Solving Obesity, A Guide to Restoring Health

STRUCTURED WATER

Any kind of water optimization apparatus must obey nature’s principles and one of this principles is forming vortexes or whirls. Masuro Emoto photographed frozen water crystals and discovered that water is responding to “information” and has a “memory”. Water responds to human emotions, recording and storing information like a computer. Losing the structure of water, how its molecules are organized, makes water a sickness agent, as it destroys the body fluids structures. In the last decade, three groundbreaking scientific findings have proven why the alignment of the molecules in the water you drink is essential for your health and longevity.

When we are born, the water molecules in our cells are aligned in a single-file. Our body even converts any water we drink into that necessary single-file structure. As we age, our body’s ability to convert water into the single-file alignment dramatically decreases. Our body’s hydration becomes increasingly compromised. Nobel Prize winning research from the early 2000’s has proven that in order for water to be optimally effective in the body, the water molecules must be aligned in a single-file structure. Research confirms that the molecules of most of the water we consume daily are aligned in a chaotic, large-clustered manner. That makes it extremely difficult for our body to absorb and optimally hydrate, ultimately leading to unintentional, yet chronic dehydration. The inventor of the i-H2O Activation System (“MRET-Water is Nuclear Physicist Dr. Igor Smirnov has developed GIA’s patented Single File Alignment (SFA) Technology allows for cellular hydration.

LiveWater systems is a structured water technology using optimizing devices. LiveWater is not a filtration, reverse osmosis or a softener system; it is a complex water optimization method using the major water properties for increasing water crystallinity and forming natural structured water, usually hexagonal shape. Self-cleaning occurs by application of a whirl to form many vortexes and significantly increasing Ionic oxygen content, able to reduce blood clotting energetically due to it dipolar charge. Treated water is reimprinted with the information approaching the qualities of natural spring water. Technology is available at lyranara.com. Watch the documentary; LiveWater – The Secret of Living Water at youtube.com.

Symptoms directly resulting from dehydration include: uneven skin tone, premature onset of wrinkles, anxiety and/or depression, headaches, joint pain, excess weight, sleeplessness, lack of focus and fatigue.

WATER AND THE CELL

It is important to drink adequate amounts of pure water (water filtered by reverse osmosis or an adequate filter system, rendering it as free as possible of fluoride and other contaminants). For example, many processes in the liver are dependent on proper water content of the liver cells. Carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism can be seriously impaired when the cells become dehydrated (Graf, Haddad, Haeussinger, & Lang, 1988; Lang, Stehle, & Häussinger, 1989; Meijer, Baquet, Gustafson, van Woerkom, & Hue, 1992).

WATER AND VIRAL REPLICATION

Water is involved with gene expression modification at cellular levels (Bedford, Bagnasco, Kador, Harris, & Burg, 1987; Garcia-Perez & Burg, 1991; Kwon et al., 1992; Paredes, McManus, Kwon, & Strange, 1992; Yamauchi, Uchida, Preston, Kwon, & Handler, 1993) causing changes in the expression of important proteins in the cells and even the ability of viruses to replicate (Häussinger; Offensperger, Offensperger, Stoll, Gerok, & Häussinger, 1994; Schliess & Häussinger, 2002).

CELL HYDRATION AND PHYSIOLOGY

Cells can change their water content, depending on the presence of certain nutrients such as protein or amino acids. Your cells are constantly responding to the physiology around them by changing their hydration levels. Change in cellular water content occurs not only in response to how much water you drink, but also to various hormones and chemicals in the body. Changes in cellular hydration are used as a messenger system by the cells to help them adapt to the environment (Häussinger et al., 1991; Schliess & Häussinger, 2002). For example, the cells can swell as a consequence of insulin effects on cell function (Schliess & Häussinger, 2003).

The accumulation of ammonia, sometimes as a result of liver disease, can also lead to the accumulation of water inside the cells. When the brain cells swell as a result of ammonia toxicity the result is brain damage (Häussinger, Lang, & Gerok, 1994).

In the liver, insulin-induced cell swelling is critical for stimulation of glycogen and protein synthesis as well as inhibition of breakdown of cells. Glucagon, epinephrine, cortisol, and growth hormone all possess biologic activity capable of opposing insulin action (Butler & Rizza, 1989).

Cellular dehydration impairs insulin signaling and may be a major cause of insulin resistance, which develops into systemic hyperosmolarity (Schliess & Häussinger, 2003). In addition, oxidative challenges and unbalanced production of insulin-counteracting hormones can also result in hyperosmolarity. Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS) refers to the high concentration of glucose in the blood. Elevated blood sugar is a serious metabolic derangement that occurs in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and can be a life-threatening emergency. HHS most commonly occurs in patients with type II DM experiencing reduced fluid intake due to an infection or another concomitant illness. Cellular dehydration leads to a catabolic situation where the cell begins to break down and also sensitizes cells to apoptotic stimuli resulting in cell death (Schliess & Häussinger, 2003).

DEHYDRATION CAUSES PAIN

Your body signals a need for water by producing pain as a symptom of dehydration. According to Dr. Batmanghelidj, M.D. a graduate of St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School of London University, in his book “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water”, a lack of water may be linked to many degenerative diseases including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, angina and adult-onset diabetes.

The main obsesogen found in tap water is atrazine, which slows thyroid hormone metabolism. Atrazine is a herbacide used on broadleaf weeds in crops such as corn and sugarcane and on turf, such as golf courses and residential lawns. This chemical has been banned in Europe, but is one of the most widely used herbicides in US. Tributylin, a fungicide which stimulates fat cell production, is another common tap water contaminant.

A disinfectant, chloramine, is a compound made of chlorine and ammonia that is used by some water districts. This is an extremely toxic chemical that is highly corrosive and requires an advance carbon filtration to remove from drinking water.

The President’s Cancer Panels reports that endocrine disruptors such as pesticides and herbicides are directly linked to cancer. Most water filters cannot effectively remove the chloramine, pharmaceutical residues and pesticides from your drinking water. Protection from absorbing contaminants through our skin and lungs during a shower or bath is just as important as having proper filtration for drinking water (Miranda, Kim, Hull, Paul, & Galeano, 2007).

Drinking water filtration systems should have multiple separate stages, full bed depth filters, at least one high quality granular activated carbon filter stage and one highly rated carbon block stage. These filter stages should typically be replaced every year.

High quality home filtration systems should meet the following criteria:

Minimum 1000 iodine rating of carbon media, and
Automatic backwashing to prolong filtration media lifespan and keep it from reverse channeling.

Quality whole home filtration should last a family of four on chlorinated (not chloramine-treated) water about ten years (http://www.ewswater.com/).

How do naturopathic doctors empower people to take charge of their health?

Empowering people to become more informed about their health options, more involved in decisions made about their health, and more capable of maintaining their own good health can lead to better health outcomes and lower costs.¹

In addition to diagnosing and treating illness, licensed naturopathic doctors are uniquely educated and trained to treat the whole person, to focus on prevention, and to empower patients to make lifestyle changes in order to achieve optimal health. This attention to patient-centered care is especially valuable when it comes to the prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

Among U.S. adults, 90% of Type 2 diabetes, 80% of cardiovascular disease, 70% of stroke, 70% of colon cancer are potentially preventable by modifiable lifestyle changes. Research has shown that for many people, these conditions can be prevented or better managed through dietary and lifestyle changes—treatments that require patients to actively participate in their own care.

For example, a major study investigating the effects of lifestyle changes in patients with coronary atherosclerosis found that after only one year of following lifestyle recommendations, about 80% of participants were able bring about plaque regression and avoid surgery without the use of lipid lowering agents.³In addition, studies have shown that proper testing, treatment, and lifestyle changes such as losing weight, adopting a healthy diet, and physical activity have beneficial effects on people with type-2 diabetes and are the cornerstones of diabetes prevention in at-risk individuals.⁴

With compelling evidence of the value of actively participating in our own health, why doesn’t everyone do it? There are many reasons, but one stands out: it’s human nature to want a quick fix, and taking charge of your own health takes time and work.

Naturopathic doctors work to identify underlying causes of illness, and develop personalized treatment plans to address them. They believe you know your body better than anyone else, and will ask you detailed questions not only about your symptoms, but also about your environment, living situation, mental health and family history in order to understand what might be causing your symptoms.

Naturopathic doctors will use diagnostic tools such as detailed health, disease, and prescription drug histories, physical exams, and targeted laboratory testing and imaging when assessing your needs. Then, when a treatment plan is being considered, naturopathic doctors will want to make sure you know your options and will collaborate with you on decisions regarding your care.

An important underlying principle of naturopathic medicine is “doctor as teacher.” Naturopathic doctors will often spend 30-90 minutes with their patients and also want you to ask questions and interact with them to make sure you thoroughly understand your overall health, chronic issues you might have, or diseases for which you might be at risk.

Equally important, naturopathic doctors will work closely with you over time to help ensure your success. For example, they might help you shift your mindset to make and sustain lifestyle changes or modify your expectations about how quickly you will see improvement. As an empowered patient, here’s how you can help naturopathic doctors help you:

Get to know yourself and your body better so you can provide detailed information about symptoms and how you feel
Try to answer questions you’ll be asked about all aspects of your life and lifestyle as honestly as you can
Be prepared to ask questions of your own, engage in a dialogue about your health, and participate in decision-making about treatment options.

Bottom line, what you choose to do can make as much or more of a difference to your health than any decisions even the most knowledgeable and skilled naturopathic doctor might make for you.

How does naturopathic medicine support breast cancer prevention and treatment?

Emphasizing a holistic approach, naturopathic medicine offers complementary natural therapies to support and strengthen the body and mind before, during, and after conventional medical breast cancer treatment. Naturopathic medicine can help optimize tolerance to conventional treatments while also providing strategies to reinforce the body’s natural defenses and recovery systems so that each individual is at their strongest capacity to fight the disease.
One out of eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and while rare, breast cancer is also diagnosed in men. While conventional medical treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and pharmaceutical drug therapy are often essential components of breast cancer treatment, they can cause significant side-effects and can increase the risk of other health conditions. Additionally, battling breast cancer takes a tremendous mental and emotional toll on the patient.

When treating breast cancer patients, licensed naturopathic doctors develop personalized, whole-person treatment plans taking into consideration the stage and type of breast cancer that a person has, their physical and emotional constitution, lifestyle habits, and the conventional therapies being received. Specifically, naturopathic doctors help to:

Boost and sustain the immune system and minimize inflammation after biopsy, lumpectomy, or mastectomy surgery[1],[2]with the goal of shortening recovery times
Safely reduce side effects of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and pharmaceutical drug therapies, as well as provide natural synergists to these conventional treatments to enhance their efficacy
Support the patient through mental and emotional stresses that any cancer diagnosis and treatment bring
Emphasize prevention measures in healthy patients motivated to reduce their cancer risk
Develop post-treatment recommendations to reduce the risk of recurrence

Licensed naturopathic doctors are educated at four-year, post-graduate medical schools. While providing support to people diagnosed with cancer is within the purview of all naturopathic doctors, there are naturopathic doctors who specialize in naturopathic oncology. Naturopathic oncologists are board certified by the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology after completing a two-year residency or a minimum of five years in specialized naturopathic oncology practice. They are designated as Fellows of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO).

Working both in hospital oncology settings and in private practices, naturopathic doctors and naturopathic oncologists aid and collaborate closely with conventional oncology treatment teams. They understand both standard treatments employed by medical oncologists and how best to work in a collaborative model of cancer treatment that includes complementary and integrative therapies.

While naturopathic medicine treatment plans are personalized to each patient after a comprehensive consultation, and adjusted as needed during and after treatment, prescribed therapies may include:

Dietary and lifestyle modifications
Botanical medicine
Vitamins and supplements
Psychological/emotional care
Intravenous therapies
Homeopathy
Acupuncture

In addition to providing care to individuals diagnosed with breast cancer, naturopathic doctors can also help individuals at risk identify and implement strategies that can reduce their chances of developing breast cancer. These strategies include natural lifestyle modifications to diet, nutrition, sleep, and exercise, as well as stress reduction. Naturopathic doctors are trained to focus on these health-building areas in order to establish and restore optimal health.

How does naturopathic medicine lower health care costs?

As concerns grow over high health care costs and poor health outcomes in the United States, a growing number of policymakers, health care practitioners, and other stakeholders are calling for an expansion of the focus of our health care system to keeping people healthy in addition to providing medical treatment after a person gets sick. To accomplish this change, health care professionals from a broad range of disciplines must come together in primary care teams. Trained as primary care doctors and to emphasize prevention, licensed naturopathic doctors have a central role to play in these efforts.

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct practice of medicine that emphasizes wellness and the self-healing process to treat each person holistically. Licensed naturopathic doctors are known for following a unique Therapeutic Order, an approach that identifies the natural order in which naturopathic therapies should be applied to provide the greatest benefit with the least potential for harm. This approach leads to improved outcomes and lower health care costs.

Here are eight ways naturopathic medicine lowers health care costs:

1. Address the root causes of illness.
By addressing and treating the root causes of disease rather than its symptoms, the need for repeated, expensive, and sometimes ineffective treatment is eliminated. For example, the underlying causes of conditions such as high cholesterol and diabetes is often poor diet and lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise. Changing these lifestyle factors can eliminate the need for one or more prescription medications that would typically be recommended for the rest of that patient’s life.

2. Offer less expensive diagnosis and treatment.
Naturopathic medical diagnostics and treatments are often less expensive than those in conventional medicine. Many treatments incur no cost whatsoever. One example is taking the time to engage patients in ongoing discussions of lifestyle choices, making the connection between these choices and their health condition and guiding patients to healthier options.

3. Reduce the need for expensive surgical procedures, when appropriate.
According to the American College of Surgeons and the American Medical Association, among the most common surgeries performed in the United States are coronary artery bypass surgery, carotid endarterectomy, and low back pain surgery.¹Because naturopathic doctors often suggest less expensive, non-surgical options to patients, some of these expensive surgeries can be avoided. One major study investigating the effects of lifestyle improvement in patients with coronary atherosclerosis found that after only one year of following lifestyle recommendations, about 80 percent of participants were able to bring about plaque regression and avoid surgery without the use of lipid lowering agents.² The study estimated that this would save almost $30,000 per patient in the first year alone.³
1 Stanford Health Care. General Surgery-Common Surgical Procedures. Online access: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-treatments/g/general-surgery/procedures.html
2 Ornish D, Brown SE, Scherwitz LW, et al. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lifestyle Heart Trial. Lancet. 1990;336:129–133.
3 Guarneri E, Horringan, BJ, Pechura, CM. 2010. The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Integrative Medicine: A Review of the Medical and Corporate Literature. Bravewell Collaborative Report. June, 2010.

4. Decrease costs associated with adverse reactions to prescription drugs.
According to a 2014 report from the Harvard University Center for Ethics, there are 2.7 million serious adverse reactions to prescription drugs that have been legally prescribed each year, resulting in 128,000 deaths. This makes prescription drugs a major health risk, ranking fourth with stroke as a leading cause of death. Whenever possible, naturopathic doctors prescribe natural therapies first, turning to prescription pharmacology when they are necessary.

5. Reduce the incidence of illnesses and fatalities caused by hospital errors.
Research shows that preventable hospital errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States.¹ Naturopathic medicine focuses on preventative care and patient education, which can reduce the length of hospital stays and hospital readmissions. The power of patient education has been well documented. A case study at Sentara Virginia Beach Hospital found that when heart failure patients were provided with education on their condition, their readmission rates dropped by 74 percent and hospital stays were 13 percent shorter.²
¹Makary MA, Daniel M. Medical error-the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ. 2016 05 3;353:i2139. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2139 PMID: 27143499. Online access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27143499
² GetWellNetwork. Improving Heart Failure Outcomes through Interactive Patient Care: The Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital Experience. 2009. Online access: http://amandanenaber.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/7/6/6176087/hf-_get_well_network.pdf

6. Lower malpractice rates, resulting in reduced patient costs.
Malpractice insurance rates are much lower for naturopathic doctors than they are for conventional medical doctors. According to NCMIC, the largest malpractice insurer for naturopathic doctors, the yearly rate for naturopathic doctors in Arizona, Oregon, Minnesota, and New Hampshire is approximately $3,803. Rates for MDs in the same states are $18,646.¹
¹Whitmer, Mike. Letter to Ron Mensching at National University of Health Sciences. Jan 2017.
Online access: http://www.naturopathic.org/files/NCMIC%20Letter%20re%20Malpractice%20Risk%201-26-17(2).pdf

7. Offer disease prevention.
Naturopathic doctors emphasize health-building practices such as weight bearing exercise and adequate vitamin D intake to prevent osteoporosis and the importance of eating a nutrient dense diet with healthy fats to help prevent heart disease. These practices can reduce the high future cost of preventable degenerative and chronic health conditions.

8. Reduce insurance costs.
Naturopathic medicine billing is far lower per patient than conventional medical billing. One study compared health care expenditures between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) users and non-users, with CAM providers being defined as naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and licensed massage therapists. While CAM users had higher outpatient expenditures, they had lower inpatient and imaging expenditures. Overall, CAM users had a lower average expenditure than non-users during the one-year study, at $3,797 versus $4,153.¹
¹ Lind BK, Lafferty WE, Tyree PT, Diehr PK. Comparison of Health Care Expenditures Among Insured Users and Nonusers of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Washington State: A Cost Minimization Analysis. J Altern Complement Med. 2010;16(4):411–7. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0261. Online access here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110809/

Under what circumstances should I choose to see a naturopathic doctor?

1. You want a doctor who will treat all of you, not just your illness.
Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are trained to treat the whole person. This requires taking the time to listen and understand the genetic, environmental, and behavioral/lifestyle factors that can affect your health. At your initial appointment, you’ll spend up to an hour or more talking with your ND.

2. You want personalized treatment.
NDs understand there is no one-size-fits-all treatment that works for everybody. After your visit with an ND, you’ll leave the doctor’s office with a treatment plan uniquely tailored to you, your health status, your health goals, and your lifestyle.

3. You want to treat the root cause of an illness, not just the symptoms.
Sometimes having trouble sleeping, aches and pains, strange or hard to treat skin rashes, and indigestion or stomach discomfort are symptoms of an underlying illness. While these symptoms can be managed, it’s more important to understand and treat the root cause—which is the focus of naturopathic medicine.

4. You want to actively participate in managing your own health.
An ND will help you learn what your body needs to get well and stay healthy. Patients have the opportunity to feel empowered and hopeful when they understand and are actively engaged in managing their own health.

5. You have chronic pain and don’t want to use pharmaceutical drugs such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or highly addictive opioids to manage it forever.
Pain that lasts six months or more is more complex than acute pain and requires a holistic, long-term approach to manage. NDs are trained to work with you to determine which combination of therapies will work best for you to heal or manage your pain safely so that you can resume daily activities.

6. You have tried all conventional medical options for diagnosing and treating a health condition.
Certain chronic health conditions that have symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, or gastrointestinal distress can be difficult to diagnose and treat, and can benefit from a holistic approach. NDs use diagnostic tools common in conventional medicine, such as detailed health, disease, and prescription drug histories, physical exams, and targeted laboratory testing and imaging. NDs also consider detailed diet history, lifestyle habits and choices, exercise history, and social/emotional factors to assess patients’ needs. These approaches can open doors to new treatment pathways and options.

Licensed naturopathic doctors and their scope of practice
Licensed naturopathic doctors combine knowledge of the body’s natural healing properties with the rigors of modern science to focus on holistic, proactive prevention and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment. By using protocols that minimize the risk of harm, naturopathic physicians help facilitate the body’s inherent ability to restore and maintain optimal health.

Naturopathic doctors treat all medical conditions and can provide both individual and family health care. They can work as primary care providers and as part of an integrated healthcare team. Among the most common ailments they treat are allergies, chronic pain, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, obesity, respiratory conditions, heart disease, fertility problems, menopause, adrenal fatigue, cancer, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Naturopathic doctors can perform minor surgeries, such as removing cysts or stitching up superficial wounds, however they do not practice major surgery. They also are trained to use prescription drugs, although they emphasize less toxic substances that promote natural healing first, following the Therapeutic OrderÔ to provide the greatest benefit with the least potential for damage. For more information on the Therapeutic Order, see FAQ #2 in this service, available here.

Naturopathic doctors can order all blood reference range and diagnostic imaging tests. They can also order individualized specialty functional medicine labs, such as those for assessing digestive impairment, hormone imbalances, heavy metal and/or environmental toxin exposure, nutritional deficiencies, and adrenal dysregulation. They will evaluate your lab results in combination with your clinical presentation, your health history, and lifestyle and environment factors that might be preventing you from having optimal health.

Choose your naturopathic doctor wisely
When seeking medical care from a naturopathic doctor, it is important to select a doctor who has a naturopathic medical degree earned from an accredited, four-year, in-residence, naturopathic medical college and is licensed or certified.

What is Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct practice of medicine that emphasizes prevention and the self-healing process to treat each person holistically and improve outcomes while lowering health care costs.

Naturopathic doctors are educated and trained in accredited naturopathic medical colleges. They diagnose, prevent and treat acute and chronic illness, restore and establish optimal health by supporting the person’s inherent self-healing process. Rather than just suppressing symptoms, naturopathic doctors work to identify underlying causes of illness, and develop personalized treatment plans to address them. Their Therapeutic Order™, identifies the natural order in which all therapies should be applied to provide the greatest benefit with the least potential for damage.

Remove Obstacles to Health. Health, the “natural state” of one’s body, is disturbed by obstacles that lead to disease. The first step in returning to health is to remove the entities that disturb health such as: poor diet, digestive disturbances, inappropriate and chronic stress levels, and individual disharmony. Naturopathic doctors construct a healthy regimen based on an individual’s “obstacles to health” to change and improve the terrain in which the disease developed. This allows additional therapeutics to have the most beneficial effects possible.
Stimulate the Self-Healing Mechanisms. NDs use therapies to stimulate and strengthen the body’s innate self-healing and curative abilities. These therapies include modalities such as clinical nutrition, botanical medicines, constitutional hydrotherapy, homeopathy, and acupuncture.
Strengthen Weakened Systems. Systems that need repair are addressed at this level of healing. Naturopathic doctors have an arsenal of therapeutics available to enhance specific tissues, organs or systems including: lifestyle interventions, dietary modifications, botanical medicine, orthomolecular therapy (use of substances that occur naturally in the body such as vitamins, amino acids, minerals), and homeopathy.
Correct Structural Integrity. Physical modalities such as spinal manipulation, massage therapy, and craniosacral therapy are used to improve and maintain skeletal and musculature integrity.
Use Natural Substances to Restore and Regenerate. Naturopathic medicine’s primary objective is to restore health, not to treat pathology. However, when a specific pathology must be addressed, NDs employ safe, effective, natural substances that do not add toxicity or additionally burden the already distressed body.
Use Pharmacologic Substances to Halt Progressive Pathology. NDs are trained in pharmacology and how to use pharmaceutical drugs when necessary. If their state license permits, they can prescribe these agents themselves or if not, refer to a conventional medical colleague.
Use High Force, Invasive Modalities: Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy.When life, limb, or function must be preserved, NDs refer patients to MDs who are expertly trained in these arenas. At the same time, NDs use complementary or supportive therapies to decrease side effects and increase the effectiveness of these invasive procedures.

While many naturopathic doctors are trained in primary care, like conventional medical doctors (MDs), some choose to specialize or focus their practices. Specialty associations currently exist for Endocrinology, Environmental Medicine, Gastroenterology, Parenteral Therapies, Pediatrics, Primary Care Physicians, Psychiatry, and Oncology.

Naturopathic medical education curricula include certain areas of study not covered in conventional medical school. At the same time, aspiring naturopathic doctors receive training in the same biomedical and diagnostic sciences as MDs and osteopathic doctors (DOs). The result is a comprehensive, rigorous, and well-rounded scientific medical education that is both comparable and complementary to that of MDs and DOs.

ALZHEIMER’S DIEASE AS A MITOCHONDRIAL DISORDER

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and results from chronic neurodegeneration as we age. Alzheimer’s amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein are primary markers of Alzheimer’s disease. However, several pathological studies failed to demonstrate an increase in amyloid plaques and NFTs in the brains of AD patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) as compared to AD patients without T2DM PMID:194984

In addition to plaques associated with AD, there is also reduced mitochondrial function leading to insulin resistance and inflammation in the brain. Recent evidence points to alterations in the function of neural circuits and mitochondrial homeostasis in AD PMCID:PMC3026092. Aging and Alzheimer’s disease cause disruption in cellular energy metabolism, increase reactivity of cell membranes and result in release of toxic substances which overwhelm compensatory mechanisms. As a result, neuronal microcircuits and brain networks become dysfunctional. Diabetes can lead to accelerated cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease through high insulin levels which stimulate metabolic and mitochondrial alterations in the brains of animals with cognitive impairment like AD. PMCID: PMC2703480

Studies link Metabolic Syndrome X (Mitochondrial Disease) to aging changes in brain DNA and mitochondrial function. PMCID: PMC3155249 along with abnormal cognition and neuronal changes. Diabetes reduced memory and new brain cell formation in both insulin deficient rats and insulin resistant mice. The adrenal steroid corticosterone is a glucocorticoid and plays an important role as a mediator of diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome X. At high levels glucocorticoids inhibit insulin receptors and reduce glucose utilization in neurons. Lowering corticosterone levels prevents the diabetes induced impairment of learning and memory in insulin deficient rats and insulin resistant mice^.Lowering corticosterone levels in diabetes can restore behavioral function on tasks that recruit both new and mature neurons PMCID: PMC404114.

The ketogenic diet is the most notable example of a dietary treatment with proven efficacy against a neurological condition. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet is used in patients with medically intractable epilepsy. While the mechanisms through which the diet works remain unclear, there is now compelling evidence that its efficacy is likely related to the normalization of aberrant energy metabolism. PMCID: PMC3321471by allowing the brain to utilize ketones instead of glucose to restore mitochondrial function. The brain still needs glucose, but much of the brain’s energy can be supplied by ketones, so the requirement for glucose is less. In AD neurons lose the ability to use glucose efficiently as a fuel. An energy crisis occurs as connections enlarge, the synapses atrophy and the cells starve. Blood tests may show normal blood glucose and normal hemoglobin A1C because of very high insulin. Alzheimer’s patients may show a normal glycemic response on the blood labs, but have an abnormal insulin response in the brain. Only a PET scan will show the cerebral uptake of glucose.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND DIABETES

Little is known about the mechanistic between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and diabetes with altered metabolism, inflammation, and insulin resistance being key features of both diseases. Brain insulin dysfunction is begins at a molecular level and abnormal insulin signaling results in synaptic failure and memory decline PMID:24529521.

Insulin is best known as a hormone secreted by the pancreatic β-cell hormone in response to elevated plasma glucose after meals. Insulin stimulates glucose uptake by adipose and muscle tissue, and inhibits free fatty acid released by adipose tissue and glucose production by the liver. However, insulin is also synthesized in brain neurons PM ID:8132571.

Type 2 diabets (T2DM) is caused by peripheral insulin resistance in the body. We now know that insulin resistance also occurs in the brain in T2DM. T2DM may increase the risk for dementia and AD through brain insulin resistance that induces abnormal hyperphosphorylation of the protein tau PMID:19498432. The most immediate cause of brain insulin resistance in AD appears to be amyloid-β-triggered microglia release of proinflammatory cytokines, which inhibit insulin signaling PMCID: PMC4465775. Peripheral insulin resistance due to obesity and diabetes exacerbates brain insulin resistance in AD PMCID: PMC4484598 .

NEW APPROACHES TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION

Amyloid protein is normally found in the brain, but is degraded and not allowed to build up in AD. Over time, the accumulation of amyloid interferes with neuronal signals leading to cognitive decline. Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a major enzyme responsible for insulin degradation. In addition to insulin, IDE degrades many targets including beta-amyloid peptide. IDE represents a pathophysiological link between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and late onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) PMID:27320287. The amyloid is not really the cause of the AD, but is involved as part of the overall picture as AD develops.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a master regulator of cellular energy homeostasis and a central player in glucose and lipid metabolism, implicated Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AMPK activity decreases in AD brain, indicating decreased mitochondrial renewal and function. AMPK is associated with β-amyloid protein (Aβ) generation and tau phosphorylation. AMPK activation has non-neuroprotective property and may lead to detrimental outcomes, including Aβ generation and tau phosphorylation. Therefore, it is still unclear whether AMPK could serve a potential therapeutic target for AD, and hence, further studies will be needed to clarify the role of AMPK in AD. PMID:22367557

The sirtuins are a family of enzymes involved in many fundamental cellular processes including gene silencing, DNA repair, and metabolic regulation: PMC4203689 The name Sir comes from the description of the action of the yeast gene ‘silent mating-type information regulation of the gene responsible for cellular regulation’.

Resveratrol, a compound found largely in the skins of red grapes, increases mitochondrial function and ATP production through its effect on gene for making sirtuins, SIRT1. Moderate doses of resveratrol stimulate AMPK and improve mitochondrial function. A high dose of resveratrol activates AMPK in a SIRT1-independent manner, demonstrating that resveratrol dosage is a critical factor. Moderate doses of resveratrol are advised as high doses of (≥50 mg) resulted not only in SIRT1-independent activation of AMPK, but toxic effects include a dramatic reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential and cellular ATP levels. PMCID: PMC3545644

The loss of synaptic space between neurons is one of the major pathological hallmarks associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) underlying memory impairment. Increasing the brain’s magnesium by magnesium-l-threonate reduces pathologies and cognitive deficits in a mouse model of AD. Magnesium L-Threonate form of magnesium reduces the formation of amyloid plaques. Elevation of brain magnesium related to substantial protective effects in the synaptic space in a mouse model of AD and may have therapeutic potential for treating AD in humans. PMID:23658180

CANCER AS A MITCHONDRIAL DISEASE

The current theory that cell damage to nuclear chromosomes by mutations in the genomes causes cancer has been overturned. Current dogma states that “Cancer is a genetic disease—that is, it is caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide” (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/what-is-cancer).

Although cancer metabolism is receiving increased attention, cancer is generally considered a genetic disease New evidence suggests that cancer is a mitochondrial metabolic disease (Hanahan & Weinberg, 2011). Research demonstrates that cancer is a result of damage to the mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the cell rather than from damage to the genome in the nucleus. Damage in nuclear DNA of tumor cells is a result of the disturbances in energy metabolism and disrupted cellular respiration. (Hu et al., 2012) Metabolic changes and reactive oxygen species are the source of stress in cancer cells, promoting tumor development. (Pedersen, 1978)

Otto Warburg first proposed that all cancers originate from dysfunctional cellular respiration. (WARBURG, 1956). Cancer can be linked to impaired mitochondrial function and energy metabolism. Aerobic fermentation utilized by tumor cells results from abnormalities in both the content and composition of their mitochondria. (Fiske & Vander Heiden, 2012) linked to the discovery that ultrastructure of tumor tissue mitochondria differs markedly from the ultrastructure of normal tissue mitochondria (Seyfried & Shelton, 2010). These findings support Warburg’s central hypothesis that respiration is insufficient in tumor cells. (Ferreira, 2010)

Ketogenic diets are being considered in the treatment of disease from cancer to mitochondrial disease. Ketogenic diets are composed of high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrates, which favor mitochondrial respiration rather than glycolysis for energy metabolism (Branco et al., 2016).

“Mitochondria are the energy-producing organelles of the cell, generating ATP via oxidative phosphorylation mainly by using pyruvate derived from glycolytic processing of glucose. Ketone bodies generated by fatty acid oxidation can serve as alternative metabolites for aerobic energy production. The ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, mimics the metabolic state of starvation, forcing the body to utilize fat as its primary source of energy” (Branco et al., 2016).

Malignant brain cancer persists as a major disease of morbidity and mortality despite enormous funding into research for treatments. The failure to recognize brain cancer as a disease of energy metabolism has contributed in large part to the failure in management. Brain tumor cells progress as long as long as the cancer cells have access to glucose and glutamine. The current standard of care does not block brain tumor access to glucose and glutamine. The high fat low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) targets glucose availability and possibly that of glutamine when administered in carefully restricted amounts to reduce total caloric intake and circulating levels of glucose. Dietary changes are effective non-toxic therapeutic option to the current standard of care for inhibiting the growth and invasive properties of malignant brain cancer. (Seyfried, Marsh, Shelton, Huysentruyt, & Mukherjee, 2012)

NEW APPROACHES TO CANCER

Over time mitochondrial stress response leads to abnormalities in DNA repair mechanisms and to the upregulation of fermentation pathways (Guha & Avadhani, 2013). A restriction of total caloric intake reduces blood glucose and insulin levels and an elevation in ketone bodie

(β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate). Most tumor cells are unable to use ketone bodies for energy due to abnormalities in mitochondria structure or function (Seyfried et al., 2012). Ketone bodies can also be toxic to some cancer cells. Nutritional ketosis induces metabolic stress on tumor tissue that is selectively vulnerable to glucose deprivation (Chandra & Singh, 2011). Metabolic stress will be greater in tumor cells than in normal cells when the body switches from glucose to ketone bodies for energy. The metabolic shift from glucose metabolism to ketone body metabolism creates an anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic environment within the tumor mass destroying cancer cells.

The high fat low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) therapeutic strategy has been used successfully in cancer patients and in preclinical models. Whole body levels of blood glucose and ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyrate) metabolically stress tumor cells while enhancing the metabolic efficiency of normal cells.

A protein produced in the liver called GcGoleic or GcMAF (which stands for major macrophage –activating factor /MAF) binds to vitamin D and boosts the immune system to destroy cancer cells. (Ruggiero et al., 2014)

Cancer cells and viruses produce an enzyme called nagalase that prevents the production of your own GcMAF, allowing cancer cells and other diseases to go unchecked. Increased nagalase activity is increased in the blood of patients with cancers, but not in healthy subjects (Thyer et al., 2013). You can purchase an olive oil soluble GcMAF either in a dropper bottle or as injectable vials. At www.lyranara.com.

The future of successful cancer treatment will be found in the recognition of the role of the mitochondria in the origin, management, and prevention of the disease. (Seyfried, 2015)

Mitochondrial structure, function and respiratory capacity is defective in all types of tumor cells. This information should be addressed in discussions of cancer metabolism. (Pedersen, 1978) “Non-toxic metabolic therapy should become the future of cancer treatment if the goal is to manage the disease without harming the patient” (Seyfried, Flores, Poff, & D’Agostino, 2014).

The FDA approved antifungal medicine itraconazole (Sporanox) is being studied as a treatment for cancer due to its potent anti-angiogenic activity. Clinical trials have shown that patients with prostate, lung, and basal cell carcinoma have benefited from treatment with itraconazole, along with beneficial reports of its activity in leukemia, ovarian, breast, and pancreatic cancers. (Pantziarka, Sukhatme, Bouche, Meheus, & Sukhatme, 2015). Itraconazole costs about $8 per 100 mg capsules compared to most FDA anti-cancer drugs are priced above $100,000 according to the Harvard Law website.

Studies done at Baylor University Cancer Treatment Center in Dallas, TX, have discovered that dormant tumor suppressor genes that play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment, respond to curcumin. Curcumin can not only awaken dormant tumor suppressor genes, it can also kill cancer stem cells and prevent them from cancer recurrence (Shanmugam et al., 2015).

The nutraceutical used in the tests was BCM-95 Curcumin, using a blend of curcumin and turmeric essential oils was found to be the most effective agent. For more information visit www.naturalpractiionermag.com.

According to Dr. Hans J. Kempe, winner of the Nobel Prize for the Einstein Award in 2009 for his invention of the GENO62- SONIC technology using ultrasound and digitalized energy information, the brain, glandular systems, autonomic autoregulation including the HPA axis and cell function can be restored to normal functioning. This technology is now used worldwide as an alternative treatment for cancer. Dr. Kempe spent over 20 years researching the modulation of the genetic-biophysical characteristics of the human cell.

The discovery of the 62 frequencies as cell-building blocks and the decoding of the energetic hereditary substance formula (ME) C2 of organic matter, led to the technology now used to treat many diseases including cancer. The information is sent into the cellular fluid connecting every cell within the body. The communication between the cells happens exclusively through the cell fluid. External information triggers the body to activate its internal controlling and supervision functions, including activation of its own self-repair and healing programs .The information delivered to the brain and body make it possible for the body to heal itself by making it easier for the body to track down energetic blockades or communication problems and repair them. The Foundation of Alternative Medicine, Washington, lists Professor Dr. Kempe and his GKA-System as guideline of Alternative Cancer Treatments. See more on this technology at www.lyranara.com.

The physicist Prof. Dr. Hans Kempe’s research projects answered the question about the forces which create new life and bring it into being. He drew the following conclusion:

“Only the forces which can give life, can keep it healthy.”

(https://www.cium-geno62.de/home/englisch/)

LOW ATP AND CHRONIC DISEASE

Symptoms of mitochondrial disease resulting in low ATP production include fatigue, a poorly functioning immune system, dementia, depression, ADD, behavior and mood swings, diabetes, skin rashes and hair loss. The production of energy for your body has far reaching implications for your health. Mitochondrial related muscle degeneration and inherited mitochondrial disease both share similar symptoms. Low ATP production, indicating mitochondrial disease, is found in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, many types of cancer, fibromyalgia, epilepsy and diabetes.

Conditions which interfere with the ability of the mitochondria to make energy result in a variety of symptoms. Mild versions of mitochondrial disease is often a cofactor in deafness, impaired growth, low exercise tolerance and migraine headaches. A buildup of lactic acid and free radicals, along with the lack of energy to run the cell processes, are a result of low mitochondrial function.

AMPK RESTORES METABOLIC SYNDROME

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the histone/protein deacetylase SIRT1 are fuel-sensing molecules. When a cell’s energy state is low, AMPK activation restores energy balance by stimulating production of ATP and downregulating anabolic processes that use ATP but are not necessary for survival. AMPK and SIRT1 both regulate each other and the dysregulation of their interactions predisposes to disorders such as type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Dysregulation of AMPK sets in motion changes in mitochondrial function (Strang, 1991) that could increases the ability of a cell to generate ATP and diminish oxidative stress and other potentially adverse cellular events(Ruderman & Prentki, 2004). SIRT1 and other sirtuins provide the connection between what we eat and how long we live (Arsov, Tomov, Rashkov, Iliev, & Ivanov, 1986).

AMPK RESTORES MITOCHONDIRAL DYSFUNCTION

Pathogenic factors improved by AMPK and SIRT1 are important for improving mitochondrial dysfunction. AMPK and SIRT1 act to rebalance endothelial cell function leading to arterial damage by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.(Terada et al., 1989). Hormones such as leptin, gherelin, adiponectin, catecholamine and endocannabinoids regulate AMPK; it is AMPK which in turn mediates their actions on individual tissues and regulate whole body fuel homeostasis (Terada et al., 1989).

Regular exercise and calorie restriction have been shown to activate AMPK. Drugs such as metformin and thiazolidinediones are also used to treat metabolic syndrome (Arsov et al., 1986). AMPK is the central target for the metabolic effects of resveratrol (Um et al., 2010), as well as endothelial cell dysfunction that is generally regarded as an early manifestation of atherosclerotic vascular disease (Potente & Dimmeler, 2008). In keeping with this presumption, these treatments also have been shown to diminish the prevalence of metabolic syndrome-associated diseases, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, certain cancers and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease.

OBESITY AND MITOCHONDRIA DISEASE

Figure 4.9 Mitochondria related disorders (Adapted from (Nel, Xia, Mädler, & Li, 2006)

FATTY LIVER AND MITOCHONDRIA DAMAGE

Your liver responds to food intake that exceeds the body’s nutritional needs by storing that excess caloric load as fat.

Liver cells, hepatocytes, can become overwhelmed and are no longer able to store additional fats. Eventually caloric overload results in a fatty liver (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease = NASH).

WIMPY MITOCHONDRIA AND OBESITY

People who suffer from obesity eat more and tire more easily. Studies show that the mitochondria in obese individuals are smaller and have less content than healthy mitochondria (Kelley, He, Menshikova, & Ritov, 2002).

Mitochondria dysfunction leads to insulin resistance and fat can no longer be burned through oxidative phosphorylation. Fat now stores in the liver and around the waist. This is something most of us already knew, we just didn’t know why (C.-H. Wang, Chi, & Wei, 2012).

Skeletal mitochondria in obese individuals have reduced contents and impaired electron transport activity (Kelley et al., 2002). Muscle cells in obesity are poor fat burners and have lower energy production as a result of mitochondrial disease.

BELLY FAT AND SURVIVAL

Adipose cells are like inflatable fat silos. These fat cells can expand into storage areas such as an enlarged waistline, love handles, and unsightly pot belly. How does this happen?

First of all, fat distribution begins in the liver, your body’s powerhouse for transforming nutrients into fuel under the influence of insulin signaling. Insulin is also one of the hormones signaling adipose cells to store fat. Since your belly has the highest concentration of insulin receptors, central obesity is a big indicator of mitochondrial damage and insulin resistance, known as Metabolic Syndrome.

In the state of Montana, where I grew up, the farmers had large silos used to store grains for winter. Metabolic Syndrome is a condition indicated by an abundance of fat storage the body as the result of unhealthy mitochondria silos, much like those used by farmers to store grain.

KEEPING DOWN INFLAMMATION

Mitochondria are the energy generators in our cells, but during inflammation mitochondria switch roles and instead of making ATP they make toxic products from oxygen using an enzyme called succinate dehydrogenase, which promotes inflammation. The resulting increase in the production of reactive oxygen species can damage cell structures. (Mills et al., 2016)

The following is a list of five nutrients with known anti-inflammatory properties within white adipose tissue:

Quercetin is recognized as a superior nutrient for lowering inflammation within white adipose tissue by a variety of mechanisms, including lowering TNFa, NF-kappaB, IL-6 and MCP-a. Typical weight management dosage is 1000 mg – 3000 mg per day. Quercetin guards against excess formation of new fat cells while enhancing the death rate of old fat cells. It is also a potent antioxidant for white adipose tissue and can improve leptin resistance. Quercetin lowers insulin resistance by assisting the activation of AMPK (an enzyme metabolic master switch), which promotes fat burning.

Precautionary note: avoid quercetin if you have histamine intolerance as it contributes to rebound histamine release.

Green Tea Catechins (EGCG) – EGCG is the active compound in green tea which activates genes in fat cells that prevent excess fat accumulation. Like quercetin, EGCG also activates AMPK to boost fat burning. Typical weight management dosage is 200 mg to 600 mg of EGCG per day (approximately 1400 mg – 4200 mg of green tea, depending on extract potency). Immune cells contained in white adipose tissue exposed to EGCG begin to regulate normally, no longer behaving in an inflamed manner. EGCG helps nerve tone, including the activation of calorie-disposing brown adipose tissue. Numerous human studies show that EGCG is an excellent weight management nutrient.

Curcumin has long been recognized as an anti-inflammatory nutrient, potently reducing inflammatory cytokines including of NF-kappaB, TNFa, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dosage is 200 mg – 600 mg per day. Curcumin helps lower leptin resistance, boost adiponectin and reverse insulin resistance. It also helps turn on fat burning genes which reduces white adipose tissue.

Resveratrol activates the Sirt1 gene in fat cells that is highly synergistic with AMPK and increased fat burning. Resveratrol also helps reduce inflammation within fat cells. Typical weight management dosage is 200 mg – 600 mg per day. Resveratrol helps prevent fat accumulation, speeds the release of fat from fat cells, regulates new fat cell formation and clears out old fat cells.

DHA, an omega 3 fatty acid from fish, reduces the accumulation of fat within fat cells, prevents fat cells from expanding in size, regulates the rate of new fat cell formation, reduces inflammatory TNF-kappaB and MCP-1, lowers leptin resistance and boosts adiponectin. Typical weight management dosage of DHA is 500 mg – 3000 mg per day.

DAMAGED METABOLISM AND LOW ATP

To survive a broken metabolism related to mitochondrial damage, the body resorts to a primitive energy production system used by single celled organisms and bacteria. Cells must burn sugar to make a few molecules of ATP and the body doesn’t make enough ATP to function optimally.

Dieting and exercise alone are often not enough to reverse obesity resulting from disordered mitochondrial metabolism. If you can’t reverse this situation you are in big trouble. Exercise becomes difficult for lack of energy, you crave sugar and your body cannibalizes your muscle into sugar for fuel. Do you have these symptoms of mitochondrial damage?

Lactic acidosis: nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, fatigue, anxiety, abdominal pain, low blood pressure
Low blood sugar
Elevated liver enzymes such as ALT (levels over 30)
Higher levels of conjugated bilirubin
Elevated ammonia / liver cirrhosis
Chronic lack of energy
Strong cravings for sugar

MITOCHONDRIAL TOXINS

Mitochondria are fragile and can be damaged by toxins. Mitochondrial toxic metals include iron (overload), manganese (overload), mercury, lead and arsenic (Ames, 2010).

Mitochondrial pharmaceutical toxins include:

Acetaminophen irreversibly inhibits β-oxidation
Aminoglycoside antibiotics
Anti-retroviral drugs (NTRIs)
Aspirin: inhibits & uncouples OXPHOS
Cancer chemotherapy agents (platinum)
Metformin
Complex I inhibitor
Tamoxifen: inhibits complexes III & IV
Valproic acid: inhibits complex IV
Statins deplete CoQ10

BAD BOYS TO AVOID

Mitochondrial dysfunction can result from a poor diet (Parikh et al., 2009). You are well advised to avoid the following if you want healthy mitochondria:

Saturated fat (Dietary fat, fatty acid saturation and mitochondrial bioenergetics (L. Yu et al., 2014).

High glycemic foods, as they create AGES, which is the acronym for Advanced Glycation End Products (Pun & Murphy, 2012).

Fructose: A high fructose diet interferes with mitochondrial ability to function properly. Fructose sugar reduces the ability of the respiratory chain complex I, needed to make ATP during fat burning in oxidative phosphorylation (Sánchez-Martín et al., 2012).

Alcohol damages mitochondria (Manzo-Avalos & Saavedra-Molina, 2010).

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE DAMAGES MITOCHONDRIA

Immune markers that cause the body to attack itself are indicators of autoimmune disease. When antibodies attack an immune marker protein, called cardolipin, the cristae that comprise the inner folds of the mitochondria can become damaged.

Cardolipin is an important protein to not have become a target of autoimmune attack because it comprises 20% of the cristae in mitochondria, and is a protein that contributes to allowing the cristae to fold. Without healthy cristae there can be no electron transport process to make ATP.

Note the two mitochondria below showing the healthy cristae and damaged cristae:

Figure 4.10 Healthy mitochondrial and damaged mitochondria with cristae damage

Researchers have discovered that most of the time mitochondria join together to form branched networks that are constantly changing shape. In sick and dying cells, the mitochondrial network breaks down and the mitochondria take on a static bean like shape again.

In brain cells the mitochondrial form a network around the nucleus, but in order to be transported to the ends of the nerve fiber they return to the bean shape for purposes of being transported along the axons (Wellcome Trust Center, 2015).

Cristae damage, as the result of inflammatory attacks from the immune system, underlie many complex diseases related to mitochondrial disease, affecting every cell in the body relying on ATP for healing and cell processes.

MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE

If you already have obesity you are suffering from mitochondria disease. The implications are enormous. Mitochondria convert food into fuel as ATP. Inefficient mitochondria function underlies obesity and other chronic diseases. Finally, when you run out of ATP you die.

Mitochondrial disease, also known as metabolic syndrome is a disorder in which genetic factors coupled with over nutrition and inactivity produce unhealthy changes that predispose individuals to metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, certain cancers and possibly Alzheimer’s disease. Metabolic disease is diagnosed clinically by the presence of at least three of the following: abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia (fasting glucose > 100 mg/dl), hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and decreased HDL cholesterol (Thomason, Brantley, Jones, Dyer, & Morris, 1992).

Metabolic changes include hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and abnormalities in lipid metabolism and mitochondrial gene expression lead to diagnostic criteria lead to the expression of the diseases that follow their appearance by many years (Salisbury, 1998).

The herbal extracts of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) can reduce significantly reduce elevations in serum cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose and insulin and also in body weight present in metabolic syndrome/ mitochondrial disease. PMID:16359128

CANCER AS A METABOLIC DISEASE

Although cancer metabolism is receiving increased attention, cancer is generally considered a genetic disease New evidence suggests that cancer is a mitochondrial metabolic disease PMID:21376230. Reseach demonstrates that cancer is a result of damage to the mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the cell rather than from damage to the genome in the nucleus. Damage in nuclear DNA of tumor cells is a result of the disturbances in energy metabolism and disrupted cellular respiration. PMID:21876558 Metabolic changes and reactive oxygen species are the source of stress in cancer cells, promoting tumor development. PMID:149996

Otto Warburg first proposed that all cancers originate from dysfunctional cellular respiration. PMID:13298683. Cancer can be linked to impaired mitochondrial function and energy metabolism. Aerobic fermentation utilized by tumor cells results from abnormalities in both the content and composition of their mitochondria. PMID:22854814 linked to the discovery that ultrastructure of tumor tissue mitochondria differs markedly from the ultrastructure of normal tissue mitochondria PMID:20181022 These findings support Warburg’s central hypothesis that respiration is insufficient in tumor cells. PMID:20804748

“Mitohondria are the energy-producing organelles of the cell, generating ATP via oxidative phosphorylation mainly by using pyruvate derived from glycolytic processing of glucose. Ketone bodies generated by fatty acid oxidation can serve as alternative metabolites for aerobic energy production. The ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, mimics the metabolic state of starvation, forcing the body to utilize fat as its primary source of energy” PMID:25666556.

Over time mitochondrial stress response leads to abnormalities in DNA repair mechanisms and to the upregulation of fermentation pathways PMID:24004957. A restriction of total caloric intake reduces blood glucose and insulin levels and an elevation in ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate). Most tumor cells are unable to use ketone bodies for energy due to abnormalities in mitochondria structure or function PMID:21885251. Ketone bodies can also be toxic to some cancer cells. Nutritional ketosis induces metabolic stress on tumor tissue that is selectively vulnerable to glucose deprivation PMCID: PMC4681500. Metabolic stress will be greater in tumor cells than in normal cells when the body switches from glucose to ketone bodies for energy. The metabolic shift from glucose metabolism to ketone body metabolism creates an anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic environment within the tumor mass destroying cancer cells.

The future of successful cancer treatment will be found in the recognition of the role of the mitochondria in the origin, management, and prevention of the disease. PMCID: PMC4493566

Mitochondrial structure, function and respiratory capacity is defective in all types of tumor cells. This information should be addressed in discussions of cancer metabolism. REPEAT PMID:149996 “Non-toxic metabolic therapy should become the future of cancer treatment if the goal is to manage the disease without harming the patient” PMCID: PMC3941741.

The FDA approved antifungal medicine itraconazole (Sporanox) is being studied as a treatment for cancer due to its potent anti-angiogenic activity. Clinical trials have shown that patients with prostate, lung, and basal cell carcinoma have benefited from treatment with itraconazole, along with beneficial reports of its activity in leukemia, ovarian, breast, and pancreatic cancers. PMCID: PMC4406527. Itraconazole costs about $8 per 100 mg capsules compared to most FDA anti-cancer drugs are priced above $100,000 according to the Harvard Law website..

LOW ATP AND CHRONIC DISEASE

I don’t want to die of a heart attack

Figure 6.8 Cardiovascular system

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

The cardiovascular system, also called the circulatory system, is an organ system composed of the heart and the network of arteries, veins, and capillaries that transport blood throughout the body. Your heart is a muscular squeezing device, sometime erroneously described as a pumping device. Blood circulates to and from the cardiac muscle (heart) in a closed circle of vascular vessels.

THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH

After nearly seventy years, the then current director of the 1948 Framingham Heart Study admitted that your diet has nothing to do with your cholesterol levels.

This study of 5,000 patients, done under the direction of the National Heart Institute, had concluded that cholesterol levels were related to risk for coronary artery disease

In 1976, another large study of over 4,000 patients in Tecumseh, Michigan was published showing that there is no relationship whatsoever between the amounts of saturated fat eaten (animal fat, coconut oil, palm oil) and the levels of blood cholesterol. As a side note, it is important to clarify that these studies did not address the plastic fat called transfat.

Figure 6.15 Cholesterol metabolism and statin drugs

HMG (HYDROCYMETHYLGLTARIC ACID) ENZYME PRODUCTS

Cholesterol is one of three products produced from HMG (Cholesterol, CoQ10 and Dolichol). The enzyme HMG-CoA Reductase is required to start the process of cholesterol metabolism. Statin drugs inhibit this enzyme. The above diagram illustrates the cholesterol pathway and the resulting substrates.

The cholesterol pathway process begins with the two carbon molecule, acetyl-CoA to form hydrocymethylglutaric acid (HMG). Statins are known as HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors because they prevent the formation of HMG-CoA, and they thereby also block cholesterol production. Unfortunately, statins also interfere with the formation of important metabolic processes and can lead to numerous adverse effects.

STATIN DRUGS CAN INHIBIT ESSENTIAL BIOCHEMICAL FUNCTIONS

Statins don’t just inhibit the production of cholesterols; they inhibit the production of an entire group of enzymes and molecules that have essential biochemical functions.

STATIN DRUGS EFFECT COENZYME Q10

The statins widely used cholesterol-lowering medications may also decrease the body’s production of coenzyme Q10. The conversion of energy from carbohydrates and fats to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the form of energy used by cells, requires coenzyme Q10 in the inner mitochondrial membrane (Crane, 2001).

MUSCLE ATROPHY SIDE EFFECTS FROM STATIN DRUGS

The most common side effect of statin drugs is a condition called rhabdomyolysis, characterized in muscle pain and weakness. This condition results from the statin activation of the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy (Hanai et al., 2007).

DANGERS OF LOW CHOLESTEROL (BELOW 200 mg/DL

Studies have shown a connection between low or lowered cholesterol levels and violent behavior, as lowered cholesterol levels may lead to lowered brain serotonin activity associated with increased violenceHS and aggression (Golomb, 1998; Hebert, Gaziano, Chan, & Hennekens, 1997).

Cholesterol should not drop below 200 mg/dL. Research warns that there is a link between total cholesterol levels of less than 160 mg/dL and an increase in deaths from trauma, some types of cancer, hemorrhagic stroke, respiratory conditions and infectious diseases. Women with low cholesterol (160 mg/dL) (6th percentile) exhibited about a 10% to 20% excess total mortality compared with those with a cholesterol level between 4.2 and 5.2 mmol/L (160 to 199 mg/dL) (Jacobs et al., 1992).

A study published in 2009, in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found that men with very low total cholesterol (165 mg/dL) and depression were at very high risk for premature death from unnatural causes. The study reported that men with low total cholesterol plus symptoms of depression were seven times more likely to die prematurely from suicides, drug overdoses, accidents and injuries than those without those markers. Studies show that the increased disease related mortality rates were most commonly from hemorrhagic stroke, aortic dissection and respiratory diseases (Jacobs et al., 1992).

VEGETABLE OILS CAN CAUSE HEART DISEASE

High amounts of vegetable oil consumption can lead to cardiovascular disease because vegetable oils contain omega-6 polyunsaturated fats which are inflammatory. These inflammatory fats (from sources such as corn, canola, and soybean oils) are commonly found in commercial mayonnaise and salad dressings.

PURE OLIVE OIL AND COCONUT OIL ARE BETTER FOR YOU

Olive oil and coconut oils are monounsaturated oils which don’t lead to inflammation.. You can test to see if your olive oil has been adulterated with soybean, cottonseed, or corn oil as these oils stay liquid when refrigerated. Within a day or two, pure olive oil solidifies, which helps you know the difference.

’60 Minutes’ Exposes Italy’s Olive Oil Fraud Jan 5, 2016 Source: CBS News. Olive oil is coming out of Italy that is tainted with hydrogenated oils, check out your sources for these oils. Check out the labels, if made in a city in Sicily or Puglia known for producing olive oil it’s probably safe.

You can purchase extra-virgin olive oil from California. American shoppers can also buy online directly from Italian producers like Lucia Iannotta, who runs Iannotta Oil or Nicolo Clemenza, who is organizing his fellow farmers to cut out the Mafia middle men.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING FAT

Saturated fats can protect help to protect the heart. In 2013 a cardiologist and leading researcher published in the British Medical Journal, noted “we have scientific evidence which shows that lowering our intake of saturated fat has paradoxically increase our cardiovascular risks” (Malik et al., 2010).

Obesity (Grundy, 2006) and a diet high in carbohydrates (Parks & Hellerstein, 2000) increases the accumulation of plaques in arteries. Dietary recommendations for avoiding cardiovascular disease has focused on reducing saturated fat in order to lower LDL cholesterol. In recent years the list for medical risks has grown to include elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and increased small dense LDL particles (Krauss & Siri, 2004).

My thyroid labs are normal, I still feel Terrible

HOW THE THYROID INTERACTS WITH THE BRAIN AND METABOLISM

In normal physiology the thyroid gland regulates metabolism by maintain balance with the brain via the hypothalamus, the pituitary glands and the adrenals. This is referred to as the HPA axis. The hypothalamus produces Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) which tells the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid gland to release Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TRH).

The function of the thyroid gland is to take iodine, found in many foods, and convert it into the thyroid hormones Thyroxine (T4) and triiodthyronine (T3). T3 is derived from T4 and is four times more active than T4. Reverse T3 (RT3) is an anti-thyroid hormone that can block the receptors for T3, causing or worsening hypothyroid conditions. Like most hormone systems, the HPA axis is controlled by feedback mechanisms to maintain balance and respond to the changing needs for active thyroid hormone production.

THYROID FUNCTION INFLAMATION, LOW IRON AND BACTERIA

Eighty metabolic genes responding to thyroid all need iron, which is lower when hepcidin from your liver is elevated in response to inflammation. High inflammation also interrupts the conversion of inactive T4 to active T3 inside tissue cells of the body. The result is a cellular hypothyroidism, even in the presence of normal T4 and T3, and is known as Peripheral Tissue Hypothyroidism.

On a lab test you will see: TSH is normal, T4 is normal, T3 is low and RT3 is high, indicating that inflammation is a problem, possibly due to autoimmune disease. In these scenarios, the elevations in inflammatory cytokines are depressing thyroid receptor site responsiveness while the hormones create a normal appearance of thyroid markers (TSH, T4 and T3).

Many autoimmune patients will not notice any difference even when taking T4 thyroid hormone because of decreased receptor site sensitivity and decreased conversion of T4 to T3 (Kharrazian, 2009). As you correct the underlying inflammation, these patients do better with glandular thyroid or bioidentical hormones which contain time released T3.

Figure 6.28 Normal thyroid physiology

ABNORMAL PHYSIOLOGY

Cellular thyroid transporters play an important role in determining thyroid activity. Thyroid hormone transporters in the body require ATP energy for active transport and are effected by energy levels. In mitochondria disease. Low ATP leads to low thyroid levels in the tissues which is not reflected in TSH levels.

Mitochondrial disease, toxins and infections can lead to low concentrations of T3 and T4 inside tissues cells and elevated concentrations in the blood, while the pituitary may remain unaffected.

DIAGNOSING ADRENAL FATIGUE AND HYPOTHYROID

The first step is to take your temperature, as temperature reflects metabolic energy state. The average optimal temperature of a healthy individual is 98.6.Thyroid controls the metabolic sate and a lower than optimal temperature is indicative of hypothyroidism. A wide variability of temperature reflects an unstable or fatigued adrenal system. Core temperatures vary with the weather, rising when the weather is warm and falling when cold. Adrenal support will require two weeks to a few months to stabilized, progressing slowly to optimal temperature with fluctuations from day to day. If progress is not seen in several months you must address toxicity or nutritional deficiencies.

CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS OF ADRENAL FATIGUE AND HYPOTHYROIDISM

In adrenal fatigue total cholesterol tends to run low to low-normal while HDL tends to run high-normal to high. In hypothyroidism the opposite tends to occur. Anxiety is usually related to the adrenals while depression more often reflects low thyroid. Obsessive compulsive actions improve as adrenals improve. Poor digestive as a result of low gastric production of HCL may be seen as an aversion to meat, indigestion, reflux and gut dysbiosis. Himalayan sea salt with over 87 trace minerals supports blood pressure which is often low in adrenal fatigue. B5 and vitamin C support adrenal repair. Botanicals such as maca root licorice and eleutherococcus are excellent choices as well.

Low thyroid function shows a different pattern with a stable but low temperature. Treatment with Liothyroine SR will cause temperature to rise slowly and plateaus at a level reflective of the dose of T3. If adrenals cannot handle the increased level of energy, the rise in temperature is followed by a drop in temperature. The biggest mistake in treating thyroid conditions is not to address the adrenal function first.

A comprehensive discussion encompassing adrenal fatigue and the thyroid by Bruce Rind, MD may be found at www.westonprice.org. The Thyroid Scale Interpretation Matrix and Metabolic Scorecard give excellent detail on this topic and are found at www.drrind.come/therapies/thyroid-scale matrix. (Rind, 2009)

LOW THYROID AND HEART DISEASE

Low thyroid function can be the body’s way of protecting a weakened heart by slowing down metabolism. Low levels of thyroid hormone are often the result of adrenal imbalance, nutritional deficiency such as low iron, or inflammation, all of which lead to stress on the heart as well as to low thyroid. Support the heart by addressing the underlying conditions before trying to increase thyroid metabolism. Support the adrenal glands when supplementing with thyroid hormone or the result will be adrenal fatigue, as the thyroid and adrenals work together

PAIN

Cellular hypothyroidism, which again is left undiagnosed by standard blood tests, increases the risk of the associated fatigue and depression often seen with chronic pain. Chronic pain will significantly suppress D1 in the body and upregulate D2 in the pituitary, resulting in a reduction in tissue T3 without a change in TSH. Unfortunately, significant cellular hypothyroidism is not detected by serum TSH and T4 testing (Ji, Xu, & Gao, 2014).

DIETING

Acute or chronic dieting can result in a significant decrease in intracellular and circulating T3 levels by up to 50% (Araujo, Andrade, da Silva, Ferreira, & Carvalho, 2009), significantly reducing the basal metabolic rate (number of calories burned per day) by 15–40% (Wadden, Mason, Foster, Stunkard, & Prange, 1990).

Chronic dieting often results in low thyroid levels and metabolism which may not return to normal levels; the body stays in starvation mode for years with significantly reduced metabolism despite the resumption of normal food intake, making it very difficult to lose or maintain lost weight. Individuals with a history of intense dieting have dramatic reductions in T4 to T3 conversion with an intracellular deficiency of T3. Standard testing fails to detect the resulting dramatic reduction in tissue levels of T3.

IRON DEFICIENCY

A ferritin blood test measures the amount of ferritin in the blood. Ferritin is a protein that binds to iron, and most of the iron stored in the body is bound to ferritin.

Iron deficiency is shown to significantly reduce T4 to T3 conversion, increase reverse T3 levels, and block the thermogenic (metabolism boosting) properties of thyroid hormone (Smith, Johnson, & Lukaski, 1993).

NEW TESTING STANDARDS FOR THYROID FUNCTION

Traditional thyroid screening involves testing blood levels of circulating thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormone transport across cellular membranes is called autocrine or intracellular signaling. This form of hormone communication plays an important role in intracellular thyroid hormone levels and is proving to have considerable clinical significance.

Increases in rT3 levels are mainly a result of reduced transport of T4 into the cell and not due to increased T4 to rT3 conversion by D3 deiodinase enzyme.

High reverse T3 is a condition reflecting either an inhibition of reverse T3 uptake into the cell and/or there is increased T4 to reverse T3 formation (Hennemann, Vos, de Jong, Krenning, & Docter, 1993).

Due to rT3 and T4 transporters being equally energy dependent, a high serum rT3 has been shown to be a marker for reduced uptake of T4 into the cell (Hennemann et al., 1993). Reverse T3 is a reliable marker for identifying reduced cellular T4 and T3 levels that would not normally be detected by TSH or serum T4 and T3 tests (Hinz et al., 2015).

When this occurs, T4-only replacement is not advised. While a high rT3 can occasionally be associated with hyperthyroidism, as the body tries to reduce cellular thyroid levels. More often, identifying symptoms and using the free T3/rT3 ratio, which correlates with intracellular thyroid levels leads to a better analysis of the problem (van den Beld et al., 2005). A physician should test for indications of mitochondrial disease an analysis of imbalances of thyroid hormones, as low ATP production would affect active transport of these hormones

Symptoms to look for when diagnosing hypothyroidism include fatigue, weight gain, depression, cold extremities, muscle aches, headaches, decreased libido, weakness, cold intolerance, water retention and PMS. It is best to use a combination of both clinical and laboratory assessments to determine the likely overall thyroid status.

A free T3/reverse T3 ratio of less than 0.2 being a marker for tissue hypothyroidism (when the free T3 is expressed in pg/mL (2.3–4.2 pg/mL) and the reverse T3 is expressed in ng/dL (8–25 ng/dL), (van den Beld, Visser, Feelders, Grobbee, & Lamberts, 2005).

NEW TREATMENT APPROACHES TO HYPOTHYROIDISM

A therapeutic trial of straight time released Liothyronine (SRT3) or Nature-Throid (T4/T3 combination therapy) can then be instigated in the presence of an elevated TSH.

In 2009, the 11^th European Congress of Endocrinology released research showing that T3 supplementation can be significantly beneficial (Batterham, Le Roux, et al., 2003) in the presence of high or high-normal reverse T3 levels (Gomberg-Maitland & Frishman, 1998) compared to standard T4. Sustained release T3 is available from compounding pharmacies such as Liothyronine SR. When combined with supplemental ATP to drive transporter uptake by the cells, sustained release T3 can be extremely beneficial. Following up with immune system support and detoxification can further restore proper thyroid hormone balance.

Treat the Underlying Cause

Functional medicine treats the underlying cause of your body’s imbalance that is leading to your poor health.

The basic tenants of functional medicine take into account restoration of the body’s interrelated physiological systems and address the underlying roots of the disease process, allowing the body to restore balance and health by supporting the healing process.

Functional Medicine Tree of Life (Adapted from The Institute for Functional Medicine – Functional Medicine Matrix Tree of Health vs Disease).

THE WESTERN MEDICINE MODEL

Figure 2.9 Western medicine’s 8 body systems

Western medicine tenants embrace eight systems of the body, which function largely independently of one another. The interactions, interconnections and developmental stages relating to each system are not emphasized. Western medicine is the dominant medical model in use today within the U.S., even though it is relatively new and experimental compared to traditional medical systems.

The differences between our current western and the more traditional functional medicine approach founded in balancing physiology, anatomy and pathology have grown more pronounced as control over the medical industry has been increasingly centralized within the United States, resulting in more treatments that suppress symptoms and rely on heroic interventions such as drugs and surgery. WWII and the advent of antibiotics launched this new era of Western Medicine in the United States to the present, but changes are rapidly modifying the model of Western Medicine.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICNE MODEL

Are you ready to find an alternative to drugs? The answer lies in balancing the body’s systems. Your body is made up of interconnected bio-systems. These systems interact with each other and have a genetically programmed timeframe for development from conception though completion of the biological lifespan.

Figure 2.7 A functional interaction of body systems

A CHANGE IN PARADIGMS FOR MEDICINE

Most people don’t realize that drugs turn off enzyme systems.

Pharmaceutical drugs are specialized toxins which turn off enzymes and interfere with enzyme functions by blocking biological pathways. Drugs can create side effects, which are often the expression of a more serious disease. Suppression of the natural balancing response leads to chronic symptoms and chronic disease.

Enzymes are needed for life. Almost all chemical reactions in biological metabolism need enzymes in order to occur at rates sufficient for life.

Enzymes are biological molecules that are utilized to increase the rate of chemical reactions. This is called a catalyst in chemistry. An essential foundation for healing consists of balancing enzyme systems.

Your body is made to be self- healing. Enzymes drive the cell’s ability to function and heal. By treating the whole person and removing the underlying cause of disease, you do no harm to the body’s natural physiological self-healing processes.

Figure 2.10 Contrasting approaches to medicine

Symptoms are the body’s language of healing for telling a story that can be interpreted to treat the underlying cause of imbalances and reverse disease. The function model is effective for treating chronic diseases, such as obesity, by supporting the body’s attempt to balance.

Your biosystem is directed by an energetic template which manifests health starting at conception. If balance is maintained, through proper elimination of toxins and regeneration of damaged tissue, you will remain in good health throughout your life.

Why am I fat?

Obesity is a metabolic disease. It is part of the inability of the body to burn fat that results in weight gain.

DIETING AND METABOLISM

Metabolism goes beyond calories in and calories out. What happens to those calories along the way determines if you burn them or store them. Food can be your medicine or your poison. It’s all determined by your metabolism. You can begin by understanding that metabolism is the mechanism for storing and releasing energy within the body.

Yoyo dieting

A slowed metabolism can be the result of long term dieting or yoyo dieting. Eating less has its limitations on reducing body fat because within several weeks of significantly reduced calorie intake your body may begin to think it is starving, and begin slowing down your metabolism to conserve energy. You may be able to get off a few pounds in this manner but seldom will you achieve and maintain a desired weight simply by cutting back on calories. Additionally, cutting back too much of your calorie intake puts you at risk for rebound weight gain, as your subconscious brain thinks it needs to recover from “starvation” by storing calories as fat.

THE OBESITY PARADOX

Do you still feel hungry even though you’ve just eaten? Do you diet and exercise, yet fail to lose weight?

Many people have crossed over into an altered state of metabolism where the signal to stop eating is diminished or ignored.

The frustration of unsuccessful weight loss attempts often bring the weight challenged person to take drastic measures to lose their unwanted fat. Many obese people utilize surgery and diet pills. The more determined weight loss warriors will work out until they drop from exhaustion. The most extreme personalities try employing all of the above strategies, as sensationalized by reality TV shows.

As an alternative to the above options for trying to cope with obesity, we now have scientific answers to help millions of Americans who are suffering from metabolic imbalances. You can have renewed hope that there are real solutions to the challenges you face when it comes to taming your excessive hunger and weight gain.

WEIGHT GAIN IS A SYMPTOM OF A BROKEN METABOLISM

Figure 1.1 Obesity is the tip of a chronic disease iceberg

Our behaviors that lead to obesity are driven by a national diet high in sugar and refined foods. The epidemic rise of obesity is a disruption of our biochemistry manifesting in metabolic disorders.

Your liver must store extra food as fat when you consume more calories than you burn. When your liver has no more storage space, the overflow is warehoused around your middle under the influence of insulin and cortisol. The fat around your middle acts like an independent dysfunctional organ that contributes to inflammation, maladapted hormone responses and a host of pathological disease processes. This abdominal obesity is a giveaway for metabolic disease as an underlying cause of obesity secondary to genetic and metabolic imbalances.

The key to overcoming obesity is to apply solid principles of science that lead to balance in the body (Rivera & Deutsch, 2002).

METABOLSIM AND OBESITY

Do you think you’re just weak-willed, not in the same category as those thin people? Have you come to the dieting fork in the road where you are tempted to give up? Perhaps you are resigned to stomach surgery, diet pills and the sense of starvation for the rest of your life. Some of you may decide to hit the gym and vow to work out until you drop. You may drop, but your weight does not.

Good news! You can re-wire your brain’s reward center by the regulation of signals that are being relayed through your master hormones

Don’t give up! There are metabolic and genetic solutions for your circumstances and hope for a healthier life!

Obesity occurs as a result of the metabolic system becoming less efficient, ceasing to process food as fuel and starting to store unburned calories as fat within adipose tissue. Collections of enlarged adipose cells behave like a deranged endocrine organ, producing hormones that stimulate inflammation. Along with inflammation, leptin and insulin resistance are triggered by these alterations in metabolism, resulting in increased food intake, reduced energy production and preferential conversion of energy into stored fat. We are eating too much, because we are now hungrier and want larger plates of food – not because we are given larger plates of food. The impairment in the burning of fat persists after weight loss by dieting – the reason most obese individuals cannot maintain weight loss and regain their weight.

We need to understand how increased food intake, triggered by leptin and insulin resistance that is coupled with a reduced ability to burn fat, blocks energy production within intercellular mitochondria establishes a propensity towards obesity. (Kelley et al., 2002). Often there is a genetic condition underlying this pattern of obesity.

Leptin resistance in adipose cells results in even greater fat storage. Leptin resistance in the brain leads to reduced satiety signaling and promotes overeating (Blaak, 2004).

Obesity is a disease with multiple symptoms and repercussions

BELLY FAT AND SURVIVAL

Adipose cells are like inflatable fat silos. These fat cells can expand into storage areas such as an enlarged waistline, love handles, and unsightly pot belly. How does this happen?

OBESITY AND MITOCHONDRIA DISEASE

Metabolism takes place at the cellular level within energy producing organelles called mitochondria. Mitochondrial metabolism is the body’s primary pathway for converting food into ATP energy.

Your liver responds to food intake that exceeds the body’s nutritional needs by storing that excess caloric load as fat.

Liver cells, hepatocytes, can become overwhelmed and are no longer able to store additional fats. Eventually caloric overload results in a fatty liver (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease = NASH).

You are wasting our time and money on diets when the problem of obesity is actually a symptom of dysfunctional metabolism. Solving obesity is no longer solely about diet and exercise, but about how neurotransmitter balance, hormones and fat burning influence weight loss. There are powerful chemicals acting on the brain underlie metabolic processes driving cravings, overeating, anxiety and satiety. The battle of the bulge will be won or lost in the brain. Your brain chemistry not only helps you lose weight, but reverse aging and fights disease.

Junk food sabotages your brain’s chemistry leading to overeating. Your highly sensitive and exquisitely evolved neurochemistry is constantly being subjected to unnatural levels of refined sugars and starches in highly processed foods that are marketed by the junk food industry. Webs of misinformation and deception promote an instant gratification culture that includes both “fast food” and “fast weight loss” industries, supported by sophisticated self-serving pseudoscience, allowing profiteering at the expense of our nation’s health and economic viability.

My Vitamin D is low and I take high doses of Vitamin D

VITAMIN D IS THE MASTER GENE REGULATOR

Vitamin D controls over 75% of the human genome, playing a major role as the master gene regulator of nuclear receptors, including the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The VDR is suppressed by the high stored vitamin 25(OH) D3 levels found in supplements and vitamin D enriched food supplies in the U.S. It is now proposed that these resulting elevated vitamin D levels are leading to the current epidemic in chronic degenerative diseases, including autoimmune disease, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Vitamin D from sunshine does not have the same immunosuppressive effect. Low levels of 25 (OH)D (31.6 ng/ml is found among healthy young adult Hawaiian surfers (Binkley et al., 2007).

It takes relatively little sunlight exposure to acquire adequate stores of vitamin D. Ten to 15 minutes of sunlight to a small area of skin twice a week, without sunscreen supplies all the vitamin D necessary for health. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and stores easily for the times it is not actively being produced by UV exposure. 27 (National Institutes of Health, 2014). Over 90% of UV rays penetrate clouds (Rehfuess & World Health Organization., 2002) and UV-B penetration equals or exceeds penetration at the equator, refuting a 1988 study (Webb, Kline, & Holick, 1988) often cited to support that latitude influences the amount of solar radiation available to synthesize vitamin D3 (Rehfuess & World Health Organization., 2002).

Rickets is often cited as a condition linked to low vitamin D. However, adequate calcium is equally important because low calcium leads to hyperparathyroidism and high loss of phosphorus (Tiosano & Hochberg, 2009). Children in developing countries develop rickets if poverty prevents them from eating enough calcium rich foods (Lerch & Meissner, 2007). Rickets occurs in sunny countries due to poor calcium intake and is cured with increased nutritional calcium intake (Pettifor, 2004).

MEASURING VITAMIN D3 DYSREGULATION

Vitamin D3 dysregulation can be identified by rising levels of active vitamin D (1-25 D) and lower levels of inactive vitamin D (25-D).

(Blaney, Albert, & Proal, 2009)

ACTIVE VITAMIN D3 PLAYS BOTH AN ON AND OFF ROLE

Low levels of stored vitamin D3 designated as 25OH D is found in both healthy persons and those with autoimmune or chronic inflammatory diseases. Assessing vitamin D3 status requires the additional measurement of 1, 25 (OH) 2 D. In the absence of disease, the low stored form 25OH D is normal (Mangin et al., 2014). This exposes a common faulty medical assumption that “association equals causation”, leading to the erroneous diagnosis that low levels of stored vitamin D3 are the cause of Vitamin D related disease conditions. Trevor Marshall PhD, and many other medical researchers, are demonstrating the overlooked role of elevated levels of active 1, 25 (OH) 2 D3 in suppressing the immune system and worsening existing infections. The ongoing rapid conversion of active vitamin D3 to stored vitamin D3 keeps the commonly measured stored vitamin D levels low.

Vitamin D plays a dual role in VDR control, acting as either stimulatory or suppressive. The active form, 1, 25 (OH) 2D3 regulates the vitamin D receptors in the small intestine, reabsorption of calcium by the kidneys, and resorption of calcium in bones. Elevated active D3 may cause calcium and phosphorus absorption to be impaired (Boden & Kaplan, 1990). Elevated 1, 25 (OH) 2 D3 therefore leads to bone loss. Above 42 pg/mL 1,OH)2D stimulates osteoclasts leading to osteoporosis, dental fractures (Brot, Jørgensen, Madsen, Jensen, & Sørensen, 1999), and a combination of high 1,25(OH)2D and low 25(OH)Vit D is associated with the poorest bone health (Vanderschueren et al., 2013).

Normal levels of active vitamin 1, 25 (OH) 2 D3 act as a potent activator of the innate immune system. Innate immunity represents the first line of defense against microbial invasion. You need this form of Vitamin D to be doing its job (Quraishi & Camargo, 2012). On the other hand, high levels of active D3 inhibit adaptive immunity through both T and B lymphocytes needed to balance and reduce the severity of inflammatory and autoimmune disease (J. H. White, 2012).

A clinical sign of dysregulated vitamin D metabolism is elevated active D3/1,25(OH)2D, often accompanied by reduced stored D3/ 25(OH)D reflecting that the immune system is competing with parasitic microbes such as L forms for VDR dominance. Failure of the immune system to mount an effective anti-microbial response results in chronic long term intracellular infection. The resultant inflammation (immunopathology) causes tissue damage and disease symptoms (Mangin et al., 2014).

VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENTS CAN SUPPRESS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Vitamin D is a secosteroid molecule with a chemical structure almost identical to cholesterol, closely resembling the structure of the immune suppressing steroids.

Vitamin D3 is regulated more like a steroid than a nutrient (Pérez-López, 2007). The short term benefits of taking high doses of vitamin D are a result of further suppression of the immune reaction of killing pathological bacteria. Increasing vitamin D supplementation is likely to be counter-productive, allowing pathogens to proliferate and cause further inflammation.

D3 it is rapidly broken down by the enzyme 24-hydroxylase, making it clinically unmeasurable at normal physiological conditions. During immune suppression, high levels of active D3 seep into the blood stream and therefore these levels are measurably elevated.

Vitamin D dysregulation can be measured by rising levels of the active level of active D3, abbreviated at vitamin D (1-25 D) and lower levels of inactive vitamin D3, abbreviated as D(25-D) (Blaney et al., 2009). The resulting elevated levels of active vitamin D can interfere with receptors for male hormones, corticosteroids and thyroid hormones (Proal, Albert, & Marshall, 2009). Profound immune suppression results as the ability of these receptors are no longer able to express antimicrobial proteins as a result of VDR regulation (Brahmachary et al., 2006).

L- FORMS BLOCK THE VITAMIN D RECEPTOR (VDR)

Many of the pathogens that contribute to chronic inflammatory disease live inside immune cells such as macrophages. These intracellular microbes directly interfere with Vitamin D nuclear receptor biology. This compromising of DNA function drives the systemic breakdown of the immune system, resulting in inflammatory disease (Xu et al., 2003).

Blocking of the VDRs results in high active Vitamin 1-25(OH) 2 D3 in the circulating blood. (Blaney et al., 2009).

WHY BOTH ACTIVE AND INACTIVE LEVELS OF VITAMIN D3 MUST BE MEASURED

Infected tissues become inflamed and attempt to overcome the blockage of the VDR by increasing enzymatic transformation of stored D3 referred to as 25(OH)2 into active D3/1-25(OH)2D to overcome the VDR suppression. The active vitamin D3 levels of the steroidal form of vitamin D3 will rise to toxic levels, seeping into the blood steam at measurable increases. The elevated titers of active D3 are now suppressing the immune system. Since the active form of D3 is not typically measured by blood tests, this condition is not properly diagnosed or treated. A weakened immune system and the use of antibiotics both lead to the formation of the L-form bacteria is creating a growing concern for the current epidemic of chronic disease in the U.S. The inability to raise inactive vitamin D levels indicates problems with active D3 and L form bacteria. Health care providers are therefore well advised to always test both types of vitamin 25 OH and 1-25 OH2 D3.

Medical conditions resulting from damaged vitamin D receptors (VDRs) adapted from (Sundar & Rahman, 2011).

VITAMIN D RECEPTORS AND CHRONIC DISEASE

Vitamin D is implicated in many disease states including chronic muscular skeletal pains, diabetes I and II, MS, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, breast cancer, prostate and colon cancer. Most cells and tissues in the body have vitamin D receptors (VDRs) that stimulate the nuclear transcription of various genes to alter cellular function or provide a rapid response in cellular membrane.

VDR dysregulation is reflected in rising levels of the active 1, 25(OH)2D3 and lower levels of the inactive 25(OH)2 D3 (Blaney et al., 2009), as the stored vitamin is converted to the active form.

If the VDR receptor is blocked by L- form bacteria or is mutated genetically, your health is seriously impacted.

The illustration below describes how environmental assaults affect the VDR and in turn result in many of our chronic diseases.

SECTION V: VITAMIN D3 AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

CONFLICTING TREATMENTS FOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

Vitamin D proponents have failed to recognize that many of the positive effects of vitamin D are due to the immunosuppressive effect of elevated 25(OH) D3or to make the connection with the fact that immunosuppression is contraindicated because of the probable presence of intracellular infection underlying autoimmune disorders. When the immune system is suppressed, clinical disease markers and symptoms are reduced but immunosuppression does not address an underlying cause of persistent bacteria, thus relapse is common (H. M. Kim, Chung, & Chung, 2010).

Much of current research focuses on finding drugs to suppress inflammation associated with autoimmune disease (Collins, 2011), 95 % of these studies have failed to find drugs to suppress inflammation. It seems clear a better direction is needed. Immunotherapy which restores VDR competence, corrects dysregulated vitamin D metabolism and eliminates intracellular bacteria could be the answer.

Studies report that Vitamin D appears to have a positive effect on autoimmune disease due to immune system suppression (Griffin, Xing, & Kumar, 2003).

Immune suppression is behind the proposed positive effect, as vitamin D inhibits LPS bacterial activation and cytokine production in monocytes/macrophages (Y. Zhang et al., 2012).

Encouraging use of vitamin D and touting the benefits of Immune suppression, is still considered by “experts” to be therapeutically beneficial for autoimmune diseases (Böhm, Luger, Schneider, Schwarz, & Kuhn, 2006).

The current medical model buys into these studies, causing poor treatment protocols and widening the gap between treatment and effective outcome. Vitamin D is frequently prescribed by rheumatologists to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Several observations have shown that vitamin D inhibits proinflammatory processes by suppressing the enhanced activity of immune cells that take part in the autoimmune reaction (Ishizawa et al., 2008).

This information supports a health restoration protocol that includes the discontinuance of vitamin D3 supplements in the treatment of these conditions.

HIGH VITAMIN D AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

The current recommendations for adequate vitamin D3 and lab normal ranges are based on levels found in unhealthy populations. These populations are over supplemented, overweight, undernourished, immune suppressed and toxic study subjects. This “madness” must be ended if we are to change healthcare and the poor outcomes of our overpriced so called healthcare system. New research is now revising the current medically recommended levels.

Vitamin D supplementation makes autoimmune disease worse due to its steroidal suppressive effect on the immune system (Y. Zhang et al., 2012). However, vitamin D proponents have failed to recognize that these suppressive effects are due to the immunosuppressive effect of elevated 25(OH) D and seemingly fail to grasp the scientifically backed fact this very same immunosuppression is contraindicated because of the probable presence of intracellular infection. When the immune system is suppressed, clinical disease markers and symptoms are reduced but immunosuppression does not address an underlying cause of persistent bacteria, thus relapse is common (H. M. Kim et al., 2010). Unfortunately, immune suppression is considered therapeutically beneficial for autoimmune diseases (Arnson, Amital, & Shoenfeld, 2007).

High levels, not low levels of Vitamin D are associated with autoimmune disease which does not follow our model for Vitamin D being protective. Elevated levels of serum Vitamin D3 were found in 85% of patients in the Pacific Northwest diagnosed with autoimmune disease. The treatment of inflammatory disease had poor result with the use of vitamin D supplementation over long periods of time (Blaney et al., 2009).

This can be explained as the result of the presence of L forms. High levels of 1,25-D result when dysregulation of the VDR by bacterial ligands prevents the receptor from expressing enzymes necessary to keep 1,25-D in a normal range (Blaney et al., 2009).

ASSOCIATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

ACTIVE VITAMIN D3 IS A MORE ACCURATE FOR DIAGNOSING CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE THAN STORED VITAMIN D3.

Why are levels of Vitamin D3 often elevated in patients with autoimmune diagnosis when we expect them to be low? When inflammation goes down, we see that the active levels of vitamin drop into a normal range. The active 1,25-D rather than the stored 25-D serves as a more accurate measure of a chronic inflammatory disease state (Blaney et al., 2009). In the presence of L-form bacteria and a compromised immune system, the tissues start to convert any stored D3 to active D3, making the active D3 elevated in the blood as overflows from the tissues. Unlike a healthy state, this tissue dominance of D3 production, in not regulated by the kidneys and requires a unique approach to measurement and analysis.

This is the result of tissue cells producing high levels of the steroid active vitamin D in an effort to stimulate the VDR which are blocked by the L-form bacteria, the stored form of vitamin D can be low or negligible. It is important to measure the active vitamin D3 as well as the stored vitamin D count. An abnormal ratio of stored to active D3 ratio will tell the story. Do not supplement Vitamin D until ratios normalize as steroidal vitamin D suppresses the immune system and leads to higher levels of infection (Blaney et al., 2009).