YouTube Livestream Q&A Transcript, July 2, 2024

Question

“What are your thoughts on taking creatinine as a woman? Are there really any benefits to it? I am trying to increase my exercise tolerance and I’ve read it has brain benefits.”  [0:03:03]

Answer

It's wonderful. The answer is yes. And men have much more creatinine than women in their cells and the creatinine kinase enzymes. We may have 5 to 10 percent of what a man has. So, if men who have maybe 90 percent of what a woman has and they still take creatinine supplementally and it benefits them in their muscle development, which has many parameters of longevity, mental health, anti-dementia benefits, then I certainly would say a woman who has only 5 or 10 percent of what a man certainly could benefit. And so, I would say about a gram per pound. So, if you're a 120-pound woman, you would want to take somewhere in that realm. 

No, wait a minute. Let me think. I’ve got to think back to creatinine. I think it's your load. You load with 20 grams a day for maybe a week to 5 days, and then you use 5 grams a day thereafter. And then yes, it benefits your muscles and building muscles, and it benefits neurotransmitters in the brain. It benefits bone health. So yeah, I would definitely say it's reasonable to use creatine. 

Question 

“Hi, Dr. Rita. My mom is 73. Was told her hemoglobin A1C is 11. The doctor wants to give her metformin, but she isn't taking anything yet. She changed her diet and exercise. I checked her glucose and it was 180.”  [0:05:01]

Answer

Well, she's not far from my age. I'm almost 73 myself. So, I would tell her to do weight training twice a week or three times a week. I do it three times a week. I would lift heavy weights, and maybe get a trainer for the first month just to make sure you know how to use the machines and how to operate them safely. Do slow motions, not fast. Don't suddenly release weights and jerk yourself around. That's how you get injuries. Also, your posture is important. Weight training is probably one of the best things because it will build up your muscles. And like Tara was just asking, you might even give your mom some creatine. And then I would definitely say she has to eat a high-protein diet. 

Now, speaking of building muscles and burning up the blood sugars, the muscle itself is a good engine to burn off carbohydrates and sugars. So, as we age, our muscles shrink, and so that total compartment to burn off these things in a world American society that pimps it to us to eat carbs, starches, and sugars all the time. You just have to get your mindset around this, that I'm in charge of my mouth. I take responsibility for my mouth and I take full accountability that, you know, like for me, from my Christian point of view, my body is created by God, and I'm to use it in service of him. And so, I could really ask the question every day, what do you want me to eat, Lord? So that it helps me say, even though I would like some chocolate, ice cream, or a piece of cheesecake, or tortilla chips, or what else would I like, I would like pasta, I would like a nice piece of sourdough or bread with butter on it, cookies chocolate candies, snicker bars. I would like all these things. But should I take them and will it help me perform my best in service to my Lord? And the answer is no. 

So, I have gone to a carnivore lifestyle and I have never felt better. I, and I'm getting all this creatine from eating all that protein because if you eat a good protein or carnivore-like or near carnivore diet, what do I mean by near carnivore? For a long time, I was taking carnivore large. I would say I was on a largely carnivore diet. But what I would have is cooked broccoli, asparagus, green beans, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, spinach, and I would butter it up, and probably I would allow in tortilla chips with a spinach dip. And I was still struggling with maintaining my very healthy blood sugar values. I like to keep my fasting blood sugars in the 60s to the 70s. So, now that I've been in my 70s, I realized that I can't afford that. So, I've gone a hundred percent carnivore completely, and I've just had that additional surge of energy. And it's rich in creatine. And I take about close to a gram per pound. I'm trying to aim for at least 150 grams of protein a day. So, that's where I'm at on that. 

And that's what I would recommend. Your mom needs to just get that mindset. What am I going to do? And not what are the excuses or what are the other possibilities. There are none. You just have to make a decision, what is your plan, and then do it. And that plan has to include weight training three times a week, no less than two times a week. And only then will she start seeing the benefits. And you have to stay carnivore. At least, to really feel the benefits, I would say somewhere you'll start feeling it after a week of pure carnivore, and the tremendous benefits after at least a month. So that's the direction I would go. 

Question 

“Hi Dr. Rita, thank you for taking my questions. Can I give my cat the TLC Digestive Enzymes? He's an older cat and gets constipated. I buy supplements from the TLC store and when my supplements arrive by mail, they are very warm because of the Florida heat. Will this affect the effectiveness of the supplements? Thank you.”  [0:09:59]

Answer

Well, yes, the vitamins should be probably no higher than 85 degrees Fahrenheit at any given time for storage or anything. So I try and keep my home somewhere around 74 to 76 degrees during the hot season, but up to 85. So, try and catch it so that it's not being stored at that time. A brief exposure, the more heat, the longer the heat, and definitely the higher the heat above 85 and the longer, we're talking many hours or days, will definitely have an effect on the antioxidants, the enzyme actions, and so forth. So, you need to try and keep them cool. 

But giving it to your cat, I'm not a veterinarian, and I would not be able to give you advice on that. So, I would ask your veterinarian or look online for various advice on this treatment regarding your pet cat. 

Question 

“History. 60-year old-man. Cardiac arrest 10 years ago. 99% blockage of a widow maker. 1 stent. Current meds Crestor 40 MG, Zetia 10MG. On/Off med numbers. HDL 58/67, LDL 88/263, Non-HDL 109/292 Total 167/359, Trigly. 118/141. Thoughts on replacing statins with Repatha? Recent Left Heart cath showed no other blockages. THANKS. You're the best.”  [0:11:47] 

Answer

Well, praise, praise the Lord. God is the best. But the number that you want to focus on is are not the LDL and the non-LDL total cholesterols. I want you to focus on your triglycerides. And I know the labs averages, and pathologies on the ranges there are just population averages, and since cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death, I'm just astonished that they are still not focusing as much on triglycerides because that's the main cause, and it comes from carbs, starch, fruit sugars, carbohydrates. And we're a nation pimping, pimping, pimping the carbohydrates and the mouth entertainment of our existence. 

So, I would get a divorce from your mouth taste buds, and live for health and service to your friends, family, and God, and, and to yourself. And just say, “This mouth is going to serve for repair and reconstruction” because your soft tissues are pretty much completely replaced in about seven years. Bone and brain tissue are arguably far slower and less demonstratable, but it does occur, they're saying something like 20 to 21 years on that. I would tell you that you want your triglyceride level to be no higher than your HDL level, and you reported your HDL levels at 58 and 67. So that's the goal for your triglycerides. If you can always match your HDL with your triglycerides or have the triglycerides lower, you're going to do very, very well. I would do EDTA chelation and I would use Systemic Enzymes. I would use an adequate amount of water, half your weight as pounds as ounces. So, if you're a 200-pound man, you need 100 ounces of water. You need weight training and you need aerobic training. So, two days of weight training, and two days of aerobic would be the bare minimum for each.

And I would never, ever, ever eat late. In fact, the older you get, the earlier you should end your eating. So, trying to stop at 6, 5, or 4 o'clock in the afternoon is always better. Doing intermittent fasting is where you have a window of eating. And the older you get, it looks like the better time to fast would be your dinner. So, it would be better to have breakfast and lunch and not have dinners the older you get. So, I would say past 50. 

So, you have to make a decision, your birthday, your anniversary, Christmas Day dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, Valentine's dinner, Easter Sunday dinner, Memorial Day dinner, 4th of July, labor Day. These are the days that you would allow yourself to have oral entertainment, but the other days it should be no thanks, it's harmful, I've already crossed a line, and I have to stay very protective and guard my mouth. 

So, please don't look for substitutes or false sweeteners and play this game that you trick yourself into getting a sweet taste because the cephalic phase of digestion is when you're sensing a sweet sensation. Your body will secrete insulin and it's the insulin response that creates and supports the inflammation that high carbs do and damage our blood vessels. So, the insulin response, the growth-promoting, fat-promoting, tumor growth-promoting insulin. The impact of even thinking about sweets or taking fake sweeteners would be harmful. Better to just say, you know, I often use the example that you make a decision to get married and make a vow to someone all the days of your life for better or for worse because in the worst times, you're learning about yourself and how during stress you can improve yourself and solve problems. And so it is a training program to make the best you out of you because we are all such valuable creations. 

So, when I think of dieting or eating, I think of things like I am going to follow this healthy diet and go into restoration of health, and I will not commit adultery to my body. I will not take something that is going to be harmful. So, I make serious thoughts and notes to myself, conversations in my prayer time, about what I stand for and who I am. And I'm not perfect, so don't go thinking that I…But I am 99.9999 percent pure carnivore as opposed to last year I was largely carnivore with vegetables and some cheap things like that. And I saw it couldn't help me, so I had to make this decision about, well, I apparently have to just accept my fate and do what I do. And I have to say, I feel so much better. Even though I had great labs before and functionality I was losing my muscle mass. I had to bring on the weight training, I had to bring on the stricter diet, and I'm happier for it. So, I went through the stress of struggling with my weight issues and so forth, and I just worked through what I had to do to achieve it. I take personal responsibility and my why is my family, my husband, my patients, and my God, and I just would do that. So triglycerides should never be higher than your HDL. HDL goes up with exercise. And I never worry about my total cholesterol or my LDL.  

Now, yes, there's a familial, very rare genetic form of hypercholesterolemia and things like that. I'm not talking about the outliers, I'm talking about the vast majority of us. But that's what I would do it. 

Now, would I use Repatha? Repatha is new. It doesn't work like statins. The Repatha is more on an immunological plane and it's usually an injectable, and this is a PCSK9 inhibitor. That's a term for a receptor to attract the uptake of LDL and it blocks the presence of it. So, the uptake of LDL is higher in the liver, and it lowers it in the bloodstream. Whereas statins are enzymatic inhibitors of the coenzyme reductase inhibitor, so you produce less cholesterol in total. It's new. I don't recommend new things. I don't even recommend statins. The thing is I'm working to inspire my patients to see their great value, to see their great abilities under times of stress and how they can make it through, and to see all of us helping one another to be the best we can. So, I am not for either of those. I'm for either a carnivore diet or a nearly carnivore because some people can get away with a very low carbohydrate diet and do extremely well with their exercise, certainly, men more than women because they have so much muscle mass. But it gets harder the older you are. And I've seen that happen to me now that I'm in my 70s. So, I would definitely say to you, please consider what we're saying here for lifestyle. 

But again, I am not your doctor and you have a cardiologist, and you have to make the decision and discuss these things with your cardiologist who's managing you, because everything I say here is really just general educational advice, my generalized thoughts on things. I don't know you in particular. So, I would encourage you to take responsibility for yourself, for your diet, for your lifestyle, and learn what your why is. One of my whys is for my grandchildren. I want to be able to be in my 70s as I can right now. One of my grandchildren, I have four of them, is only 4 years old, just turned four, and I want to be able to lift him up. And the next one is not even two years old yet, and I want to be able to lift them up. So that was my why, and that motivated me with my weight training many years ago. 

So, figure out what your why is. And you might have many whys. I have many whys as to why I am very aggressive about what I choose to eat and not to eat and when I eat and how much I eat another. And, you know, it's interesting, I have learned what satisfaction is. I think I've been so busy in my life and so rushed, that I overeat at any one setting, and I've learned what satiation is, satisfaction. And this is just something I had to learn and talk to myself and say, why are you eating the full plate or why did you put that much on your plate? And I know that some of my rationale was, oh, you're busy, you were an ER physician, you don't know when a crash might come in through the doors and you won't eat. And so, I had these patterns of just chowing down food, but I would eat very intermittently all my life. And I found that I harmed myself for that pattern, and I expanded my stomach even physically, and now I know my stomach is more normal and shrunk down, and I'm very satisfied if I learn to eat slower. 

Question 

“Hello Dr. E. My dentist and oral surgeon suspect I have a blocked salivary gland. The pain is under my tongue left side and in the throat/neck with swelling and ear pain. ENT wants me to take antibiotics and put steroid drops in my ear. If it doesn’t work, then CT. I don’t want to. Been spraying Colloidal Silver in the throat and CS gel in the ear. Warm compress. Can you recommend anything else to help me with the pain? Or do you think I should do what the ENT says?”  [0:23:18]

Answer

So, this is the sublingual that's like, you know, you have a little frenulum and you squirt out sometimes when you yawn and you squirt, that's where the saliva comes under your jaw there. And you can make these salivary stones, that's probably from not enough water drinking as well lifelong. So, you need to become a voracious water drinker at least half your weight in pounds is water, and I would add maybe 10 percent more to that. And I would do a fasting. I would go on a 24-hour fast or a 48-hour fast. And I would take Systemic Enzymes, and I would use like five to three times a day on an empty stomach for days and days, maybe two to three weeks. And that inflammation and the pain should immediately go down in the first two days. And then you can suck on a sour thing, not a sour-sweet, maybe like lemon or lime, suck on that, and that will help produce this squeezing. You have to have enough minerals. So take your supplements, TLC MultiMinerals. That would be very valuable.  

Well, I'm never going to tell you. What your doctor is seeing who physically sees you. But, in general, for all salivary stones, as a general process, it'll go away if you drink half your weight in pounds as ounces every day, plus maybe 10 percent, and you take multi-minerals, and that's to help with remineralization and some of the magnesium peristalsis of the contraction of the musculature of the glands that are in your parotids and salivary glands. And the fasting will reduce inflammation. That inflammation will allow the passage through hopefully and that would be the direction I would go. But again, you have to make that decision with your ENT doctor, but that's the direction I would go.

Question 

“Hi, Dr. Rita! I’m a little confused about how many grams of protein women after 40 should eat per day. Is it 1 gram per pound of body weight? So for a 120-pound woman that would be like eating 4 chicken breasts that weigh 4 ounces…(there’s 30 grams of protein in 4 ounces of chicken). That is hard to get in any circumstance but especially if you intermittent fast.”  [0:26:14] 

Answer

Is it 1 gram per pound of body weight? Yes, that would be reasonable. You know, you can see 0.8 is usually recommended, 0.8 grams per pound, but I try and do about 1 gram. So, for a 120-pound woman, that would be like eating four chicken breasts that weigh 4 ounces each. There's 30 grams of protein in 4 ounces of chicken. 

I struggle to get in about 120 grams myself, 150 grams myself, and I'm not even hitting 1 gram per pound at that point, and it's a challenge. But that is a reasonable goal, which is 1 gram per pound of weight. And then there are the facts. 

Question 

“Do you know of any alternative treatments for genital herpes other than the typical antiviral? Both for breakouts and prevention.”  [0:27:22]

Answer

That would be something like Acyclovir antivirals. Well, a healthy lifestyle is a wonderful way to prevent it. So, if you already have the herpes genital virus, I would work to make sure your blood sugars are always very healthy, and that by that I mean a fasting blood sugar of 85 or less, somewhere between 60 and 85, triglycerides roughly around 50, and HDL is around 50 also. I would exercise. I would take extra vitamin C every day, I would try and take a gram or two every day. I would make a priority, good sleep. Stress depresses the immune system, stress depresses sleep. So, you want to manage your stress so you get good sleep, and your immune system recovers. Don't eat late at night. Don't drink alcohol. Be low carb. Exercise regularly. And then your immune system with usage of the vitamin C is very valuable. There are those who say lysine is suppressive. I've seen mixed article reviews on that and results in my patients who do use lysine. I would say there are mushroom extracts, Maitake mushrooms. We have the NK Protect, which is a mushroom concentrate that builds up the immune T-cells that suppress viral illnesses. 

I would take quercetin all the time. Quercetin is a natural antiviral. I would also make sure that you're on a good level of vitamin D, trying to keep your blood levels at 90 to 100 international units per deciliter. And I would eat a very simplistic diet because if you inflame your gut, with eating and parties and stress, 80 percent of your immune system is what you challenge yourself with every meal. And so, if you had a stressful day and then you eat a wild meal or reward yourself with a junk food meal, you've double hit yourself with an immune suppressant. So, good sleep, adequate hydration, exercise, a low-carb diet, extra vitamin D, zinc in a TLC Multimineral, zinc somewhere around maybe 25 mg a day, and then quercetin, lysine, high dose vitamin C, 2 grams a day. If you can tolerate 4 grams, that's even better. Those are the things that I would do. 

And then, if you had an outbreak, I'd come right away into the IV suite and get a high dose vitamin C drip right into your vein at the onset, 25 grams, and I would do it two in a row, something like that. Two IVs in a row, day one, day two. 

Question 

“I try to stay away from artificial sweeteners, but there's a protein bar made by Kirkland that I really like that is also affordable. This protein bar uses erythritol, and wanted to see what you had to say about that and if that's something I should be concerned about.”  [0:30:49]

Answer

Well, erythritol, you can easily wind up getting it snuck into your diet. If you serve this taste demand for sugars, the taste of sweet is a driving dopaminergic receptor, just like heroin addiction or nicotine addiction, sex addiction, all these addictive patterns, feedback to the dopaminergic centers, reward centers in the brain. You have to conquer that. And erythritol can be feeding, although it doesn't as much as others, but all these sugar alcohols have an impact on your gut bacteria. So, I'm not going to say you can't do it, but I would say you can get drawn into a rationale pattern of thinking that you could say, oh, I could have a Kirkland bar, I could have half a bar, and you start seeing patterns of eating this over and over. 

We need to understand, unfortunately, we have access to so many of these potentially building up without our awareness of volumes of sugar alcohols, and it can impact negatively our gut and other parameters. So, I'm going to say it's probably one of the better sweeteners, monk fruit, erythritol, even xylitol, but the sugar alcohols can have their effect and creep up on you. So, please be careful with it and try and understand why you're doing this, why do you have to have that? What is the rationale for your reward that you must have it? 

Question 

“Hi Dr. Rita, I was curious how much vitamin D with the K2 do you take every day? I can't seem to get my vitamin D above 82. I would like it to be on the higher side. Also, how do you feel about the balls that you put into your tub to filter out the water or the tablet Vitabath vitamin C you put into the water? Which is better? Thank you!”  [0:32:50]

Answer

I take 15,000 international units of vitamin K2 every day. 82 is a good number. I like it at 82 to 120 range. 

Oh, I'm not very familiar with Vitabath. I know they have vitamin C in them. Vitamin C is a universal antioxidant. It will neutralize chlorine and other bad chemicals, that's why it's so wonderful intravenously, it's an antiviral, and putting it in your bath is probably fine. I don't know. I haven't seen any scientific studies on that. And yes, it's probably absorbed through your skin. Humans don't make any vitamin C, so there may be a benefit in that. I don't see them as a harm. But I'm always suspicious of products that we bring into our lives. I don't know what fillers or other components are with it. So, if you're just talking about putting vitamin C in your water, okay. If it's a big ball or something, what on earth is mixed in with it? I don't know. So, I can't really speak to it. But as far as vitamin C is concerned, yeah, it will disinfect the chlorine in the water, which is a good thing.

Question 

“Dr. Rita, good evening. Your thoughts please on getting a shingles vaccine for a healthy 65-year-old male. If you think it's a good idea, which one do you recommend? Thank you for all you do.”  [0:34:39]

Answer

I don't recommend that vaccinations. The companies, the corporate history, and the production and development of vaccines are fraught with secrecy, deception, unreported deaths, and falsifications, and manipulated science, and the companies that produce themselves had so many episodes of being found liable for producing poor pharmaceuticals, and find in the billions of dollars, many of these pharmaceutical companies that produce these vaccines that what happens then is I am supposed to use a product and recommend it to my patients from companies that already have a felony record. Why would I do that? No, I rather build up the immune system. I rather be low in carbs so I don't depress my immune system. I would use a high-dose vitamin C. I would have exercise, good sleep, hygiene habits, all these things rather than, and good vitamin D levels. So, that's how I would approach that.

Question 

“Do you recommend fasting for 48 hours prior to enhanced EDTA chelation?”  [0:36:07]

Answer

No, I don't. I would say that I've probably been fasted for 48 hours and received chelation-enhanced IVs, but I know myself, I'm responsible for myself. Typically, it speeds up your metabolism and that will lower your blood sugar. So, if you don't have a good glucose metabolism, if you have metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance, then fasting and taking a chelation might drop you into a lower blood sugar phase, which you would feel drowsy and lightheaded with. And so, our typical pattern is to tell people to eat some healthy food before IV chelation. But truth be told, I often go in there in a fasted state and do it, and I'm sure I've done it on my 5-day fast that I do twice a year, but I do not recommend that as a routine. 

Question 

“Do you recommend eating raw eggs? My blood type is O plus and I'm in good overall health.”  [0:37:18]

Answer

It's been done for thousands of years. I know they want you to live in a state of fear, especially if you have a very clean, healthy production of prairie-raised eggs by caring caregivers for them. Yes, I think it's got thousands of years and countless numbers of human beings that have used it. I know some Japanese friends that take their rice in the morning and they crack an egg in it and mix some spices, and that's their breakfast, rice and raw eggs. Salmonella is the bacteria of concern, and it's just, it's so rare, I'm not going to live my life based on fear when so many people have done it. So, just make sure you're getting clean sourcing for your egg production that you buy. 

Question 

“Are bioidentical hormones safe to take?”  [0:38:27]

Answer

Yes, they are. God made us with hormones. Why on earth would they not be safe? It's the loss of function, it's the breakdown of the body that's the problem. And with the breakdown of the body comes the breakdown of the immune system, and we're junkies with all these immune suppressive sugars, starches, eating too late, watching TV screens and computers, and getting electromagnetic radiation. No, it's not the hormones. It's the insulin stimulation of growth from a high carbohydrate diet that is low in exercise. 

There's a book out there called ‘Estrogen Matters’. I think it's been finally put to rest, this idea that estrogen is a risk for cancer. It's not. And so, you have to be in the hands of a doctor who will test you at the onset and 3 months later, 6 months later, and then every 6 months, and then make sure you're getting your self-breast exam done monthly, low carb diet, Systemic Enzymes, and the whole pattern that goes with you're taking hormones to be younger than act younger. Younger people are more active, younger people drink more water, and younger people have more enzymes. And so, we insist our women be on Systemic Enzymes, drink their water, exercise, and watch their carbohydrates. And then I think it's quite reasonable to take them. 

Question 

“Back in the day, when there were nuclear power plants, there was advice that if something should happen, and you were exposed to the fallout, you should take a form of potassium to fill up your thyroid to block the radiation from destroying your thyroid. Was that the advice and what kind of potassium was it?”  [0:40:13]

Answer

It's potassium iodide. And if you take Iodoral or i-Throid, and I take it every day, you're going to get the iodine. There are other forms of iodine that you can take. Potassium iodide is just a stable, cheap methodology. It’s the iodine that you want to take as well. And then you want to be on a very good antioxidant vitamin C-rich item with vitamin D, low carb. I mean, the person who is taking care of their health is going to have the resiliency to many things, including radiation exposure. 

Question 

“Hi! I'm a 53-year-old female. Suddenly, over the last month or so, I cannot sleep through the night, waking up after only 5-6 hours. I'm desperate for solutions. I understand different factors can play a role (age, hormones, magnesium levels). I've tried so many different things, but nothing is working. I prefer NOT to take sleep aids. HELP!”  [0:41:15]

Answer

That’s the loss of your hormones. Well, I would get on natural hormone replacement therapy. And then there isn't a miracle number.  Most of us don't know what our estradiol levels were 60 years ago, like when I was, you know, 10 or 11. When you start seeing your hormones start, I think pediatricians should be required, as puberty starts in children, to test their hormones, to start seeing what they are, and then somewhere around age 14 to 15, and then somewhere around age 18 to 20, and to see their level. And estradiol levels can go up to 600 or so in young girls. And then when you get to menopause or perimenopause, estradiol levels vary widely, depending on how much you're able to make. So, you might one month make only 50 nanograms per deciliter. And then the next month you took better care of yourself and you made 150, and you sleep better, and feel better. So, when you're testing and replacing it, the doctor has to understand, we set an azimuth like a surveyor and you set a point and you start shooting references off that point to get the lay of the field, the lay of the land. And so, we get a baseline hormone, we give you a dose, and then we test it within a couple of three months, and we see what it did for you and how you felt. 

And let's say your level came up to 70, and you said, yeah, I felt better but I'm still having trouble sleeping. Well maybe you operated all through your teens, 20s, 30s with hormone levels for estradiols in the 300, 400, 500 range, and now you think you're going to be satisfied at 100 to 150? No, you might have to get that hormone level up to 200 or 250 to really get the blessed effect of sleep and the relaxation associated with it. Of course, magnesium levels, we can do serum levels of that, but taking a good multimineral is always smart, as eating a low-carb diet, and drinking enough water. All these things we lose with age, our mineral load, we get dehydration, we get hormone loss, we lose our enzymes. So, you have to put all those things together and work with a doctor who will see how you feel.  And then I always balance my hormones with progesterone because that's how God made us. So, I always put progesterone in, and some of my women have to take 200 or 400 or 600 mg of progesterone.  

So, you have to test and evaluate, test and evaluate to see what helps each individual. That's why I love seeing all my patients as unique individuals and working with them. And there is a way to help you.

So, hopefully, you can find a doctor who will do that. 

Question 

“Dr. Rita, I'm a 65-year-old male in good health. My healthcare provider constantly asks me if I want to get the shingles vaccine. I'm on the fence. What percentage of older adults actually get shingles? And what would you recommend? Thank you.”  [0:44:51]

Answer

I don't know if I have a number in my head on the percentage, but it increases with age as your immune system fails, and it increases with stress. So, a more loving environment, a more healthy prepared adult as they age, they're at lower risk for shingles than the guy who's just having his beers and eating his pizza and Cheetos and candy and his fast food with his work schedule, he could break out in a stressful situation in his 50s and 60s. So, it is a lifestyle. It's the terrain. It's not the bugs, it is the terrain. So, you’ve got to take care of your garden. You have to take care of your gut health. You have to take care of your sleep hygiene. You have to take care of your timing for eating, and your hydration. All these things matter, and that's the direction I would push for, not whether or not it makes sense to take it. And I don't trust the drug companies. I don't trust any of their science. 

And if you read the book called ‘Dissolving Illusions’ by Suzanne Humphries, PhD. Got her bachelor's in Physics, then she went on to medical school, then she did internal medicine, then she did a fellowship in nephrology. And she ran into the medical system because, in the hospital, her sick patients with kidney failure would get a flu shot just upon entry into the hospital, and she saw the linkage in her own practice with the demise of her patients after they got the flu shot. So, she being the brainiac that she is, she did studies on it and went back all the way to the 1700s and the whole history and wrote the entire history of vaccines and their development and the corruption and the science, and its the terrain, it's not the vaccine. So, the book is called ‘Dissolving Illusions’ by Suzanne Humphries. I would wonderfully watch it. You can see her interview on YouTube. It's fascinating to listen to her. Well, they kicked her out of her – you know, she's a Stanford graduate or Harvard, I know she was on the East Coast, but she's very well respected in her pedigree, you might say, in medicine, and they hounded her out of her job. 

So, that's what the corrupt pharmaceutical, big medicine business does to good doctors who are trying to defend their patients. So you, the people, have to call your congressmen (202) 224-3121 and you have to weekly call them and let them know how you feel about your issues.

Question 

“Are there any counter-indications to taking 3 grams a day of lysine to prevent herpes outbreak indefinitely? Or anything else you might recommend?”  [0:48:12] 

Answer

No, I don't think there are, and I do see patients who take that much lysine. But again, just as I've been saying all along to the other patients here, it's your whole lifestyle. It isn't living on a cheeky little vitamin or medication. It is a lifestyle, and that’s the direction I would aim for.

Question 

“I need to have a CT scan with contrast for my heart. Is it safe? Is there anything I can do to get the iodine out of my body? Even though I have a hypothyroid condition, which it might not be bad for my body. Please advise Dr. E. Thank you.”  [0:48:45]

Answer

Well, it's largely safe, and it depends on the situation. I don't have any chest pain or exertional chest pain, I don't have high blood pressure, I don't take any medicines, I'm in my 70s and I'm exercising, and my blood sugar is good, my triglycerides are good. So, why would I go and look for heart disease? I'm not that kind of a doctor. 

Now, I will order it for my patient. It is a valuable item. The coronary artery CT score can look for calcifications, and there is a correlation that seems to be valid. The more calcification, the higher the number, the higher your risk for a cardiac event. But again, lifestyle is the solution. So, I emphasize the lifestyle. If you have heart disease, chest pain, or any of these concerns, then yes, I think it's safe, and I would do that and work that out with your cardiologist who's ordering it. 

She asked, “Is there anything I can do to get the iodine out of my body?” Well, it isn't the iodine that's the problem. It's the other carriers that are with it. I would use EDTA chelation after any scan whatsoever, and I would just come and get EDTA chelation therapy with a high dose of vitamin C afterward, and I would do it maybe once a week for a couple of months. 

I don't know you're unique situation. It's reasonably safe. I have a lot of patients who need it and I've ordered it. I don't randomly offer it to people who have otherwise very healthy lifestyles and bodies and blood values and are active with good personal lifestyle hygiene habits. 

Question 

“Hello, I've been seeing a lot of recent articles regarding the future “next potential pandemic” – the Bird Flu. Do you have any suggestions for helping out our immune system to fight this next scam they have planned for us?”  [0:50:55]

Answer

Well, you’ve got to keep your vitamin D up in the 80 to 120 range. So, take your dosing, get your lab done on that dose, and see if you're hitting that target range of 80 to 120. Get your liver enzymes with it to prove that it's a safe reading. Be low carb, get good sleep, take your TLC Multimineral, Zinc every day, as well as your D. I take quercetin every day of my life. That's a natural antiviral, anti-cancer, antihistamine. And then know that you can come and get a high dose of vitamin C. You can probably have on hand some ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and have your doctor explain how to use them in the incidence of a viral illness for a period of time. 

Question 

“What are the effects of natural hormones?”  [0:52:12]

Answer

Well, natural hormones are general contractors for the body that do a multiplicity of things, just like a general contractor can build a two-story house, a one-story house, a one-story house, or a two-story house with a basement. He can build a garage, you know, he can do various things. So, hormones do various things for us. So, estradiol is helpful with our heart health, our immune health, our sleep, and calming, our memory retention, and our bone health. It's responsible for our fertility. And there are just so many valuable things that estradiol has. Testosterone has value for muscle mass. It is at higher doses in men. It helps them with not only their muscle mass but their alertness, and their capacity to respond under stress. And the progesterone, of course, is a hypnagogue, it helps you sleep. The estradiol in men helps their sperm become modal. So, men have to have a little estradiol among other benefits. So, hormones are helpful in our body repair, structure, immune, cardiovascular, and mental health, as well as many other activities. 

Question 

“Juice Plus questions: The ingredients list does not say "organic." Do you know why organic ingredients aren't used? Does this compromise the quality of the supplements? At what age may children be given the powder from the capsules, and how much? The gummies say age 4. Thank you, Dr. Ellithorpe! May God continue to bless you and your work!”  [0:53:44] 

Answer

They are organic in the sense that they go way beyond organic. They have small farms, privately owned. The water that comes into feeding these farms is monitored for pesticides and herbicides and fungicides. They sample it right at the farm there, flash, freeze it, and they do spectrophotomorphic analysis when it comes in when its lot number is identified and tracked. And if there's any sign of pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide, it’s destroyed. They track that lot number as it's processed through the plant at three other locations, any time in which if they look to see if a pesticide or herbicide comes up spectrophotomorphically, they'll destroy the whole lot series. So, it's beyond organic.  

Does this compromise the quality of the supplements? No, it isn't because it's beyond organic. That's such an old question, and they constantly bring that up. It's so foolish. 

At what age may children be given the powdered form of the capsule? I know Dr. Sears starts at 6 months. The gummies say age 4. I think you can take it as soon as they can chew. 

Question 

“What causes bumps on the skin of the buttocks? Is there a cream that can treat them?”  [0:55:09]

Answer

Very often, if you are vitamin A deficient, you get wherever there's a lot of rubbing of your clothing and on your buttocks, and the pili at the hair where it comes out of the skin, they get irritated. Vitamin A and antioxidants are very valuable in your immune system. And so, it gets irritated and they become prominent. Then they can get infected and you can get a buttocks abscess. So, I would take Juice Plus as an excellent choice for a wonderful range of vitamin A carotenoids. Keep your vitamin D up and get your sugars down to a nice low level.

Question 

“Doctor, you thrive on a carnivore diet. Are you blood type O?”  [0:56:03]

Answer

No. I'm actually a B-positive blood type. I'm B positive. 

Question 

“Good evening. Are people using EDTA to counter vax and/or result in shedding?”  [0:56:22]

Answer

The answer is yes. 

Question 

“Does your office do Darkfield Microscopy?”  [0:56:29]

Answer

No. I have it, I used to do it, but I didn't find it to be any game changer. So, I understand its value, but no, I don't do it. I studied it when I did my second doctorate in integrative medicine. 

Question 

“Hi, sis! I bought an Analemma wand. Just wondering if you have seen any personal benefits from it? Do you bring it? in the sun?”  [0:56:79]

Answer

Yeah, my personal benefits are I have such a hard time losing weight, and I found that the energy enhancement values and their studies on this, ATP in Fluorescent studies went up 23 to 27 percent using it, and then brainwave activities were modulated and more calmed and focused for better mental acuity and memory. They even did this in twin studies. So, there are many agricultural, animal, and now human studies on the benefit of structured water, and the energy it transmits to the water it's put in, that’s why I stir my water with it. I gave my wand away to someone who was ill and needed it. So, I'm waiting. I bought another one myself. 

So, yes, I see the benefits from it. I don't bring it in the sun, although at my home, where my wand is, at home at my desk is right at the window, and my swirling vortex water is right in the sunshine there, and then my jar with my wand in it is right next to it. So, it does get the sunlight through my window. So, that will give the infrared light energy transfer to the memory of the water and that will help transfer a larger amount of energy to me. So, it's an exciting thing to study. 

Question 

“Can you please remind me which blood types do well on carnivore/higher fat/protein diet?”  [0:58:42]

Answer

O’s do the best. Blood type O’s do the best.  

Question

“Are fat bombs okay to eat? Almond butter, cacao, cacao butter, monk fruit extract.”  [0:59:26]

Answer

Yes. Yeah. But how much do you eat? And we can overdo water. We can overdo fat bombs. We can overdo fasting. We can overeat protein. I've never seen anyone do it in my life yet, but I suppose you could. So, it's moderation. So, yes, to have it occasionally, but we have to think about why we're doing the things we're doing.

Question 

​“What should a 75-year-old woman do for pneumonia?”  [1:00:00]

Answer

See your doctor and get management for that. But high doses of vitamin C, vitamin D, get your zinc selenium multimineral, get up, do a high protein diet, and don’t eat any carbs to stimulate your immune system. You could do a 24 to 48-hour fast, that will stimulate your immune system. Those would be things you could do, but first I would come in and get a high-dose vitamin C drip for a couple of days in a row. 

Question 

“How would one find a functional medicine pediatrician?”  [1:01:13] 

Answer

That is a rare thing. You would have to go, the best of my knowledge is go to ACAM.org and just look around in your area, you know, a circumference of miles because the ACAM is the American College for the Advancement of Medicine and this is the arena where a lot of pediatricians come to learn about this.

Question 

“What’s the brand of the swirling water system you have?”  [1:01:52]

Answer

It’s called MAYU Swirl. So, vortex water helps organize it.