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: Well, good morning, everyone. And once again, welcome to another live this morning, and hope you're having a great day. We got some good questions this [00:00:30] morning. Let me start with more questions about nutrition and supplementation. Then I'll go over some of the conditions. That's how I usually break it down. So Hotiette or Henriette is asking about, "How much potassium should I take?" Well, look, everybody's different. I don't take potassium myself unless [00:01:00] you need it. Most people are deficient in magnesium. They just don't get enough of it. It's not in the soil anymore. So that translates to a deficiency. If you eat sugar, you get rid of magnesium and potassium out of your body.
So if you take too much magnesium, you could get a soft stool or diarrhea. You take up too much potassium, [00:01:30] you can play with the rhythm of your heart and you don't want to do that. And generally, you can't get potassium above 99 milligrams in a capsule. I know that's the law in Canada. I'm not perfectly sure about the law in the United States. But they limit potassium in terms of how much they'll actually put in, in a supplement. So unless you're getting cramps, unless the [00:02:00] doctor has told you, because of kidney function or whatever, and sometimes medications will do that, diuretics and things like that can leach out your potassium out of your body. And the number one reason people usually take potassium is because of cramping.
Now, I just got to tell you what I found for me, cramping, because when I play sports or I go to the gym or whatever, I sweat. It doesn't seem to be excessive, [00:02:30] but it bugs me. It bugs me. It will give me cramps very easily, for me. Compared to other people, I cramp up. And I used to take some potassium and I didn't find it to be that effective. You know what I've found to be the most effective? Pickle juice. Drinking pickle juice out of the jar. I know it's high in sodium, salt. I don't know if there's anything magic in there, but I just found [00:03:00] it's the best that I've found for me. I'm just giving you a tip. So I'm not going to tell people how much potassium to take because it depends. And first of all, I wouldn't probably take much more than a couple of hundred milligrams a day. Because again, I don't know you, you're not under my care.
Magnesium, you can go up to easily a thousand milligrams a day, but not potassium. If you're on potassium, then [00:03:30] you need to follow either what your doctor said or what it says on the bottle. And then she's asking how much B12. Well, it depends. Again, it depends. I like B12 blood levels to be between 800 and 1200. I find that's optimized. So I'm looking for a much higher B12 than what's normal. Normal is two-something to six-something. Or not even. Five-something, I believe. [00:04:00] I don't look for that because that's too low. That's not optimizing your B12. So I like in the higher end, about eight to 1200.
So I can't tell you how much B12 to take. Like if you were under my care and I tested you and I saw your blood work. And remember one thing about supplementing with B12. It's a water-soluble vitamin and you shouldn't take B12 for B12 specifically. It should be sublingual. It should be in a dissolving [00:04:30] methylcobalamin supplement that dissolves. Because you don't want to swallow B12. Somebody asked me, "Well, you have B12 in your Blood Boost." Yeah, well, I put all the B vitamins in the Blood Boost. And the B12, it's not meant to up your B12 levels. I'm aiming at something else. Because if your B12 levels are low, you have to take B12 itself.
And then Penny's asking, "Well, how much zinc?" [00:05:00] Well, you rarely ever hear me talking about how much zinc you should take as a supplement. Because if you eat steak, you get a lot of zinc. So when you eat vitamin S, steak, you get zinc. You get B12, too. Now, if you have low levels of B12, I'm very, very specific on making sure you get optimized in terms of B12.
And what the other question was asked, let me just get to it. Kristin was [00:05:30] asking, "Does coffee deplete B12?" I hope not. I'd be in big trouble. Good question, Kristin. No, it doesn't. Now, Metformin does. Metformin is a medication. Almost all medications deplete your B12. B12 is a very finicky vitamin. And that's why, my estimation, there's well over 70% of the population have low levels of B12 [00:06:00] and they need to take a B12 supplement for a lot of reasons. One, people don't eat steak like they should. And B12 is found in steak, in red meat. It's not found in white meat. It's not found in the plant kingdom. There's not enough B12 in plants for a mouse to survive. So remember that. You need B12. Like if you take any antacid, almost all medication... [00:06:30] By the way, Metformin is a diabetic drug and it is famous for depleting your B12. So I always have my diabetic patients, if they're taking any medications, to take a B12 supplement. They are always low.
Zinc, like if you're taking it... because I know zinc has got a lot of inc over COVID. They're giving out, probably not so much in Canada, but in the United States, a lot of doctors were giving out [00:07:00] the malarial drug plus zinc. And what zinc was doing was it drives up your immune system, but also takes the malarial drug and actually puts it inside the cells. Zinc is a... But for most people, you can eat your zinc. I'd rather you eat it than take it as a supplement. Now, I'm not against the supplement. I'm just telling you that you have enormous amount of zinc in a steak. So I'd rather you eat it. If you're going to [00:07:30] take it as a supplement for your immune system, for example... Look, again, I find things are better than zinc, how do you like that, for the immune system. Like vitamin D.
I'm a big guy on vitamin D. That is so much better than zinc. And with COVID now, I mean, one thing, a hundred percent for sure. I'm not saying nobody's talking about it, but very few. This should have been [00:08:00] headlines, headlines, headlines. They found the real, natural. Forget the vaccine. I'm not going to tell you whether to take it or not. Look, it's here. I'm not going to pontificate on the effectiveness of this. But I can tell you what we know for sure about COVID. One thing we know for sure about COVID. Do you know what that is? If you have good levels of vitamin D in your blood, your D [00:08:30] hydroxy 25, which is a test to see what your serum levels are of vitamin D, if you have good levels of vitamin D, you ain't getting sick. This is the best, the best vaccine. We already had it. It's called vitamin D and the research is incredible.
But with government officials, it seems to fall on deaf ears. Deaf ears. [00:09:00] It's too bad. But folks, you guys know better. So take your vitamin D, especially in the winter time. Vitamin D has a tremendous effect on the... You're a human solar panel. You know how I talk. But vitamin D specifically has a huge effect on two things about the immune system. One, it increases your activity of T-cells. T-cells are your Navy SEALS of your white blood cells. [00:09:30] And secondly, vitamin D is anti-inflammatory, especially in the lungs. And this is why, for COVID, when people get sick with COVID, this particular virus affects the lungs. I mean, some people don't even know they have COVID and then some can get real sick. [00:10:00] When they do, they get a cytokine storm. What's happening? They get an inflammation storm. The body overreacts to the virus. And what they've proven, this is proven, hundred percent, is that vitamin D stops the storm.
I brought this to you, I don't know, maybe a month or so ago, maybe longer than that. But there was a study done out of Denmark, I think. It was Denmark. I got [00:10:30] to look it up again, just so I get it right. When someone came to the hospital and was starting to display signs of COVID now affecting their lung, they were giving out a super dose of 300,000 international units of vitamin D. And you know what it did? 300,000. So when people go, "Dr. Martin, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and you can [00:11:00] get really sick with that." Nah, you know what? The waiting rooms are not full. The waiting rooms are not full in the hospitals, in the emergency department, because people are there because they got too much vitamin D in their body.
Don't believe that, guys. That is nonsense. I think there was one case in Canada last year. Come on. You got a better chance of getting hit by lightning five times in one day than vitamin D. They given [00:11:30] out 300,000 IUs of vitamin D in Denmark and they found it kept people out of the ICU, even though they were coming into the hospital. And they did this with these patients. I don't know who gave them the idea, but I love it.
A colleague of mine did a study, just a small study with, I think it was the Western Hospital in Toronto, with vitamin D. [00:12:00] And he gave to those in the ICU with raging pneumonia, this can be deadly, 10 patients, he gave 50,000 IUs a day for seven days, versus people in the ICU that had pneumonia, they were on a respirator, that didn't get it. And the ten patients that got the 50,000 IUs [00:12:30] a day for seven days, with just a small study, all got out of the hospital, compared to the other ones. They all came off the respirators. They all got better. All 10 of them. What happened to that study? A small, little study in a Toronto hospital.
You know what? There's no money in vitamin D. There's no money in it. And it just drives me insane, I can't handle [00:13:00] it, how this has been kept from the population, generally. Now you guys know this. Vitamin D. You know me. I'm always talking about vitamin D, about how it works. Especially the immune system. It increases your T-cells. And then secondly, it lowers inflammation of all kinds, even in the brain.
Anna's asking, she did the Reset and has been eating low carb for four [00:13:30] months. Well, good for you, Anna. Anna, I'm assuming you're a diabetic because your blood sugar's, you're saying, "Why would my blood sugar still be high, between seven and eight?" I think that's what you wrote, Anna. I saw the email, but I put it back on a piece of paper here, I didn't write down. I think you were saying they're not coming down. Well, that might be your new normal for you, Anna.
Look, let me just share something about blood sugar. My dad used [00:14:00] to teach me, smell urine because of sugars in the urine. Now, today, you get sugar in the urine sometimes because people are on medications that take sugar out of their bloodstream. Metformin will put sugar in urine. But for a test for diabetes, there's no better test than a urine test. It's better than a blood test. Remember what I was saying? [00:14:30] Effectively, a lot of people are diabetic and they don't even know it. If you got high triglycerides, you really are a diabetic. You're a carboholic and you need to change your diet. But I don't rely too much on blood sugar because I usually tell my patients, or I used to tell my patients, "How do you feel?" "Oh, I feel fantastic." "What? Then don't worry. Quit taking your blood sugar every five seconds." It's like blood pressure. [00:15:00] I would have high blood pressure if I was taking my blood pressure.
I used to get patients come in and they'd have their blood pressure on a piece of paper here. They'd give me three months' worth, five times a day. "It was 180 over there but now [inaudible 00:15:16]." And they want me to read it. And I'd say, "Look at it." And they'd go, "Okay." I'd give it back to them. I don't care. Not that I don't care about the patient. I do. [00:15:30] But I don't care about the numbers all the time. You're doing it too much. Brought to you by the pharmaceutical industry. You eat. You take your blood sugar. Take your blood sugar. Take your blood sugar. Well, it costs a dollar every time you use one of those little lancets. Like I said, I'm not saying never take it. I'm just saying don't take it too much. You're just going to get your cortisol up for nothing. Now you're going to start aiming to get your [00:16:00] numbers in that little wee range. And for you, that might not be the normal range for you.
So I want to know more on how you're feeling. "How do you feel?" "I feel fantastic." "Well, then that's you. That's the new normal." And a lot of times, these things level out anyways with time. All I know is, if you got trouble with blood sugar, [00:16:30] the Reset is the perfect, perfect diet for it. The Reset was created originally for diabetics. Because if you're a diabetic, you have an allergy. It's as simple as that. If you are a diabetic or a pre, you have an allergy. You and carbs don't get along.
Can I say something else? You have autoimmune disease? Any kind. [00:17:00] Any kind. Rheumatoid? I think Al asked the question. Rheumatoid, psoriasis. You have an allergy to carb. No, you also have leaky gut. Leaky gut, leaky joints. Leaky gut, leaky skin. Leaky gut, leaky brain. Leaky gut, leaky kidneys. Leaky gut, leaky heart. Yeah, the gut, the gut, the gut. But you also have an allergy to carbohydrates. The Reset will [00:17:30] help big time. If you don't get your insulin down, you're in trouble. Autoimmune, part of it is insulin resistance. It's high circulating insulin. It's food too. You've got to fix that.
Noel's asking about blood sugar too, but is there any substance in the electrocardiogram that can elevate your blood glucose? I [00:18:00] can't think, Noel. I was trying to think. No, I don't think so. And if it did, it would only be temporary. I know that if you take a PET scan, they're going to give you a cup of radioactive glucose. Your sugars would go through the roof temporarily. And if you have any cancer, on a PET scan, you would light up like a Christmas tree.
Olga is asking what's my opinion on popcorn. [00:18:30] Well, I like it. Is it good for you? Nah, there's nothing in it. There's no nutrients in it. It's just a snack. Is it better than eating a chocolate bar? Well, probably. One of the biggest things is what are they cooking it with? I know one thing, when you go to the movies... Remember that, when you used to go to the movies? We live in a crazy world. No more movies at the theater, I mean. [00:19:00] You wonder if that's ever going to come back. You ever think about these things? No, popcorn, like I said, I like it. My dentist used to tell me, he said popcorn is the best thing for a dentist. He said there's nothing that brings in more business to a dentist than popcorn. Are there worse snacks, Olga? Yeah, Probably. Lot worse. [00:19:30] Sugary snacks are worse. And if you use real butter, the only good thing about popcorn would be the butter. Real butter, not the stuff they put on at the theaters. Thanks for the question, Olga. I really appreciate it.
So Kristin, I answered your question. Mara, "What is the difference between free-range and run-free eggs?" I don't know. I think they're the same. Now, if someone wants to educate me on that, okay. I know what [00:20:00] free-range is and run-free eggs. I thought they'd be the same. I've always just known free-range. Difference between brown and white eggs. I don't know so much. Look, eggs are good for you. And let me just say this. Remember our statement. This is Tony Junior's, by the way. Don't worry about rearranging the deck chairs [00:20:30] on the Titanic. All eggs are good. Now, there are some that are better. If they're free-range, organic eggs. If you can afford it, pay a little extra, for sure. I like that. They'll have a little bit more omega-3 in them and this and that. But generally, all eggs are good.
So I talk in generalities because I want people to get off the Titanic, or at least change course. So if you're in trouble metabolically, [00:21:00] you are not healthy, look, I don't care what kind of egg you eat. Just eat eggs, meat, and cheese. And there are better cuts of meat and there are better eggs than... Like you can get the best, better, and good. You know what I mean? You can, in anything like that. But I am big on that fix yourself first. And then if you want to get real specific... I know a lot of people [00:21:30] got their own hens. I know a lot of people that go to the farmers and buy them right at the farm. Well, for sure, they'd be fantastic. And I like that.
But you have to understand, when I speak to, what, 50, 60,000 people a week, I'm talking in generalities because I just want people to fix big problems first. And then you can get very specific when it comes to food. And you [00:22:00] guys are so educated, you know these things. But when I'm answering a question like which one is better, well, some are the best and some are great. They're maybe not quite as good, but they're still good. All eggs are good. All meat is good. Even deli meat. Compared to carbs. All of it. Beef jerky [00:22:30] is better than a carbohydrate. And like I said, when you get very down, you know your stuff and then you go, "Nah, I'm going to be organic as much as I can and this and that." I agree with that. Hundred percent. But just understand where I'm coming from. So Mara, maybe somebody's already answered there. I've never heard the difference between free-range and run-free. I would suggest they're the same, but I could be wrong.
[00:23:00] Michelle's asking, "Can I put raw eggs in a smoothie?" Okay, Rocky. Remember Rocky, the movies? He'd crack all those eggs and just drink the eggs. Very good for you. Let me know, Cheryl, what it tastes like in the smoothie. I don't know if I would do it, but is it good for you? Yeah, it is. [00:23:30] Okay. Now, Vonda, not Wanda, Vonda is asking about atherosclerosis, 70% block. "Can you undo that without surgery?" Well, look, it depends, I guess. Have I seen it? Because she's talking about going up to the brain. So she's talking about the carotid artery. Can you fix that? I've seen that happen. Change your diet, number one. Get off the carbs.
[00:24:00] Because what happens inside your blood vessels, and we talked about this, insulin creates inflammation. Inflammation damages the teflon layer of your blood vessels. Your blood vessels have like a teflon layer. Slippery. And then they stick. Instead of slippery, plaque sticks. Plaque, by the way, is not [00:24:30] from fat. Plaque is developing mainly from sugar and crappy oils. Because the higher your omega-6 is, those are your vegetable crappy oils, compared to your omega-3, which is mainly from your animal fat, eggs, meat, and cheese, fish, steak, that will help to reverse the blockages.
[00:25:00] Now, if I was you, I'd be doing a couple of other things. I would be on a high dose of high DHA. Now, what's DHA? DHA is specifically an omega-3 that is very high in the fat called DHA. Why do I like it? Because it makes your blood vessels slippery again. I tell people, take so much DHA that you slide out of rooms you've got so much oil. [00:25:30] See, what fat does in your body, good fats, they lower inflammation, but they oil up your body. They oil your joints. They oil your blood vessels. You ever go get an oil change? When you take DHA, you're getting an oil change. Not only for your brain, but for your blood vessels.
So can you reverse? Well, everybody's [00:26:00] different. Age. There's a lot of factors. Are you a smoker? A lot of factors. But for sure, do the Reset, do the diet. It will help big time in your blood vessels. We've shown it with blood pressure, which is a sign of atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries. You need vitamin K2, not K1. K2. Where do you find K2? [00:26:30] K2 takes calcium, hardening, it takes the calcium out of your blood vessels and puts it in your bones and in your teeth. Your teeth. That's where bones belong. Here. And in your bones, your spine.
Remember yesterday? Well, I probably didn't get into it like I wanted to. We were talking about the effects of the fat-free diet. One of the big effects was osteoporosis. We see so much of it. [00:27:00] I'm going to continue that when we go next week. That's serious, on the effects of low-fat diet. So I would take high DHA. I would take vitamin K2 with vitamin D. You get vitamin K2 in butter and cheese. Cheese curds are the highest source of vitamin K2. And high levels of DHA. And I would take Navitol because Navitol opens up your blood vessels by elevating your nitric [00:27:30] oxide. That's how it works. And it's anti-inflammatory. So again, it's all beneficial for your blood vessels. Good question.
And Janine is asking what causes her veins to be noticeable at times on her hands and not. Well, you know what that is? It usual, okay. I mean, look, everybody's different again, and this is a little bit of a... I'd have to see it almost, just to see if there's a big diff... But you know what we know about veins? They'll hide if you're dehydrated. [00:28:00] You ever go do blood work and they can't find your veins and the lab technician is nailing your veins and they can't find? A lot of times, they can't find it because you're dehydrated. So maybe that's why you're seeing them at times and sometimes you don't see it. When you don't see it, you might be dehydrated. I mean, that's probably the answer.
Deep vein thrombosis, Julie's asking, why is it itchy at times? Well, [00:28:30] healing. Your body's healing. Sometimes it's itchy in that area. So deep inside, in a deep vein thrombosis and the body's healing, it can be itchy there in that area. It's a sign that your body's healing.
And Beth was asking about cranialfacial hyperhidrosis. Well, you know what that is? That's excessive sweating. I answered that last week. Look, the only thing I would say, Beth, is to check [00:29:00] your vitamin D. Because one of the signs that you are low in vitamin D is excess of sweating. You're sweating all the time. That can be a sign. You know when babies sweat? Often, they're low in vitamin D. And same with adults. Excessive sweating can be low levels of vitamin D. You need to get that checked. But sometimes, I've seen it in practice or whatever, and you know what? There's some medications out there. Look, I'm not going to tell you not [00:29:30] to do it. But I just haven't found anything to be that effective. But if your vitamin D levels are low, then you need to get that fixed. Make sure you get good levels of vitamin D, Beth.
So very good questions this morning. You guys have a Merry Christmas. I mean that, okay. Have a great, great Christmas. And I know it's a different year for most of us with the lockdowns and this and that. I [00:30:00] know exactly where you are. But there's a lot of lockdown, especially in Canada. And have a great Christmas in spite of that. Hopefully 2021's different. I don't know. But we love you, guys.
A couple of housekeeping. Get your friends and family to join our Martin Clinic Facebook group. Did you guys get the email? I can't remember the headline of it. Something about carbs and I'm the carboholic. Did you get that email? [00:30:30] If you didn't, you need to get our email. One of them is, we got a Christmas message for you, a little bit of acting and a little bit of a skit. But we love you, guys. And we won't be on tomorrow, of course, Christmas Day. But looking forward to seeing you next week. Talk to you soon. Merry Christmas.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, [00:31:00] with your hosts, Dr. Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode. And thanks for listening.