Tag: Keto

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What Diet is Right for You?

The start of a new year is the best time to create healthy habits and break the old, bad habits. Many people are buying gym memberships, joining weight loss programs, and starting a new diet, but not every diet is right for everybody. So, how do you know what diet is right for you? You need to first consider any food allergies you have and work around those, then you need to figure out your individual nutritional needs like protein, fat and carbohydrates. Doing these things and getting your blood work done should make it easier to find the diet that works for you.

Allergies and Nutrition

Food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities are much more common now than they were thirty years ago, and avoiding the foods that cause you issues is very important. Continuing to eat foods that you’re allergic to can cause inflammation, and chronic inflammation may contribute to a wide variety of issues including autoimmune disorders and cancer. So, if you have an allergy or sensitivity to dairy, for example, and you would like to try the Keto Diet, then you need to find safe alternatives to the large amounts of dairy that are typically consumed when following the Keto Diet. Coconut milk, almond milk, and coconut cream are just a few examples of dairy-free options.

Everyone’s genetics and daily routines are different, so you also need to consider your personal nutritional needs. For example, if you lift weights often, and/or have high muscle mass, then you will likely need to eat more protein than the average person. If you struggle with always feeling hungry, you could try a high-fat diet like the Keto Diet because fat keeps you feeling full and satisfied longer than protein and carbs do. However, if you have had your gallbladder removed you should be careful following a high-fat diet as it is harder for your body to digest fats without a gallbladder. You can still eat fat without a gallbladder, but taking digestive enzymes containing ox bile with each meal is crucial. Digestive enzymes containing ox bile – like Ortho Digestzyme – can help provide the extra bile your gallbladder used to be responsible for supplying, and that your body needs to properly digest fat. These are just a few examples of things you should think about before choosing a diet.

Keto

The Ketogenic (Keto) Diet is one of the most popular diets right now, and there are many people committed to following it. There are countless success stories, and it was a miracle diet for some people, but it’s not right for everyone. The main goal of the Keto Diet is to eat high-fat and low-carb foods with a general goal of seventy to eighty percent of your daily calories coming from fat, twenty to twenty-five percent coming from protein, and only five to ten percent coming from carbs. This typically means you’ll be eating less than fifty grams of carbs per day, with some people’s carbohydrate goals being even lower. Although this has already been mentioned, it is important and should be reiterated: If you have had your gallbladder removed you may find the Keto Diet difficult or uncomfortable to follow, this is why taking the proper digestive enzymes is so important. Both Panplex 2-Phase and Ortho Digestzyme contain ox bile and are great for aiding in digestion for those who have their gallbladder and those who don’t.

Vegan and Vegetarian

Vegan and vegetarian diets have helped many people, but we do not advise following these diets for a long period of time. Vegan and vegetarian diets can be good detox diets, giving your body a break from digesting meat which can use up more energy than digesting fruits and vegetables does. Many people have found that these diets made them feel great for the first two to six months, but they then suffered from low-energy, brain fog and weakness. This is likely due to the lack of vitamin B12 which people mostly get through animal products like fish, meat and eggs. It could also be due to insufficient protein or amino acids as it can be difficult to consume enough protein and amino acids on a vegan or vegetarian diet, especially for beginners. So, you could try one of these diets for a month or two to give your digestive system a break, but due to how restrictive these diets are we do not recommend following them for more than two months.

Whole Food

Regardless of what diet you choose to follow, it should be centered around eating whole, natural foods. A Keto Diet high in unhealthy, processed fats like vegetable oils can do more harm than good, or a vegan diet high in packaged, processed foods, even if they’re certified vegan, can be more unhealthy than what you were eating before. So, focus on high-quality fats like olive oil and coconut oil, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, organic grass-fed and free-range meats and eggs, and avoid packaged, processed foods. Many people get hung up on following a specific diet like the Keto Diet or a vegan diet, but it is often easier to simply focus on eating whole, natural foods. Do your best to eat a big serving of organic vegetables with every meal, choose grass-fed/free-range meat and eggs, eat organic fruit for dessert rather than sugary foods, and drink plenty of filtered water.

How Can I Know What I Need?

Fortunately, blood work results can tell us a lot about what’s going on in your body. We can learn about your thyroid function, your digestive health, liver function, kidney function, your immune system, blood sugar problems, heart health, and many others just by reading blood work results. There are many different things that can affect your ability to lose weight, so finding any abnormalities and dealing with them can make losing weight easier. Nutrients typically need to be adjusted to help restore certain organs and functions in your body, so giving your body what it needs can help you feel better and shed the pounds faster.

So, take note of any food allergies, consider your level of physical activity, and get your blood work done. Then, let us help you reach your goals by finding the right supplements and finding what diet would be best suited for your individual needs. Remember to drink plenty of clean water and eat lots of organic fruits and vegetables, regardless of what diet you choose to follow.

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Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic Syndrome is the name given to a group of risk factors that greatly increase your chances of experiencing diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. These risk factors include high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, excess body fat – especially abdominal fat – and high blood pressure. These are common issues, but having Metabolic Syndrome means you have at least three of these risk factors. Each one of these risk factors alone can increase your heart disease, diabetes and stroke risk, but having more than one is especially dangerous.

Can You Fix It?

Considering how common these problems are, many people are wondering – can you fix it? The simple answer is yes, but it takes work, dedication and consistency. Cleaning up your diet should be your number one priority when trying to fix Metabolic Syndrome. A diet high in sugar and processed food contributes to Metabolic Syndrome, and a diet low in sugar and high in fat and protein is what can help fix it. Getting your blood pressure to a normal level, controlling your blood sugar, and losing excess body fat go a long way in treating Metabolic Syndrome.

What to Eat

When trying to heal Metabolic Syndrome, or if you’re just trying to eat clean, you should focus mainly on a variety of vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits, and lean meats like fish and chicken. Avoid high-sugar and high-carb foods like bread, cookies and pasta, and avoid processed foods like frozen pizzas, bagged chips and snacks, and processed meats like hot dogs, sausage and sandwich meat.

You should drink plenty of water and avoid soda and juice due to the high sugar content and chemicals – you should also avoid diet soda because artificial sweeteners have been found to contribute to Metabolic Syndrome. Unsweetened tea and coffee are safe to drink, but water should be the main thing you drink.

What to Take

There are a few supplements that can help treat some of the risk factors like high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, and high blood sugar. You should notice a difference after beginning a healthier diet and taking these supplements:

  • Diaxinol – Can help maintain a healthy blood sugar level
  • CM Core – Can help control blood sugar levels
  • CitraNOX – Can help normalize blood pressure
  • OrthoMega 820 – Can help raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol

Learning that you have Metabolic Syndrome shouldn’t discourage you, it should encourage you to lead a healthier lifestyle and reduce your heart disease, stroke, and diabetes risk. Remember that you have the power to fix it, and never give up the goal of being healthier!

Be sure to listen to our podcast on Metabolic Syndrome for more information!

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Keto, Paleo and Weight Loss

The Paleo Diet and the Ketogenic (Keto) Diet have become very popular over the last few years. You’ve probably tried at least one of them yourself, or you know someone who has. People often believe these are the healthiest diets, but this is not always true. As with everything, there are pros and cons to each diet, and success also depends on a person’s individual needs and genetics. For example, Paleo may provide too much protein for the average person, and Keto may be difficult for someone who has had their gallbladder removed.

The Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet gained a lot of popularity a few years ago with famous wrestlers, actors, and singers endorsing it. Eating Paleo has some benefits, but just like any diet, it’s not for everyone. The Paleo Diet is based on the idea of eating like a caveman, or eating what our ancestors hunted and gathered before farming began. Many of the most common ailments affecting the developed world today are due to the intake of too many carbohydrates (especially sugar), too little fat, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. On the Paleo Diet you eat a lot of fat and protein, very few carbs, and everything you eat is natural and unprocessed. This can be a great diet for some people, and it is healthier than a diet full of processed food and sugar, but it may be too much protein for the average person.

The Keto Diet

The Keto Diet has become very popular over the last couple years, and there are countless stories of people who followed the Keto Diet and saw their blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, and/or blood pressure normalize, in addition to losing weight. The Keto Diet emphasizes eating more good fats than carbs or protein, and making sure all the food you eat is natural. When done the right way, Keto can greatly improve your health, but it’s not the right diet for everyone.

People who have had their gallbladder removed often struggle with the Keto Diet. The gallbladder plays a major role in digesting fat, and many people are unable to tolerate high amounts of fat after having their gallbladder removed. The liver produces bile and the gallbladder stores it in between meals, then when fat is consumed your gallbladder releases bile to help break the fat down. For someone that no longer has a gallbladder, bile is often not released fast enough or in high enough amounts to properly break the fat down, especially on a high-fat diet like Keto. However, you don’t have to avoid fat for the rest of your life if you don’t have a gallbladder. Taking supplements that contain digestive enzymes and ox bile can help with fat digestion in people who have their gallbladder and in people who don’t. Try taking one to two Digestive Essentials right before eating a meal and see if you notice a difference.

Weight Loss

Strict diets are often difficult for people to follow, but eating healthy can be simple. Try taking it one step at a time like first cutting out processed food – think boxed, bagged and frozen foods – and replacing them with home cooked meals. Each little thing you do adds up to make a big difference, and pretty soon you’ll be eating healthy every day.

However, if you want a little extra help on your weight loss journey, you can give these supplements a try:

Eating healthy isn’t just about losing weight, it’s about getting healthier in every way and feeling better than ever. Focus on organic, whole foods, listen to your body, and follow a diet that fulfills your individual nutritional needs. Your body will thank you!

You can listen to our podcast episodes here. You can also listen on our YouTube channel here.

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Keto Reloaded

Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of the Green Wisdom Health Show. I’m Janet Lewis.

And, I’m Dr. Lewis.

And we are here bringing you another exciting show this week about keto. Apparently y’all didn’t get enough of it last week. So, we’re going to do it again and it’s called Keto Reloaded. And Dr. Lewis is going to tell us more about who needs it, what is it, why do it, and what are the health benefits. So, Dr. Lewis, it’s all yours.

Well, that’s scary. She gave me the look and that smile like yeah, you really have it now.

I do want to redo it. I don’t think we quite got into as much as we should. So, the question is: How do you know if you need to do keto? If you need to lose weight, that’d be one thing. If you have metabolic syndrome, high insulin, high A1C, or high glucose. If you have liver issues, and that doesn’t mean within parameters, that means anything above a 25, or so, with AST and ALT. If your triglycerides are high.

But, here’s a list of I think generally it would help people if they go on keto: I think keto for the large majority of people, that’s the way to go. But if you have abdominal pain, if you think you’re aging too rapidly – and that’s going to be brought back up by a question Debbie asked us – allergies, anxiety, arthritis. If you have bloating, belching, or gas – then you’ll have a sweet, darling wife like mine that gives me digestive enzymes to protect herself. If you have brain fog. We hear brain fog quite a bit. I’m surprised how many people have brain fog, and folks if it’s that, it’s all in your GI tract, and I think the best way to get your GI tracts healthy is, really and truly, do keto.

If you have a depressed mood. If you have diarrhea or constipation, difficulty focusing, difficulty keeping your thoughts in order – which is always me – dry skin and eczema, which is a question we got from Eddie up around Chicago. We’re gonna get into that, too. Fatigue. If you feel too full whether you eat a lot or not, and just like your stomach has something in it but it’s not digesting. Hair loss, dull lifeless hair. I hear that a lot. People say, well, I’m losing my hair or hair is getting thin.

Headaches can be a sign that you need to do keto because once you go into the fat-burning mode you begin to detoxify much more quickly. Joint pain, low energy. God, I can’t remember. Memory problems, muscle pain and nausea, poor skin color, rashes and skin problems.

Sexual dysfunction, lowered sex drive. I hear that a lot. And, unfortunately, I tell people, I say, “Well, you know you could take this and it could help this and your body can … It does this, this, this, this and increased libido.” And so many people say yeah, but my husband or wife doesn’t care or cannot. Well, put them on it, too, because a healthy sex life is actually good for a lot of things other than just feeling good. It helps you emotionally and spiritually, too. But, that’s a lot of symptoms. And they can be symptoms of a thyroid disorder or adrenal disorder, but I think if you have these the quickest, easiest way to do this is go keto.

I think the biggest, best guru about ketogenesis is Drew Manning, Fit2Fat2Fit. I think he is probably the best coach to help you go through it, and I really think people should buy into his program and get that guidance. Just like I tell people I would love to do your lab and let me be the guide because I can help you. The lab I like the most is a comprehensive plus the hormones, male or female, depending on who you are.

Explain that a little bit, when you say you like that lab the most. Why do you like that lab?

Because it covers so bloomin’ much. It goes on and on and on. It goes way beyond what your average doctor will order. And, I love our medical profession. They do a lot of really good things. It’d be a much sadder, less healthy world without them. But, they have their constraints with the insurance companies. And we do beyond the CBC and CMP. We do the cholesterol panel. We don’t just do the TSH. We do five parts of the thyroid. We do insulin. We do ferritin. We do A1C. We do c-reactive protein, cardiac specific. Vitamin D, and urinalysis, and cortisol, and then the hormones. And it just goes on and on and on. I probably left out one or two because I have memory problems, too, trying to keep all this straight in my head which is way beyond anything I could ever do.

So, I just think, make a decision. Get on the train and stay with it. That’s the key, is sticking with it. And you will always be challenged, whether you want to call that a mental or spiritual challenge, you will always be tempted to walk in disbelief or unbelief. Yes, I did this good thing, but I had this symptom so, therefore, it must be this good thing. Well, something just destroyed your courage, your faith, and your trust – the very thing that could get you well. So, you kind of have to dig deep sometimes to get well.

People that have gluten intolerances, well, I think the keto diet would be really good because they, for the most part, get you off, they encourage you to get off all the grains. I’ve always been a fan of Atkins, Paleo, Primal, Beyond Primal, and now the keto. I really prefer keto a little bit better just because I prefer the higher fat and the lower but moderate protein.

It is very important that you understand that there are a few people that should not do that. And that’d be the people that have kidney problems because of the extra protein. People that have digestive problems could almost always do it, but they have to have probiotics and digestive enzymes, and they have to be the correct ones. And, Lord knows, there’s a lot of incorrect ones. If you’re pregnant or nursing I wouldn’t suggest it. But, in my opinion, the fastest, easiest, and healthiest way to burn fat is keto.

When you are talking about keto, some of the various benefits of the ketogenic diet are obviously weight loss, which they’re looking for.

Yeah.

It’s a huge antiinflammatory.

Big time.

It increases your muscle mass.

Woohoo!

And, actually reduces your appetite. I’m assuming because you’re killing off all the little yeast people in there that aren’t getting anything to eat. So, you’re not giving them any bad stuff. It can actually lower your insulin levels and some people have backed out of being a diabetic.

That’s real common, by the way. It’s not a death sentence.

And it may help lower your risk of cancer. So, again, you’re not feeding all the things with sugar that the cancer loves to live on.

See, that’s why I hang around Janet ’cause she brings up things I forgot about.

Yeah, that’s it. That’s why he hangs around me.

Yeah, it’s that beautiful smile.

Johns Hopkins University. Read that about how sugar causes cancer. Just go to Johns Hopkins and Google it.

Yeah, also when you’re getting ready to do the keto diet you want to make sure that you remove the sugars from your diet, obviously.

Artificial sweeteners.

Diet things.

If it says no sugar, low sugar, low fat stay away from it.

Remove starches. What kind of starches?

I don’t know. The only starch I know about I have in my jeans.

I think that’s like potatoes and that sort of thing.

Pasta, rice. Some of the other things that you might not think that’s associated with ketogenesis, once you get into it, ADD, ADHD is normally improved. Of course, the metabolic function. Blood pressure is normally lowered like crazy.

I talked to a guy older than me yesterday. He said he’s cut his lisinopril in half. I said I hope that’s with the knowledge and permission of your MD. And he lost 21 pounds. And he’s an old guy ’cause he’s older than me.

Irritable bowel syndrome almost always improves.

And we also had a lady that should not have been doing keto that came in here.

Yeah, kidney issues.

Yeah, she had a kidney issue. And what are you doing whenever you’re doing keto? You’re having high amounts of protein, correct?

Depends on, there’s different types of keto. And I like it ’cause it’s high fat but, yes, it’s usually increased protein and she doesn’t digest it real well and has the kidney issues.

And she came in and her legs were really swollen down at the bottom. She goes, “Look what’s happened to my legs. They look like elephant trunks.” And I told her, “Well, I don’t believe this diet is for you.” So, there are people that don’t need it also, even though it is great, but it is a lot of protein and a lot of fats and if you have digestive problems then it’s really hard to break down sometimes. And, obviously, if you have a kidney problem you really need to watch that.

Migraines usually get better. And, you know, there’s been neurologists for many, many, many years that if you have any kind of neurodegenerative brain problems like Parkinson, et cetera, they’ll put you on a ketogenic diet and you usually get better. It can get very much improved, if not totally cleared up, in some cases. Dementia, if it’s mild to moderate, generally gets completely cleared up. Mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, usually get improved. But I want to throw in a little thing about that.

By doing the keto diet?

Yes. But, you folks that have followed us for a long time, how many have you heard me quote out of that research article that says wheat can cause schizophrenia. So, on the keto diet they tell you to stay away from wheat. And you need to stay away from corn. Now, we’re here in East Texas and we have a pretty heavy Hispanic influence, some Western, some Southern, a lot of Hispanic, a little Cajun thrown in. I would prefer corn. But, now corn, you know what they use corn for? To make cows and chickens fat. So, just because you’re staying away from wheat doesn’t mean – you know, it’s still high glycemic. So, stay away from those things. But that’s one of the reason ketogenic diet works for mental illnesses is because you’re staying away from the wheat that can cause that. I’ve seen a lot of people get off wheat and their depression goes away completely, even if they’ve had it several decades.

Fibromyalgia. Those people are pitiful. They hurt so bad and I just want to reach around and hug them even though they always tell us you’re not supposed to hug your patients. It’s like, I’ll hug you – male, female, doesn’t matter to me. Acne usually will clear up, but again you’ve got to watch the digestive system and we’re really, really good at that. Autoimmune diseases generally improve. And we’re seeing more and more autoimmune diseases and there’s a lot of that linked to the grains. Maybe not the grains, maybe it’s the lectins or maybe it’s the glyphosate or Roundup.

For example, people say but I’m not toxic, I’m not in any toxin. We were driving to work and there was the Texas Highway Department, it said just on the side of the truck “herbicides.” What do you think they were spraying? And they were spraying the holy, oh my God out of it. So, we got a big dose of whatever they’re spraying this morning because you could smell it when we passed them.

Heartburn, the GERD, the things that can contribute to Barrett esophagus can be very much improved. Especially if you get it early before it gets there. Enlarged prostate. Wow, I don’t know about that.

And I sure don’t know about that.

Sometimes liver issues and gallstones are improved, or sometimes completely cleared up, but you’ve gotta watch it because on keto when you start mobilizing all these fats your cholesterol can go way up and your liver has to process that. And that’s why we’re going to talk about one product today that covers a lot of these sins.

And that product is? Drum roll …

I was just waiting to see if Janet would give me permission. You know, she kind of has to control me ’cause I’m pretty much uncontrollable. And I was looking for her permission to talk about it.

It’s called bergamot or bergamot – B E R G A M O T. And the best one comes out of Italy and this company, we sell their products, has about 95% of the entire good crop in Italy wrapped up. And what it does, it’s used a lot for cardiovascular health, but it also does a lot of things that lowers insulin, lowers glucose, lowers A1C, helps mobilize cholesterol. I advise my patients to take two at night because it’s nighttime when most of the cholesterol and the conversions are taking place in the liver, so take it then. It’s very, very incredibly clinically tested and it dampens those mechanisms of cholesterol production. So it helps to support heart function, blood flow, healthy arteries, circulatory health, as well as other things. And men that have lost that lovin’ feeling, it’s usually circulatory health to certain areas.

And you’re mentioning that because on the lab with people on keto …

The cholesterol usually goes up for a while and then after your body gets used to it, people that are on keto generally have much, much lower cholesterol, but more importantly, lower triglycerides, higher HDL, lower LDL and VLDL. It gets healthier than most people that are vegan.

So why does it go up if they’re doing something healthy? Why does the cholesterol go higher?

Well, because the body switches from burning sugar or glucose to burning fats.

Okay.

But once it acclimates it does a really good job.

Yeah, because I know we’ve seen their liver enzymes also start going up, which that’s gotta be broke down through the liver, correct?

Exactly, because there’s so many different ways to detox in the liver and we know what to do to help detox it.

And that bergamot is a big-

Big time, big time.

Liver cleanser.

Oh my God, it’s sitting on my nightstand so I can take it at night when I’m supposed to.

So you can’t take it at night?

I can.

You can take it at night.

I’m supp-

He just looks at it at night, folks.

Well.

You take … well, he tells you that because you’re supposed to take two at bed. That’s when you do it. You do it right before you go to bed because that’s-

Well, Janet’s picking on me.

I am. It just seems to be when it works the best.

She told somebody yesterday, she said, “Well yeah, he takes four or five pills in the morning.” And it’s like, well she makes me a drink full of powders, and liquids, and God only knows, pretty much everything we have in the store. And, so after she said four or five – that’s our new cleaning lady that she told that to – I counted them and I put about 30 capsules I open up and put in my drink every morning and that’s why I feel about half of my age. It takes a little work and a little effort. Folks, you can’t get something for nothing. If you want to get good results you’ve got to plant healthy seeds and that’s what my friend Debbie said on Shoot’n Straight with Dr. Lewis – which I wish all of you would sign up for – Debbie’s complimented us.

Well, what is that exactly? The Shoot’n Straight with Dr. Lewis? How do they sign up for that?

You know, Janet’s trying to challenge me-

No.

Because, you know, I told her one time, I said, “Geez, I really appreciate you dragging me into the 20th Century with all this technology.” She said, “Stephen, it is the 21st Century.

It is called a closed Facebook group.

That is correct.

Or Spacebook, I’m not sure which.

He does great. It is closed Facebook group.

Yeah, I’m a parrot. I don’t know what those words means.

If you shoot him an email, if you’re not his friend already on Facebook, he can add you in and there he discusses all kind of health issues. He asks for all kinds of questions for the podcast. And you learn a whole bunch. And the people that are already patients of ours, it helps inspire them to keep going and not give up whenever they feel like they want to throw in the towel because they’re not getting instant results.

Yep.

It really helps being in a group of other people. But it is called Shoot’n, without a G on the end, because we are from East Texas and obviously-

‘Cause I shot the G off. Well, she was talking to a teacher, scheduling her appointment the other day, and she says something and used at the end of it. And I said you’re talking to an English teacher and you’re ending the sentence with a preposition, or proposition, or whatever those little things are.

It just wears off on you after a while.

Yeah, I stole her from the big city of Forth Worth where she was high class.

Well, we have a few questions here I want to make sure we get to and then we can get back to some of the foods maybe that’s on the keto diet if we get time for that.

Absolutely.

Okay. First off, we want to make sure we answer Eddie. You mentioned him earlier. Eddie S. He has a question about thoughts on supplements to help with colitis and IBS. And that’s a great question because it really does kind of go with keto, too, correct?

Yeah, usually your GI tract gets better. Well, first of all you’ve got to think about probiotics. And we have probiotics here that are actually 350 billion, although that’s not really true. They’re made at 650. I sell them all over the country. People absolutely love ’em. The first thing you have to do, Eddie, is get a good digestive enzyme. I love the Ortho Digestzyme. I think that’s the bomb for most people. I use something called Physicians Elemental Diet. I use that ProbioMax, which is the 350 billion that’s made at 650.

And SBI Protect is one of our really favorites right now.

That is so, so, so, oh my God important because it’s bovine derived immunoglobulins.

And we had a lady that was literally having diarrhea every day for the last 6 months that ever since we’ve got this product in, which was about three months ago, she started taking it immediately. She has not had any diarrhea since she’s been on it.

And, you know, she did all the medical care and she did everything I told her to. She was very cooperative. And I, of course, I told her to go to a GI doctor and she went and got the colonoscopy. And, again, I really do love the medical profession. I’m really proud that there’s so many of them around here locally that cooperate with us because the patient wins. And, this lady was a teacher and she says I can’t afford to have 17 bowel movements a day, unexpected and unexplainable. And now she is so, so happy.  So, those products-

Well, I think that SBI Protect, people look at it and go, “Oh my gosh, it’s expensive.” Because it’s like 70-something dollars. And that product actually was a drug at one point and they were getting $400 for that drug.

Well, when another company had it.

Yeah, when another company had it. Well, the patent ran out on it and so Ortho Molecular picked it up and made it into a natural product, so the 70-something dollars is a value, especially when you have gut problems like that.

Yeah, to reduce it six times less than what it was. And Eddie, I love talking to this guy. He puts some really good inspirational posts on Facebook, too. But he wanted to know about causes or deficiencies in the body that could cause dryness of skin on the face and/or psoriasis. Psoriasis or eczema, you always have to look to the gut. So you have to recede with the probiotics. But, one of the things I like to tell people is do the high levels of good fat, omega 3 are always the best place to start. Borage oil is really good. CLA, which actually the good bacteria can help make CLA, conjugated linoleic acid. Borage oil. Let’s see, flax oil, black currant oil, primrose oil. All of those are very, very good. And this Orthomega is a triglyceride ester, which I’ve seen the research on it. It’s 393% more absorbable.

So we like that because you only have to take two of those. They’re a fish oil.

Instead of four to six.

They’re the non-burpy fish oil.

Yep.

They have the good stuff in them and you only have to do two. Taking two of them is like taking four of a lesser fish oil.

At least.

Normal one.

Yeah, at least. Then there was Debbie.

Debbie P.

That wanted to know about supplements for help with saggy skin, nails, and hair. And me being the very serious guy I am, says, “Yes, ma’am, we sell them by the bucket load, but why is it mostly women buy them?” And she says, “Men don’t seem to mind getting wrinkly. LOL.” We sell a lot of something called CollaGEN, which is the type one, type two, highly researched and, God, even people with joint pain are buying that.

Which, is one of the types of collagen that’s in it. When you say type one or type two. One of them helps with more inflammatory and the other helps more with skin and-

Yeah, it fills out the gaps-

Hair.

And it’s hygroscopic, so it makes your wrinkles less deep. We sell a lot of product called Hair/Skin/Nails and Liposomal C, which is about 92-94% absorption versus any other vitamin C. And vitamin C is very incredibly important in making collagen, which not only holds your skin together and makes you less wrinkly for you beautiful women, but it also helps bad disks, bad joints because being hygroscopic it brings more moisture into those joints and lubricates it, or greases the ole ball joints, so to speak. If you guys understand a ball joint on a car. So, hopefully that will answer your questions.

Well, one thing we noticed about taking CollaGEN – I love the way they do it, they spell it with the GEN capitalized on the end – but, we notice that we can work out in our yard twice as long without actually hurting.

Took twice as much beer. I’m sorry. Just in my mind.

Just in his mind.

Oh, yeah.

We were-

She won’t let me take a break.

We were much more limber than what we would have been without it.

And I was not beat up the next day in my low back, which is my low back is kind of cratered and not degenerated, just from an old gunshot wound accident, but the collagen is working wonders on my old decrepit joints, but they’re not worn out. It’s just there was a lot of damage to them.

So that was really a big positive.

Yeah, big time.

So, you want to mention some of the foods that are ideal to eat on a ketogenic diet. For those of you that don’t really know what they’re supposed to be having on this and what the difference is. It’s about eat a lot of fats, correct?

Good fat.

Okay.

Uh, the … Go ahead.

I was gonna name off a few of them.

Okay, go right ahead.

The animal-based omega 3 fats – they especially say from Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies, and krill.

Yep.

So, you gotta like fish to be on this, huh. Well, that helps. Olives and olive oil.

You have to … I don’t know how to find a good olive oil. I think it’s supposed to be third-party certified so they don’t fake them.

Yeah, because a lot of them are diluted with vegetable oil.

And, you know, the vegetable oil that’s a good thing. That’s one of the things that is very highly inflammatory, the stuff like corn, soybeans, safflower, canola – no, don’t ever do canola.

And we always recommend just doing MCT oil.

Yeah.

Which is a medium-chain triglyceride oil. We have one here that is coconut tasting. We have one that you can actually cook with that-

It tastes like a pina colada.

Yeah, and then you have one that you can mix with your shakes, which tastes really good. So it’s MCT colada for the one that tastes really good you take just by itself. And then straight MCT oil is a great one to cook with.

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Raw, grass-fed butter is excellent for this particular diet.

Or grass fed the cow that they got the butter from, one way or the other. But it really matters if the cows out in the pasture they actually create more CLA that I talked about before, and that’s the one that burns the fat around the viscera, or the middle. Very important.

Raw nuts like macadamia, almonds, and pecans.

I do walnuts when I get home almost every day.

And then various seeds such as pumpkin, sesame, and hemp.

That’s controversial, but I think that’s very, very true.

Avocados are a big one.

Love ’em, love ’em.

The grass-fed meats, not the ones filled with all the antibiotics that you’re probably going to the local grocery store to look at. ‘Cause then you’ve got a whole other set of problems trying to digest out the antibiotics from the bad meat.

And don’t think this is bad ’cause fat’s got kind of a bad rap and they said it’s saturated fats are bad. Saturated fats are not bad. It’s the trans hydrogenated or hydrogenated fats that you need to avoid like the plague.

And organic pastured eggs.

Yep.

The big thing to do is water. But you can also, with this diet, add in organic black coffee without sweeteners or milk.

Whoops.  Our heavy whipping cream is organic that we do put in it.

But you can use can use coconut milk and you can put coconut milk in your coffee.

Or the butter. You know, the Bulletproof Coffee, that’s good.

And ghee is actually something you can put in there, too.

Yeah.

Which is the clarified butter.

So there’s actually no correlation between the intake of saturated fat and heart disease. Just because they told that lie loud and long, don’t believe everything you hear or read. It is not unusual for people to lose 50 or 100 pounds in six months to a year on this keto. So, I’d say get started. Talk to Drew Manning at Fit2Fat2Fit. And then it’s very incredibly important that you do the lab that we do with it so that you will have success with it. Whether you have a kidney issue, a liver issue, a cholesterol issue, a detoxification issue, low vitamin D, and your insulin and all that. So, we can kind of help you have a much more successful ketogenic diet and get better results from that.

And the good news is about that lab, the one that Dr. Lewis is recommending, is the GWH3 is the comprehensive one. Of course, if you want to add hormones to it, it would either be GWH1 or 2.

One is for the women because they’re always number one and right.

And two is for the males because they’re coming in behind us. But, anyway, the reason he recommends that is because you actually get to speak to Dr. Lewis about your lab results. It’s not like we go, hey we ran some labs, which is minimum of 12 panels here, and here you go, I hope you figure it out. Dr. Lewis actually is involved in this lab panel. You get to discuss all the lab findings with him and the recommendations that he has for you. So, if you’re trying to do the keto diet and you’re coming into issue like, I know constipation is a big one. You just kind of quit going to the bathroom because all the fat, or you’ve had your gallbladder removed, you might want to consider doing the lab. But you actually get to talk to him.

You get a functional medicine report that goes with it to help show you where the numbers are optimal. Because just because your doctor told you you were fine and it was all great, you might not be optimal, which is what we find many times on the lab. And then we also give you a list of recommended supplements and that can help you process doing the diet in a better, faster, efficient way. So, that’s our recommendations on keto. I think we’re pretty reloaded unless Dr. Lewis has anything he’d like to add in.

No, but sometimes – not that I want to write another book, it’s take a lot of time – sometimes I want to write a book that says if your doctor says you’re fine but you don’t feel fine … I think that’d be a really good smart aleck way to start. The only thing I’d like to say is that we always hope that God gives you joy in your eyes, love in your heart, and laughter on your lips. Find some reason to feel good and stick with it long enough to be healthy so that it’s easier to feel good and give joy to other people.

Amen. And with that, you guys have a blessed week and we’ll be here next time on the Green Wisdom Health Show.

 

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Down The Rabbit Hole with Keto and other Health Issues

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

And I’m Dr. Lewis.

And we are Green Wisdom Health, home of your low cost lab work, here to educate you and entertain you with another interesting, fascinating show. We are going to talk today a little bit about going down the rabbit hole with keto and other health issues, and we’ve specifically named it this because we have a very special guest with us today from locally here. I know you guys think that we only help people across the United States, but we actually have a very large patient base in Longview, Texas and the surrounding area. She’s been a patient of ours for about almost five years now. Many of you, I think you hear us, but you don’t really know whether or not what we tell you is true or if we’re just the same as somebody else or we’re just tootin’ our own horn.

Hey, I do that all the time.

I know. You toot your horn.

We thought we’d bring you a live person that is unpaid to come in here and tell us all about her experience and what she went through, and why she chose us, and why she continues to choose us. So, with that being said, we’d like to welcome Amanda from Troup, Texas to tell us all about where she has come from, where she’s going.

Well, thank you so much. I’m excited to be here, and yes, I have to let the audience know I’m not getting paid and nobody coached me on what to say. I really wanted to come in and talk about my experience because I think it’s important to know the patient perspective and how people can really benefit from doing their lab work consistently, sticking with good supplements that really help, your supplement, your diet. It’s just been a wonderful process for me.

When you say supplement, do you really think they are different than what you just pick up somewhere?

Absolutely. I was telling you all before, I grew up taking Flintstone vitamins and those little orange vitamin C’s that were chewable. I loved those. I would sneak extra.

It’s so hard for us to get kids off of those, too. They’re like, “They’re not the gummies like we’re used to.”

Yeah, we grew up with vitamins from Walmart or wherever, but the thing about what you all are doing here is that the supplements are obviously high quality, and we can prove that through the lab work. It’s just very important for me to have that proof and to be able to see progress being made.

Without going into detail about what’s on your lab, can you give us a rough idea of why you came in to start with and kind of where you are now with things.

Sure. I really heard about you all because at one point you all had a local show a couple years back, about five years ago. I’m a big fan of talk radio, and so I came across the show. I heard what Dr. Lewis was saying. It made a lot of sense, and I started to listen consistently. Then I decided I’ll go on the website, I’ll fill out the health survey, and I’ll just see what happens. I think the thing that really sold me on the process is that there’s this lab work that we can prove or we can see what’s going on. So, I had my lab work done and got a baseline, and met with Dr. Lewis, and felt very welcomed. I started taking the recommended list of supplements and just went from there and stayed consistent with it. Then the second lab was what was really exciting, when I had that second lab.

Why were you consistent? What was your motivation?

I guess I’m a rule follower, and so I like to see if a process is going to work. As I was taking these, sometimes there’s a lot to swallow, literally, and it’s …

Well, that’s how we intended.

We’ve done better at that. We’ve changed some products so things are better, so not so many.

I just wanted to get to the second lab, the six-month checkpoint, so to speak. I just wanted to see what would happen. Some numbers moved, and that was exciting. I made progress, and so I just continued on.

When she’s talking about numbers moving, when we do lab panels, our minimum panel is 12 different panels which is what we call our comprehensive panel, and we’re looking for things like viruses that are underlying in the lab, digestion, liver enzymes, three-month blood sugar to see if you really are becoming a diabetic before it happens or if you are one. Many times had backed out of it. High risk of heart attack or stroke. That’s something that’s not run very often. We run stored iron. We run vitamin D. Five parts of your thyroid looking for optimal levels and maybe Amanda will talk a little bit about that, and cortisol levels. Were any of those things that you remember?

Absolutely. Just about all of those things. I didn’t really come into this with a lot of major health issues, but I could see some things starting to happen and some things on the horizon that could cause problems. I know I have a family history of heart attack and stroke, and so what I found out from my lab was that my thyroid levels were off, and I was at a relatively high risk for a future cardiac event which was quite scary and just cortisol issues. When I started, I was in the middle of a PhD program and just caused a lot of stress.

So, see she’s actually smart, you all.

Not only very intelligent, but very educated, and maybe that could lead you into what it did to your cortisol, all the excess stress.

I would not have made it through that PhD program without the … What was it, the 5-MTF or …?

The 5-HTP?

Yes, and then the pantothenic acid, I don’t know what you all gave me, but I just could not have done it. I get pretty stressed out pretty easily, as my sweet husband can attest, and that really helped me.

5-HTP is the piece of God in a bottle.

Yes. Not to say I didn’t feel stress along the way, but that made me stay focused on what I was doing and it really provided … Without really even realizing it, it provided me some steadiness. I don’t know how to explain it really.

We tell people it helps you flow instead of hanging onto the sides of the river as you’re going down. It helps you flow.

Yes, and when you’re in a big project like a dissertation or a medical residency, or something like that, it is a high stress longterm marathon, and there’s small breaks in between big projects, and you really need something to help with that. I don’t know how everyone faces things like that, but it definitely helped me. I was looking back at my labs in preparation for today’s podcast, and looking at my cardiac … What is it, C-reactive protein?

Right.

I’m kind of speaking the language now that I’ve been doing this for five years. I came in some risk for cardiac event and then I could track it. As I got closer to my comprehensive exams, which is the big exam in my doctoral program, two day exam, you cover everything you’ve learned in the past two ye- Very stressful. I could see six months out and then a month before I took that test, my C-reactive protein jumped way, way up and my cortisol was just … You have to adjust. Just because you get on some supplements doesn’t mean that things are automatically going to improve, but you’ve got to keep track of things because life changes. So, you get on it for a while and you feel good and you say, “Okay, I’ve had enough.” No, you can’t do that. You have to keep going because life keeps changing, whether it’s stress levels, environmental factors, toxicity, all of these things that we come in contact with, this is going to keep happening, and so you need to keep account of your health.

I think Dr. Lewis puts it really good when people say, “Oh, this is all going all with my lab. Well, which couple of things can I pick out?” He always says, “Well, how ’bout we just put a little bit of gas in your vehicle. How far do you want to go? Where would you like to run out, at what place?” That’s kind of what it is with the natural medicine. You have to keep putting it in because I think people are so conditioned to medications that it, you don’t want to say heals their problem, but at some point it looks like it’s fixed because it’s a medication when that’s not necessarily true. I think they think that with natural medicine, it’s like it should be fixed at some point, and I stop. It’s like well, yes, some things get better and you don’t take as much or it changes, but just like you said, it’s kind of like eating food. It just is a different terrain and different products, and you just keep progressing. You just keep getting better and better.

Right. You’re supplementing your nutrients and the need for that never runs out. I’m not saying that just to say, “Hey, you gotta buy more products here,” but it’s really something that makes sense if you think about it from a non-medical model, and you think about it from a nutrition model. If you look at supplementing your diet, yeah, there’s supplements that I’ve gotten off of because levels have improved or whatever the case is. Then there’s also things that I’ve gotten back on because life changes.

Life changes.

That’s one of the points I always try to make is people say, “Well, what do I have to take?” I say, “Well, you know, it’s up to you. When I go to Montana, I fill the tank up. I don’t go with just one gallon of gas.” Some people say, “Well, don’t you think my body is gonna get confused with all this?” It’s like if you eat a sandwich and drink something, your body is smart enough to sort it out. I say things in a real smart aleck answer just to make people think about it differently. We actually did a podcast on Steven-isms, and I didn’t get around to many. I have a whole book full of them, folks. It’s not to be a smart aleck. It’s just to help impress upon you the need.

There’s this preacher that comes in here, and I just love him dearly. He says, “Well, Doc, how long do I have to stay on this?” I said, “How long do I need to read my bible and keep putting money in your offering plate?” He says, “Okay, that was harsh.”

So, to the degree that you want to or can, and that depends … I take less than Janet does and she says, “Well, you don’t need another new gun. You’re spending money on supplements.” I said, “You don’t need another pair of shoes,” at which point I knew I had messed up, and I’m still apologizing for it, so …

Big mistake.

Do it to the degree that you feel comfortable, whether there’s two or three things or many, many, many things.

My degree I feel comfortable at is filling the whole tank up and carrying a spare along just in case I run out. I take everything.

Well, both Janet and Amanda take a lot more than I do, but that’s why women outlive men 7.8 years on the average.

Well, we have to take care of you all, so we have to take more to keep up with that.

That’s right, honey.

So, with your thyroid, you did mention that you had some thyroid issues. A lot of people think, “Well, I don’t feel great, but my doctor has told me my thyroid is fine.” Did that happen to you also? Were you ever told your thyroid was fine or had you ever had it checked before you came here?

I don’t think I ever really had it checked. I thought maybe that’s an issue because of how the symptoms of a low thyro- I don’t even know the correct terminology, but how the symptoms of a low thyroid were described, and so I was dragging quite a bit. I remember as a kid we’d go to town. We lived 30 minutes outside of Tyler. We’d go to town to shop, grocery shopping, and I’d get so tired just as a 10 year old. Get so tired. I guess I’ve always been a little draggy. Dr. Lewis could probably speak more to my thyroid journey than I could, but I’ve notice a difference in the way I feel, but also it was important that I realized that the thyroid affects so many other things just like the gut affects so many things. The major thing that I’ve learned from this is that everything is speaking to other area … It’s all interconnected, and once you realize this, you start to understand that one pill doesn’t fix all. There’s things going on that you don’t know about that could be affecting things that are quite obvious to you.

That’s another thing. A lot of people say, “Well, I’ve had this since I was young, so it’s normal.” Well, just because you felt bad all your life or haven’t had the energy doesn’t mean it’s normal. It may mean you’ve really had a problem all your life.

Right.

When we’re looking at thyroid, we’re looking for where the numbers are optimal, not just in range. If your doctors told you that, “Hey, you look great,” which is usually a TSH which is not even the thyroid. It’s the thyroid stimulating hormone. You might want to consider getting some different parts of the thyroid run because when we run it, it’s the free T3 which is the big one, and making that optimal that actually boosts metabolism, weight loss. I think Dr. Lewis is going to talk a little bit about keto. Hashimoto’s, that’s a whole other subject. There’s things that can be really wrong with your thyroid that’s creating all kind of things including risk of heart attack or stroke. It does increase that, too.

It can be your toxic load. There’s research now that says we have 10,000 times more plastics in us than the heavy metals that we’ve never taken out. So, like Janet and Amanda do, they take a lot of supplements longterm so you up your nutrient level so your body can actually increase the different detoxification pathways. It doesn’t matter that you’re taking a lot out every day because you have to realize that the environment is actually putting these toxins back in, so the net gain decrease in your toxins is actually pretty small. So, that’s why time and consistency means so very, very much, and that’s why some people are very reluctant to lose weight because the fat cells don’t want to let go of the toxins unless you have the detoxification pathways going through. I just gained back 14 pounds just to experiment with some other things to see if I can create some weight loss there.

We were pretty blessed … We got on Drew Manning’s podcast, the fit-to-fat-to-fit guy, and I think he is the number one guru on keto and what you should do there, and actually the reason we named this podcast, “Down the Rabbit Hole,” was because Amanda said she thought I did a really good job on that podcast, and actually I didn’t because I felt bad. So, she is the one who started the rabbit trail or rabbit hole stories.

Keto is a big thing I think everybody should do it. I’ve been a big fan of Atkins paleo, primal, keto. I really prefer keto over paleo. There are some differences. Some of the things that we hear about, though, is well, if you have these symptoms, and there are symptoms that are associated with getting well, you can take more salt. They recommend the Himalayan, the pink salt, because of the mineral profile. Then they recommend different electrolytes.

There are many, many differences in what you’re taking. We use things called Reacted magnesium, Reacted multi-men’s, because they actually chelate them to different amino acids which makes them much more bioavailable so your body can absorb it, and that’s another thing some people don’t understand. Just because you put it in your body doesn’t mean you’re absorbing it because we have a gastrointestinal problem with the leaky gut. We were having great experience with some new products that actually helped to heal leaky gut which actually helps to heal leaky brain and you get better brain function by getting better colon function which should tell you about … Well, nevermind. I don’t want to go there. I’ll get in trouble.

Well, I know some people have talked about when they go on a keto diet that they start getting irritable bowel-type stuff. Is that product you’re talking about something that would help with that?

Very much. I love Drew Manning. I think what he’s doing really is good. I think for those that have other issues that the best thing they can do is get the lab work and reveal the issues because you’re starting to mobilize … You’re eating high fat, so you’re going to mobilize that and begin to burn it, but you have to have good digestive enzymes and that’s not always easy. It does matter where you buy them.

You have to watch the liver because if the liver doesn’t have all of its 11 detoxification pathways going through, you can get a clogged up liver and you can see that with your liver enzymes. The AST and ALTs will begin to go higher and higher, and if you don’t do something about it before it gets bad, you get what’s called non-alcoholic fatty liver. You don’t want that. And muscle cramps. People say, “Well, I have Hashimoto’s. Is keto gonna fix it?” Keto eventually is going to fix a lot of things, but you have to address these issues. It’s wise, I think, to watch these things and increase the detoxification pathways.

We’ve got a great new product which is 10 times higher in calcium D-glucarate than anything we’ve ever seen, and that is a major, major opening or helps the liver detoxify in a glucuronidation pathway, so we’re getting good, good, good results and we just started using it. Janet took a bottle home and said, “This is for you.” She didn’t give me a choice, so, “Yes, ma’am, I’m taking it.”

Well, what we’ve seen is that it’s really increasing hormone function in both men and women. It doubled a guy’s testosterone in three months.

And opened up more of it for availability, and it’s like I don’t know if his wife is going to say, “Thank you,” or say, “Cut him off. He’s too frisky now.” I don’t know, but …

Yeah. It’s DHEA for a man. It was a DHEA 25 mg and then this CDG EstroDIM.

And the Prostatrol Forte for the natural aromatase inhibitors. But, people say, “But I’m taking 25 mg of DHEA another brand.” Yeah, well it’s not working because I can see it on your lab. Not all supplements are equal and sometimes you’re taking a good supplement, but your body is not absorbing it.

For women, I’m being the Guinea pig here because women need testosterone, too, so I thought take it on the chin and I’ll take it.

Yeah, if she grows a mustache like mine, I’m moving out.

We might put Amanda on it pretty soon here.

Men, if you’ve got a woman, her sex drive has gone away, this CBG …

I’m waiting to hear what’s coming because you’ve got two women here, so go ahead.

Maybe I should leave.

No, no. This is going to be good.

No, I don’t have enough testosterone to talk about it in front of women, but once a woman’s testosterone comes up, they tend to have a better ability to lose weight, but their libido increases. I told one woman, I said, “When your husband realizes that you’re back to the girl he married, I want some Shiner Bock beer and dark chocolate.” He stopped us, he really did, at a restaurant and said, “Are you Dr. Lewis?” I said, “Yeah. He said, “I owe you some Shiner Bock and dark chocolate.” I said, “Hey, your wife’s a good listener.”

So, folks, these hormones can be altered by opening up these detox pathways. That calcium D-glucarate in much larger amount than anything we’ve seen before so far is working real, real well.

With this keto diet, isn’t it true they’re supposed to eat a whole lot of fats? Is that right?

Yes. That’s why I said you have to have the enzymes to do it because most of us don’t have the proper enzymes. Amanda, she stuck with us long enough. She used to take one digestive enzyme. We had really good results from it, and she actually won a bottle of it by answering correctly a question we had on the show. Now we have digestive enzymes that have … What’s the difference? I think the old one that worked so well had like 16 units to digest fat and the new one has 1008 units. Do the math on that. So, we have better enzymes to digest the fat. The more you digest the fat, then the more the body can start burning fat.

So, that’s part of what’s wrong when people tell you they’re on the keto diet but they feel like it’s not working or they feel like they’re getting constipated and they’re …

Gas, belching, bloating, constipation.

Some slow moving trains.

Amanda, what made you willing to go from one product that worked to another one? You know, she’s hung around a long time, and she’s been part of our experiment. We’re always getting better and more knowledgeable.

Well, I trust you and so if you say you’ve got a better product … You’ve never steered me wrong before, and so part of it is just the credibility that I perceive in you and just the understanding that there’s always going to be new discoveries or different products come about that improve on what’s been done. You’ve got to be open to a little bit of experimentation, and it’s always nice to have options.

That’s why they call it practicing.

That’s right.

You know what’s really scary. I’m in here with two really wonderful women, and God, if I knew I had that much power when I was 16, I’d have gotten in trouble.

You probably were in trouble. We probably don’t want to talk about it on this show.

No, it’s a G-rated show.

We do have a couple of questions, though. One of them was a commentary, I guess, from Dr. Lewis about vitamin D and how it could help treat diabetes. What did you want to tell us about that?

Well, one of the things I want to make … I am. I’ll get in trouble again. Oh, let’s go back to G-rated. That was scrolling across Good Morning America, “Vitamin D can help with diabetes,” and my answer to that is, “Duh.” I’ve been saying it 35 years and now all of a sudden after they poo-pooed nutritional supplements for so many years, now even Good Morning America is getting in on the deal.

Think about it. Two hundred years ago when we weren’t full of plastics and heavy metals, the sun was shining down on you at a very strong angle. You could burn 10,000 calories for energy and muscle while we were out playing with our cows and plowing the fields. In the innate wisdom of the human body, when the sun started going at a different angle because of autumn, the body would go down in vitamin D and say, “Hmm, I’m gonna have less calories ’cause we’re going into the seasons where there’s not as much food, so I can take not 10,000 calories, but I have to take 1,000 calories and actually put it into fat.”

We have low vitamin D because sunshine cannot be converted as much because we’ve lowered our cholesterol which is absolutely incredibly important to make vitamin D which is not even a vitamin. It’s actually a hormone. All these things is duh. There’s plenty of research that says you have to have this supplement, this supplement, this supplement because it’s not in your food, folks. Even organic food is a very good thing to invest in. I don’t care if it costs an average of 30% more. It has more nutrition in it and less pesticides, but to function toward 100%, you have to up your nutritional intake, and that has to be done by supplements and it has to be quality supplements like you want a quality spouse. There are differences, folks.

Interesting. As usual.

I got the look on that one from two women.

You leave us speechless many times.

Yeah, I wish that were true.

We both have similar spouses, too.

That’s why I like you.

Amanda’s spouse is absolutely awesome. I love him.

We also had a question about someone, and you briefly touched on this, but I don’t think they completely understand the answer. They ask about doing the keto diet, but they have Hashimoto’s, which for you that don’t know what that is, that’s an autoimmune problem in the thyroid. Does it mess with Hashimoto’s or can someone with Hashimoto’s do a keto diet? Do you have any weird symptoms because you have Hashimoto’s?

Wow. Can I take my memory pill and remember all that? I think keto diet is fine for Hashimoto’s, but there’s certain other issues you need to address, and the best thing to do is get the lab. Let’s find out exactly what’s going on and let’s address that so you can have better success with the keto diet.

When you’re saying diet, usually you’re telling the body something is going to change with it, and it’s going to starve, basically, or change drastically. If you have Hashimoto’s and it’s not in check, which a lot of people don’t realize there is a natural way to make it in check. We have two products that actually help with that one. It’s called Olive Leaf and the other one is IG26. One stabilizes the thyroid and the other one supports the immune system, so it quits doing the rollercoaster ride that it does on lab with your thyroid panels.

So, if your doctor keeps running your thyroid and they keep saying, “We can’t get this right. It’s all over the place,” and they keep changing your medicine, there could be a really good chance you have Hashimoto’s. Then you try to diet on top of it. Then the body already is sick and then you’re trying to make it lose weight, too. It’s a really great idea if you get the thyroid under control first and then address trying to lose weight because you really may have some issues and then you’re not going to know, “Hey, is this keto doing this to me? Is this my thyroid being wacky?”

They would make that correlation, but it would not be a causation.

Right, and that’s what …

Keto is good.

Right, keto is good.

For most people.

We don’t want you thinking, “Hey, there’s something wrong with this diet because there actually may be something wrong with the thyroid that needs to be fixed also.

Not to say too much out of place, but Amanda’s thyroid, she didn’t have Hashimoto’s, but it’s definitely gotten better over the years whether she feels it or not. Do you have an opinion about that?

Yeah, I definitely feel better, I think. To me it was subtle, so the only way I could track was just do the labs, but yeah, I’m very pleased with my progress. In fact, last time I had lab, you said, “You know, you could probably go a whole year without lab instead of coming in every six months.” I may still do the six months just because I like the check, you know?

That’s a great point because you should mention that about the … People ask that all the time. “How many times do I have to run this lab?”

Well, I think when you hit your sweet spot, that’s my term for it, of what you want to take as far as supplements, you’ve addressed the issues and given enough nutrition so your body could fight its own battles, then the lab work gets less and less important. Janet and I do our lab about every year. Amanda could go a year, but if she wants to knows more, six months is certainly not unreasonable at all. I probably should go more, but I’m a sissy and I get stuck, and I pass out sometimes when they do that. Yes, I’m that big a sissy, but it’s a really good thing. Yeah, that’s a good point about Hashimoto’s, too. It’s like well you have a GI problem. Therefore, you’ll have an absorption problem. It’s probably leaky gut. We do need to address that so you can have better success in weight loss, in energy production, in memory, in reversing or helping your body deal with diabetes, etc., etc.

Or people that have digestive problems like a bad gallbladder or no gallbladder are probably initially going to experience a lot of concerns when they start doing keto.

Yeah, you should have seen the look when she said, “concerns.” Yeah, you really need to know what’s going on and digestive enzymes would be incredibly important there to help digest that because without that gallbladder holding the reservoir of bowel, then those are the ones that get up in the middle of the meal and rush to the bathroom because it just runs right through, so you really need to have the digestive enzymes.

We used to do that for fun. I don’t know, we’re very sick individuals. We go to a restroom and go, “That one’s gallbladder is gone. That one’s gallbladder is gone,” because they couldn’t make it through the whole meal before they had to go to the bathroom.

That was sick of us, but it was fun. We like to go to the airport and have a beer and talk … “That’s person is doing this and that person is doing that.”

With the digestive enzyme, of course.

Yeah, and that person needs its sacroiliac adjusted. It’s like, you know, look at them like that. It’s like holy cow they could really be healthy if they had this nutrition or this kind of an adjustment, but yeah, I’m weird that way.

If they just listen to this show, they would learn so much. Speaking of that, if you guys have someone that needs to hear this show, please share us with them and do not keep us a secret because we like to be passed around. We have come to the close of another exciting show. I can’t believe that 30 minutes flies by. We want to thank Amanda again for her input and being our guest today. We’re very thrilled. We may have you back.

Well, thank you. I enjoyed it.

She’s very eloquent, too, unlike me with all the Steven-isms, so we can have Amanda-isms.

Sure.

If you have questions or anything that you would like to have answered, please join our Shoot’n Straight with Dr. Lewis, and he’ll be happy to add you to his group and answer questions for you. If you want to get started feeling better, go to our website, GreenWisdomHealth.com. Fill out the health survey. We’re recommending for this show to do the comprehensive lab panel to see what’s going on with your health, and you can get started just like Amanda did. We’ll catch you guys here next time, or next week, with another exciting show. You guys have a blessed week.