YouTube Livestream Q&A Transcript, March 26, 2024

Question 

“I've been on Iodoral, which is an iodine tablet, the salt iodine, 12.5 mg. for 9 months and feel that it is beneficial. A recent 24-hour urine cortisol test shows it continues to rise and is now at 197.7. Do you think the iodine could be the cause of the increase of cortisol? I suspect increased activity levels & stress on my body. What do I say to my endocrinologist when I see him? He advised me not to take iodine.” [0:02:36]

Answer

I have never seen Iodine raise cortisol levels. I'm a general practitioner. I've been practicing this and using iodine for about 43 years. And in general, I would say that about 97 percent of all my patients are iodine deficient. We do a 24-hour urine iodine test where we ask you to take 50 milligrams and then we collect 24-hour urine. And then what we do is look at how much iodine you secrete in your urine in that 24 hours. And what I found is about 97 percent of Americans are deficient because iodine has been removed from the daily diet. Our breads used to have iodinated bread. Iodine salt used to be the only mainstay salt. Now, you have to look for iodine on your salt purchases to make sure you're getting iodine. Iodine is therefore deficient and associated with so many metabolic issues in our body.

Deficiency is significant if it's low. 

So, what I would say is I'm not familiar with this 24-hour urine cortisol test that is 1 97. 7, and I would have to see that report. So, I would see your doctor and have them do an iodine test on you. If you're a patient here, we use the iodine tests through Doctor's Data, and in general, we're looking for a person who is sufficient in their iodine, would normally excrete about 90 percent of the iodine that they would take in on that challenge dose of 50 mg. If we see anything less than 90 percent in the urine, then we're saying your body is holding on to it and has a need for it. So, I don't think that it's related to the cortisol rise, and I would ask you to get a copy, send it to me so I could take a look at that, and/or if you're our patient or see your physician, and we'll look at the iodine testing here. We would want to, of course, know your whole background, your other, medical concerns, your age, your body composition, your medical history, and all these kinds of things all play into your general metabolism. And so, that's how I would recommend we go there.

Question 

“Can you explain the benefits of EDTA Chelation Enhanced IV and the difference between piggyback and Chelation Enhanced? Should I be getting the piggyback if I'm trying to rid my body of heavy metals? Thank you.” [0:06:10]

Answer

It is the exact same thing. The dose that is in the enhanced chelation as a single bag is the way we've been doing it for many, many years/decades. And the other is we're using an IV, let's say it's a vitamin C or an immune drip, and then we add in a little tiny bag the same calcium disodium EDTA chelation therapy next to it. So, the total dose and the effect of this is identical. So, they're basically the same thing.

Question 

“What are your thoughts on the recent study suggesting that intermittent fasting may increase your risk of cardiovascular death? “8-hour time-restricted eating linked to a 91 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death.” [0:07:08]

Answer

I personally think that this is science warfare. And what do I mean by that? I looked at the study. It's an abstract paper hosted at the American Heart Association Chicago meeting that was recently held, and I could post a poster of my findings here in the medical clinic. And this poster is an epidemiological study, I think, about 14,000 people from 2003 up to, I think, 2018. They were followed over eight years, they were given diet questionnaires and emailed. And basically, this is the lowest form of science next to an anecdotal clinical paper of a case presentation, it asks a question “What have you eaten? When do you eat it?” through emails or forms you fill out. And this is an epidemiological study. It was conducted by the Chinese and Harvard members, who put this report out as an abstract poster at their meeting. It was not peer-reviewed. It is just a poster. And when you're looking at the American Heart Association, which has for years been off and wrong about the cholesterol issue and finally had a silent retraction put in their paper and recommendations as of 2015, the name study omitted the fact that saturated fat is detrimental to your diet for heart disease, and the fact that the food industries have such embedded connection, even to the point where food industries would not benefit if you start telling your patients to eat less, to time restrict your eating. So, there's a financial interest in finding anyone who will publish anything that would associate. 

Remember, this isn't science. It's an association, like saying every time there is an eclipse across the United States, people think the world is going to end, and that's an association that you'll see a lot of news articles about, worries about the world coming to an end. Well, the association here is as loosely tied, and what I think is cherry-picking science based on an eating questionnaire. And people really didn't do intermittent fasting back in 2003, although we here at Tuscan Longevity have, so I can happily report to you that the vast amount of science relates to the fact that Americans eat too much. We have an epidemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease, diabetes even now in children. Pediatric diabetes used to be something very foreign to a pediatrician. Now, it's very common. So, obesity, diabetes, eating processed foods. And speaking of processed foods, you could Google Tufts University on diet recommendations, and they'll put out recommendations that cereals, even Lucky Charms, are more nutrient-beneficial than, let's say eggs. I believe I've seen that on the list. It might have been meat, but I think it was eggs. And you can see that you can buy science and you can buy these outlandish statements. And then If you have influence in the media, you can get it published, and this throws a wrench and questioning into the system, where you have to have as grounded physicians who have been practicing for decades and decades. 

And with that, then you find my patients are probably some of the longest-lived, according to the review that was done on our clinic with internal medicine family practice doctors who practice Medicare. They were looking for those clinics that had the longest-lived and least Medicare dollars used for chronic medical problems, and I was found to be in this clinic the healthiest, longest-lived people. And we've been practicing and recommending a low-carb diet indeed since 2003 because we opened up in 2002. So, I can tell you very much that we have the hard data of clinical outcomes and longevity, reduced weight, reduced blood pressure, reduced diabetes, reduced medication requirements, increased exercise performance, and all these things. And then there are lots of studies that talk about the actual clinical data tracked and published and peer-reviewed in journals regarding reduction in insulin sensitivity, reduction in hyperglycemia, blood sugar levels, reduction in body mass, and reduction in cardiovascular indicators, such as hs-CRP homocysteine. 

So, all in all, that paper that was published, is a Chinese study that has some Harvard reviewed for an epidemiological abstract put up at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago recently that is being pumped out as a scientific warfare, you might say, with, I believe, this is my opinion, the dollar interest of the food industry to get us away from eating healthy meats, fish, chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, and organic vegetables, and instead using processed foods that they make money on. Plus, when you get the diabetes, the obesity, the heart disease, the dementia from it, because they say, Alzheimer's is really type three diabetes of the brain and blood vessel damage in the brain, they make money at the other end as physicians, drugging this through the pharmaceuticals. So, I think this is scientific warfare in my humble opinion. So, I disregard that paper. I looked at it, and epidemiological studies are the lowest value. 

Question 

“Hi, Dr. Rita. How can I reverse the start of gluten intolerance and an auto disease?” [0:14:52]

Answer

Well, many people who do not have celiac disease with the TGT transglutamine identifiers in the lab that we use to identify glutens and gluten gliadin antibodies. If you don't have those genetic problems, then you're probably eating foods and grains, and these grains have been glyphosated, and genetically modified, and that has created irritation along the lining of the cell membrane. This is a picture of the cell membrane and that's a picture of it there with it poked out with some damage. And so, if you eat some food with a food allergen, like a gluten lectin, or some other lectin, then you'll see an injury, and then things will leak through into your body and not stay in the tube of your gut. That will create gas and bloating, inflammation, and it'll create an autoimmune response if it's continuous. And so, these marketed hydrogenated, glyphosated, genetically modified foods, processed, packaged foods are inflaming your gut membrane there, as you see right here. And to heal it, you have to eat the proteins, the fats, the phospholipids that are available in the grass-fed area because even if you ate beef that is grass-fed and then pumped up for two to three weeks with grains, you can start getting some of that grain material reacting in your body.

So, a carnivore diet is probably the most immediate, complete elimination diet you could do, where you just eat a carnivore diet. And do that over three months, have your doctor check your gluten, and celiac disease screening and look for autoimmune markers, and you'll see that you feel better and that you have less gas and bloating. But the number one way is a carnivore diet for about three months. That's how I would approach that. 

Question 

“My husband is 42 and 6’4”, 185 lbs. There are bubbles when he urinates sometimes. Wondering if it's because he is tall or if there may be an issue. Thoughts?” [0:17:42]

Answer

Well, usually that's associated with the question about some protein in the urine. I think it's more common than not common. All he has to do is go to his doctor and have a urine dipstick. He gets a clean catch urine, and they put a little stick in there that assesses for glucose in the blood, protein, and things like that, and get a urinalysis done. But really if he's drinking plenty of water, if he's 185 pounds, he should be drinking about 96 ounces. So that would be 16-ounce bottles of water. Don't do the urine testing right after a workout. Do it after a night of rest drink your water and then get a urine sample, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. 

Question 

“What is something to put on the skin for mosquito bites on kids? Thank you.” [0:18:56]

Answer

I've always used natural progesterone cream. Remember, babies are born into a progesterone-rich woman, and she has tons of progesterone in her, and the little boy babies and the little girl babies are just floating in a high amount of progesterone. Progesterone is very, very safe. So I usually rub progesterone on these areas, and I have found it to be very good. So, that's my choice. We have an over-the-counter progesterone cream here called Balance progesterone cream. Its trade name is Kokoro cream. I've used it for about 30, maybe 35 years. It's very good, very safe. That's how I deal with it. 

Question 

“What is your recommendation for cluster headaches? My husband is two weeks into an episode, and they usually last eight weeks long.” [0:19:57]

Answer

Again, we believe that the vasculature lining, the blood vessels on the brain meninges, so your brain is encapsulated in a wrap of fibrous material and the blood vessels are there, and when they dilate, it creates irritation, cytokines are being triggered to dilate that. And where do the cytokines come from? They usually come from a diet that is American standard injured, processed, hydrogenated, glyphosated, genetically modified foods that are high in starchy, sticky carbs that make the blood flow in a more sludgy, sticky manner with lots of reactive cytokine molecules. You can't see this here, but when you see this little damage here, you'll see little tiny particles in there. And when these particles are broken through in the damage of a membrane, they get picked up in the lymph and blood flow, and they send out signals of distress that the membrane has been injured and that starts a healing response, and an inflammatory response is a healing response. And when it gets out of hand, then you get general blood vessel rashes and migraines and all manner of autoimmune phenomena. 

So, what would I do? I would put them on a two-day fast. Absolutely no food, as long as he doesn't have any chronic medical problems, insulin, or diabetes. But if he's a generally healthy man, then I would ask him to have a water fast. He could take his multimineral. He could take his B vitamins. He could take all his vitamins and be on a water fast during a time when he could have two days to just be less active and not do any heavy workouts and stuff. And that should immediately break the ramping up of the inflammation and start bringing it down. I would give him systemic enzymes. These are natural God-made systemic enzymes to be like little Pac-Man that go along and eat up these little damaged cell membranes here and just get rid of this injury spot, and then those little pieces go away and are reassigned and reincorporated in healthy tissue because we're always trying to repair. 

So, a two-day fast for any kind of serious migraine, cluster headache, or anything like that. I used to have them until I learned this about 35-40 years ago. And so, I've never had any of my migraines since then. So, that's how I would do it. And then I would eat a diet, maybe a carnivore diet, like I told you in the other position there, be on a carnivore diet for three months. Just clean up your whole body. Remember, we're made of protein and fat. These are little protein blobs here and little phospholipids dangling down from both ends like that, and that comes from eating meat and egg yolks and fish and chicken and turkey and beef, all those kinds of things. So, you get your body all rejuvenated. Then you can incorporate back in a healthy diet of vegetables, simple salads, olive oil, and vinegar dressings, and then you start to live like that. And then when you do have a pizza more rarely or you do have a treat more rarely, then you've really got a healthier body to deal with that and you're restricting treats to a much more controlled scenario.

Question 

“Would you please provide an update on Drs. Nutrition Bars? Are they almost ready to ship?” [0:24:09]

Answer 

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to be able to do it. I was $30,000 short, and I just couldn't get it to work. So, it was sad and I was unable to do it. So, wonderful thing that they are, but, you know, the costs and the shipping and the disruption of that lockdown just really wreaked havoc on us. So, I don't see how I can get it back up and running again. I'm so sorry.

Question

“For an elimination diet, which includes all the items that were on my immune blood test, how long do you recommend going off the foods on the list? Thank you.” [0:24:55

Answer

If you follow the Immunofood, it comes out in red a list of all the foods that you had antibodies that you are reacting to that are leaking through this hole in the lining of your gut. And so, these foods are consumed often enough usually that it's leaking through and you made the antibodies to them. So, we recommend three months of avoiding those foods. Now, once again, I suggest to people, if you want a really powerful healing, just do a carnivore diet for three months, and that'll get rid of everything, and then you can start controlling what you bring back into your diet and keep it natural, normal foods, not anything processed.

Question 

“I recently started using the Libre 3 CGM to see how my body reacts to different foods I eat. It wakes me up because my sugar levels drop as low as 53. Is this possible without feeling bad? I already struggle with getting enough sleep as it is. Please advise if you've ever heard of this happening before.” [0:26:04]

Answer

Let me put it this way. My natural fasting blood sugar has been 52 to 62, and my triglycerides 27 to 40. And so, I operate in a very low-carb, largely carnivore type of lifestyle. And I can work out. In fact, I'm always in my workout clothes now for these videos on Tuesday evenings because after work and after this video, I work out at the gym, heavy lifting weights for about an hour. Tuesdays are one of my evenings to do this. And I'm saying that that is not a low blood sugar. That's artificially being told to be low because most Americans eat too many carbs, starches, fruit sugars, nuts and seeds, and God forbid, sugar drinks and candies and cakes and ice cream and so forth. So, what then happens is they're calling normal blood sugars anywhere from 75 to 115, and that's wrong. That is what's killing America. That's totally abnormal. Our range really should be between roughly 55 and 85. And that's what I talk all my patients into doing, is trying to pull back on that, so their fasting blood sugars are never over 85. 

So, given that being said, are there foods that you eat that can create cortisol stress? Cortisol should be associated with raising your blood sugar, with gluconeogenesis, as opposed to dropping it. You know what I would need to know about someone like you if you saw your doctor or your functional doctor, is to find out your blood type and what other factors about you. Are you having a normal insulin? Is your insulin low? What is your hemoglobin A1c, your triglyceride levels, your fasting blood sugar? You're saying can…well, that's not a fasting blood sugar. So, there are so many other things that could be going on. Normally, a food reaction will create cortisol stress. Cortisol stress should stimulate and allow epinephrine to mobilize glucose for a fight-or-flight response. So, you would have to be seen to figure out this whole picture as well. Hopefully, that was helpful to you with your blood type.

Question 

“This may not be an appropriate online question. Who should my husband see at TLC now that his 2nd appointment with Dr. Johnson has to be reassigned? It's taken me 8 years to get my husband to agree to be seen & his follow-up lab appointment is due. A mature doctor is the only person he will seriously regard. Respectfully submitted.” [0:29:29]

Answer

Oh, you want someone to do a follow-up with your husband. And we'd be very, very happy to do that. And if you would call the front office (714) 544-1521 and we all would be happy. I'd be happy to see your husband on follow-up.

Question 

“I just noticed that TLC's Proven Bone Health has 60 mcg of vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7). I also take K-Force which has 180 mcg of the K2. I thought 180 mcg was the top dose for K2. Would taking both results be too much? Thank you.” [0:29:54]

Answer

The answer is no. Absolutely not. We have been usually long deficient in vitamin K2. And so, we've been giving this out for decades now at these levels, and it's quite safe and beneficial. 

Question 

“I appreciate all that you do for us out of the goodness of your heart. You will be rewarded by the King of Kings one day. I struggle with my constipation and my magnesium is above normal without me even taking a supplement. I have tried many things to no avail. I suspect my gut biome. What are the best tests to check my gut biome?” [0:30:31]

Answer

I would start with getting a complete digestive stool analysis from Doctor's Data in St. Charles - Illinois, where they will look at undigested food fibers, vegetables, and meat fibers. They'll look at various flora growths that are beneficial. Some are just neutral and then some are dysbiotic, which could be problematic. They look at inflammatory markers. They look for fungi, protozoa, viral contaminants, and infectious invasions, along with inflammation markers, white blood cells, and red blood cells. I mean, it's a very complete digestive analysis, and that's where I would start, a complete digestive stool analysis by Doctor's Data. 

The next thing is to find out your blood type, what is your age, and where are your hormones, your thyroid hormones in particular, a red blood cell mineral. So, you could have a serum magnesium that's good, but the intracellular membrane, what gets into the cell and through these membranes might be problematic, and too much is in the serum because it might be leaking out through the cell, through these damaged holes from food reactivity. So, an Immunofood IgG study of your reactivity to your foods. And iodine level. 97 percent of most of my patients are iodine deficient, which is important in metabolism and peristalsis, along with minerals, hydration, and exercise activity. 

So, all these things would be a part of what I would want to do or what your functional doctor should start looking at, and whether you need probiotics or not in that mix.

Question 

“I have what seems like a wonderful cocoa powder sleep formula called “Beam”. One of the ingredients is apigenin in addition to melatonin, Reishi, magnesium, and theanine. Do you know about this supplement? Especially apigenin, as I've never heard of it before.” [0:33:25]

Answer

Yes, I looked up Apigenin from last week, and I'm trying to recall what it said regarding it. I know it's an amino acid, but beyond that, I'm not recalling what apigenin is. I've gone through a very stressful weekend since I looked that up. My sister passed four days ago. So, it's been very, very stressful with work and her passing. So, that has not stuck in my brain since I looked it up, but I did look it up, and there's the question again, and I don't have your answer. So, forgive me. I do recall it seemed very benign and it was not of concern to me being in these products. So, I will look at that again. I'm going to write myself another note, apigenin. And so, I will have that looked at again when I have more of my wits about me. 

Question 

“When I get out of a hot shower or come in from a walk in cold weather, the tips of my hands are iridescent white and numb. What's bizarre about this is my hands have been bright red 100 percent of the time.” [0:35:13]

Answer

That sounds like a form of tiny microvasculature reactivity vasculitis. I wonder whether you have received any of the mRNA injections or any recent inoculations you've had. I would want to know your blood type and your age. This is Raynaud’s phenomena syndrome, and it just describes exactly what you're talking about, where the fingers can get white looking, and then normally during the day, you'll see very red fingers. And so, the autonomic response of closure and response for heat conservation and for blood flow gets dysregulated and usually this is caused by unknown. We believe it's related to the leaky gut syndrome and other inflammatory triggers that are in our food system today, heavy metal toxicities. 

We're very happy to announce that we have very good results with EDTA chelation to enhance the circulation, making sure that the lining of this vessel right here, this would be like a cell membrane inside a blood vessel, and if it's damaged with any of these little fragments and little tiny particles here, whether they be viruses or items that might be contaminants in an mRNA injection, these things, plus viral illnesses, heavy metal accumulation, not drinking enough water, not exercising, having weak cell membranes with lots of holes in them because you haven't been eating enough phospholipids and protein in your diet, your blood type, all these things would be impactfully helped by seeing a functional doctor and discussing them, and trying chelation therapy along with anti-inflammatory natural systemic enzymes and the like. So, hopefully, that will be helpful to you. 

Question 

“I am hearing that berberine is being promoted as a natural alternative to Ozempic for weight loss. What are your thoughts?” [0:38:02]

Answer

Well, it's very old data. I've been using natural berberine for 35-40 years. Ozempic is really a patented biochemical structure that has the appearance of, I think it's Gila monster venom. If you look at the venom of a Gila monster and you do a biochemical PCR count of the structure of its DNA and recreate the molecule, that is what really Ozempic appears to be. And so, I wouldn't touch that with a 10-ft pole. The black box reading on the labels is concerning about thyroid cancers' long-term use, attaching to the GLP-1 receptors in the duodenum, creating gastroparesis and vomiting, and GI disruptions. So, the Gila monster toxin is a toxin that paralyzes/damages things. And so, I wouldn't use it. Berberine is a natural herb that is associated with helping metabolize blood sugars and getting an overall improvement. 

However, I want to say, that supplements aren't the key. You can't say, oh, I'll take my berberine. I just had a chocolate candy bar, I'll take berberine tonight. It doesn't work that way. You have to live a healthy lifestyle. You have to bring a personal responsibility into your life and what goes into your mouth and brought into your body intimately. We are marketed too to consume, feel sorry for ourselves, and use food as a replacement for healthy lifestyles. And so, consuming breads, starch, crackers, pasta, sugar, ice cream, cake, whatever it is, crackers, potato chips, Cheetos, these are all things that are pushed at us and it harms us and it disrupts our sugar metabolism, and we lose our muscle mass with age and our engine to build up what we had been able to burn off before it is diminished. So, yes, berberine is a help, but weight training is a help. Drinking water is a help. Not eating late is a help. Not having treats and processed foods is a help. So, in that context, you have to put it all together and assume your health care personal responsibility as well. 

Question 

“Any thoughts on what is going on? The purple/red coloring is concerning to me. Tips of my fingers. No vaccinations, blood type O, 47 years old.” [0:41:31]

Answer

Oh, well, that was your Raynaud’s question. So yeah, I think, I answered that for you. Your blood type is O, 47 years old. Well, that is typically when we start seeing it. Now, we are seeing younger people with all kinds of diseases because these younger people who are in their 30s, and 35, these kids have been raised on so much processed junk food, and the American Dietetic Association is influenced by science that's purchased by food interest to get a scientific article that will claim the problem is saturated fat, so eat grains and cereals. And so, the industry has a bias to purchase and finance and give grants to universities for these studies. So, it's all been corrupted and polluted with this bad science by scientists who are bought off. And people have consumed these processed foods. 

The education of teaching biochemistry, analytical, physical, chemistry is being limited, and we don't have the knowledge base as well anymore to remember even what the only two essential fatty acids are, linoleic and alpha-linoleic acid. And linoleic acid is an omega-6 and you've got to have it as full in these membranes, but it's not adulterated, it hasn't been hydrogenated. So, the hydrogenation process damages linoleic acid, omega 6. That's why it's so terrible. But it doesn't mean omega-6 is terrible. It means the process of hydrogenating food to make it have a long storage life is horrible. You see, they won't explain the whole truth. They'll just say omega-6 is bad. So when I talk about how wonderful omega-6 is and how it's needed in every membrane to have the physiology, the fluidity along with the cholesterol molecule, to have a great functioning system, you have to understand, that the science is bought off. And so, these kids are, coming up with adult diseases, children with diabetes, obesity in levels, and now even cancers, that wouldn't have been seen, but they have metabolically been pelted.

And they have damaged membranes. So, they might have a 60-year-old body full of, in the sense that their membranes have holes poked in them. On my desk, I keep my little hole, my wiffle ball here with all these holes poked in it so that you can see that these poor kids are not, they're not constructed well. So, the wind blows and their house falls down. 

Those of us who have been eating the fish and the chicken with the skin on it, roasted, not deep fried, that hydrogenates the fat, our pork, our eggs, our beef, prairie-raised eggs, and so forth, we have been constructed and we have greater endurance and our muscle mass lasts longer. So yeah, that makes sense. And always are so traditionally, as a class practicing 43 years, O as a class of blood type is so much more sensitive to grains, cereals, pie crust, pizza crust, all these baked goods, and the dairy, which is, again, homogenized and pasteurized. So, dairy is not dairy anymore. When you shake everything up out of it and fracture it and you heat it up and you explode all these little proteins into fragments, it's no longer really dairy anymore. It's what I call white fire water or white fire bricks of cheese, and it's hardest on the O's. It's hard on B's, AB's, and A's, but O's as a class seem to react the worst. And what will happen? You’ll get this inflammation. This inflammation will gradually build up over time. And in you, it looks like it's working on your vasculature. So, find a good functional doctor to start looking at your hsCRP sedimentation rate, your blood sugar levels, and food immune-allergy screen for wheat, and gluten, you may not be celiac, but you might be gluten-sensitive, that kind of thing. 

Question 

“So sorry about your sister. Is she the one who sometimes posts on these calls?” [0:46:25]

Answer

No. No, that's Debbie. Debbie and I are the last two youngest sisters, and Debbie is well, and she takes all her vitamins, she eats a low-carb diet, she doesn't eat late, she exercises, she drinks her water, and she takes her digestive enzymes, she's an A-type blood, and she does beautifully. But, of course, my older sister is, you know, it's hard. Even Jesus said, you know, a prophet is not known in their own country and intimate circles. So, my advice has always been more difficult to be taken by my older, older siblings, and now they're all past. And what a wonderful person. And I don't know if I was the older sister if I would have listened to my baby sister who did all the nasty things I did when I was a kid. I was a jerk. I did a lot of wrong things. And thanks be to God for his mercy and grace that I found, my savior, and could read his word and have his Holy Spirit move in and help transform me into a new creature. So, I am fortunately not that young jerky teenager I was in the 1960’s. So, thank God for that. 

Question 

“Thank you. I just read your book “Detox Outside The Box,” and EDTA chelation therapy is what I may need.” [0:48:03]

Answer

Yes. Amen. And again, thank you for your sorry for my sister's loss. A wonderful lady. She was 76 years old. And we used to split logs together on the farm and get the long cords all set up for the fireplace and the potbelly stove. We didn't have any brothers. So, Sandy was the older sister and I was the youngest sister, and we did kind of like the hard work, whereas Linda and Debbie, Debbie's still alive, she's the next oldest to me, they did more of the girly kind of cooking and cleaning things. Sandy and I were always helping Dad with construction and building and carve repairs and sawing up these logs he got. There was a big elm disease plague in the Chicagoland area, and there were thousands of elm trees sadly lost. And so, our farm, my dad got so many of these things, and we had to vroom, vroom, you know, saw them up. And I tell you, I couldn't get a date in high school for nothing because I was so buff, and it was just funny. I'm amazed my husband never came to date me and marry me. So, what can I say? Life is funny, isn't it? Life is hard. Life is beautiful. My sisters were beautiful. So, my beautiful sister, older sister Sandy, who is 6 years older than me, has passed on. I hope she's laughing in heaven right now because she loved him so much as her savior too, and recalls all those fun things we did for our mom and dad to try and make it nicer for my mom on the farm because it was a hard life. 

Question 

“Hi, Doctor, my 18-year-old son and I (50 years old) have floaters in our vision. Do you recommend anything that could help get rid of them? I also have yellow growths on the white parts of my eyeballs. Anything you suggest to get rid of them? Thank you and God bless you.” [0:50:00]

Answer

The white part of your eye, we get these like allergy areas. Find out what your blood type is. And if you're O, or you could be B. I'm a B. B's have the most allergies. But O's and B's, B's more than O's, have these pterygiums that get here and make this little tiny scarring on the white part of our eyes. That's usually scraped off by an ophthalmologist. But taking a natural antihistamine that won't make you sleepy is helpful. That's called quercetin. Quercetin also helps fight viral illnesses. It's all I really used throughout all the COVID to protect me, even though I had people coming in all the time and frightened. So, wrongfully frightened by the news media and poor bad advice from the CDC, the NIAID, and the NIH. So, I just use quercetin, a natural antihistamine and antiviral, with my zinc. 

For the floaters, it's just showing the age phenomena. See, you're composed of less good cell membranes than I am. So normally floaters show up, I would say, more towards your late 60s and 70s, 80s. And I had one once life is stressful as a doctor, and this was in my left eye here, and it was humongous. I just woke up one morning and it had a huge line kind of floating, wiggling, if I looked right or left, it would float and drag, and I immediately went on a 5-day fast. I personally went on a 5-day water fast and took my supplements with more systemic enzymes, and proteolytic Pac-Man enzymes, and it just chewed that thing up, and I would say, it got maybe 70 percent better immediately that week. And then over the months and years, it just kind of faded away. 

And so, hydration, drinking tons of water. I only drink water and I have black coffee. Period. I might have occasional red wine if we're going out on a very special occasion. But in other words, I'm well hydrated, I'm always taking my systemic enzymes, I am exercising to get the hydraulic blood flow, and I don't make the proteins in my blood get sticky with sticky sugars and fruit sugars. I do EDTA chelation therapy so that my microcirculation is improved and I pull out toxic heavy metals. So, these are the things that I do, and your 18-year-old son and you should get a heavy metal test, look at inflammation, your blood vessel inflammation. Look at your blood sugar, your insulin levels, how much water you drink, how active are you, and how late at night are you eating. That kind of stuff. Do you have food allergies, which add the antigen antibody-protein complexes in your body? All of these things need to be addressed. 

Question 

“Hello, Dr. E! I recently listened to an “Empowering Midlife Wellness” podcast by Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith who spoke on the “O-shot” for improving both clitoral health and improving bladder control. Are you familiar with this and do you recommend it?” [0:53:35]

Answer

I have never heard of it, so I'm going to have to write this down with my apigenin one. And this is called The “O-shot” for bladder control. And then her name is Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith. Alright, I'll look that up and see what I can find out about it. Hopefully, I won't have any more big shocks in my life that'll kind of override my brain data.

Question 

“Hi, is anyone in your office, or specifically Dr. Meric, using the DUTCH test with dried urine?” [0:54:35]

Answer

Dr. Kaur does it as well. So, you could see Dr. Kaur. 

Question 

“Hi, Dr. Rita, I'm 64 and I have osteoporosis. My lumbar spine T-score is a -4. 3. Z-score -2.4 and my hip findings T-score -2.9, z-score -1.2. And was prescribed Miacalcin one spray nasally once a day. Not sure if I should start it after reading the side effects. I’m currently taking DHEA, vitamin D, multi-minerals, on bioidentical hormones.” [0:54:52]

Answer

That’s osteoporosis, anything beyond that -2.5. This is something that you have to talk through with your doctor, and see if you're exercising, doing resistance training, stomping, how hydrated, how inflamed you are, what your hormone blood levels are, what your vitamin D blood levels are, are you on vitamin K2, what kind of multi-minerals you're taking, what your diet is like. So, we need to put that all together, but I have seen many women over these 43 years with these various things with vitamin K2, vitamin D normally around 10,000 a day, checking liver enzymes to reassure you that's a safe dose, with all these things we're doing, and we see the bone density within two years getting better and better, significant improvements every two years. So, see your functional doctor. 

I like hormone levels to be somewhere, like a progesterone level to be in the level of over 4. And certainly, if you want to build bone, I would try and get it to 8. And then your estradiol levels 60 to 120 range, and the vitamin D levels are right around 100 mcg per deciliter. Very low sed rate and hs-CRP for inflammation, making sure you're not inflamed. Well hydrated. The vitamin D dosing is usually 10,000 IU with a K2 of 180 to 200 mcg a day. There you go. 

Question  

“I had LASIK a year ago. I was told that now I have pinguecula that can turn into a pterygium. Probably from getting a sunburn on my eye, even though I wear sunglasses all the time. I was also told that surgery to remove this lesion may be necessary to stop the spread and save my eyesight. I'm 37. Is there any alternative that would help me?” [0:57:07]

Answer

I'm not an ophthalmologist, I'm a general practitioner, and eye health is very, very important, your ophthalmologist is certainly going to give you the standard of care treatment and advise them. But if you see a good functional doctor, and if this is very early on, and we make sure that you're not inflamed, because micro-damage – remember, that little pterygium is on your eyes, something irritating the lining of your eye that's creating this reactive healing tissue that can grow over the course of your eye. And so, naturally antihistamines, anti-inflammatory lifestyles, food allergies, gut health, what your age, hormones, low blood sugars, EDTA chelation, all these things, even high dose vitamin C would be very helpful. And I use a drop of Argentyn silver in my eyes. Every night, I spray it up my nose. I brush my teeth with a charcoal and a silver paste as well as with a bamboo camel hair brush to be gentle. So, I'm doing this all the time to try and take care of everything. So, my suggestion to you would be to see a good functional doctor and work with your ophthalmologist. Remember, we come alongside the specialists, and we try to work preventatively to build your health and your ability to resist these things. 

Question 

“My 9-year-old grandson coughs a lot. He keeps coughing, especially in the morning. I can tell he is not sleeping well. An initial allergy test was done, but the allergist said it was environmental and allergy to dogs (which he doesn't have at home). What do you recommend?” [0:59:18]

Answer

I would have him see a good functional doctor, and I would do the food allergies. He's probably eating something. He might be nibbling on something at night, snacks and stuff in his room, that maybe Mom and Dad don't know about. He might be drinking sugar drinks all the time instead of water. Find out his blood type for his reactivity. B positive blood type, and B negative also, are very allergic-prone. And you could give him natural antihistamines every night, and find out what the blood sugars are. We’re seeing diabetes and metabolic syndrome in even 9-year-olds. That produces a lot of mucin and material that will create all this phlegm. So, see a good functional doctor, and work along with his pediatrician and allergist. There are many natural things we could do. A squirt of Argentyn up his nose every night may be helpful. He might be looking at the screen a lot too at night under the covers, and we have to start realizing, that these lights are damaging, late at night staying up, hidden snacks staying up, sugar drinks, and even orange juice are not good. And so, his immune system may be down from the high sugars. All these things have to be looked at, and I would go from there.

Question 

​“Regarding linolenic acid, what oil would you recommend for everyday use? Right now I use an evening primrose oil that has organic flaxseeds, soy isoflavones, and flaxseeds.” [1:01:05]

Answer

I don’t use any oil for every day. I cook with lard and butter, sometimes coconut oil. Period. That’s all I use. Now, I eat meat, grass-fed, and finished. I eat chicken free-range, prairie-raised, with the skin on it only roasted. I eat egg yolks prairie-raised with the yolks. I usually over easy or lightly scrambled so I’m not cooking that oil in the heat of the pan. So, I’m very aggressive about getting my healthy proteins and fats and for every day. I cook with lard and butter, sometimes coconut oil. Period. That’s all I use. Now, I eat meat, grass-fed, and finished. I eat chicken free-range, prairie-raised, with the skin on it only roasted. I eat egg yolks prairie-raised with the yolks. I usually over easy or lightly scrambled so I’m not cooking that oil in the heat of the pan. So, I’m very aggressive about getting my healthy proteins and fats and for all my cell membranes from the tip of my head to my toenails. So, I don’t get toenail fungus and I don’t get wrinkles as bad, that kind of stuff.

Question
“Ghee.” [1:02:05]

Answer
Ghee, yeah. Ghee is fine too. You’re right. That’s the butter that has been cured to get some of the milk proteins out.