The Whole Body-Dental Connection and My Passion to Get Answers

People become passionate about things that affect them. Pain, infections, a decrease in the quality of life, inability to work, symptoms that are debilitating, medical bills…all of those things drive people to find answers. I’ve met so many people desperate to find answers to their physical symptoms. Many are willing to go to any length to get back to normal. They’ve spent countless dollars and time in doctors’ offices, searching online and trying out new diets to achieve health. This person describes me. In my case, the health crises affecting me was 25 years of recurring dental infections. I would go to the dentist, he would tell me that I had cavities, and then the tooth would get a filling. I trusted my dentist. I would ask the questions. “Why am I getting so many cavities when I’m brushing and flossing consistently?” Inevitably he or she would reply, “your hygiene looks great, why don’t you try this fluoride rinse?” Then in 6 months I would return only to find out that the cavities were back, and now I needed a root canal. Again, I trusted my dentist and I would get the root canal. To characterize my dentist experience as anything short of shame would be a lie. I dreaded the dentist. I became ashamed of my teeth. Every time I went to the dentist, I felt like a disobedient child who was being sent to the principal for an infraction in class. From the year 2020 to present, I had so many dental infections that I was on antibiotics and pain killers 75% of the time.

At the same time, my own health knowledge was growing and as it grew, it began to dawn on me that just like answers to the root cause of problems in the rest of the body could be found, answers could also be found to the root cause of my dental problems. So, I began to dig and dig but was appalled by the dearth of information available. There were scores of books and podcasts on inflammation, gut health, liver health, brain health and the like but there was shockingly little on functional dental health.

Fast forward to July 2024. Our family moved to the little city of Gillette WY. (the middle of nowhere) and our pastor and his wife recommended a board-certified naturopathic dentist office called Synergy dental. As mentioned in my last blog post, I had the privilege of shadowing Dr Porter in his office for an entire afternoon. After an entire afternoon of watching Dr. Porter work, listening to a consultation with a client, and subsequently reading his book A.I.M., I was flabbergasted. Here in this obscure little city, were the answers I’d been looking for. Someone willing to get to the root of my dental issues and give me a road map for entire body health.

The most important thing to me, after listening to Dr. Porter was getting my existing root canals (all nine of them) which were constantly erupting in abscesses out of my mouth. I was tired of antibiotics, pain and pain medication. Second, I wanted to know WHY I was always getting cavities in the first place and how to stop it. I wanted to get to the root cause.

Dr. Porter’s pre-consultation appointment was so much more than what I was expecting. They really did a series of whole-body testing. I was shocked to find out that all of those infections in my mouth had driven my A1C numbers to 5.8. I knew that hemoglobin A1C measured a patient’s average blood sugar level over the past 2-3 months. An A1C level from 5.7-6.4% indicates prediabetes. (5.2-5.3 is optimal) I couldn’t believe it. After teaching countless clients how to keep blood sugar in check through diet and exercise and living that lifestyle myself, how could my numbers be so high? But there it was. There was the mouth-body connection right in front of my eyes. Dental infections did drive inflammation which is the root cause of most disease. Diet alone wasn’t cutting it.

The hygienist also took a swab of the inside of my mouth and discovered that I had nasty little pathogens swimming around in there which were the root cause of my cavities. At last!! the answer I’d been looking for.

All of the tests run at the office were centered around Dr. Porter’s three-pronged approach to the prevention of chronic disease: Airway, Infections, and Metals. When the tests were over, we scheduled a follow up appointment for the one-on-one consultation with Dr. Porter. He was definitely thorough about going through each of the tests including breathing issues that could be causing sleep apnea to Vitamin D levels, to checking for infections.

The important thing was we made a plan. A plan, not to just put a band aid on my symptoms, but a plan to increase my airways, remove infections and pathogens causing inflammation, and to remove metals. It was going to be a long journey, but for the first time in 25 years, I had hope.

I write this blog post because I’m one of those people who have become passionate about getting answers. I’m writing this blog post hoping that someone like me who spent 25 years with no answers will stumble upon this and find hope.

A Review of the Functional Dentistry Book: “AIM” by Dr. David Porter DDS,NMD,IBDM,FICOI,FAGD, FAAOSH,D’ASBA

My interest in holistic and biologic dentistry was born out of a desperation to answer my own health questions related to my teeth. I’ve generally found that I get very passionate about getting answers to things when they relate to my health or lack thereof. My particular teeth story started back in 1995 when I had a horse related accident that left me with one less tooth and 3 teeth that an overnight emergency dentist shoved back into place. Those teeth healed up and I kept them without issue until 2021. It was in 1999, however, after I gave birth to my first child, that the real issues began. Almost a month after giving birth, I had my first tooth go bad. Prior to that, I thought I was relatively free from any known dental issues. Although, as my knowledge has progressed, this was probably not the case. Doubtless, my dental issues had been lying dormant and unnoticed for years as I plowed through college and jumped joyfully into motherhood. That first tooth that went bad I opted to have pulled and for a while, I had a gaping spot whenever I smiled. Eventually, I had a dentist put a bridge in. In the meantime, I would consistently make it to my 6-month cleanings only to consistently hear more often than not, that I had another cavity. It seemed like nothing I would try would prevent the cavities. Eventually, the cavities turned into crowns and the crowns turned into root canals and the root canals would often become infected and that led to round after round of antibiotics and then subsequent gut issues. I got to the point where I was ashamed and mortified and even depressed every time I went to the dentist. This cycle of misfortune was really beginning to affect my overall health.

Eventually my interest in nutrition led me to the conclusion that there had to be something better than conventional dentistry. Why it took so long for the thought to cross my mind that there had to be something better I don’t know. Suffice it to say, my understanding of health has been a journey. In desperation, I started listening to any podcast I could find on the subject of natural dentistry. It wasn’t long before i realized that there wasn’t much to be found. I was surprised. It seemed like I could find research, podcasts, and a thousand books on subjects in the functional medicine fields of relating to gut health, inflammation and brain health yet on the subject related most to my ongoing issues, it was a barren desert. I found one or two interesting podcasts, and that was enough to let me know that root canals were bad for me and that the bacteria in my mouth mattered as much as the bacteria in my gut. Yet, finding a dentist who practiced natural and biologic dentistry near me seemed as far off as reaching the moon. If the logistical issues weren’t bad enough, the realities of having 10 kids with a one income family left me with no alternative other than to continue seeing the conventional dentists with the same conventional methods that were wrecking my health.

As luck would have it, my husband’s work took him to a little city in Wyoming called Gillette. And it was there, in this obscure little place, that a friend told me about a dentist office called Synergy Dental. Little did I know that we had landed on a world class biologic dental office. The owner of Synergy Dental, Dr. David Porter is the dentist whose book I am reviewing in this blog post.

In his book, titled AIM, Dr David Porter talks about the three guiding principles of his practice: Airways, Infections and Metals and how important addressing all three of these is, to not only correcting dental problems but also healing the whole body.

Before I dive into the book, I just want to say that I had the personal privilege of shadowing Dr Porter in his Gillette office for an entire afternoon. One of the highlights of the experience was when he met with one of his patients for an hour long consult where he personally reviewed the results of an extensive blood workup as well as the 3D cone beam X-ray technology that is used in the office. Dr. Porter not only went over the results of these scans but took the time to answer questions the patient had and reviewed all the options so that the patient could make an informed decision relating to his health. Dr. Porter makes it very clear in his book that he is for medical freedom but wants to make sure that his patients are informed about all the options. I found this claim to hold true as I listened to him laying out all the options to this individual.

In his book, Dr David Porter gives a brief run-down of the history of dentistry and how he was led to pursue a natural and biological approach. He gives alarming statistics on the rise of disease especially among children. He also is clear that he holds all dentists in highest regard despite the fact that he has taken a different trac in his approach towards the dental field.

As I stated before, the three guiding principles of his practice are Airways, Infections and Metals and these three principles have become as he put it, the slogan of Synergy Dental. Everything is based around the AIM protocol in which Dr. Porter sees the “Airways, Infections and Metals Protocol as the roadmap to health and healing from chronic disease.” (Porter, 22)

Airways are always addressed first in the office, as oxygen is literally crucial to “every biological function.” One of the topics Dr. Porter looks closely at relating to airway function is the topic of breastfeeding, and although it can be agreed that there has generally been a rise in information promoting breastfeeding as a better option for baby there has consistently been a dearth of information relating to breastfeeding and its correlating effects on baby’s long-term dental health. Dr. Porter explains in depth how important breastfeeding is to a baby’s development not only as it relates to breathing but also dental and jaw structure and development. Dr. Porter states that “less than 10% of the patients he sees have an ideal airway.” He goes on to say, “the airway dentist sees things differently and is more concerned that development and airway are forefront and teeth and position are seen as symptoms.”

The second point Dr. Porter addresses in his book is Infection. He states that there is “rarely pain with oral infections and that with oral infections, the person perceives that everything is fine. They may have an abscessed tooth and not even know it because there is no discomfort.” Porter explains that there are three kinds of infections he sees in his office: periodontal, periapical, and cavitations.

The first of these three infections, periodontal, is one that virtually everyone is familiar with. The defining difference between Dr. Porter’s office and a traditional dentist is that generally a traditional dentist generally waits until the disease progresses past bone loss whereas Dr. Porter’s office, his assistants take a sample of the bacteria in the mouth and test to see if the bacteria that would lead to periodontal disease is present. If it is, a protocol is put into action immediately to prevent disease.

The second of these infections, periapical, refers to infections existing around the root of the tooth. Dr. Porter states that “One study suggests that two-dimensional X-rays miss these infections 80% of the time,” which is why each new patient in Dr. Porter’s office receives a 3D cone beam X-ray. These types of infections lead us to the big “root canal” debate. When no other field of medicine would recommend leaving a dead organ in the body, why is this the standard of practice among conventional dentists? Dr. Porter would argue that no root canal is good because ultimately a root canal is an infection, and these infections lead to inflammation in the body which is the root of much if not all chronic disease. If you are like me and have had numerous root canals, this might lead you to be depressed. “Great, so now I’m really screwed.” At least these were the thoughts I had and maybe if you’re reading this blog post, this is what you are thinking. There’s nothing worse than finding out that the thousands of dollars you’ve invested in your teeth are actually ruining your health. It is because of this that patients travel from places as far as the Bahamas to seek out Dr. Porter’s help. They are sick and tired of sinking money into something that is destroying their health. Most of them are already invested in finding a better solution and that’s how they found Dr. Porter in the first place.

The third type of infection and possibly the least well known is the cavitation. Dr. Porter defines cavitations as “an area of poor mineralization in the jaw. It is used to describe a specific type of pathological condition that occurs in the jawbone.” (Porter, 42-43) “These exist due to lack of blood flow to an area, or from systemic causes like lupus, hypothyroidism, nitric oxide deficiency, radiation treatment, etc. Dental trauma can also be a cause of cavitations.” (Porter, 43) Dr Porter describes that the body compensates rather than heals when it doesn’t have what it needs which is why he uses ozone gas as part of his protocol. The majority of conventional dentist rely on chlorine bleach (yes you heard me) to disinfect. Ozone gas however, “is a powerful disinfectant since one molecule of ozone is 3000 times more potent than a molecule of chlorine. After ozone disinfects, it breaks down into O2 (oxygen). He also uses the patient’s own stem cells and an injectable solution that causes vasodilation in the area. These tactics help the body heal as fully and quickly as possible.” (Porter 44)

The “M” in the acronym stands for Metals. Dr Porter likes to say that “If it’s metal or dead, it shouldn’t be in your head.” (Porter 51) If you didn’t already know, dental amalgam is a mixture of 50% elemental mercury with a metallic alloy which mainly contains silver and tin. The liquid mercury is mixed with the alloy powder in a 1 to 1 weight ratio. A wide internet search will reveal that there is still research out there claiming that mercury in fillings have no negative impact on health. However, it is a widespread belief among functional medicine doctors that no levels of mercury are safe and can lead to mercury poisoning. Even the “FDA has reported that women who are nursing or pregnant and children or people ‘sensitive to mercury’ shouldn’t be exposed to mercury fillings. Yet more than 100 million mercury fillings are placed in American mouths yearly.” (Porter 51) In Dr. Porters they follow the SMART protocol for removing these hazardous metals to ensure patient safety and further contamination does not happen.

The last point as it relates to the body that Dr. Porter address in his book is A.I.M. and how it relates to digestion. One of the pre visit assignments given to every patient is the “burp test” to measure the presence of stomach acid in the patient. Why stomach acid? Because the presence of stomach acid is the crucial first element in the digestion of food. Stomach acid sets off a chain of other “players” as Dr. Porter puts it, in the digestive process. (Porter 63) “To make stomach acid, our bodies need iodine, zinc, selenium, vitamin B1, salt, water, and voltage (energy).” (Porter 63) Dr. Porter has found that the most common deficiency as it relates to the presence of stomach acid is the presence of iodine. That is why he offers not only a full blood work up but also encourages his patients to take quality supplements to increase the rate of healing. He also covers in depth the ideas of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and how constantly being in the state of flight or fight slows down and can practically stop the digestive system.

After my visit to Dr. Porter’s office, I knew then and there I needed to make an appointment and get a game plan together to address not just my teeth issues but my overall health in relation to those issues. I’m excited to continue to share my health and wellness journey as it progresses but I’m more than confident I’m finally on the right track with my dental health.

I encourage you as a reader to check out Dr. Porter’s book “A.I.M.” on Amazon because it is full of so much information that this blog post doesn’t even come close to sharing. I can’t wait to continue this journey with you.

https://amzn.to/3Adu1Hu

Supporting Your Kids Brain as they Head Back to School

As a busy mom of 10 that works, homeschooled and is STILL in the process of homeschooling, I know what it’s like to be busy. I, like so many of my readers, have found myself opting for the easiest foods that are going to elicit the least number of complaints from my tribe. Yes, foods like cereal and white pancake mixes and even an occasional donut run have happened at my house. Unfortunately, we’ve all done the quick unhealthy breakfast or the fast-food dinner but it’s never too late for a reset and a new school year is the perfect time to get back on track. With that in mind, here are 5 foods that you can give your child every day that will support their brain health and development as they head off to school this fall.

  1. Protein: protein produces neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that transmit signals in the brain and are involved in cognitive function, memory and learning. Start your day and your child’s day with a protein packed breakfast. Examples include: free range eggs and sugar free greek yogurt with some added berries. If you feel like you can only manage one change to your routine, make it a protein powered breakfast.
  2. Healthy Fats: Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, healthy fats will stabilize your child’s blood sugar and keep them satiated throughout the day. They are also fantastic for the brain as they help form cell membranes and protect neurons. Examples include salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring and sardines. If your child isn’t a big fish eater, they can still get healthy fats via avocados and other healthy oils. You can also consider supplementing your child’s diet with Omega 3 supplements.
  3. Low glycemic vegetables: Low glycemic vegetables are digested more slowly which leads to a slower release of glucose in the bloodstream. This can help blood sugar levels remain steady and that will lead to helping children control their behavior and performance. The brain needs a steady supply of glucose to function properly. When blood glucose drops too low kids may experience difficulty concentrating or experience poor memory. Examples of low glycemic vegetables are greens like spinach, broccoli, zucchini, and kale.
  4. Berries: Berries contain flavonoids and anthocyanins which have antioxidant properties that can boost brain health.
  5. Whole Grains and Beans: Low Glycemic Index grains and beans can help maintain blood sugar levels. As stated before, any time the foods you are eating keep blood sugar levels from spiking, you are doing something good for your brain. Examples of LG grains would be quinoa and sourdough bread started with an ancient grain such as Einkorn. Beans offer beneficial nutrients for the brain such as zinc, protein, iron, folate and choline. Buy them dried and you will have a great budget friendly food that can be added to your favorite soup recipes.

Keep it simple and start small and you can make changes that will have your kids thriving and getting those good grades in no time.

Get Ready for Summer Weight Loss and Fasting Plan (4/1)

Just because I teach about weight loss and nutrition doesn’t mean I’m a stranger to the gradual creep of weight during the long winter months. Nothing sets a person back like cold and gloomy weather, not to mention the barrage of candy and sugar laden holidays that we are forced to endure from Halloween through Easter.

Speaking of Easter, with that holiday just passed I decided it was time to get back on track and lose a few pounds this month. I want to buy myself some new summer clothes and would like to be a few pounds lighter when I do so. And….nothing says re-do like the first of the month.

For the next three days, I’m planning a serious detox.

#1 Warm apple cider vinegar or lemon water throughout the day.

#2 Fast until noon

#3 Clean Protein bar for lunch

#4 Bone Broth around 2 pm

#5 Fat flushing soup for dinner

#6 Collagen (1 scoop) detox tea around 7pm (stop eating)

Ingredients for the soup: 8 cups of bone broth, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 quart of shredded chicken, 1 can of black beans, 1 cup of celery and 1 cup of carrots. (additional vegetables if you want to add them: optional chopped cabbage, kale, zucchini) Spices: garlic, turmeric, salt and pepper.

Exercise will be moderate: yoga in the morning and no more than 2 easy run miles in the evening.

Hope you join me on this journey. Check back in 3 days for the next phase of the plan!

Review of “Women, Food and Hormones” by Sara Gottfried, MD (3/17)

Chapter 4: The Keto Paradox

The Keto Paradox is just another way of asking why does Keto work so well for men and not for women? This question is the main reason this book intrigued me because for so long no one was asking the question, let alone looking for an answer to it. Which had me wondering, along with plenty of other women, was anyone else having this problem, or was I alone? Was I just not getting my macros right? Was I overdoing it on portions? What exactly wasn’t I doing right? This is the question Dr. Gottfried sets out to answer here and I do especially love some of the insights she has, because they align with some of the ideas that I had eventually come up with.

Keto isn’t really a new diet. It’s actually been around for quite a while. Its use has been mainly in the area of neurological issues. I was actually quite surprised after my son had been doing Keto for a few years (for seizure control) that it suddenly hit the mainstream media with impassioned fervor. But after a while, I began to run into more and more women who had lost weight initially on Keto but failed to thrive on it as well as their male counterparts, me included. I actually never lost weight doing the Ketogenic diet. Any attempts I made either ended in a plateau or a weight gain.

Dr. Gottfried offers some solutions to this paradox which I will share here.

  1. The importance of “detoxification before and during keto, which can balance hormones by freeing up your endocrine system from the onslaught of a toxic load.”
  2. “Understanding which dietary adjustments to make based on your body type.” (pear/apple etc.)
  3. “Layering in specific carbohydrates that feed the beneficial microbes in the gut (your microbiome) and also the endocrine system in a way that further balances hormones.”
  4. “Incorporating intermittent fasting into your regimen, which can keep you in mild ketosis with a slightly higher carbohydrate intake.”
  5. “Timing your largest and smallest meals the right way, so you never end up starving and overeating.”

Her overall conclusion is that the reason “women don’t generally benefit from the ketogenic diet has to do with hormones, which can influence detoxification, stress and cortisol, thyroid function, hunger and food addiction, and low blood sugar.”

“This book describes a modified ketogenic diet and lifestyle plan specifically formulated for women and personalized to your particular body type, so that you CAN succeed at Keto.”

Chapter 5: How to Start and What to Eat

This program is a four-week program that “starts with a detox, then activates the powerful weight-loss power of traditional ketogenic diets, and finally harnesses the health-boosting and disease-resistant benefits of the Mediterranean diet for the long term.” It involves 3 basic principles:

“Detoxification early in the process to support the body as it rids itself of stored toxins as fat is melted off.”

“Scaled carbohydrate recommendations, beginning with the most restrictive, to encourage hormones to signal fat burning and a metabolism that supports long-term weight loss.”

“Increasing slow-burn carbohydrate consumption in the second and third phases (transition and integration) to avoid the potential long-term issues associated with extremely low-carb diets.”

How Food and Hormones Communicate

Certain foods might communicate a certain way with your brain. For example, I have a childhood memory of mom’s spaghetti on a cold winter day. Those same foods, however, can communicate much differently with your hormones. To your hormones, food is information, and most of the information they been receiving has been to store fat.

Overview of the Four-Week Protocol

Dr. Gottfried states: “After years of leading women through a ketogenic diet designed to honor their hormones, I realized that most of us need to think of keto as a short-term pulse, not a long-term diet involving lifelong restricted eating.”

This single statement alone and I’m applauding from the sidelines and doing a little happy dance. While the keto diet changed my son’s life for the better, basically giving him a life…I’ve come to realize over time that it’s meant to be therapeutic in nature and nothing more. It works well for healing in the short term but was never meant for long term health.

Here are the three basic phases of the Gottfried Protocol:

Preparation ” 20-25 grams of net carbs and detoxification. Keep a ketogenic ratio of 2:1. The 2:1 ratio that Dr. Gottfried is talking about is a 2 (ketogenic factors or fat from the food and/or added fat) to 1 (anti-ketogenic factors such as protein or carbs) Get your bowels moving so you can mobilize fat!

Implementation “20-25 grams of net carbs per day, and add in intermittent fasting (14/10 to 16/8) continue a ketogenic ratio of 2:1

Transition “Start to add net carbs slowly, 5 grams at a time and heading toward a ketogenic ratio of 1:1 for the long term or until you repeat the diet.

The cheat sheet that she provides for each meal during the first four weeks:

Minimum fat: 20-40 grams

Maximum protein: 10-20 grams

Maximum carbs (total carbs less total fiber): 7-10 grams but less is preferable.

We will dive a little deeper into what Dr. Gottfried intends for this 4-week program over the next few days and weeks. Until next time! Beth

Review of “Women, Food, and Hormones” by Sara Gottfried (3/10)

Clearly life happened, because the end of my last entry was “see ya tomorrow” and that definitely didn’t happen. Here’s what’s been going on: So, I take care of my 90-year-old mom, and she is in amazingly good health for 90. She has only ever been on one medication, and it was for her blood pressure. However, in the last few weeks she’s been experiencing an arrythmia which leaves her feeling weak. Over the course of the last few days, this arrythmia, combined with a little chest cold, had me taking her to the ER in Erie. I’m sure everyone knows how ER’s and hospitals are so, that’s the reason I’m just getting back to this book.

In my last blog entry, we were talking about testosterone and its importance to the female body in relation to everything from weight loss to sex drive. The standard American diet accounts for the greatest portion of decline in testosterone, but there are a handful of medications and procedures such as a hysterectomy that can cause a decline in testosterone.

There are tests that can be done to check for testosterone levels in females, but suffice it to say that either way, cleaning up your diet and adding in exercise that will boost hormones rather than deplete them is the safest and best bet to get everything back on track.

For diet, besides getting blood sugar regulated by avoiding processed foods such a chips, bread, crackers, pretzels, pasta and soda, it is also important to avoid alcohol. In its relation to blood sugar and hormones alcohol is not beneficial, in fact, it’s detrimental.

For exercise, focus on HIIT type workouts and strength training rather than long cardio sessions. Long cardio (especially after 35-50 minutes) drives up cortisol which will negatively impact hormones. Think about sprint training or heavy lifting instead.

From the Author of this Blog:

Definitely consider adding warm lemon water to your morning routine to get digestion moving, detoxifying vegetables, (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, cilantro, fennel and dandelion) and cranberry water (1/4 cup pure cranberry juice added to 2 quarts of water) to improve the health of the lymph system. Focus on filling your plate with 75% vegetables and 15% protein and 10% healthy fats for right now until finding out more about the Gottfried Protocol. Whether you choose to follow all of the dietary protocols in the Gottfried plan, taking these initial steps to improve the health of your liver and digestive tract will be a boost.

Review of “Women, Food, and Hormones” by Sara Gottfried, MD (3/5)

Chapter 3

I’m going to break chapter 3 up into a few days. Today I just want to talk about why Testosterone is important for Women. Or, more pointedly, why does Sara Gottfried, MD, think that testosterone is important for women.

First off, she says that “if you are looking to get leaner and lose more body fat, T is an important ally, because it’s the hormone that creates a weight-loss edge for men.” (pp67) Basically, this hormone is why men can lose weight more easily than women.

She goes on to say, “I suspect that this is why the ketogenic diet, which involves higher fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate intake tends to works better for men, according to my research.” (pp 67)

This is one reason why she created the Gottfried Protocol “which follows a ketogenic framework but is adapted for women, together with an emphasis on detoxification and fasting.” (pp66)

Testosterone may also be important in having a healthy libido and having a good mood. “Testosterone levels that are impaired are also associated with several serious health conditions, that involve the immune system, inflammation and glucose problems, including depression, breast cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.” (pp67)

Those are the reasons women need testosterone. Tomorrow we can look at how a woman would know if they were low in testosterone.

For my part, I’m continuing to follow a detoxification diet, utilizing a lot of cruciferous vegetables and green juice. For exercise today, I did yoga and ran one mile. Have a great night and see ya tomorrow!

Review of “Women, Food, and Hormones” by Sara Gottfried, MD

Chapter 2: How Growth Hormone Keeps You Lean

If you’re like me, and I think a lot of women are, you would love to be told the one thing that could make weight loss easy, apply that one thing, and move on, never to look back. Who wouldn’t? When it comes to hormones, however, sometimes it just all seems complicated and frustrating. So, I’m really hoping Dr. Gottfried can shed some light on these crazy hormones and give me some real advice.

Come to find out, (as if I didn’t know this already, when I was dripping sweat, speaking to my class tonight) apparently, “hormones influence just about everything: Mood, behavior, muscle mass, energy and metabolism.” (pp44) No kidding! And I would add to that, hormones can affect quality of life especially for those women like me who are suffering from hot flashes that leave me drenched in sweat.

The first hormone, Dr. Gottfried addresses is the growth hormone. As she puts it, growth hormone “plays a key role in building muscle and keeping bones strong, while simultaneously breaking down fat. And it’s central to weight loss (pp45-46)

Dr. Sara believes that for some women the growth hormone switch gets stuck in the store fat position because the body perceives too much stress due to deadlines, restricted calories or other famine signals, overexercise, insufficient sleep, or toxins.

Some symptoms of low growth hormone that are mentioned are: reduced lean body mass, increased abdominal obesity, increased insulin resistance, decreased muscle mass, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, anxiety and depression, fibromyalgia and decreased bone density.

To fix the growth hormone deficit, Sara recommends first, eating healthy protein especially grass-fed beef, SMASH Fish (and acronym for salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring), whey protein shakes, and pastured eggs and chicken. Second, eating Omega 3’s which she says have been shown to raise growth hormone in animal studies. Third, Fast…but do it in a 14/10 window. No extreme fasting. Fourth, Exercise raises growth hormone and the more strenuous the greater the effect. One example would be HIIT exercises. Fifth, use sauna. Sixth, put down wine and other alcoholic beverages which is like liquid sugar. It goes directly to the liver and is converted into fat. Seventh, Consider Supplements like Vitamin D and Creatine.

Personally, I don’t find myself relating all that much to the growth hormone deficit symptoms. I already eat the way that Dr. Sara recommends in her list of ways to fix the growth hormone deficit. That way of eating is good whether you need to fix hormones or not. If you’re reading this blog and you aren’t eating this way, it would be a good idea to start no matter what your symptoms. In addition, I’m adding in and focusing on many liver cleansing and detoxifying foods this month such as cruciferous vegetables. Here’s what I ate today:

Detox Cabbage Soup – Lunch

Detox Salad – Supper

Eggs – Snack

Fresh dandelion and fennel juice

Clean Protein Bar

For Exercise, I ran 3 miles and lifted for 30 minutes.

Review of “Women, Food, and Hormones” by Dr. Sara Gottfried, MD (3/3)

The Final Two Principles from Chapter One are 1. Because of their hormones, women react differently than men to keto and 2. Women can follow a ketogenic diet but they do better with a hormone balancing version such as the Gottfried Protocol.

Because of their hormones, women react differently than men to keto. Three of Dr Gottfried’s concerns with keto that I have often scratched my head over are:

1. “There may not be sufficient carbs for women on traditional keto.” (agreed)

2. “Keto can affect the thyroid gland. Some women develop thyroid problems.”(agreed)

3. “A diet low in carbohydrates can also negatively impact a woman’s sleep. (When sleep is disrupted because of the keto diet or another factor, other hormones may become disrupted.)” (agreed)

After that list, I really felt like she was trying to talk me out of the ketogenic diet. All I could think was, this special protocol must be something to be keto and not have all the above issues.

The final principle was that women can follow the ketogenic diet, but they need to follow a hormone balancing version such as the Gottfried Protocol.

“The Gottfried protocol includes a detox component, a modified carb count, and more vegetables and fiber for a more alkaline diet.”

So, I love the detox component. I think that very few diet protocols really focus on getting the liver functioning properly. Getting the blood sugar under control with diets like the keto diet, the paleo diet or Whole 30 is a great start, but it’s no surprise that some women still have stubborn weight issues because the liver was never given the love it needed from the outset.

“A more alkaline diet that’s rich in vegetables will improve hormones like growth hormone increase levels of vitamin D, help your bones, and reduce muscle loss. That’s what you get with the Gottfried Protocol.” (38)

The last point that Dr. Sara brings up that has been a major question for me is that: “she’s wondered over the years if the decreased insulin and glucose that we see as a result of the ketogenic diet, or even during fasting, when you go for some period of time without eating (such as fourteen to sixteen hours), might be perceived as a greater alarm in women as compared to men –meaning it sets off warning signals in the female body that something is wrong. She suspects that in premenopausal women that this alarm might be more sensitive, perhaps requiring gentler methods such as a 13 to 14 hour fast.”

So, while the fasting may have so many other healing benefits, an extended fast could put the female body in full on flight or fight mode, causing more fat storing.

As I said yesterday, my focus for now, without having all the details of the Gottfried Protocol is going to be on detoxification. This is what I ate today:

Breakfast: sauteed cabbage (1/2 cup) and 2 scrambled eggs

Lunch: detox cabbage soup with bone broth

Supper: detox salad (chicken breast, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts, carrots with ginger avocado oil dressing)

Snack: paleo date and nut bar (homemade), eggs

Beverages: detox green juice (dandelion, cilantro, celery, cucumber, ginger, lemon and turmeric), detox dandelion tea, water

My exercise was: 4 miles running with quarter mile sprints for the last mile and yoga

Review of Women, Food and Hormones by Sara Gottfried, MD (3/2)

Point One: “Hormones Influence Weight”

This was the first of the five principles that Sara Gottfried lays out in Chapter 1 of her book. Today, I want to talk about the first three principles. Tomorrow, I’ll cover the other two.

In her book, Sara states that hormones are messengers and when these messengers are all firing correctly, your body will run like a well-oiled machine. She uses the analogy of an orchestra, where the conductor is the brain, sending signals to all of the endocrine organs, like your adrenals and thyroid. When you’re taking care of your body, eating the right food and reducing stress, the conductor works well. When the conductor isn’t doing so well, neither are your hormones.

In her book, Sara states that of the eight major hormones, (insulin, cortisol, thyroid, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, growth hormone and leptin) that insulin rises to the top of the pile of hormones needing to be addressed. When the body is in an insulin resistant state it will store fat. Elevated insulin levels will in turn, exacerbate thyroid issues.

Besides the issue with blood sugar and insulin, which is mainly driven by the high sugar-processed food diet we eat, endocrine issues are driven by environment, chemicals and stress as well.

Point two: “Women are more influenced by hormones than men.”

To put it simply, women just have more hormones than men do, and they are in a constant flux even before menopause begins. For this reason alone, diets and protocols that work for men will not and do not work for women. She states, “just knowing that hormones can block weight loss, and that women are more likely to experience hormone imbalance, is part of the solution.” (pp33) For this reason, Dr. Gottfried believes that her protocol, which is a modified ketogenic diet, will work to balance hormones.

Point three: “The ketogenic diet influences hormones.”

The ketogenic diet has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to deal with insulin, which is the main culprit in weight gain. “The trouble is that keto has the potential to adversely affect other hormones, including cortisol, thyroid and estrogen.” (p34)

In my experience, I would totally agree with point three. As a middle-aged woman going through menopause, with a family history of thyroid problems and a tendency to high levels of stress, I do think that the times that I’ve done strict keto in the past have negatively affected my other hormones. I’ve even gained weight doing keto, which makes the whole cycle even more vicious because the more weight you gain the more stressed out about it you become. The more you gain, the longer you exercise, which increases cortisol etc. etc. And so, the cycle goes. I absolutely can’t wait to hear how she plans to modify the keto diet for women and make it flow with all of our crazy hormones in a positive way.

Here’s how I’m planning to start incorporating some of Dr. Gottfried’s principles: This week, I’m going to add more sulfur rich vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale to open up the detox pathways. I’m not real focused on counting macros at this point. I’m just going to try and get one generous serving of one of these vegetables in at every meal. I particularly love sauteed cabbage and find it easy and inexpensive to add to soups and stir fry dishes. As I get farther into the book and really see how she intends to make her protocol a “better” way to do keto, I might try to incorporate her methods. On the other hand, if it looks like the same old keto, I will probably steer clear. In my experience, my system doesn’t like that approach and I will look elsewhere for answers to my ever-changing body.