Category Archives: Health

Fat burning

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The idea of ketotic diets has been mentioned in my social circles for some time. I didn’t pay much attention, figuring it was just one of those fad diets people get into. Indeed, it seemed like it was just a revival of the Atkins diet and since the focus was on weight loss I wasn’t really interested. I already knew how to feed my body in a way that nurtured it and kept it at a healthy weight. Besides, the ketosis I was familiar with was the ketosis that occurs during starvation and that didn’t sound like a fun diet.

Last spring, my interest in athletic training and the research on the Access® Bar, an exercise bar formulated to switch off adenosine so that the body can easily burn fat reserves, got me interested in how fat burning works. access-barDr. Larry Wang, the researcher that formulated the Access Bar, found that humans, unlike animals that hibernate, will die of hypothermia long before they have exhausted their body’s fat reserves. This was amazing to me, because I thought the whole idea of fat was to have extra fuel available when we need it. What I learned was that the body hoarded fat like gold and that even in the face of death would not simply release it. If it doesn’t allow you to burn fat in the face of death from hypothermia, do you think it will allow you to burn fat when you go to the gym?

Thinking to help people living in the extreme cold of Canada, Dr Wang, a professor at the University of Alberta, was interested in unlocking fat burning. In order to figure out how to do this, he subjected lightly clad students to below freezing weather for three hours with and without his formulation. His research demonstrated that the formulation (now called the Access Bar) could indeed unlock fat burning in the students and allow them to maintain body temperature longer than when they did not use the bar. You can read a summary of his research.

Eventually, Tammy van Wisse, a performance swimmer, learned about the bar. She writes about swimming the English Channel with her brother and how he almost died of hypothermia. The next year they completed the swim using the Access Bar without any issues. Not only did they both stay warm, but she lost 22 pounds during the 8 hours and 23 minutes it took her to cross the channel This surprising amount of weight loss, was much more than the year before, suggesting a better ability to mobilize fat.

Still, ketogenesis didn’t really catch my attention until my partner decided to go on a ketotic diet. People report more energy, less food cravings, and easy weight loss on a diet that induces nutritional ketosis. I was interested in more energy and was looking for a metabolic plan that might help me reduce my overall food consumption. I was also curious about how my body would respond to nutritional ketosis. When my partner started his diet, I joined him.

Since we went from our regular diet one day to ketogenic diet the next, there was no time for elaborate preparation.  My partner had done a strict Atkins protocol years before, so he knew what his plan was.  I did a quick search of the internet to see what I needed to do.

The basic gist of the diet was low carbohydrate, moderate protein and high fat.  How low is low carb?  Well, 20 grams a day is certain to induce ketosis.  However, it seems that anything under 50 grams might also work, depending on the person. I used the Keto-Calculator to figure out what my targets were.

My beginning parameters were 28% fat, moderate activity, 132 pounds.  I opted for 1724 calories per day, since I had slowly gained five pounds over the past 9 months and restricting a few hundred calories would slowly shed that.  The calculator required that I set targets for carbs and proteins.  I wasn’t sure what to use so I first considered 30 and 50 grams carbs.  Here they are at high protein (95 grams per day):

Carbs
30 gram  (7%, 120 kcal)    or   50 gram  (12%, 200 kcal)
Protein
95 gram (22%, 380 kcal) for both
Fat
136 gram (71%, 1224 kcal)    or 108 gram (66%, 1144 kcal)

And then 40 grams carbohydrates at what I usually average in protein:

Carbs       40  grams (9%, 160 kcal)
Protein    80 grams  (19%, 320 kcal)
Fat          138 grams (72%, 1244 kcal)

And finally, 40 grams carbohydrates at what the program considered my minimum protein:

Carbs       40  grams (9%, 160 kcal)
Protein    58 grams  (13%, 232 kcal)
Fat          148 grams (78%, 1332 kcal)

In summary my ranges were:

8-12% carbohydrates*
15-25% protein
63-78% fat

I was familiar with my daily macro-molecule breakdown from years of tracking my nutrition. My averages were:

47% carbohydrates  (240g total, 23 gram fiber, 910 kcal)
15% protein (74 grams, 292 kcal)
37% fat (82 grams, 724 kcal)

I thought my diet worked well for my body.  Since it was based on free selection of food over a long period of time, I was impressed by how constant my day-to-day selection of food was.  I certainly was entrained to these proportions of macromolecules.  Was this optimal health, or simply a habit?  I thought I had the “right” way of eating for me, but wondered what else was possible.

I embarked on the ketogenic diet.  I did not like it, nor did I like how I felt.  I stuck with it only because I was curious.  I thought it would be enjoyable to indulge in extra fat, but I got no pleasure from it.  I missed eating lots of fruit and my beloved tortilla chips.   Here are my averages for the end of the first week:  137 grams fat, 32 grams net carbohydrates, 100 grams protein.

I had initially committed to a week trial and on the 9th day I ended the ketogenic diet by slowing adding more carbohydrates.  However, I kept wondering if I had even reached ketogenesis.  I also noticed that my protein, which I had not been watching closely, had crept up 20-30 grams over target.  Excess protein is converted to sugar in the body and I wondered if that blocked me from becoming ketogenic.

The question about if I had given the diet a fair trial loomed large.  What if I never even entered ketosis?  How hard can it be to become ketotic?  I felt certain I had, but I needed proof.

I ordered a meter to test blood ketones from Amazon and continued to munch out on carbohydrates while it was shipped.  So for four days I averaged 94g net carbs and then the meter arrived.  to be continued…

 

* Carbohydrates are “net carbs”.  This means total grams carbohydrates minus the fiber.

Mercury Amalgams

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One of my bucket list items is to remove the mercury amalgam fillings from my mouth.  With the recent sale of my home I found myself with some extra cash and when I asked myself if there was anything I wanted, silver filling removal came to mind.  I estimated that to replace the six metal fillings and crown with composite material would cost about $5,000.  I was excited to do this.

I know, many people with some extra cash might instead go on a dream trip to Paris or Africa, but I have learned that I am different from other people.  One of the highlights of my life was my colonoscopy without anesthesia.  And now I had another opportunity to have a medical procedure to improve my health.

Mercury and heavy metal toxicity is one of my areas of interest.  Indeed, research on using modified citrus pectin for metal chelation was part of my doctoral research.  During my doctoral studies I also followed research on mercury toxicity and published the paper, Are Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe for Children? in a peer reviewed journal.

I know that mercury interferes with the function of the immune system and is a potent neurotoxin.  Mercury is also implicated in a wide variety of illnesses including heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease; both of which run in my family.  I know from experience, and it took me months to figure this out, that eating too much fish will result in my heart skipping a beat at an annoyingly frequent rate.

Silver fillings are about 50% mercury and it has been well documented that mercury fillings release that mercury into the air and subsequently into the body, especially when one is chewing or consuming hot foods. The more fillings you have, the more toxic mercury you are exposed to.

Yet, despite being exposed to the mercury leaching off my six fillings, I didn’t sense that there was any urgency to have them removed.  I sensed that my body was doing a good job at handling the mercury detoxification and elimination.  Researchers have shown that there is genetic variability that results in person to person differences in the ability to detoxify and eliminate mercury from the body.  I was pleased to get have “gotten the good genes”.

As I started looking into biological dentists to remove the amalgams I became curious about my mercury body burden.  I stumbled onto a lab:  Quicksilver Scientific that measured mercury levels in the blood, hair and urine in order to determine the mercury burden in the body and how efficiently the body was processing it.

I signed up as a practitioner with Quicksilver and ordered the Mercury Tri-Test.  The urine sample was easy to get.  The hair sample was a little more challenging.  I accidentally shaved more hair from the back of my neck than was required.  Opps!   The blood draw was the most exciting.  I ordered a blood collection kit and on my second poke managed to fill up a tube with blood.  Victory!  Nevermind the blood all over the kitchen.  It is hard to collect blood with only one hand.

My blood results came back very low for both inorganic mercury and the more toxic methlymercury form.   This affirmed my suspicion that I was effectively detoxing and eliminating mercury from my system.  Typically blood levels of mercury will reflect mercury levels in all fluid compartments of the body – meaning in and around the cells.

Mercury TriTest ResultsMethylmercury is mainly from seafood and a small amount from the biological activation of leached amalgam mercury.  The body gets rid of this form of mercury in the hair.  Any inorganic mercury, which is primarily excreted in the urine, comes mainly from amalgams and perhaps a little from the detoxification of seafood derived methyl mercury.

The results of the urine and hair tests when compared to blood levels give a complete picture of how well the body is eliminating mercury from the body.  My ratios of inorganic mercury in the blood to urine and methyl mercury in the blood to hair indicates optimal excretion and suggests I have not build up of mercury in body stores.

mercury tri-test quicksilver scientificI am pleased with the results of the Quicksilver Scientific Mercury Tri-Test.  The results suggest that removing my amalgams is not an urgent matter.  This is a relief to me since what I found out about the alternative filling materials made me wonder if switching was such a good idea.

When I started looking into the materials that composite fillings are made of I quickly learned that the most common material used contains BPA, a material that manufacturers recently pulled out of plastic bottles due to consumer concerns over it’s safety.  Further, researchers have found an association between composite fillings containing BPA and behavioral issues in children.

Fortunately, newer, safer materials are available.  You just have to find a dentist that offers these more expensive alternatives.  I was pleased to see a composite material called Filtek had research investigating toxic effects.  If performed quite well.  Unfortunately, a couple of short studies in animal models does not mean it will be safe for me or safe for anyone long term.

I have decided to postpone swapping out my fillings until they naturally need to be replaced.  Two of my teeth with fillings are cracked and I imagine they will require some restoration in the near future.  When that occurs I will pick the best filling material available to me.  Perhaps gold….

 

REFERENCES

Rode, D, 2006.  Are Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe for Children:  An evaluation of Recent Research Results, Alternative Therapies 12:4

Nancy N. Maserejian, Felicia L. Trachtenberg, Russ Hauser, Sonja McKinlay, Peter Shrader, Mary Tavares, David C. Bellinger, 2012.  Dental Composite Restorations and Psychosocial Function in Children, Pediatrics 130:e328–e338

Urinary Tract Infection

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I woke one morning at the end of May and noticed a slight discomfort and burning upon urination.  Familiar with urinary tract infection (UTI) symptoms I immediately suspected a slight UTI.  However, since I have never had an UTI as an adult, I felt confident that it would soon be gone.  This was simply an illness I did not get. I drank more water and gave myself a couple shots of berberis tincture (an effective broad spectrum herbal antibiotic) thinking all would be well.

After a few days, when the discomfort persisted, I decided to amp up my attack.  I dug out a bottle of Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata) a plant that is used similarly to uva-ursi, but without the harshness on the stomach.  One of the main ingredients is arbutin, which is hydrolyzed to hydroquinone in the urinary tract where it exerts an antiseptic effect.

A week went by; the UTI persisted.  I went online and researched other alternatives.  D-Mannose came up high on the list, outperforming cranberry extracts.  It is specific for UTI’s caused by E. coli and, since this is the most common bacteria implicated in UTIs, it is effective for 90% of infections.  Since the pipsissewa and berberis did not work, I suspected that I had some killer bacteria, not some simple E. coli, but I ordered some mannose just in case.

To cover the 10% of infections caused uti-drugsby other bugs I used monolaurin.  Monolaurin is derived from coconut oil and it disrupts the cell membranes of gram positive bacteria such as Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, Listeria, Bacillus, and Clostridium.

Unfortunately, the UTI persisted and at the two week mark I headed to the doctor to get a culture to precisely identify who was wrecking havoc in my urethra.

Indeed I tested positive for UTI, but it would take a couple days to get the culture results back.  In the meantime the doctor prescribed a three day course of trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole as an antibiotic.  I decided to take the drug, since I thought it was worth a try, but by the third day it was clearly ineffective.  I needed the culture results.

There was a delay getting my results back.  On Friday afternoon, four days after I gave the lab my urine sample it became clear that I was going to go the weekend without a bacterial identity.  I eased off on the herbal antibiotics and focused on palliative care.  Two things had helped with the bladder discomfort and urethra burn during the previous weeks:  one was baking soda and the other was watermelon.

Watermelon is specific for easing the pain of burning urine and I had used it with my daughter when she was a child many years earlier.  Fast and effective.  You can use the entire melon – simply put watermelon slices in a blender: rind, seeds and flesh and then drink.  Or you can eat the melon as you normally would.

As for the baking soda I decided to use 1/2 teaspoon twice a day.  This raises the pH of the urine and can be soothing to the tissue.  Although not considered a cure, I had tried using it during the earlier stages of the infection in order to potentiate the hydrolysis of the arbutin in Chimaphila. I found it decreased the discomfort from the infection.

With the plan to get an antibiotic that matched my antibiotic resistant bacteria on Monday, I focused on offering my body relief from symptoms during the weekend.  I was surprised by what happened.  By Sunday night I was completely free of all signs of infection and had lost the five pounds I had gained in the previous week due to inflammation around the infected area.  My energy had returned and I felt great!

Then I was even more surprised by what happened next.  After enjoying sex on Sunday night, I awoke with all my symptoms back on Monday morning.  Within 24 hours I had regained three pounds in water weight also.  Sex can be a common contributing factor for UTIs since foreign bacteria can be introduced during the process.  This is why it is recommended that a woman pee and even wash after sexual activity.  Since I was being careful about UTIs I made sure that I not only urinated, but also washed after sex on Sunday night.  I was baffled.

Monday I got my results back.  I had an antibiotic resistant strain of Proteus mirabilis, a common intestinal bacteria.  The doctor prescribed a seven day course of amoxicillin with clavulanate.  Unfortunately, I arrived at the clinic during pharmacy lunch hours and had to wait.  However, that gave me some time to search on effective alternative treatments for Proteus spp.  I quickly found many research reports using essential oils in the treatment of UTI, especially in UTIs caused by antibiotic resistance bacteria strains.

Then I found a clue to how I had cured the infection over the weekend.  I had been traveling to Mt Shasta that weekend and when I filled up the water bottles for the trip I had added several drops of lime essential oil into each bottle.  In turns out that research by Prabuseenivasan et.al. shows that lime essential oil can effectively inhibit Proteus. 

I decided to hold off on the pharmaceutical antibiotics, because I sensed they would be more harsh on my body than natural products.  I also knew if I could clear this once, I could clear it again.  The research suggested that essential oils of cinnamon, lime and orange would be the most effective against the bacteria in my urinary tract.  I started using a few drops of these several times a day.

I saw immediate results.  By Wednesday, when my UTI test strips arrived, I showed no signs of bacterial infection, although I still tested positive for leukocytes.  Likewise, my pH was in the healthy acidic range (6.0).  My test results on Thursday also indicated the infection was gone.

Then Thursday night I had sex again.  This time I was even more cautious.  Thinking that perhaps my partner was introducing this Proteus, I allowed no bare skin contact of any of his body parts with my genitals.

This was to no avail.  Friday morning I awoke with obvious UTI symptoms and the UTI test showed off the chart bacterial activity and a high level of leukocytes.  My urine pH had soared to 8.5, indicative of Proteus mirabilis infection.

Enough was enough!  I made an appointment with Dr. Lynne Cockrum-Murphy, a talented ThetaHealer and intuitive consultant.  If physical methods will not cure something then there is an energetic pattern holding it in place.  In my case it was becoming clear that there was some connection between sexual activity and the recurrence of the UTI that extended beyond mere germs.

It is interesting to note that the only other time I have had an UTI was when I was five years old.  That infection was caught during the physical to enter kindergarten, I don’t actually remember having symptoms.  UTIs in children are a common symptom of sexual abuse and this is probably how I had contracted it.  Of course, this cause was overlooked in my case.

When I considered the energetic purposes that a UTI might serve, the obvious one was “The UTI protects me from sex”.  This Dr. Cockrum-Murphy confirmed.  As we explored the reasons I might want protection from sex, we found a lot of trauma responses from the five year old.  Beliefs like:  “sex hurts me”, “sex crushes me”, and “in submission I lose my life”.  None of these beliefs hold true today, but apparently I had triggered a layer of trauma that was ready to be released.  Once we cleared the beliefs regarding sex, the need for protection fell away.  I even tested it with a session of afternoon sex.  That evening I tested for the UTI again.  It was completely gone.  Even the leukocytes were at the lowest level that had been since I got the test strips.  I was amazed. I continued to do follow up with oregano essential oil, just to make sure there was not a physical recurrence.  It has been two week now, and my urinary tract is doing great.