, slows tumor growth, helps prevent and reverse diabetes, and more.
Berberine: This plant-root alkaloid extract has confirmed, potent anti-viral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
Biotin: With the presence of the B vitamin, biotin, it is said that yeast is unable to change into its mycelium form. On the other hand, there are some studies that suggest Candida can feed off of biotin.
Black Walnut: Studies have shown that black walnut can effectively kill canker sores, herpes, and syphilis sores. The husks of black walnuts have potent anti-fungal powers; more powerful than many prescription drugs. Fungi and parasites thrive in an acidic environment.
Caprylic acid: A the fatty acid in coconut which contains antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Coconut or coconut oil by itself does not have very strong antimicrobial properties.
Chlorella: It’s not an anti-fungal, but Chlorella is negatively charged like charcoal and has a host of other benefits that counter Candida symptoms. Chlorella also helps remove heavy metals and limited amounts of positively charged Candida from the blood.
Cinnamon: A potent natural antifungal with tons of other health benefits. Read more on cinnamon.
Clays: Like activated charcoal, bentonite clay can bind with Candida and heavy metals and other positively charged items to pull them out of the body through defecation.
Cloves: This strong smelling spice contains some of the same compounds as oregano oil. Studies have shown that cloves contain powerful antimicrobial and anti-fungal compounds.
Cranberry: There is nothing better for a urinary tract infection than unsweetened, unadulterated cranberry juice. Click for Recipe.
Diatomaceous Earth: Often called DE for short, this supplement is another negatively charged chelator (like charcoal and bentonite clay, but not as effective in that way), that also kills pathogens, but Candida biofilm protects itself well from DE. More on DE.
Enzymes: Hemicellulase, protease, and Cellulase have been shown to break down the cells walls and the biofilm of Candida. These must be taken within a protective capsule that will break apart in the gut and not the stomach acid. More on enzymes.
Garlic: Allicin, a compound in garlic, has antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, and garlic helps strengthen the immune system. Read more about garlic.
Goldenseal: A popular herb that has been used by Native Americans for hundreds of years, with potent antimicrobial activity, including some pretty decent antifungal properties.
Goldenrod: Goldenrod is antifungal, diuretic, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, astringent, antiseptic, and carminative.10
Molybdenum: Also breaks down the toxic metabolites (byproducts) of Candida albicans.
Mushrooms: Fight fire with fire, and fungi with fungi! Many mushrooms produce natural anti-yeast factors to prevent other fungi from taking over their turf. The reishi mushroom is well known throughout the world for its plethora of health benefits, including powerful antifungal properties, but there are many other mushrooms that help clean the gut as well.
Lemongrass: Lemongrass oil is the most powerful antibacterial and antifungal essential oil.
Neem: This plant’s properties include immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, antiulcer, antimalarial, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic.
Oil of Oregano: This extract is very well known for its ability to kill off pathogenic activity, and there are plenty of studies that demonstrate its efficacy.
Olive Leaf Extract: This extract is known for killing fungal and pathogenic bacterial infections without harming healthy bacteria. I suspect this is because it’s weak and doesn’t penetrate biofilm.
Pau D’Arco: Also known as Lapacho, this supplement has received worldwide attention in recent years due to the numerous studies proving its amazing health benefits including the ability to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and difficult fungal infections like Candida.
Probiotics: Most everyone knows to take probiotics to fight yeast infections, but make sure the probiotic is of quality. Lots of cheap probiotics break down in stomach acid and the ingredients end up actually feeding yeast. Also, able to pass through stomach acid and into the gut where it needs to be to do its job. Taking probiotics with antimicrobial supplements will reduce the effects of both.
Turmeric: Turmeric is potent antimicrobial herb with proven antifungal properties and a host of other amazing health benefits. Check out How to Optimize Curcumin.
Undecylenic acid: This fatty acid is six times more effective than caprylic acid. It’s been shown in studies that Candida cannot build a tolerance for undecylenic acid, which probably makes it the most potent Candida killer on this list.
Wormwood: This is a potent antimicrobial’s active ingredient is Artemisia, and it is better known the world over for its ability to kill parasites.
Zinc: helps with protein digestion, enzymatic reactions, energy production, antioxidant functions, and it is imperative for proper mineral balance. It’s common to see a zinc deficiency in a Candida laden body.
The Best Anti-fungal Supplement Products Available (that I know of)
I’ll bet someone is going to ask why I don’t mention colloidal silver. I don’t think it’s good for you, I’ve never found it particularly helpful, and I just don’t trust it. But to each their own; you can find tons of very intelligent naturopaths who are much more educated than I am who will vehemently disagree with me on colloidal silver.
If you’re on a budget and can only afford one supplement, SF722 is my first recommendation. SF722 is undecylenic acid. The gel tab is derived from Bovine, so vegans beware.
Undecyn is vegan-friendly and it combines undecylenic acid with betaine HCl (very acidic) and berberine. Some use both, as the formula provides differing avenues for absorption of the undecylenic acid which may be more or less effective depending on the body’s state at any given time.
Abzorb is one of my new favorite supplements and one of the few I personally take regularly. On an empty stomach, Abzorb is a potent probiotic and a systemic enzyme. That means the capsule breaks open in the gut, not the stomach. If, on the other hand, you take Abzorb with food, you’ve got a potent digestive aid with enzymatic activity and beneficial bacteria to help break down the food and populate the gut with beneficial bacteria. It’s a fine probiotic, with potency I can attest to, but there are much more potent probiotics available as well, which many like to use in conjunction with Abzorb, though for most people this would likely be overkill. It wouldn’t hurt to use both, but it maybe a waste of money.
Then there’s a mushroom complex that I would take every day if I were a wealthy man. This formula contains turkey tail, reishi, maitake, blazei, and cordyceps. The health benefits of this supplement are too many to list.
The Gastro-Cleanse contains psyllium husk, activated charcoal, goldenseal, chlorophyll, apple pectin, and 50 million lactobacillus acidophilus specifically designed to accompany the antimicrobials.
And then there’s the straight berberine at 500mg per capsule. That’s a potent dosage, and one I don’t recommend for long-term, as the gut would not likely be able to build up a healthy ecosystem with such a powerful antimicrobial continually bombarding the system.
The MicroDefense gives you olive extract, sweet wormwood, clove powder, and grapefruit extract; all good stuff to help balance the gut, but the company is owned by Nestle, so buyer beware. We’re looking for an equivalent that we can carry.
The adrenal glands are composed of two entirely separate sections, the cortex and the medulla. Like the pituitary gland, the two sections of the adrenals evolved from two entirely different types of tissue.
Adrenal Medulla
The adrenal medulla evolved from the nervous system. The adrenal medulla works with the autonomic nervous system (the unconscious processes like breathing and digestion). The inner adrenal medulla has a direct connection to the brain.
Adrenal Medulla Hormones
The adrenal glands produce adrenaline (80%) and noradrenaline (20%), more commonly known among the medical establishment as epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones together are known as catecholamines.
The medullary hormones are not essential for life, but life without them would be difficult. Without stress, these hormones wouldn’t be necessary, but there are varying degrees of stress. The adrenal medulla hormones compensate when we stress our bodies with a simple act like standing up from a reclining or sitting position. Without these hormones, your blood pressure would drop when you stand because gravity causes your blood to pool at the feet and legs.
Adrenaline
Epinephrine, more commonly called adrenaline, can increase heart rate, contract blood vessels, dilate air passages, and get the nervous system ready for a fight or flight response. Epinephrine acts on almost every part of the body.
Noradrenaline
Norepinephrine, also known as noradrenaline, works with epinephrine and adds its own stimulus to the brain. Like adrenaline, noradrenaline responds to the fight-or-flight stimulus. Noradrenaline increases our heart rate, triggering the release of glucose from the body’s energy stores, and increasing blood flow to our muscles. Noradrenaline also affects the parts of the brain where attention and response actions are carried out. Noradrenaline is also an anti-inflammatory agent for the brain.
Adrenal Medulla Disorders
When the medulla is in trouble, so is the nervous system. Pathology of the adrenal medulla is primarily caused by neoplasm (tumors) or otherwise poor nervous system functionality, but there are many other issues that can cause too much or not enough of the two hormones. The nervous system will compensate for a lack of adrenal hormones for some time, but healing the thyroid, healing the entire adrenal gland, and if need be, healing the endocrine system as a whole, is the only way to ensure returned health to the adrenal medulla.
Adrenal Cortex
The adrenal cortex is divided into three zones and produces three main types of steroid hormones.
In medical school, one way we learned to remember these three layers is: ‘Salt, sugar, sex… the deeper it goes, the sweeter it gets.’ Not important, but catchy.” – Precision Nutrition
Zona Glomerulosa & Mineralocorticoids
Mineralocorticoids (such as aldosterone, which makes up about 96% of the hormones in this mineralocorticoid group) produced in the zona glomerulosa help regulate blood pressure and electrolyte balance. Aldosterone controls water and electrolyte (sodium and potassium) concentration.
The mineralocorticoids act upon the kidneys, which under the direction of these hormones excrete sodium or potassium as required to maintain optimal balance. Adrenal adenomas (benign, actively secreting growths in the cortex) cause hyper-production of aldosterone, which may account for as much as 25% of patients with high blood pressure.
Zona Fasciculata & Glucocorticoids
Cortisol (also called hydrocortisone) makes up 95% of the glucocorticoids hormones produced, but there’s also corticosterone and cortisone.
What does cortisol do:
Depresses the immune system.
Anti-inflammatory by reducing immune system response.
Retards allergic overreactions, but this may slow wound healing.
Promotes the breakdown of protein (catabolism).
Promotes the conversion of triglycerides to stored fatty acids.
Promotes glucose formation (gluconeogenesis).
Promotes resistance to stress which results in higher blood pressure.
Two well-known diseases of the adrenals are Addison’s disease and Cushing’s syndrome. Addison’s disease results from acute adrenocortical insufficiency. Cushing’s syndrome is caused by excessive adrenal cortical function.
John F. Kennedy may be history’s most famous Addison’s disease patient and required regular cortisone injections to deal with stress. Since one of the side effects of cortisol injections is a “tanning” of the skin, JFK looked his best (tanned and relaxed) during times of stress — immediately after injections.” – John Barron
Full blown Addison’s disease is rare, but adrenal fatigue is extremely common. Cushing’s syndrome is rare, too.
Zona Reticularis & Androgens
Testosterone is the most well-known androgen. Androgens are masculinizing hormones. In adult males, not many of these hormones are produced in the adrenal gland. Men produce most of their androgens in the testes while women produce their androgens in the adrenal glands.
Adrenal Fatigue
Health care professionals estimate that 80% or more American adults suffer from some level of adrenal fatigue. With our addiction to caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants and our tendency to bathe in Wi-Fi and cellular radiation, it seems likely.
Get the diet right. No stimulants like coffee, caffeinated teas, energy drinks, tobacco, etc. In fact, no drugs period. Eat more fresh raw vegetables than anything else, and eliminate refined and processed foods like white rice, HFCS, and even that bag of organic, super healthy, ancient grain, non-GMO quinoa chips. If you didn’t make it, don’t eat it.
Make sure the body is working right in other areas that affect adrenals. The endocrine system as a whole, and especially the thyroid, kidneys, and hypothalamus, must be in decent working order to heal the adrenals all the way. If necessary, kill Candida and balance the gut. (it’s likely very necessary if you have adrenal fatigue with our toxic, sugar-laden, antibacterial crazed society, which is often the underlining cause of endocrine disorders).
Start grounding regularly, at least 15 minutes a day (more is better). Do some sun gazing while you’re at it (but do not look directly at the sun). Get out in nature a little every day or as often as possible (again, more is better). Avoid or compensate for Wi-Fi, cellular, and other EMFs (salt lamps help, grounding probably does, too). Learn to breathe properly by breathing in deeply in a manner that causes your stomach to expand when you breathe in.
If your symptoms don’t improve quickly, glandular supplementation can help (if you’re not vegan) and a few adaptation herbs can help as well.
(By Dr. Mercola) Saturated fat and cholesterol have been wrongfully vilified as the culprits of heart disease for more than six decades. Meanwhile, research has repeatedly identified refined carbs, sugar and trans fats found in processed foods as the real enemy. The first scientific evidence linking trans fats to heart disease while exonerating saturated fats was published in 1957 by the late Fred Kummerow,1 biochemist and author of “Cholesterol Is Not the Culprit: A Guide to Preventing Heart Disease.”
Refined carbs, sugar and trans fats found in processed foods are the primary dietary culprits causing heart disease, not saturated fat or cholesterol
While the dangers of trans fats are now becoming widely recognized, the recommended replacement — vegetable oils — may actually be even more harmful
When heated, vegetable oils degrade into extremely toxic oxidation products, including cyclic aldehydes, which cause severe inflammation and may damage your gastrointestinal tract
Concomitant with low-fat diets becoming the cultural norm, heart disease rates have soared, clearly demonstrating saturated fat is not a contributing factor
Studies have confirmed that higher cholesterol levels are associated with better health and longer life
Unfortunately, Kummerow’s science was overshadowed by Ancel Keys’ Seven Countries Study,2,3 which linked saturated fat intake with heart disease. The rest, as they say, is history. Later reanalysis revealed cherry-picked data was responsible for creating Keys’ link, but by then the saturated fat myth was already firmly entrenched.
Keys’ biased research launched the low-fat myth and reshaped the food industry for decades to come. As saturated fat and cholesterol were shunned, the food industry switched to using trans fats (found in margarine, vegetable shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) and sugar instead.
Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz was one of the first major investigative journalists to break the story on the dangers of trans fats in a 2004 Gourmet magazine article.4 In the video above, Joe Rogan interviews Teicholz on her 2014 book, “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet,” which grew out of that initial exposé.
In it, not only does she dismantle the belief that saturated fat and cholesterol make you fat and cause disease, she also reveals that while the dangers of trans fats are now becoming widely recognized, the recommended replacement — vegetable oils — may actually be even more harmful. She also delves into the politics and shady underbelly of nutritional science, revealing how the food industry has manipulated the scientific discussion and built a largely false foundation for the nutritional recommendations we’re given.
Corruption is not the sole problem, though. Teicholz notes there is a very strong tendency to “fall in love” with your own ideas and beliefs, and this is as true for scientists as it is for regular people. And, when you strongly believe something to be true, you will tend to find the evidence you’re looking for and ignore anything that refutes it. So, it’s really a human psychology problem.
Scientists are not supposed to fall into this all-too-human trap. “They’re taught to distrust their beliefs [and] shoot down their own hypothesis,” Teicholz says, “but in the case of nutrition science, that didn’t happen … They cherry-picked the evidence and completely ignored and actively suppressed, even, anything that contradicted their ideas.” This certainly included Keys, who was passionately wed to his hypothesis that saturated fat caused heart disease.
Busting the Low-Fat Myth
Teicholz points out the fact that saturated fat has been a healthy human staple for thousands of years, and how the low-fat craze has resulted in massive sugar consumption that has increased inflammation and disease.5 The American Heart Association (AHA) started encouraging Americans to limit dietary fat, particularly animal fats, to reduce their risk of heart disease in 1961, and maintains this position to this day.
Just last summer, the AHA sent out a presidential advisory to cardiologists around the world, reiterating its 1960s advice to replace butter and coconut oil with margarine and vegetable oils to protect against heart disease. Yet historical data clearly shows this strategy is not working, because concomitant with low-fat diets becoming the cultural norm, heart disease rates have soared. The AHA also ignores research demonstrating the low-fat, low-cholesterol strategy does more harm than good. For example:
In 2012, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology examined the health and lifestyle habits of more than 52,000 adults ages 20 to 74, concluding that lower cholesterol levels increase women’s risk for heart disease, cardiac arrest and stroke. Overall, women with “high cholesterol” (greater than 270 mg/dl) actually had a 28 percent lower mortality risk than women with “low cholesterol” (less than 183 mg/dl).6
In 2013, prominent London cardiologist Aseem Malhotra argued in the British Medical Journal that you should ignore advice to reduce your saturated fat intake, because it’s actually increasing your risk for obesity and heart disease.7
A 2014 meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, using data from nearly 80 studies and more than a half-million people, found those who consume higher amounts of saturated fat have no more heart disease than those who consume less. They also did not find less heart disease among those eating higher amounts of unsaturated fat, including both olive oil and corn oil.8,9
The following graph, from a British Journal of Nutrition study published in 2012, also shows how Europeans who eat the least saturated fats have the highest risk of heart disease, whereas those who eat the most have the lowest rates of heart disease — the complete opposite of conventional thinking and AHA claims.
Cholesterol is not only beneficial for your body, it’s absolutely vital for optimal functioning. For example, cholesterol is needed for the construction of your cell membranes and helps regulate the protein pathways required for cell signaling. Having insufficient amounts of cholesterol may negatively impact your brain health, hormone levels, heart disease risk and more.
Your body also needs saturated fats to function properly. One way to understand this need is to consider the foods ancient humans consumed. Many experts believe we evolved as hunter-gatherers and have eaten a variety of animal products for most of our existence on Earth. To suggest that saturated fats are suddenly harmful to us makes no sense, at least not from an evolutionary perspective.
Reducing saturated fat to extremely low levels, or shunning it altogether, also doesn’t make sense when you consider its health benefits and biological functions, which include but are not limited to:
Providing building blocks for cell membranes, hormones and hormone-like substances
Facilitating mineral absorption, such as calcium
Acting as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
Converting carotene into vitamin A
Helping to lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)
Antiviral activity (caprylic acid)
Optimal fuel for your brain
Providing satiety
Modulating genetic regulation and helping prevent cancer (butyric acid)
High-Carb Versus High-Fat Diets
As noted by Teicholz, by eliminating saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods we’ve also eliminated many of the most nutrient-dense foods from our diet — eggs and liver being just two examples — and this also has its repercussions for human health and development. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble, which means you need the fat that comes naturally in animal foods along with the vitamins in order to absorb those vitamins.
Additionally, fat is very satiating, so you’re far less likely to overeat on a high-fat diet than a high-carb diet. Most people who complain about “starving” all the time are likely just eating too many carbs (quick-burning fuel) and not enough fat (slow-burning fuel).
Then there’s carb-addiction, of course, which further fuels the cycle of hunger and overeating. What’s worse, when you eat a high-carb diet for a long time, it blocks or shuts down your body’s ability to burn fat, which means all of your body fat remains right where it is, as it cannot be accessed for fuel.
By shifting your diet from high-carb to high-fat, you eventually regain the metabolic flexibility to burn both types of fuel — fat and sugar — which solves most of these problems; the hunger and cycle of overeating, weight gain, inflammation and related disease processes. Cyclical ketogenic diets are very effective for this, as is intermittent fasting and longer water fasts for those who are overweight.
The Problem With Vegetable Oils
As mentioned earlier, Teicholz’s book also delves into a new nutritional twist that has developed as the dangers of trans fats have been exposed and accepted. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has removed partially hydrogenated oils — the primary source of trans fats — from the list of “generally recognized as safe” ingredients, the vegetable oils (such as peanut, corn and soy oil) that have replaced them may have even more harmful health ramifications.
When heated, vegetable oils degrade into extremely toxic oxidation products. According to Teicholz, more than 100 dangerous oxidation products have been found in a single piece of chicken fried in vegetable oils. As early as the 1940s, animal experiments showed animals would develop cirrhosis of the liver or enlarged liver when fed vegetable oils. When fed heated vegetable oils, they died prematurely.
Cyclic aldehydes are among the most toxic of these byproducts, and animal research has shown even low levels of exposure cause serious inflammation, which is associated with heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Findings like these make the AHA’s recommendation to use margarine and vegetable oils all the more troubling.
In her book, Teicholz also cites research in which aldehydes were found to cause toxic shock in animals by damaging the gastrointestinal tract. We now know a lot more about the role your gut plays in your health, and the idea that aldehydes from heated vegetable oils can damage your gastric system is frighteningly consistent with the rise we see in immune problems and gastrointestinal-related diseases.
How a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet Can Improve Your Health
Two-thirds of the American population is overweight or obese,10 more than half of all Americans struggle with chronic illness,11 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. is obesity-related12 and 1 in 4 deaths is related to heart disease.13 Saturated dietary fats and cholesterol are not to blame for these statistics. The evidence is actually quite clear: Excessive net carbohydrate intake is the primary culprit behind these disease statistics, primarily by decimating your mitochondrial function.
To address this, you need to eat a diet that allows your body to burn fat as its primary fuel rather than sugars, and to become an efficient fat burner, you actually have to eat fat. In my latest book, “Fat for Fuel,” I detail a cyclical or targeted ketogenic diet, which has been scientifically shown to optimize metabolic and mitochondrial health. A primary difference between this program and other ketogenic diets is the cyclical component.
It’s important to realize that the “metabolic magic” in the mitochondria occurs during the refeeding phase, not during the starvation phase. If you’re constantly in ketosis, you’re missing out on one of the most valuable benefits of the ketogenic diet. Basically, once you have established ketosis, you then cycle healthy carbs back in. As a general rule, I recommend adding 100 to 150 grams of carbs on the day or days each week that you do strength training. Some of the most important benefits of this kind of eating program are:
Weight loss
By rebalancing your body’s chemistry, weight loss and/or improved weight management becomes nearly effortless. Studies have shown a ketogenic diet can double the weight lost compared to a low-fat diet.14
Reduced inflammation
When burned for fuel, dietary fat releases far fewer reactive oxygen species and secondary free radicals than sugar. Ketones are also very effective histone deacetylase inhibitors that effectively reduce inflammatory responses. In fact, many drugs are being developed to address immune related inflammatory diseases that are HDAC inhibitors.
A safer and more rational strategy is to use a ketogenic diet, as it is one of the most effective ways to drive down your inflammation level through HDAC inhibition.
Reduced cancer risk
While all cells (including cancer cells) can use glucose for fuel, cancer cells lack the metabolic flexibility to use ketones, while regular cells thrive on these fats. Once your body enters a state of nutritional ketosis, cancer cells are more susceptible to being removed by your body through a process called autophagy. A cyclical ketogenic diet is a fundamental, essential tool that needs to be integrated in the management of nearly every cancer.
Increased muscle mass
Ketones spare branched-chain amino acids, thereby promoting muscle mass.15 However, make sure to implement cyclic ketosis. Chronic ketosis may eventually result in muscle loss as your body is impairing the mTOR pathway, which is important for anabolic growth. mTOR needs to be stimulated, just not consistently, as many people do with high protein diets.
Lowered insulin levels
Keeping your insulin level low helps prevent insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and related diseases. Research has demonstrated that diabetics who eat a low-carb ketogenic diet are able to significantly reduce their dependency on diabetes medication and may even reverse the condition.16
Lowering insulin resistance will also reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. Recent research strengthens the link between insulin resistance and dementia even further, particularly among those with existing heart disease.17,18,19
Mental clarity
One of the first things people really notice once they start burning fat for fuel is that any former “brain fog” lifts, and they can suddenly think very clearly. As mentioned earlier, ketones are a preferred fuel for your brain; hence, the improved mental clarity.
Increased longevity
One of the reasons you can survive a long time without food is due to the process of ketosis, which spares protein breakdown.20 A fairly consistent effect seen in people on a ketogenic diet is that blood levels of leucine and other important structural proteins go up, allowing these proteins to perform a number of important signaling functions.
Ketones also mimic the life span extending properties of calorie restriction21 (fasting), which includes improved glucose metabolism; reduced inflammation; clearing out malfunctioning immune cells;22 reduced IGF-1, one of the factors that regulate growth pathways and growth genes and which is a major player in accelerated aging; cellular/intracellular regeneration and rejuvenation (autophagy and mitophagy).23
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 30 percent of Americans have high blood pressure, also called hypertension, and only half of them have their blood pressure under control.1 However, under controversial new guidelines released in November 2017, which advised that high blood pressure should be treated at 130/80 rather than 140/90, nearly 50 percent of Americans would technically be suffering from high blood pressure.2
When your blood pressure is not controlled it may lead to other health conditions, such as cognitive decline, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. On a global scale, more than 1 billion people suffer from hypertension3 and that number has nearly doubled in the past four decades.4 Nearly 13 percent of all deaths worldwide are attributed to high blood pressure.
The rising numbers of people suffering from hypertension was not lost on the pharmaceutical industry. An increasing number of drugs have been developed in the past decade to control blood pressure, but they come with a laundry list of side effects and negative health problems of their own.
Instead, consider a significant number of natural options, including eliminating lifestyle choices that trigger hypertension and choosing alternative treatments that reduce your blood pressure. One of the easiest and best smelling is using essential oils.
Blood Pressure and What It Means
To fully understand why your choices increase or decrease your blood pressure, it’s helpful to understand how your blood pressure is measured and how it affects your body.
The traditional method of measuring your blood pressure was developed in 1881 and refined in 1905 when Russian surgeon Dr. Nikolai Korotkoff discovered the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements.5 Today, sphygmomanometers measure the difference between the appearance and disappearance of sounds in your arteries, called Korotkoff sounds.
The appearance of the sound, your systolic number, represents the highest pressure through which your blood is pumped, while the disappearance of the sound, your diastolic number, is the lowest pressure needed by your heart to push blood through your arteries. In many instances, your blood pressure measurement may not be accurate, based on your body position, cuff size, activity level and consumption of caffeine, nicotine or alcohol.
Hypertension is called the “silent killer” as it may cause few or no symptoms and can quietly damage your blood vessels and organs for years without your knowledge. The added pressure needed by your heart to push blood through your vessels increases your risk of congestive heart failure.6 Coronary artery disease and an enlarged heart are two other heart conditions that may result from chronic hypertension.
High blood pressure also damages the cells lining your arteries, which may result in narrowed and less elastic arterial walls. This change raises your blood pressure further and reduces blood flow to your organs, increasing your risk of damage to your eyes, kidneys and brain. Reduced blood flow to your brain may lead to transient ischemic attacks (mini-stroke), stroke, cognitive impairment or dementia.
What Triggers High Blood Pressure?
There is no one lifestyle choice that triggers all hypertension. A combination of a number of reversible choices you make may put you at risk. Hypertension that isn’t obviously associated with a cause, such as a medical condition or medication, is referred to as essential or primary hypertension.
It’s estimated that as much as 95 percent of hypertension is essential hypertension. However, just because a known medical condition or medication is not responsible does not mean there isn’t a known cause for the condition. A number of contributing factors have been identified for high blood pressure, including but not limited to:
Insulin and leptin resistance causes your blood pressure to increase7
Elevated uric acid levels are associated with rising blood pressure; any program you adopt to address your hypertension needs to normalize your uric acid levels as well8,9
Poor nutrition in childhood has been shown to raise the risk of high blood pressure in adulthood;10 consuming an excess of sugaris also linked to high blood pressure11
Lead exposure has been associated with cardiovascular disease and hypertension12
Air and noise pollution affects blood pressure; air pollution triggers an inflammatory response while noise pollution has an adverse effect on your nervous and hormonal systems.
By using natural options to address hypertension and any underlying medical condition you may realistically be able to reduce your dependence on medication. Lifestyle choices that are known to increase your blood pressure include smoking and alcohol use. Obesitymay also play a role.13
However, while many believe that your blood pressure will increase with age related to a decrease in arterial elasticity that is concurrent with advancing age, the truth is that this reduction in elasticity is often associated with insulin resistance, rising blood sugar and inflammation. Each of these conditions is associated with eating a diet high in net carbohydrates and refined sugars.
Medication Isn’t the Answer
It is highly likely that if your blood pressure is elevated your physician will recommend medications. While the allure of “just taking a pill” to address hypertension has millions under its spell, using medication comes without a laundry list of potential side effects and warnings. The Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in 2014 emphasized the importance of weight control and regular exercise,14 but I don’t believe they went far enough.
It has been my experience that even stage 1 and 2 hypertension can be addressed with lifestyle interventions, making medications unnecessary. If you are currently taking medication for hypertension, do not stop. Instead, talk with your physician about your plan to incorporate lifestyle changes while monitoring your blood pressure. Then you and your physician can slowly reduce your medications while keeping your blood pressure under control. Problems associated with antihypertension medications include:15,16
An essential oil is plant oil that is highly concentrated, often through distillation.17 Some oils are produced from the entire plant while others are made using specific parts, such as the leaves, bark or roots. These oils have been used in aromatherapy around the world to help reduce stress and improve health. Researchers have also been interested in the effect essential oils may have on reducing your blood pressure, on cardiovascular health and on secretion of cortisol.
In a study from the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology,18 scientists found that exposure to essential oil for one hour effectively reduced stress as measured by a reduction in the participants’ heart rate and blood pressure. However, after exposure for longer periods, both heart rate and blood pressure were elevated.
In a similar study inhalation of a blend of essential oil was associated with a reduction in blood pressure and in cortisol secretion, often elevated during stress.19 Researchers used a blend of lavender, ylang-ylang, neroli and marjoram. There are several essential oils20that have an effect on blood pressure and help reduce your stress. Since these oils trigger an effect in your body, use an inhalation method for no longer than one hour to reduce the potential for any negative effects from overexposure.
Bergamot
This refreshing oil is often used in cosmetics for the scent, but research finds it also helps reduce your blood pressure and may reduce your anxiety and improve your mood.21
Clary Sage
This oil has been shown to reduce both systolic and diastolic measurements, reduce your respiratory rate and decrease symptoms of stress and depression.22
Rose
The scent of red rose has a calming effect on your brain and has demonstrated an antianxiety and antidepressant effect,23 both of which affect your blood pressure.
Frankincense
Since ancient Egypt, frankincense has been used medicinally to reduce stress and promote peace of mind.
Rosemary
This oil retards hardening of the arteries, which raises blood pressure.24 The oil also helps regulate the cardiovascular system.
Ylang-Ylang
This oil comes from a small tree, known for use in trauma and shock to reduce breathing and heart rate.25 It is antidepressive, relieves anxiety and helps control blood pressure.
Lemon Balm
Low doses of the extract may reduce ischemic injury to the heart but higher doses increased the risk in an animal model.26 Further research is needed to determine a protective effect in a cardiac event. However, inhalation may protect against palpitations and heart attack and may reduce blood pressure.
Lavender
Lavender may be effective in treatment of neurological disorders, including anxiety, and acts as a mood stabilizer and sedative, all of which have a positive effect on your blood pressure.27
The Nitric Oxide Dump May Be Exactly What You’re Looking For
Exercise is another important strategy that may help normalize your blood pressure. In this video I demonstrate an exercise I do daily that takes just three to four minutes and should ideally be completed two to three times during a day. When you do the nitric oxide dump allow at least two hours between each session to get the most benefit from the exercise.
I am convinced that, although this gentler strategy has not been compared to other HIIT protocols discussed in previous articles, it is a far healthier way to experience the benefits of HIIT. This type of exercise will stimulate the release of nitric oxide stored in your endothelial cells of your blood vessels that effectively:
Relaxes and dilates your blood vessels, lowering blood pressure
Stimulates your immune system
Reduces the “stickiness” of your blood, reducing platelet aggregation and the potential for stroke and heart attack
Provides a powerful anabolic stimulus to increase lean body mass
