Tag: Allergies

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Food Intolerances Are Becoming More Common: What You Need To Know

A growing number of people suffer from food sensitivities – by some estimates, more than one in five people experience uncomfortable symptoms after eating certain foods. Yet, despite their prevalence, many of us don’t realize we have a food sensitivity. Instead, we assume the common symptoms, like bloating, fatigue and “brain fog,” are just normal results of our busy lives.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Many patients tell us they are surprised by a remarkable improvement in their quality of life after identifying and eliminating dietary triggers.

Symptoms of Food Sensitivities

Simply put, when you have a food sensitivity or intolerance, your gut doesn’t produce the right enzymes to digest a certain food or group of food. As a result, you can experience wide range of symptoms like:

  • Acid reflux
  • Bloating
  • Diarrhea
  • Unexplained fatigue and brain fog
  • Pain in the abdomen
  • Problems with rashes and skin redness
  • Headaches
  • Sinus issues

These symptoms can appear shortly after eating the food, and shockingly as many as several days later. Whether or not you react to a food can also vary by how much of it you eat, and even the circumstances around your meal time. Some people find they react more when they are stressed and eating on the go, for example.

Food Sensitivity, Intolerance, Allergy or Disease?

It’s important to distinguish between food sensitivities, food intolerances, food allergies, and diseases that can be triggered by certain foods.

Food sensitivities and food intolerances are similar. Sensitivities may cause inflammation in the body and result in fatigue, bloating and even headaches up to 48 hours after consuming the offending food.

Intolerances are characterized by the body lacking proper chemicals or enzymes to digest a food properly. Digestive upsets are common after consuming a food one is intolerant to. Sensitivities and intolerances can often be pinpointed in order to avoid symptoms caused by ingestion of certain foods or food additives. Working with a practitioner is recommended – we can help!

A food allergy is an issue rooted within the immune system. An allergic reaction happens when your immune system mistakenly perceives something in a food as a threat, and produces antibodies in an attempt to fend off the threat. Food allergies are typically diagnosed at a young age and these foods should be avoided.

A disease such as celiac disease also originates in the immune system. Celiac disease causes the body to fight against gluten in a manner so strong that the lining of the small intestine is damaged, so the symptoms are typically more severe than that of food intolerances. As well, celiac disease differs from a wheat allergy because a wheat allergy is triggered by proteins in wheat, while celiac disease is a reaction to proteins in gluten.

Common Food Sensitivities and Intolerances

Here are the most common food intolerances experienced today:

Lactose intolerance

People who are lactose intolerant lack the enzyme lactase, so they can’t break down the lactose found in dairy products. This is the most common food intolerance, and it’s often characterized by indigestion and bloating. Several tests can determine if you are lactose intolerant. People who are lactose intolerant should avoid all foods containing dairy, although some are able to consume aged cheese or fermented products like kefir without difficulty. Fortunately, many great dairy substitutes are available today.

Gluten intolerance

If you experience symptoms after eating gluten, but tests confirm you don’t have a gluten allergy or celiac disease, you could be suffering from a gluten intolerance or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, rye, kamut, couscous, and barley.

People who can’t tolerate gluten also need to be aware of hidden sources. Soy sauce, many vegetarian meat substitutes, granola bars, beer, and even processed cheeses can contain gluten, so it’s important to read food labels carefully.

In recent years, scientists have theorized that it may be glyphosate, a commonly used weed killer sprayed on crops, that many are reacting to and not gluten itself. Although research is ongoing, anecdotal evidence shows many people who experience gluten intolerance in North America can tolerate eating bread and pasta while abroad in Europe and other countries that have banned the use of glyphosate.

Eggs

Eggs are one of the most common food sensitivities. Symptoms include eczema, itchy skin, nausea and bloating. For most, egg whites are more likely to be reactive than egg yolks.

Corn

Corn is a common food sensitivity that can also lead to chronic symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, bloating, irritable bowel symptoms, headaches, joint pain and more. Corn is a common ingredient in many processed foods so it’s important to keep an eye out for it if you are experiencing symptoms of sensitivity.

Soy

Soy protein is a common food allergy and sensitivity which may lead to headaches, joint pain, acne, eczema and more. Fermentation helps to break down soy protein, therefore fermented soy products like miso and tempeh may be better tolerated by some.

FODMAPs

FODMAP stands for “fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols” That’s basically a scientific way of saying foods that cause gas. These carbohydrates aren’t absorbed well by the small intestine. When they arrive at the large intestine, bacteria break them down and form gas, which in turn leads to uncomfortable digestive symptoms.

Avoiding FODMAPs can be tricky to navigate since they are found in a variety of food groups. Some common FODMAP foods include apples, bread, many kinds of beans, some cheeses, garlic, onions, and many milk products. Once you have determined which foods are triggers, however, it’s certainly possible to have a well-balanced diet.

Caffeine

Researchers say that many people can drink up to five cups of coffee a day without experiencing negative effects or getting that over caffeinated, jittery feeling. For people with a caffeine intolerance, however, those signs appear with just a small amount of caffeine, leading to heart palpitations, anxiety, and insomnia. Some evidence suggests caffeine intolerance has a genetic component.

Sulfites

Sulfites are chemicals found naturally in some foods, such as salmon, lettuce, and tomatoes. They’re also commonly used as preservatives for many common foods, including baked goods, dried fruit, pickled foods and wine. The FDA requires that food labels must indicate the presence of sulfites if the level exceeds 10 parts per million (ppm).

People with asthma are more prone to sulfite sensitivity, with about 3-10% of asthmatics experiencing adverse reactions to foods with sulfites. These reactions can include wheezing, coughing, and digestive problems and many also experience rashes and hives.

Sugar alcohols

Sugar alcohols are considered a healthier alternative to sugar, however, they can be an intolerance for many. Commonly used sugar alcohols include xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, and maltitol. Sugar alcohols do contain fewer calories than sugar, and they aren’t as harmful to your teeth. As well, they don’t tend to cause the same extreme blood sugar spikes as regular sugar. But, for some people, they can cause digestive problems, including bloating, gas and diarrhea. Because they can’t be easily digested, they travel to the large intestine, where your gut bacteria breaks them down, in a similar process to the digestion of FODMAPs. In fact, people who are intolerant of FODMAPs often also experience difficulties with sugar alcohols.

In general, smaller amounts are less likely to cause reactions. As well, many people find erythritol is the safest sugar alcohol when it comes to digestive upset. If you have difficulty digesting food with sugar alcohols, try to choose foods with  erythritol instead of others.

How To Identify Food Intolerances

Most people eat a wide range of foods on any given day which is great – but it can make it difficult to track down food sensitivities if symptoms are creeping up.

To pinpoint a food intolerance, keeping a detailed food journal is essential. Note exactly what you ate every day, and how you felt including your energy levels and trips to the bathroom. If one food seems to be a trigger for symptoms of food intolerance, eliminate it for two or three weeks to see if it makes a difference.

This process is often most straightforward when working with a healthcare practitioner who can help with food sensitivity testing to get to the bottom of the culprits causing you daily digestive upset as well as help you rebuild your diet to ensure your gut is functioning the way it should be. Getting to the root cause of your health concern is always our biggest goal, whether it’s the foods or something else causing your body to react to your daily nutrient intake, proper assessment and testing is critical in the role of outlining a customized treatment plan to wellness. Give us a call to get started (903) 663-1008.

Sources:

Zopf Y, Baenkler HW, Silbermann A, Hahn EG, Raithel M. The differential diagnosis of food intolerance. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2009 May;106(21):359-69; quiz 369-70; 4 p following 370. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2009.0359. Epub 2009 May 22. PMID: 19547751; PMCID: PMC2695393.

Oku T, Nakamura S. Threshold for transitory diarrhea induced by ingestion of xylitol and lactitol in young male and female adults. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2007 Feb;53(1):13-20. doi: 10.3177/jnsv.53.13. PMID: 17484374.

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. 2015. Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: Advisory Report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, DC.

Landolt HP. “No thanks, coffee keeps me awake”: individual caffeine sensitivity depends on ADORA2A genotype. Sleep. 2012 Jul 1;35(7):899-900. doi: 10.5665/sleep.1942. PMID: 22754033; PMCID: PMC3368971.

Vally H, Misso NL. Adverse reactions to the sulphite additives. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2012 Winter;5(1):16-23. PMID: 24834193; PMCID: PMC4017440.

Mäkinen KK. Gastrointestinal Disturbances Associated with the Consumption of Sugar Alcohols with Special Consideration of Xylitol: Scientific Review and Instructions for Dentists and Other Health-Care Professionals. Int J Dent. 2016;2016:5967907. doi: 10.1155/2016/5967907. Epub 2016 Oct 20. PMID: 27840639; PMCID: PMC5093271.

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Probiotic’s Relationship to the Brain

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Probiotics have been growing in popularity over the last several years, with people touting benefits like helping with depresssion and other emotional disorders, increasing immune health, reducing symptoms of certain digestive conditions, and much more. Although people have different experiences with probiotics, there is a lot of research backing these claims, but the quality of the probiotic and what strains it contains is important and often determines how effective it is. In this week’s show, we’ll discuss probiotic’s relationship to the brain, immune health and gut health, and why having a variety of strains of bacteria in a probiotic is important.

Products Mentioned in This Week’s Show

Probio Ease – This shelf-stable, 50 billion CFU formulation contains a blend of 7 select probiotic species with Sunfiber®, a low-FODMAP certified prebiotic. This formulation provides comprehensive microbiome, immune, and healthy inflammation support in one convenient capsule.†

Target gb-X –  Probiotic supplement specifically designed to support positive mood by influencing the gut-brain axis through the microbiome. It is powered by Ecologic BARRIER, a 5B CFU blend of 9 probiotic strains, that has been clinically shown to decrease overall cognitive reactivity to sad mood, rumination, negative thoughts, and aggressive thoughts.1

Probio Lean – A blend of 7 select probiotic species in a cellulose base. Designed to increase intestinal diversity and support healthy metabolism and weight management, each capsule provides 25 billion CFU.†

You can also listen to Probiotic’s Relationship to the Brain on our YouTube channel here.

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Winter Essentials for Health

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As it starts to get colder outside, sicknesses start to become more common. This is not due to the decrease in temperature, but is likely due to the increased time spent indoors and close to people who may be sick. Couple that with the decrease in vitamin D levels from less sunshine, and you can see why rates of sickness tend to go up during this time of year. In this week’s episode, we’ll discuss some winter essentials that may help improve the health of your immune system.

Some things that may help impove immune system function include:

  • Regular exercise
  • Supplementing with vitamin C
  • Drink plenty of water
  • Wash your hands often
  • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • Get enough sleep each night
  • Practice stress-reducing techniques

Practicing these habits daily can help you be healthier any time of year, and with the new year coming up, you could try adding some of these to your New Year’s resolution.

Products Mentioned in Today’s Show

  • Liposomal C – Liposomal Vitamin C provides this key foundational nutrient formulated with liposomal technology. Liposomes are spheres made of phospholipids—the primary building blocks of cell membranes. Owing to this structure, liposomes bond easily with cell membranes to facilitate intracellular delivery of their nutrient cargo.
  • Immune Essentials – Immune Essentials supports immune health with a blend of highly researched and effectively concentrated mushroom extracts combined with the polyphenol nutrient support of green tea.† This formula provides beta 1,3/1,6 d-glucan and a range of bioactive compounds that have been shown to potentiate immune response.† Grown in the USA under rigidly controlled conditions, these mushroom extracts are made with 100% certified organic ingredients.

You can also listen to Winter Essentials for Health on our YouTube channel here.

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Differences Between Allergies, a Cold, and the Flu

Woman sneezing; allergies, a cold, or the flu.

With the seasons changing, allergies and sicknesses are becoming more common, but it can be difficult to tell if you’re sick, or if it’s just allergies. While some of the symptoms overlap, there are a few differences that may help you know what you have. We also get lots of questions this time of year about what people can do for natural allergy relief and immune support. So, let’s discuss some of the differences between allergies, a cold, and the flu, and some supplements that might help.

Allergies

Many people have seasonal allergies, usually triggered by pollen or mold. These allergies range in severity from person to person, and may be better or worse some days. Allergies can last from a few days, to a few months, with some people suffering with them year-round. Symptoms of allergies can include sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes or throat, sinus congestion, and sometimes chest congestion. Hista-Plex may help alleviate some of the mild allergy symptoms like runny nose and itchy eyes.

While mild allergies are typically more common, severe allergies and allergic reactions can lead to serious symptoms including hives, difficulty breathing, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, and anaphylaxis. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately.

A Cold

Colds also become increasingly common this time of year, and they can be very similar to allergies. A cold can cause symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, chest and sinus congestion, and cough. Symptoms of a cold usually appear gradually, and many of these can also be symptoms of allergies, but may not last as long. Resting, drinking plenty of water, and eating lots of organic fruits and vegetables can help provide the nutrients your body needs to fight off a cold. If your symptoms persist and/or worsen, contact your doctor.

The Flu

This time of year, our patients start asking us what they can do to help prevent the flu. The flu is usually easier to identify than allergies and colds, as the symptoms generally appear suddenly and are more serious. If you contract the flu you may experience fever, joint and muscle aches, chills, fatigue, weakness, and headaches. While there are no foolproof ways to prevent the flu, you can potentially lower your risk. Anything that boosts the health of your immune system may help reduce your risk of contracting illnesses like the flu. Eating a variety of organic fruits and vegetables, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, and reducing stress may help keep your immune system healthy. Taking supplements like Liposomal C, Active Zinc, and Immune Essentials may also help your immune system fight off certain illnesses.

Eating plenty of organic fruits and vegetables can help provide the nutrients and antioxidants your body needs to fight off infections and keep your immune system healthy. Supplements can help provide vitamins and minerals you may not be getting enough of, and they can also provide immune-boosting herbs like mushrooms you may not get through food. Immune Essentials is one of our newer products and is a powerful formulation of several different mushrooms and green tea extract to help support immune system health. Remember to wash your hands frequently!

You can listen to our Differences Between Allergies, a Cold, and the Flu podcast episode here. You can also listen to it on our YouTube channel here.

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Allergy Relief and Seasonal Defense

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With the seasons changing, more people are having trouble with allergies and sicknesses. We get questions this time of year about what people can do for natural allergy relief and seasonal defense against colds and the flu, especially from teachers and hospital staff who are more likely to catch something. Let’s discuss the differences between allergies, colds, and the flu, and some supplements that may help provide some relief and help keep your immune system healthy.

Allergies may cause symptoms like:

  • Runny Nose
  • Sneezing
  • Itchy Throat or Eyes
  • Sinus Congestion

A cold may cause a gradual onset of symptoms including:

  • Sneezing
  • Sinus Congestion
  • Runny Nose
  • Occasional Chest Congestion

The flu typically causes a sudden onset of symptoms like:

  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle Weakness
  • Body Aches

Eating plenty of organic fruits and vegetables can help provide the nutrients and antioxidants your body needs to fight off infections. However, it is difficult to get all the nutrients you need from food alone due to our soil being depleted over the years. There are also many herbs that can help keep the immune system healthy that would be difficult to eat, so taking supplements is a great way to get in vitamins, herbs and minerals you may not get through other sources.

Products Mentioned in Today’s Show

Hista-Plex – This formula includes optimal support for nasal and sinus passageways for individuals with seasonal allergies.

Immune Essentials – Immune Essentials supports immune health with a blend of highly researched and effectively concentrated mushroom extracts combined with the polyphenol nutrient support of green tea.†

You can also listen to Allergy Relief and Seasonal Defense on our YouTube channel here.

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Antinutrients and Nightshades

Antinutrients are compounds mostly found in foods and drinks that interfere with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients like certain vitamins and minerals. Legumes, grains, and nuts and seeds often have the highest concentration of antinutrients, but they can also be found in certain herbs, spices, and fruits and vegetables. There are many different types of antinutrients, but we are going to take a look at two of the most commonly discussed antinutrients: lectins and oxalates. Nightshades are a particularly common source of both lectins and oxalates, and many people eat at least one type of nightshade a day, but let’s take a look at the risks and benefits before you decide to cut them out of your diet.

Nightshades

Nightshades are a class of plants that includes many different types of flowers (including tobacco), trees, fruits, and vegetables. Foods like potatoes, tomatoes, chili powder, jalapenos and most other peppers (does not include black pepper), okra, some herbs like ashwagandha, and many other foods and spices are all part of the nightshade family. For many people, nightshades do not cause any issues, but for some they can act as an immune trigger. This is why most autoimmune protocols require you to eliminate all nightshades from your diet.

Symptoms of a sensitivity to nightshades can include gut issues like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), muscle aches, joint pain, increased mucus production, and acid reflux/heartburn. Many food sensitivities exhibit these same symptoms, so it can be difficult to determine if nightshades are the culprit. However, if you have these symptoms and have tried eliminating other food groups and haven’t seen an improvement in your symptoms, then it may be worth a try. If you choose to eliminate these foods, you should find a complete list of nightshade foods and herbs and eliminate them completely for at least one month, including those found in medications and supplements. You should also substitute the foods you eliminate with equally nutritious foods like celery, sweet potatoes, oranges, cauliflower, melons, etc. After one month has passed, you can begin to add nightshades back in, one at a time, and see if you experience any reactions.

Lectins

Lectins are a type of antinutrient most commonly found in peanuts, beans, lentils, eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and grains like wheat, corn, and quinoa, among others. Lectins can cause bloating, gas, and indigestion, and they can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb certain nutrients. They are also difficult to digest, and can “cling” to the intestinal wall. This is especially harmful if leaky gut is already present, which is the case for many people. The lectins are often able to pass through the damaged intestinal wall and get into the bloodstream. When this happens, the body recognizes the lectins as invaders, and mounts an immune response to fight them. The body may also begin producing antibodies made specifically for lectins. As we have discussed before, chronic immune responses and the subsequent inflammation is believed to be the main cause of many autoimmune diseases and certain types of cancer, so if you eat foods high in lectins daily like most people, you may have ongoing inflammation that could lead to more problems in the future.

Oxalates

Oxalates are another type of antinutrient that can be found in millet, spinach and other leafy green vegetables, chocolate, sweet potatoes, black tea, coffee, and many other foods and drinks. Oxalates tend to bind to calcium, preventing it from completely being absorbed, which can also lead to kidney stones. The most common type of kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones, which can occur when oxalates bind with calcium in the bloodstream and build up in the kidneys. A high-oxalate diet may also lead to increased inflammation, joint pain, and possibly decreased glutathione function. Glutathione is often called the “master antioxidant” due to its wide-range of detoxifying abilities, and is crucial to your health.

Our liver produces small amounts of oxalates, and there is some evidence that oxalates may have some benefits like helping to carry toxins out of the body, but this is not yet fully understood. Although it is impossible to completely eliminate oxalates from your diet because they are present in almost all plant-based foods, a low-oxalate diet may be especially beneficial for people who have had kidney stones.

It may feel like you can’t eat anything, but this isn’t true. The key is moderation, and you can enjoy foods that contain antinutrients (virtually all foods contain some), but they should be enjoyed in moderation and with plenty of variety. Taking digestive enzymes may also help your body break down and absorb nutrients more effectively, and GI Support may help decrease intestinal permeability which is a leading cause of allergies and other health issues. It is still important to eat plenty of organic fruits and vegetables, but try to limit the amount of raw vegetables you eat because they may be more difficult to digest and can contain more antinutrients than cooked versions. Also, remember to eat plenty of good fats, eliminate processed foods from your diet, and drink plenty of filtered water. Every little change helps!

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Allergies or Intolerance?

 

Janet Lewis: Hello and welcome to this week’s show. I’m Janet Lewis

 
Dr. Lewis: And I’m Dr. Lewis.

 
Janet Lewis: And we are here to help you with allergies today. So if you’re suffering from them, or know someone who is, or can’t hear us because you can’t get the clog out of your head, this show is for you. We are going to educate you a little bit about where they come from, what to do about them, and what might stop them from happening to start with.

 
  So we are Green Wisdom Health, home of the Low Cost Lab work, and Dr. Lewis is going to tell you all about allergies today. Take it away.

 
Dr. Lewis: Yep, as soon as I get through sneezing, I will be right with you. There’s a lot to be said about this. Usually an allergy is an inappropriate or maybe an exaggerated response to your body’s immune system, or by the body’s immune system to different substances.

 
  And there are some references, that say that allergies once you have them as an adult, will never go away, while children will generally outgrow them. And I kind of disagree with that, I’ve seen major allergic responses get much better if not go away completely over the years, and it’s about fixing the GI Tract, the Microbiome, and your body’s Detoxification Pathways.

 
  And I was just talking to a sweet lady, in West Virginia, I would just like to say this, the BRAC-1, the BRAC-2, which is the breast cancer genes, they’re tumor suppressors, and when you have a mutation in those, then you have a much higher likelihood of getting breast cancer. But most of that’s actually more influenced by the environment and your diet. Which means toxins, and that kind of, believe it or not, does have a lot to do with our allergies too.

 
  How your body responds to it. Sometimes you have food allergies, and sometimes it’s just you’re allergic versus you’re sensitive to different foods. And that has to do with mobilizing your body’s white blood cells to fight them. Sometimes the white blood cells overreact and actually can create more damage to the body, than the invader itself.

 
  But then the allergic response becomes a disease, before I get into that I’ll tell you this, I used to go and bush hog on the tractor at the deer lease through ragweed, and goatweed, and golden rod, and I would feel like somebody nailed me to the cross, right there in my bronchi. And you all can tell that’s a weak area, because I will have to clear my throat if I’ve eaten anything in kind of cause a problem, which for me mostly is dairy.

 
  But the nail that I fixed my gut and microbiome, or greatly improved it, I can bush hog through all sorts of goatweed, and clog up the tractor’s filter system, golden rod, and ragweed, and I’m really pretty good the next day, it’s at least a 90% reduction in my body’s allergic response, and again that gets tied back to the GI Tract. Some of the allergic responses are nasal congestion, and we’ve got a really, really good product for that. Kind of a new product, you can have coughing, wheezing, itching, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, hives, and other skin rashes.

 
  Or you can just have a mucous come through, and there’s this man up in Michigan, he’s done everything I’ve told him to do, for I’m guessing about three -four years, and he says I love what you do Doc, but you fixed everything except the original thing that I came to you, and that was a constant mucous production.

 
  And he’s gone to see the Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctors, which I think he should. That’s a good thing, he’s done that, most of the time that’s a fungal infection, but it’s also in response to an allergic reaction to something. Usually in the diet, or possibly an airborne allergy.

 
  And so I sent him a bottle of one thing, and didn’t work. I didn’t hear from him. Then I sent him a sample pack of another thing, and he wrote the most inspiring email about he couldn’t believe how much I would do for him, and we finally got to the, I guess to the root cause. Maybe not the root cause, but to deal with it. And that’s the D-hist is a natural histamine product. Or it deals with the histamine reaction.

 
Janet Lewis: Well that’s got Quercetin in it. Which is the big one that they say is for allergies?

 
Dr. Lewis: Right.

 
Janet Lewis: And I think the thing that makes this work so well, it’s something you actually have to load up on, you have a loading dose, where you do two capsules three times per day for 7-10 days, and then as it’s in your system, you don’t have to take so much of it because, I guess you start building up an immunity toward the allergens using it.

 
Dr. Lewis: Yeah, you know, and some people do a loading dose of five right of the bat, and then for congestion, you know you’ve got the Sinatrol, which we’ve had some incredible results with my favorite gun dealer, because he always has nasal congestion, because of prior broken nose, I’m sure that was … he wasn’t in a bad place I’m sure, but he got a broken nose, so he has massive congestion. And he gets incredible, incredible results from the Sinatrol.

 
  So depending on what’s going on, whether the D-hist would work, or the Sinatrol, and there’s other things that will work, folks I want to tell you that if you’re not an established patient with lab and all that, we have a lot of different products that cannot see on the website.

 
  So it might behoove you from time to time to give us a call, so we can hook you up with better products, we’ve got this … some incredible things. We’ve got some massive, massive probiotics, and you know you’ve got to fix the gut, and here’s something that’s missing. You hear a lot about prebiotics, one of the best things I’ve ever seen is called Opti-Fiber Lean, and it’s natural and soluble propolomanin, and fiber. That is a really good prebiotic, to let the probiotics begin to work.

 
  But if you’re not an established patient, you’re not going to see that on the website, so if you’re interested in that, and a holy cow, incredibly big probiotic, you gotta call us.

 
Janet Lewis: Well they can also just send me an email to janet@greenwisdomhealth.com, and just tell me that you heard the show, so that we know you’re listening out there, and make an account on our website, at greenwisdomhealth.com, and I can upgrade you where you can actually see those products Dr. Lewis is talking about. Because we do want to make sure that some of these things, are really potent, and we don’t want them being sold to people that don’t know how to use them.

 
Dr. Lewis: That’s true.

 
Janet Lewis: But the natural D-hist, if you put it in the search bar, just put in D-hist, and that’s the one for the runny nose. And the Sinatrol is the one for congestion in the chest, so we have different people with different things.

 
Dr. Lewis: Oh yeah, absolutely. And there’s different, you know I’ve always said you can read research, that says so many conflicting things, but some of the more common allergens are pollen, dust, certain metals, cosmetics, yeah well we’re getting into that one too. Dust mites, animal hair, animal dander, insect venom, the last time I got stung by a bee, it’s like holy cow. I thought I was going to die. And sometimes drugs, and food additives are a big one, and that’s where people trouble figuring that out, I promise you there’s something very, very exciting coming in the near future about figuring that out.

 
  Many of the chemicals that are found in different soaps, cleaning supplies, you want to avoid a lot of that, and I’ve seen a lot of people have allergies to mold, but it can be airborne, or it can be food. Some of the things, I wanted to go over some of the common allergies, that things that cause allergies, in certain conditions, the most common.

 
  Just for example, if you have migraines, and I hear all over Facebook, oh I wish there was a cure for migraines. Well you can pretty much control it, but if it’s an allergy, wheat is 78% the culprit in migraines. Nobody should eat wheat. For a lot of different reasons. Oranges, I hate that, but it’s 65% of the time, then eggs, I hate that too. Tea and Coffee, man that really hurts, and chocolate and milk. That really hurts too.

 
  Sometimes beef, but you wonder is it really this particular food that you’re allergic to, or is it the toxic chemicals and antibiotics, and hormones that may be in some of these? So those are just some of the few. For those that have Colitis, or IBS, some of the bad diseases like that. That’s the one that need to call us, to get onto this really, really huge probiotic, and then there’s something called SBI protect, and it’s immunoglobulins, and these immunoglobulins go in and take these loosened junctions because of poor digestion, poor gut health, and tighten the junctions.

 
  So if you’ve ever heard of Leaky Gut Syndrome, and we have people buying SBI, and SBI protect like crazy, but really and truly you should do the massive probiotics with the SBI protect. So thank you for your orders of the SBI protect, thank you for the feedback, because there’s several people that have said, oh my god, it’s working miracles, put the Pro-Bio Max with it. And that’s something you got to call us to get.

 
  So the Colitis, and IBS, it’s almost always dairy or wheat. It’s number one or number two. Then chocolate, god I hate that, because I love chocolate, and coffee’s a big thing, barley and hops, well if you’re beer drinkers, that’s tough to take. But you want to think about that. The gallbladder, people have gallbladder problems, it’s almost always refined sugars, and what that does to your metabolic syndrome, and how that messes with cholesterol, you form cholesterol stones, and then you have gall bladder problems.

 
  But it can be something as uncommon, as beets, or spinach, or eggs, or pork, or onions. Oh I hate that too. Now for the people, and I talked to a lady this morning about this, about ADD, ADHD. Well if you looked at what they eat in Europe versus what we eat here, you would wonder why our kids do, they could do a lot better. But you wonder, actually mental health has a lot to do with what you put in your GI Tract, and that’s one of the problems we’re having in America today, that’s manifesting in some horrible ways.

 
  But for ADD the worst thing you can put in your child’s mouth, or yours is anything with artificial colors, preservatives, dye, corn, sorbitol, refined sugars, and that includes high fructose corn syrup, wheat caffeine, and soy. But dairy’s also a big one there. So if you want some young person feel better, take that out of their diet, add these probiotics, and they’re easy to slip in to a young child’s diet, fish oil also helps too because it’s very, very, very anti-inflammatory.

 
  So there’s, I could go on and on, but I think I’ll get out of that. And just go more into the allergies.

 
Janet Lewis: Well and I also wanted to mention, your parents are out there struggling, trying to find something healthy to feed their kids.

 
Dr. Lewis: Or grandparents because a lot of times, they get stuck with the kids, because … anyway.

 
Janet Lewis: That’s another story.

 
Dr. Lewis: You know I’m sorry folks, I’m trying to stay off the soap box.

 
Janet Lewis: But you they go and they buy them the gummy type multi-vitamins at the Big Box stores.

 
Dr. Lewis: That has cancer causing dyes in it.

 
Janet Lewis: Right, right. And they taste awesome because they’re so full of dyes, and sugars.

 
Dr. Lewis: High fructose corn syrup.

 
Janet Lewis: Yes. And honestly a natural product that is a good quality is very, very hard to come by for a multi-vitamin. And believe me we have gone through a bunch of them, trying to figure out one that’s good.

 
Dr. Lewis: It may be a good one, but it’s not palatable, if you can’t get the kid to chew it up and take it, what good is it?

 
Janet Lewis: And I’m pretty excited to tell you that we just go a new one in, and I had to open the bottle to try it, and if you mind a sample of it, I’ll send you one in a package.

 
Dr. Lewis: See if you’re kid will take it. I took it and I felt four years old all over again. It actually tasted pretty good.

 
Janet Lewis: It was really, really good. And it’s called Super-Nutes, I have no idea how they come up with that.

 
Dr. Lewis: We’re going to try it on our grandkids too.

 
Janet Lewis: It’s Super and then Nutes, N-U-T-E-S. So I do have that in stock now, so for you that are looking for a good vitamin, that don’t have all the dyes and chemicals in it, I think your kids will actually like it. It’s doesn’t taste like the nasty little B vitamins that always follow them a lot of times. And like I said, I’ll be happy to send you a sample of it you just ask me about it, because I think that’s a big part of what’s missing with kids, and if you can’t feed them something good. At least give them a great multi-vitamin. And this particular company, that’s making that is Ortho Molecular who is the same one that’s making a lot of these wonderful other products we have, including that SBI Protect.

 
Dr. Lewis: We’re selling it all over the country. Because people have the IBS, and Crone’s Disease, and the Leaky Gut, and the symptoms from that. But if you do SBI Protect, for god’s sake talk to us about a probiotic, because you can get things, that’s one of those if one plus one it doesn’t equal two. It equals three in the way that it actually helps you. It’s faster.

 
Janet Lewis: And if you’re too shy to talk to us, you can always get the Ortho Biotic a hundred billion, you just have to take three of them. You know Dr. Lewis is telling you there’s a 350 here, you need three of those to equal that. So either way.

 
Dr. Lewis: Yeah, more’s better.

 
Janet Lewis: I wanted you to talk a little bit, because I think it’s kind of interesting about things that help your allergies. Like the increase of animal based Omega-3 fats, but to reduce your intake of Omega-6 fats, and I think a lot of people may not know what the difference is between the different kinds of Omegas. So they think they’re taking that as a fish oil, Omega-3, and sixes, and I hear them come in and go, Can I have Omega 6’s. I don’t think people really know the difference, so can you explain why they should take Omega 3’s and not Omega-6 for allergies?

 
Dr. Lewis: You know I think it’s wonder how good a salesman I am, that Janet actually thinks I know all this because I don’t. The Omega-3. The inflammatory Omega-6’s are the vegetable oils, for example, if it’s hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, stay the heck away from it. Soy bean oil, stay away from it. Cottonseed, no. Corn oil, heck no. But if you take enough of the Omega-3’s and the easiest, quickest way to get Omega-3’s is fish oil, you’ve already let the liver of the fish do the work for you. And all fish oils are not alike. Because now we’re dealing in fish oils that are three to four times more absorbable, so you get to take less of them, which means it costs less for the output, the outcome.

 
  But stay away from vegetable fats. Now, Avocado’s good, Coconut oil is awesome, I like Grape seed, I like Walnut oil, Peanut oil is questionable, but I like Pecan oil. So just kind of stay away from … I’m not afraid of animal fats, if that fat comes off a rib eye steak that is really, really, good for you, if that cow was raised … is pasture fed, grass raised. Not the ones in a feed lot. Fed genetically modified corn, that’s not a good thing, but grass fed, pasture raised, yeah that’s much more important. So stay away from the vegetable oil, corn and soy mostly.

 
Janet Lewis: And then you want to optimize your vitamin D levels, you need to make sure that they’re higher because that actually does help with allergies.

 
Dr. Lewis: Yep.

 
Janet Lewis: And then hot peppers. Eat hot peppers.

 
Dr. Lewis: That’s good, but I’ve got something to say about that. Yes pepper’s good, but you hear people they get on internet, and they get a little bit of information, and not a lot of understanding. And they say, I’m taking my curcumin tumeric with black pepper.

 
Janet Lewis: Yeah, that’s a good point.

 
Dr. Lewis: Folks, just because they say it’s true, you’ve heard of smoke mirrors, fluff, and bull. What happens, if you put curcumin tumeric with black pepper, it actually binds with your globulin, and generally will end up with an allergy to pepper, to tumeric, and curcumin. And it does not enhance absorption, it makes it almost bio-unavailable. So don’t fall for that, put pepper with it, for increased blood flow.

 
Janet Lewis: That’s why I like our Curcuplex-95, because they do not have black pepper in it.

 
Dr. Lewis: So don’t fall for some of these smoke and mirror, oh well they were a good advertiser, therefore this is a good product. Not necessarily.

 
Janet Lewis: Yeah, and the other thing, Curcuplex-95, you got to sign in, you have to have a special account upgrade, to see that product because, again-

 
Dr. Lewis: Good health is available, you just kind of have to side-step a couple of the rules to get the really good stuff. But it’s worth it, I’ve seen people have miracles, it’s like even I was, Holy Cow that really happened?!

 
Janet Lewis: Yeah.

 
Dr. Lewis: People were persistent.

 
Janet Lewis: And then I’ve noticed in people when their allergies seem to quote, flair up, of course in East Texas, we have the green mist that comes across East Texas.

 
Dr. Lewis: We don’t get snow, we get pollened.

 
Janet Lewis: Yes, we get pollened. And our cars are all green, it doesn’t matter what kind of color you have, they’re all green. And so it does make it worse, but it does seem to be a correlation between how bad it is, and when you’re eating grains, and sugars.

 
  So it seems like, and maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like when you’ve had like a steak and vegetables and that kind of thing, your allergies don’t seem to bother you nearly as bad as when you might have had –

 
Dr. Lewis: Ice cream for supper.

 
Janet Lewis: Well some people are telling on themselves.

 
Dr. Lewis: I didn’t say anything about you doing that. She doesn’t eat ice cream folks. She doesn’t.

 
Janet Lewis: Like enchilada’s or-

 
Dr. Lewis: Corn.

 
Janet Lewis: Corn. Yes, any kind of a grain product, it just seems like it makes it really worse the allergies, so is that a correlation, or a causation?

 
Dr. Lewis: Causation. Not just a correlation. Yeah that’s true, and sometimes it’s hard to figure out where these things come from, I mean just smoking one cigarette takes up about 50 milligrams of Vitamin C. Which is the recommended daily allowance, that’s why folks don’t pay attention to recommended daily allowance. That’s very, very minimal. And it’s a matter of oxidation and inflammation in the lungs and the bronchi. And the GI Tract.

 
  One of the biggest problems in America, one of the most toxic things in America is heavy metals. And lead is a big one, you hear about it in Flint, Michigan, but we all have it because, back when I was plumbing in the 70’s, we were soldering copper pipe with lead solder. So lead is in most people’s drinking water.

 
  And do you know what? The only thing that I know of that crosses the blood brain barrier to bind with lead, are those with high iron to protect the brain, is something called Magnesium Threonate. And that’s pretty good, Janet gives it to me, so I can think a little more clearly. One of the most toxic things that you can do, is cleaning your house. It’s like, well how can it be toxic if you’re cleaning your house?

 
Janet Lewis: That’s one of our questions actually from a Amanda, she lives here locally, and so Amanda R., or Amanda C., whichever name she’s been both names.

 
Dr. Lewis: I bet she got married.

 
Janet Lewis: Yes, she’s from Texas, and she wondered, because she always hears us talking about not using Clorox and that kind of thing, and walking through the chemicals, and it creates problems, but what you’re talking about there, natural deodorants, and natural cleaners, are there any recommendations for such things? Is there a natural deodorant that will work?

 
Dr. Lewis: Primal Pit Paste is the only natural one I’ve seen that seems to work real well on me. I’m not seeing anybody turn up their nose.

 
Janet Lewis: And then we use in our house, I use a lot of the Zum cleaners, Z-U-M, because I think they smell good, they’ve got different things, they got laundry detergent.

 
Dr. Lewis: The essential oil based different ones, I think Melaleuca’s probably a good one also.

 
Janet Lewis: Our cleaning lady actually comes in and uses Melaleuca products, because believe it or not Clorox burned her nose so bad, she can no longer smell. So it’s not just us making this up about the chemicals. She said I can’t use that anymore, I said, that’s awesome because I don’t want that.

 
  So there are natural things. As far as shampoos, I’m a big fan of the Monet Hair Products, because I really think they’re great.

 
Dr. Lewis: She had no intention of selling it, be we’ve got a lot of patients that says, oh my god your hair looks really good, it’s thicker than it used to be. She selling it here locally, and selling it 500 miles away to different people too. So you know, if you want to try it, let us know.

 
Janet Lewis: And then I always tell people to use a natural soap, you need to try to stay away from the soap’s that are so full of chemicals, even though they’re supposed to be clean.

 
Dr. Lewis: And moisturizing.

 
Janet Lewis: Yes, and moisturizing. Many times we will find that those people have Urinary Tract Infections on their lab, because of the soap that they’re using.

 
Dr. Lewis: Constant irritation, that’s not a good thing to have irritation on your yee-haw.

 
Janet Lewis: Yes on they’re taking baths in the tub and using this special deodorized soaps, and they wind up with Urinary Tract Infections. So just get some natural, natural soaps. I use some called, I think they’re called Giovanni, their body wash thing, they’re really great. But you can pick them up at any kind of health food store, whatever. I just try to stay away from the harsh chemicals as much as you can, because you’re getting inundated with them every day anyway in other ways.

 
  Hair color, I don’t want to talk about. I have hair color, my hair color is brown.

 
Dr. Lewis: Very beautiful brunette.

 
Janet Lewis: Somebody said, well what do you put on your hair? I’m like Monet Shampoo. Anyway, the labs that we’re recommending in case you’ve got these allergies, and don’t know what’s going on in your gut. Is our comprehensive lab panel, and for you people out there that don’t know what we do, we do very low cost lab across the United States. There’s generally a quest lab location close to you that we send you to, we do 12 panels of lab, with what we’re talking about today that would the GWH-3. If you’re on our website, the featured lab panels it’s $298, and that does include speaking with Dr. Lewis, and a functional medicine report, and 12 lab panels.

 
  So you’re not guessing at what’s going on. So if you’re having these allergies, and can’t get rid of them, you know many times on the lab on a CBC we will see something in there called Eos. Which means when they’re high, you’ve got allergies in the gut. So there are specific products that we use to help fight those, and get that back down to a good level.

 
Dr. Lewis: And that’s the white blood cell immune response I was talking about.

 
Janet Lewis: Okay without the lab it’s really kind of hard to know, where to start.

 
Dr. Lewis: Stop guessing.

 
Janet Lewis: Yeah so basically the things we’re telling you about to help with the runny nose, and the congestion help, but to get to the root cause of why it’s doing it, you might want to consider doing lab work.

 
Dr. Lewis: And you know, one of the things that I want to stress here. Some of these studies that I’ve read, and I do read a massive amount of research, some of them are done on kids, but it’s still very appropriate in the adults. Intestinal flora is incredibly important, that’s why we do a lot of the Opti-fiber Lean. The prebiotic that helps the probiotics kind of hang around and flourish better. But an imbalance in your intestinal flora, causes allergies, and that’s from Journal of Annals of Medicine, Treatment with Probiotics for Allergies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 
  Asthma’s associated with Colitis, which links the allergies in Asthma to the Colon which I think it’s pretty good. That’s Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine. Probiotics for the treatment of allergies, helps to reverse intestinal permeability. And that’s why we sell so much of that SBI Protect, and those that do with the probiotics get a synergistic effect. One plus one equals three. So that’s intestinal permeability, and anybody that’s heard of Leaky Gut understands what I mean.

 
  And there’s a study that said that children with allergies have increased intestinal permeability. And folks, within the next month or so we’re going to have some new tests that are coming out, that can test that, can test allergies to intestinal permeability, and-

 
Janet Lewis: You talk about children with allergies, you know milk and dairy are an allergy, but a lot of people don’t think about cheese. Cheese is a big allergen, and our granddaughter would eat these little pretty cheeses, that are in little red round packages, I don’t want to say their name-

 
Dr. Lewis: Smart, we don’t need a lawsuit.

 
Janet Lewis: But she would eat them like crazy, and low and behold the allergies would start with a runny nose, so consider that when we’re telling you dairy, and sugar and that kind of thing. Cheese is dairy.

 
Dr. Lewis: Yeah some people don’t make that connection. But milk’s the worst source of food allergies, and that’s coming from Journal of Respiratory Disease, and Journal of Allergies and Clinical Immunology.

 
  So Janet knows what she’s talking about. I talk about how much research I read, sometimes she gets on and reads research, and it’s like holy cow, I’m impressed. I’ve got to have that product.

 
  So there’s so many different things you can do, if you’re exposed to mold, that’s a bad thing, but one I’d increase your body’s ability to fight that. So folks we have so many answers and all you need is intestinal fortitude or courage to get on there and give us a call or write us.

 
Janet Lewis: And better yet, go on our website, to greenwisdomhealth.com, fill out the health survey, and that way we can assess what way to best guide you to get started to having a life worth living.

 
  We very much enjoy that the time out of your day to listen to our show, we will be here next week, with another show.

 
Dr. Lewis: And you the people that say, Oh my god you did this, you did that. People that say nice things to us, encourage us to do more of it. So thank you, you make our life much worth. Better and life worth living, just because you give us good feedback. So thank you. We appreciate it.

 
Janet Lewis: Amen. And we’ll talk to you here next time.