Dr. Martin answers questions sent in by our listeners.
Some of today’s topics include:
- Berberine as a herbal supplement
- Bunions & vitamin deficiency
- Epstein Barr virus & thyroiditis
- Adrenal exhaustion
- Sun allergies
- Triglycerides
- Sun or liver spots
- Vasovagal syncope
- Debilitating period pain
- Coffee & hormone levels
- Ivermectin for cancer treatment
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Good morning everyone. How are ya? And once again, welcome to another live this morning. Hope you're having a great start to your day and question and answer Friday. Always fun. Okay, Diane, "I'm wondering what Dr. Martin says about berberine as a herbal supplement." Well, look, berberine is, here it's getting a lot of ink lately. Okay. It's sort of a new kid on the block that talks about what it does for regulating blood sugar and therefore you can use it as a weight loss supplement. Look, I like berberine. I do. Okay, look, you cannot out supplement a bad diet, okay? So I've used berberine in the past. On its own, meh. I just found things, a combination of things to be better than that as far as when it helps with insulin resistance.
But at the end of the day, you got to start with food because insulin is a food hormone. And that's been the problem. If you want to know if medicine got hijacked by the pharmaceutical companies, you don't have to look any further than diabetes because you talk to a doctor with some exceptions. You're diabetic, you're on medicine the rest of your life. It's just the way they think. It's the way they're trained. You're a diabetic. Nothing you can do. Like my dad used to say it's sugar diabetes, they changed the name. It's sugar diabetes. So in the 1960s when I knew nothing about nothing, my dad used to tell me, son, it's sugar diabetes. That's why your dad is not having any more sugar. What? Yeah, it's sugar diabetes.
In the office, thousands, tens of thousands of patients more than that. And I used to test their urine. You come into the office, you give me a urine. If there was sugar in that urine, I'd show them. You and sugar don't get along. Not that anybody really does, but you have an allergy to it. You have an allergy to carbohydrates. So you can take berberine. I'm not against that, but it's no panacea. It's not going to fix the problem. Might aid it a little bit, but it's not fixing the problem. The problem is food. You have a food allergy. 93% of the population have trouble with metabolic syndrome. That is a food syndrome. So why do I start with that all the time? Well, you better start in the kitchen. You better start making choices what you put in your mouth.
And medicine, don't talk about that. They're so... I hate to use the word backwards. They haven't even made a dent in diabetes. When we talked about the war, the war we talked about yesterday, the war on vitamin D, the war on saturated fat, the war on cholesterol. We talked about a war. There's a war going on on diabetes. It's an allergy. Okay? It's an allergy, really. And when you have metabolic syndrome, 93%, they don't even realize it because nobody will tell 'em they got a problem with food. And you're a carboholic. My name is Tony and I'm a carboholic. It's the first step to getting better, not taking a supplement. It's food. I'm sorry. And I know it sounds simplistic, but it is simplistic. But there's a war on simplistic. They want to complicate things so that they can keep, look, the pharmaceutical companies, I know there's good people working in there.
And when they think of it, think of a researcher going, well, I'm getting paid by a pharmaceutical company. I make my living with them. I'm certainly going to try and find medications that are going to help the world. And I never questioned their motives, but it's a business. It's a business. They have shareholders and they're conglomerates, okay? And what they do in their, I mean the people at the top and the marketing people behind them, do you think they're stupid? Over 75% of every news organization, 75% of their revenues come from the pharmaceutical companies. Do you think they're going to talk against that? They're sponsored by. So in the news, that's why you have a war on vitamin D. That's why you have a war on saturated fat. You have a war on cholesterol.
Why do you think for all these years we've been talking about cholesterol for heart disease and the first day they talked about it, they were wrong. And they take the whole population, including physicians, and they drill it, drill it in, drill it in, drill it in. And here's a med for it. If you got cholesterol, you're going to have a heart attack and they scared the living life out of you. And I don't blame people, I don't blame the lay person. They go to their doctor. And every day, by the way, when you send me your blood work every day, "Doc, I'm confused." Dr. Martin says one thing. And the rest of the establishment, including my doctor, says another thing. I'm confused. Yeah, I know. And I don't blame you.
But I always tell people about, okay, where are we at? If cholesterol was the cause of heart disease, we'd have got rid of it. By now, there wouldn't be any more heart disease. I mean, stink, after the age of 65, almost 70, 80% of people are taking a statin drug. If you're a diabetic, they give you a statin drug with it. What's diabetes got to do with cholesterol? They give it up like it's candy. They don't even think about it. Well, that's their idea of prevention. You see, it's drilled into their brains and they're sincere, they're scared skinny that you're going to have a heart attack. And they believe that the issue is cholesterol. So what do we do about it? So guys, boy, that was a long answer for berberine. I get on tangents, I go down rabbit trails and I don't come back fast enough. Okay, Diane, thanks for the question.
Helen. "I heard Dr. Martin talk about bunions at one point. Could I be wrong?" No, I think I did. I probably did. "Do bunions indicate a vitamin deficiency?" Well, not really. Bunions indicate usually when I used to see them a lot of flat feet. The metatarsal arch has collapsed. Women get them often because of bad footwear. I think some people are more susceptible than others. Those high heels and just wearing bad footwear. Imagine all day long. And men do. Men can get 'em. But usually an irritation on the outside of the metatarsal arch and you get a bunion. But not so much deficiency. More a flattening of the metatarsal arch. So do exercises. I mean, once you got a bunion, sometimes they're so bad you got to get surgery. And there's no easy fix from my point of view.
Okay, Eola, how are you? Epstein Barr, you know what? I got this asked two or three times. Well, I got a lot of questions about the thyroid today. So let's answer them at the same time. Eola, "could Epstein Barr virus," okay, now guys, Epstein Barr, the vast majority of the people have it. It's a virus that stays quiet very much like the herpes virus. It's not part of the family, but let's say they're cousins, okay? The herpes virus, okay? You get chicken pox, you got the herpes virus. It stays what we call latent. You know what that means? It's sleeping. It's in your body and it's sleeping. And if you get cold sore, it's awakened. If you get shingles, herpes zoster, it's awakened. Okay?
So Epstein Barr, and listen, there's a long history. Go back to the eighties. And people that got chronic fatigue, you got to understand something, okay? Chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME they call it now, and fibromyalgia even. When it was coming out and there was like a, I'm not going to say a pandemic, there was like an epidemic of it in the eighties. I mean, I saw hundreds. I wrote a book about it. And I did my thesis for my PhD in clinical nutrition on wasn't Epstein Barr, but we talked about Epstein Barr because we were talking about chronic fatigue syndrome. Is it a virus? That's what they thought. And they first called, it was one of the earliest names was Epstein Barr syndrome. But then they found out only 50%, or maybe even a little bit less than that, had the virus of the people that they tested for chronic fatigue syndrome. So it couldn't have been that.
And guess what I did my thesis on? It was adrenal exhaustion. Okay? Elevated levels of cortisol for several reasons, by the way, the virus could have been there. And by the way, when you look at the shingles or cold sore, when does it come out? When do you get shingles? Stress. Cortisol pours gasoline on the fire because it suppresses the immune system. Okay? Now Eola is asking, "could Epstein-Barr virus cause thyroiditis?" It could. Yes, it could. It's possible. It gets activated. Can make you unwell. Okay? It's possible for sure. Okay, I had it at the age of 16, and now she has a sluggish thyroid. Yeah, well join the cast of millions that have sluggish thyroid, especially women.
A thyroid is complicated. Okay? Remember what I say, Eola, because it's really important you got the thyroid gland, but it has a lot of strings attached to it, ok? And the thyroid doesn't act independently. It's like a puppet. And it starts up in headquarters with the hypothalamus. So it's really important to understand that you get a virus, it could have affected the brain, could have gone right to the thyroid gland and yep, it's possible for sure. Okay? It's possible. But at the end of the day, Eola, at the end of the day, what do you do about it if your thyroid is sluggish? Okay, well, I'm telling you. And there's a connection. Let me see. Let's see if we can tie these together here.
Okay, hold on a minute here. I just want to get, see even Rita, "would Dr. Martin please comment on the Epstein Barr virus and its link to causing thyroid problems and other health issues." Okay? "How do we eradicate the virus from our body?" Well, you don't eradicate it. You put it to sleep. Let's talk about the virus and then I'll come back to the thyroid. Guys, you and I, you and I don't worry so much about getting rid of all bacteria and all viruses. Your body is meant to live in harmony with viruses and bacteria. Why do you think I was talking about the immune system all the time while the world was talking about, they were talking prevention, although they came up with vaccines. But I was talking about, and I talked to you about it yesterday, vitamin D. Sun, Steak & Steel, take care of your immune system. And the Epstein Barr will do nothing to you.
In order for that virus to get activated, you have to have a combination of a poor immune system and stress. That's the point I made in my dissertation when I was doing my thesis. It was a perfect storm. I called it a perfect storm back in the eighties. They were women. Cause it's 95% women with chronic fatigue syndrome. And like I said, they used to call it, they tried to call it the Epstein Barr virus as the cause, but it was a perfect storm. Stress, poor diet, family dynamics, caregivers, environmental stress like mold. I talked about that. The virus was in the background and then the virus can get activated. Doesn't always do it, but it was about 50% that virus got activated. Same thing with shingles. Shingles is a perfect storm, okay? And when you get real stressed over a period of time combining with a bad diet, low vitamin D, low B12, and presto, you have shingles and it ain't no fun. And the Epstein Barr can raise its ugly head when there's a perfect storm.
So that's what I talked about. And it can affect your thyroid, absolutely. Your thyroid is the master. It's the master gland of your metabolism. But again, it's got a lot of attachments. It's got your ovaries ladies. There's a big, big factor between estrogen and progesterone imbalance. Okay? Thyroid, the hypothalamus, it starts up there in the brain. Sugar really affects those hormones. So usually bad eating and then your adrenal glands. Cortisol, you don't sleep. Family dynamics or caregiver and you're exhausted and you're, you don't get sleep. And all those things can affect the thyroid. Now the virus can come into play, but your body, coming back to my original point, your body was made to fight viruses and bacteria. Make your body a lean, mean fighting machine. You have to optimize vitamin D. You can't have a good immune system without vitamin D. You just can't.
And that goes for cancer. That goes for any chronic disease. Why do you think I talk about that so much? Vitamin D, the sun when it's out, okay? Vitamin D, it has an effect on everything. B12. I talk about the two vitamins I'd bring into every senior home if they would allow me. They're so effective, but they don't use them. Why? They're scared skinny. Who did that? The pharmaceutical industry and medicine. They're ignorant. Anyway, thank you Eola and thank you Rita. We appreciate it. You guys, were you talking to each other?
Okay, Brenda, "trying to get my top blood pressure number down. You say don't worry about the top number. I am 150 over 75. But now reading the internet." It's alright, I want you to study. There's a verse in the Bible that says study to show thyself approved unto God. Study. I like you to study. I don't want you just to take my word for it. I want you to look. I want you to think I do, but I'm right. Look, one thing I learned when it comes to blood pressure, there's a lot of pressure to keep your blood pressure down. There's a lot of pressure and people, they almost walk around with a cuff on their arm. Ooh. Oh. I said, well you're just doing that. You're raising your blood pressure, you're stressing yourself out over blood pressure.
Now Brenda, listen, I'm teasing you a little bit, but when your bottom number is 75, you ain't having a heart attack, okay? It's got to be over 90. Look, I don't want high blood pressure either, but there's way too many people on blood pressure medication, way too many. And they think it's candy. It's not. There's serious side effects to those medications. Now listen, if you have chronic high blood pressure and your doctor puts you on meds, I'm not telling you to get off of them, but I'm going to tell you 150 over 75 is not high blood pressure. I know the top. I'm not saying the top number doesn't mean anything, but when you look at it, your diastolic is the key. And when it's 90 and up, you're in doo doo and get it down. Okay, thanks Brenda, we appreciate it.
Gabriel. "Sun allergy, I got itchy red little bumps on my legs and arms while in the sun." Okay? "First time experience in it, it's brand new." Okay? You might have gotten a little bit too much sun. It may be something else. What I would suggest is go easy. Okay? And a lot of times, look, skin is an organ okay? It's an organ, but it's the one you see. But always go inside Gabriel to the outside. Don't go outside to the inside. Go inside to the outside when it comes to skin, okay? If you go inside, you see the little bumps, you probably got a little bit of leaky gut, leaky gut, leaky skin and you might not see the connection. But there is a huge connection.
Now you know, I'm not telling you to go burn in the sun. You might have to cover up a bit and enjoy the sun by wearing light clothing or whatever. But generally look internally to see why that's coming up all of a sudden. And a lot of times too and you know, might be a real good eater, Gabriel, I don't know. But a lot of times what I used to find is people that soon as I got them off all sugars and all vegetable oils and they were eating only eggs, meat and cheese. Amazing what happens. So have a look at that Gabriel, thanks for the question.
Okay, Rebecca, "doesn't Dr. Martin care about HDL and LDL, as long as our triglycerides are low?" Well, I do care. Okay? I do care, Rebecca, I care for you. Okay? And I appreciate the question. Well look, it's the ratio, it's the key to each other. Here it is in a nutshell. Okay? Triglycerides, everybody has triglycerides. You don't want to have zero triglycerides, but the lower your triglycerides are compared to, think of a teeter-totter, okay? You want especially high HDL compared to your triglycerides. It's a comparison. And LDL, let me just say generally if you want low LDL, the doctors want low LDL. I don't. You want to die young? Well have low LDL. LDL's important. It's important for your immune system.
LDL, you know they made it out to be the boogieman. "LDL cholesterol Doc, I got my LDL down." I said that's stupid. No. What are you doing that for? Well my doctor said I got to get my LDL down. Why? Do you want to die young? The lower your LDL, the faster you die, but you'll die. You'll be in your coffin with, hey, I've got low cholesterol. That's a fact. It's crazy. Cholesterol is your friend. HDL is a transport, so is LDL, but HDL is the key transporter that hitches its wagon to triglycerides. How do you make triglycerides? You already know the answer to this. It's carbs, it's sugar. That's how you make triglycerides. Triglycerides are made in the liver when your liver is full, when you have the Costco parking lot because you're a carboholic and your liver is full. And when the liver is full, it sends triglycerides into the bloodstream and you better have enough HDL to go get them. Okay?
Think of trucks with a hitch on it and they go through your blood vessels looking for triglycerides and the H D L hitch their wagon to your triglycerides. Bring them back to the liver for processing. Isn't your body smart? Why would you want to lower your cholesterol? But I do care about H D L and L D L. But if you have low triglycerides, that's half the battle. Ahh maybe three quarters of the battle. Yeah, you want low triglycerides, you're doing something right when you have low triglycerides, okay? But you need HDL and you need L D L. Your body makes 'em. God don't trust you. God doesn't trust you. Your body makes 85% of cholesterol. Every cell in your body is cholesterol. Your eyeballs are cholesterol. Your brain is cholesterol. Everything's cholesterol. Every cell. And we want to get it low. I can't get over it. We've been on this failed experiment for 50 years. Hasn't made a dent in heart disease. Not even a dent. Cause we're looking for love in all the wrong places. It's frustrating. I've been screaming for so long, I'm losing my voice. I just can't stop talking about it cause it's so prevalent in our society. I just can't get over it.
Kathy, "is sun or liver spots caused by a vitamin deficiency?" No. I always look at sunspots, liver spots. That's a sign your insulin's up. Your skin is an organ. Remember you start things on it and you and insulin be very careful. Sun spots even. I know it can be. They always taught too much sun and yeah, too much sun. Nah, it's not the cause. Age spots not the cause. Sun is not the cause of age spots. Insulin resistance, it's your body saying hello, cut down on the insulin.
Phyllis, "I'm looking for information on vasovagal syncope." Yeah, what do you want to know? Well, look, I mean it can be caused by different things. Some people are just more susceptible to it, okay? Cause if everyone that was dehydrated, I always said there's a dehydration factor in vasovagal syncope. But it's the 10th cranial nerve and the vagus nerve and you just pass out, okay? Without any real explanation to it. I mean, when I used to see people like that in my office, I used to say, well, you got to be very careful because you're dehydrated. And not just water, my friend, but salt, okay? You're low in salt, you're low in sodium, you need sodium, you need magnesium. Okay? And sometimes potassium, you need that stuff. That's why I love Himalayan salt. But I used to see that stress can do it, the sight of blood and they woo pass out. Okay? But to some extent it's the way they're built. But the other thing is stress, dehydration. Dehydration. Probably the one that I saw the most. Thank you, Phyllis.
Angela, "my daughter is 25. After quitting the birth control pill four months ago, she now has a debilitating period pain. She is very physically fit," and she is Angela, good for her. But she's got way too much estrogen. The birth control pill, okay, and what's a man doing talking about that? Well, just because horrormones, a lot of women, young women are put on the birth control pill because they got hormones instead of balancing their estrogen and progesterone and dim out. Get your daughter Angela, to dim that estrogen. Start with flax seeds or hormonal formula with dim, if we ever get it back. Waiting, waiting, waiting. But her being physically fit is a great thing. But now her hormones are out of balance because the birth control pill, it's like a bandaid. It doesn't fix the problem. And long-term effects of the birth control pill are unbelievable. Legion. That's why always, if women were on the birth control, I would always have them dimming out their estrogen because estrogen's a growth hormone, estrogen can make things grow that you don't want to grow. So that's what's happening. She has way too much estrogen versus her progesterone.
Okay, Madam, is that her name? That's the name I see here, Madam. Okay, how are you Madam? "I have adrenal fatigue. I take cortisol and magnesium. I have vivid dreams and puts me in a fight or flight. Cutting back on magnesium helped a bit. Any suggestions on what to do?" Well, I wouldn't cut out magnesium. You're having vivid dreams. Well, you know one thing, you were into a REM sleep and Madam, I'm not making fun of you, okay? But let me use, when I used to tell my patients in the office who couldn't sleep, usually with adrenal fatigue, they don't sleep. That was a big issue. It was one of the four major symptoms was a lack of sleep. They had a sleep disorder. You don't sleep, your cortisol goes up, your cortisol goes up, you don't sleep.
So the vivid dreams, you know are in the fight or flight. You think you're in the fight or flight, but you're not because you're into a REM sleep and they're vivid and they're real. But your body, the glial system in your brain is working. You are detoxing. So I hate for you to come off magnesium. You need it. And cortisol formula. I just hate Madam that you would get off of that. I know those dreams and you're, they're vivid and people go through. But you, one thing you know if you're in a REM and REM is just one part of your five sleep cycles, but you need it. This is the area, especially when you get the recuperative detox in your brain. I hate to take you out of that.
Okay? Giselle, "is it true Metformin helps with insulin resistance?" Not really. Look, it helps with your blood sugars, but with insulin resistance, no. Look, and even if it did, there's so many side effects to metformin. If you take metformin, you're going to be low in B12. If you take metformin, you're going to be low in vitamin D. Look, metformin, look, you need it temporarily, but at the end of the day, you fix your diet and you don't need metformin. Okay?
Okay, Angie, "does coffee affect the horrormone levels? I have severe headaches two days before." Two days before what? Your period? "How does Dr. Martin's hormonal supplement help the hormones?" Well, it blocks estrogen. It elevates progesterone. It does both. It dims out estrogen. Okay. Mode of action. Does the liver help break down estrogens? Partly. Yep. And dim helps mainly in the liver to do it. So thanks for the question. Angie, what about coffee? Well, coffee's good for you. It helps everything it does. Now, some people have to drink the decaf because the caffeine sometimes can affect people. What makes coffee great is not caffeine. It's the bean. It's the antioxidant. It's the phytonutrients in the bean. Okay, Angie, thank you.
David. "My thoughts on Ivermectin for cancer treatment." Well, you know what? We should actually do a program on Ivermectin because man, oh man, there's another war that went on. I watched it, so, but you might not have been thinking about it. They had a war on Ivermectin through the virus. They wouldn't let you talk about it. They canceled doctors who were talking about the treatment of Ivermectin. There was no money to be made. And now it's starting to come out. The truth is starting to come out. What's better than Ivermectin? Vitamin D, but I like Ivermectin. I've read all about it for many, many, many years. An anti-parasitic drug made in Japan from a bacterial when they ferment soy, it's been effective. It's a third world drug that saved people's lives. It's a worldwide drug with parasites. And there is some research on cancer. If I had cancer, I get the doctor to get me some. Ivermectin. Not going to hurt you. It's an anti-parasitic. And parasites like yeast and fungus, they're cousins have a lot to do with cancer. So yeah. Thanks for the question, David.
Judy, "is there a link between Alzheimer's and people with hypo?" There's the thyroid one too. I missed it. Judy, Alzheimer's and hypothyroid with brain fog and memory. Well, look, the thyroid's always involved to some extent, but Alzheimer's is more type three diabetes. It's a food sugar, environmental and different things. And the thyroid, to some extent is affected with that. Okay. Yeah, good question.
Mara. "Chlorine in the swimming pool, does it kill the good and bad bacteria on your skin?" Yeah, that's what it's made for. And again, let me just say this. Okay. It's an overarching principle for me. Guys, you're not going to get away from all the chemicals and all the antibacterials, all the antifungals that they put in the swimming pool, water pesticide, it's everywhere. So salt water pool is certainly better, but just understand, this is why I'm so big on replacing bacteria. That's why probiotics, I'm that it's at the top or near the top of what I recommend everybody and their dog because of the world we live in should be on a probiotic. But yeah, chlorine. Yeah. Yeah. It's like fluoride in the water and it's good for your teeth. Yeah, but it kills good bacteria too. But are you going to get away from all of it? No, but get your immune system in good shape. That's what you got to do.
Crystal. She has anemia. You're not eating enough steak. I'm currently on medication for cancer. Well, I could give you anemia and wondering if eating more red meat. Well, it's always a good idea to eat more red meat. You might have to take an iron supplement. I like liquid iron. Okay. I like a liquid iron more than taking an iron capsule. Okay. Some people do all right with a capsule, but I like the liquid better. Okay. Get your iron levels up for sure. And one of the keys to anemia is B12 crystal. Find out what your B12 levels. Get them 800 to 1200 minimum.
Jan. "Pretty sure I have tonsillitis and white spots. I get sick, it usually goes to my tonsils." Yeah, Jan, well those are your gatekeepers. Your tonsils are your gatekeepers to your trachea. Don't want anything going down there. The tonsils are there. They're on your side. They used to take everybody's tonsils out. I remember, this is a true story, grade seven, I think the teacher said, who's got their tonsils? I looked around. I was the only guy in the class that still had their tonsils. My dad wouldn't let me get my tonsils. I said, I want to get my tonsils out. Why? Because everybody else has got their tonsils out. I said, and they go to the hospital. They're only there for about a day or two and they get ice cream. True story. I want to go to the hospital and get some ice cream. My dad said, you need your tonsils. They're your gatekeepers. They keep bacteria out of your body. Use oil of oregano, okay, Jan. Okay? Gargle with it. But your tonsils, they're doing their job. Give them a high five. Better have infection there than in your lungs. Okay?
Leona, last question. Another one on the thyroid. I didn't even notice this. "I would like to ask if it's okay to do the reset if I have hypothyroid." Absolutely. Your hypothalamus. Okay. The thyroid. Okay. It don't start there. It starts up in the brain with your hypothalamus. When you lay off sugar and when you give your brain nutrient dense foods, it's amazing how good that is for your body. Yes, for the thyroid. You'd be surprised how many women, thousands and thousands have done the Reset and they found their thyroid to be much, much better. They're connected big time. Yes, sirree. Okay, guys, thanks for all those wonderful questions, by the way. We appreciate it, okay? We love you guys. We'll talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!