Dr. Martin answers questions sent in by our listeners.
Some of today’s topics include:
- Building white blood cells
- Sun exposure in fall/winter months
- Sudden drops in blood pressure
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Adaptogens
- Heart palpitations and flutters
- Red light therapy
- Essential oils that elevate estrogen
- High calcium in blood
- Hypertension and diet
- Hormones in cheese
Tune in to hear Dr. Martin’s responses!
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. Hope you guys are having a great start to your day. Getting ready for Question and Answer Friday. Here we go. Questions... Toni, with an I not with a Y. Toni with an I. “What can we take to build up white blood cells?” Good question. I always tell people, look, even if you're anemic or whatever, anemia is red blood cells, but I'm just making a point. I'm very big on a multitude of things. Blood is made up of a lot of things. Your white blood cells... Look at the end of the day, vitamin D, make sure, Toni, you're getting enough vitamin D. Because it's not that it necessarily makes white blood cells, but it sure makes your white blood cells work. I mean, you can have white blood cells and they're sitting there doing nothing. You're better off to have very active... And vitamin D, unlike any other vitamin, is a vitamin that activates your white blood cells. Your T-cells coming out of your lymphatic system and your natural killer cells need vitamin D. They have a receptor for it. They have an antenna for it.
I love our Blood Boost because all of the nutrients, all of the amino acids and all of the herbs that I like are in there including good levels of vitamin A. You need that for white blood cells to work properly. Zinc helps white blood cell production. But again, I rather you take it either in a Blood Boost if you're low in white blood cells or get your vitamin D levels and eat your steak, eat your steak. Because not only red blood cells that are important. White blood cells are very important too.
Pam, “With the sun less potent at this time of the year, do you need to get exposed longer than 20 minutes for getting 10,000 IUs of vitamin D?” Isn't that interesting? In 20 minutes, no sunscreen, arms and legs, you get 10,000 IUs. Now think about that. Are people dropping dead after 20 minutes of sun and they're getting 10,000 IUs? It was bad math as far as vitamin D is concerned. Very bad math. In the 70s, oh, 200 international units of vitamin D. Now we know that is just craziness. That is for mice, not for men and women. So anyway, yes, you probably need a little bit more exposure this time of the year. We're a little bit farther away from the sun, at least in Canada, right? We've had a week here, I'm telling you. It was glorious. And I've been getting my VitDerma and my skin is used to it. So I can go in the sun much longer than 20 minutes. But you never overdose on vitamin D in the sun. Your body takes what it needs. It's amazing. It's a hormone. It's a vitamin, but it's a hormone.
Loretta, “What causes blood pressure to drop suddenly to the point of fainting?” Well, this is rare. It's caused by the vagus, not Las Vegas, your 10th cranial nerve. Is there impingement in the upper area of your neck between C1 and C2? That's what I would look at because you could have an impingement of your 10th cranial nerve. And every once in a while you drop. Because what the vagus nerve does, think about the vagus nerve. It goes from your brain down into your gut. It's the connection between the brain and the gut. And the vagus nerve can drop your blood pressure in a moment. It's the same thing that gives you butterflies.
The other thing that I would tell you, Loretta, is to make sure you're not dehydrated because I find that people that get that, it can be a symptom of dehydration. And make sure that you're not dehydrated. Nerve impingement and dehydration. Those are the two things in my experience that can cause that. And it's rare, but some people that's what happens. And the dangerous thing about it is when you do faint, you can get a concussion or hurt yourself. Like you're not going to have a heart attack from it, but if you just pass out for no reason, you can get hurt. Good questions.
Gilen is asking about Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is a rare neurological syndrome. I've seen it, not many times, but I have seen it. Can happen after an infection. It's usually a perfect storm. And you can have neurological damage. Now, what would I do about it if you already have it? I would start with the gut. Leaky gut, leaky brain. Is there a connection between fungus getting to the brain? Good chance. So yeah, that's where I would start, Gilen.
Sally, “Been told that vitamin D is very bad for sarcoidosis.” No. I understand why someone would say it. Isn't it interesting that vitamin D has been so vilified? I can't get over it. First of all, Sally, vitamin D is a hormone. It's not just a vitamin, it's a hormone. Your body can't live without vitamin D properly. In sarcoidosis, I know what they're saying, because that is like an autoimmune disease and it especially affects the lungs. And vitamin D, they don't want the immune system working too well in a sense that it's autoimmune, your body turns on itself. But they misunderstand vitamin D. Because vitamin D does a hundred things in your body. And yes, it helps your immune system, but not to make your autoimmune or sarcoidosis worse. It would actually help. I find that anybody that I saw over the years with sarco... they were actually very low in vitamin D. They were low in that. They had leaky gut. They had a massive yeast infection that I used to see. So, no, I don't agree with that. You need vitamin D. I mean, get your blood levels checked, make sure that you're not too high. But I found just the opposite. It was actually quite low.
Zatina. Different name. I like it. “Looking to start adaptogens. Have any of your supplements, formulas have this?” Well, I've probably been asked this once. Adaptogens are things that make other things bioavailable. If you Google it, you'll see that curcumin is an adaptogen. All of my formulas, Zatina, are blended. Like somebody was asking me yesterday about DIM. I talk about that dim out your estrogen. And they were looking at a formula that had DIM in it. But I said, "Look, I like combination of things. They work synergistically together." That's really what an adaptogen is. Curcumin is a wonderful adaptogen. I love curcumin. I put it in my Inflammation Formula. I have curcumin in curcumin, on its own. Very bioavailable. And I like curcumin. You know what's classified as one of the best adaptogens? And it's another reason that I'm so high on it, is pine bark extract. It is, in my opinion, the number one adaptogen. What does that mean? It is so bioavailable and anything that is attached to it.
Like vitamin C, for example. You just take a supplement of vitamin C. I'm not big on that. People ask me. You're better to drink coffee. Why is that? Because it has so many more polyphenols. It's a multi-antioxidant when you drink the real vitamin C. See, vitamin C on its own, the other vitamin C, ascorbic acid, it needs an adaptogen like pine bark extract. That's why we put it in our pine bark. Because if you just take vitamin C on its own, unless you're doing it intravenously... I'm not big on that, because your body likes complex. Over the years, that's why, if you look at our formulas, they're a multitude of things that I like, synergistically that work perfectly together. I had to get results in the clinic. It wasn't a matter of take this, sometimes and I find naturopaths can be guilty of this. They got you on 50 different things. We did our Fab 5 the other day, if you were on there. Those are our basics, man. Those are fundamentals. We gave the reasons why. Good question. I like that, Zatina.
Gloria, “Causes and solutions regarding heart palpitations and flutters.” Well, again, make sure there's no impingement to the vagus nerve because that can do it. What I've found over the years, when you see heart palpitations and flutters... very good question... I often find people are very low on vitamin CoQ10. It's not a vitamin. CoQ10. CoQ10. What is CoQ10? CoQ10 is a nutrient. It's a hormone. Your body produces CoQ10. But you know why people are low in CoQ10? Statin drugs. That'll destroy your CoQ10. I mean, they even advertise that on TV. Take CoQ10 if you're taking a statin drug. But the other thing is, is that when you don't eat vitamin S, ladies. Who are the ones that get the most palpitations, flutters? That can be caused by cortisol too, can do it. High cortisol can do it, low CoQ10.
I know you guys are not like that. But women that insist on eating salad and chicken, doesn't have red meat, doesn't have CoQ10. You need that for the strength of your heart. When you eat red meat, you get CoQ10. And your little battery packs, CoQ10 is important for your little mitochondria, especially in your muscles. And your heart is a muscle. A lot of people they don't realize that they have weak hearts because they have weak muscles. Your heart is a pump. So impingement, vagus nerve between C1 and C2, generally. High cortisol, stress. CoQ10. Not eating enough vitamin S, steak. And magnesium, low levels of magnesium can do that too. So those are the things to watch for. Good questions, Gloria.
Cindy, “What do you think of red light therapy?” Well, I'm not sure. Cindy, I'm not sure. I don't have a lot of experience in red light therapy. I know about vitamin D light therapy. I prefer the sun. But the red light therapy, look, I've seen it. I looked at their promotion of it. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not against it, though, Cindy. It's just that I don't want to pontificate too much on something that I don't have a lot of experience in. For me, nah, I'm not against it though. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it without trying it or to see if it has any good effect on you. But thanks for the question, Cindy. We appreciate it.
Julie's asking a very good question. Studies showing lavender and tea tree oil are estrogen-producing. I've looked at those studies. Look, guys, I'm careful about essential oil. I love oil of oregano. Somebody's saying, "No kidding, that's all you talk about." Well, it's because I compare it to everything else. Like tea tree oil, you don't take tea tree oil internally anyways. And I say tea tree oil, yeah, it's good but oil of oregano's better. It's not going to elevate your estrogen. And I'm not sure that that is even true. Lavender, look, I just tell people be careful what you put on your skin and what's in the air. So does it elevate your estrogen? Well, there's a lot of things that elevate estrogen more than that. That I can guarantee you. All those xenoestrogens, all the chemicals. So look, when in doubt, I wouldn't use it. How's that? Okay. Let me just get back there. These questions, very good, Julie.
Eileen. “I have high calcium in my blood. Why would that happen?” Well, couple of things. We talked about this the other night on our webinar. You got little parathyroid... I mean, they are the size of, like if you take a little capsule, I mean small, small, they're pea-sized. They're called your parathyroid glands. They're pea-sized. They're small. But you know what they do? They regulate calcium. And how they do it is if your calcium levels are low, they'll leach your bones in order to get the calcium levels higher in your blood. You need calcium, guys. Just eat it. You don't have to take it as a supplement. A supplement goes to your blood. It doesn't go to your bones. We talked about that. If you got osteoporosis, start with muscle.
Osteoporosis in my estimation is sarcopenia. If you got strong muscles, you got nothing to worry about with your bones. Bones, they're an organ to themselves, but you better have strong muscles. Now, getting back to calcium. If your calcium levels are high, Eileen, okay, you need vitamin K2. You're not eating enough cheese. You're not eating enough butter. "Oh yeah, but Doctor, I got calcium in it." Yeah, but it's got vitamin K2. See what God did. God gave you food that has calcium. Cheese, butter. Lots of calcium in that, but with K2 in it so that it takes the calcium, does not leave it in your bloodstream, puts it in your bones where it belongs in your teeth. You need calcium. You got thyroid problems, for sure, parathyroid problems. But you need vitamin K2.
Tanya, “What causes hypertension?” The first thing that causes hypertension is your diet. Hypertension, 99% of it is food. Why is that? Let me explain it so that you don't jump on me. When you insist on eating crappy carbs and sugars, the first thing are little capillaries, they get affected. And capillaries will affect your kidneys. And kidneys, when they're affected, you get an imbalance. Remember I showed you how your kidneys operate and it'll cause your blood vessels to constrict, high blood pressure. It's not a lack of medication. Now, doctors, if you have high blood pressure, of course they're going to put you on meds. Diuretics or ACE inhibitors or whatever. They want to get your blood pressure under control. Fully understand that. But what I'm saying is you got to take another step back and see what causes that.
Another thing that causes it is low levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a substance that your blood vessels make. It's right there. It causes an explosion. Opens up your blood vessels. A lot of people are low in nitric oxide. Do you know why? Do you know why? Because they don't eat enough vitamin S. Vitamin S has B12 and B12 elevates your nitric oxide. You got low levels of nitric oxide? You have low levels of B12. You see how important B12 is. And so yeah, you could take a supplement. Millions of people take sublingual B12. I agree with that. If your numbers are not between 800 and 1200, I like optimizing B12. That's when your body produces the most nitric oxide because it's good for your immune system. It's good for your blood vessels. It's good for blood pressure. And the other one's food. When insulin, carboholics, high blood pressure has a sign say, "Hello, change your diet. Change your diet." Okay, Tanya, thanks for that question.
Nicole, “I know cheese is sugar-free, but I'm worried about all the hormones.” Okay. Now, listen. You got to understand, Nicole, where I'm coming from. You asked a very good question. Because somebody was asking about, Jeanette is asking, so let me answer these. Sodium nitrate, Jeanette's asking, in bacon. I know. But guys, where does that come from? Hormones. Always look for better cheeses. If you can afford it, grass-fed butter, grass-fed beef. But sodium nitrates. What do you think vegetables do? Full of oxalates, nitrates. Bacon. Since when is nitrates bad for you? Since the cereal companies wanted you to not have bacon and eggs in the morning and wanted you to eat Cheerios. And they put all this stuff out there. It's indoctrination 24 and 7. "Oh, that stuff's bad for you, man. That's going to elevate. That's no good. It's acidic. It's full of saturated fat and cholesterol." No, here's what I'm going to say, okay, Nicole and Jeanette. Here's what I'm going to say. And just understand I'm generalizing, but here's what I'm going to say.
You are better off eating cheese than having a chocolate bar or a granola or having nuts or seeds. The nuts are good, but you're better off eating cheese. And cheese has K2 in it. Do we live in a perfect world? No. But Tony Jr. says this all the time. Why are you worried about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Avoid the icebergs first. And so look, I appreciate those questions. I get that question all the time. "Well, Doc, I hear there's hormones in food." What are you going to do? Buy organic all the time? Look, if you can afford organic and whatever, I'm on your side. But I'm telling you, better to have bacon than to have cereal, any cereal, anytime, any cereal, anytime. You're better off having eggs even if they're not free-range. Those are better. But you're better off having an egg anytime than having a piece of bread. Do you see what I'm saying? You're better off having bacon anytime than having another carbohydrate.
So you got to understand where I'm coming from. I'm teaching in generalities. I have to. I mean, every week we're 60, 70,000 people. I don't want to get into the weeds. I want people to get better. And that's why I wrote The Reset. After thousands of patients did it in my clinic, I wanted it to go public. Because in 30 days of eating eggs, meat, and cheese, it's unbelievable what happens. And so again, if you can afford organic, if you can afford free-range, and yeah, you go to the grocery store, keep your eyes open. I like that. I got no problem with that. But you have to understand that somebody that's just starting, worry about carbs and worry about sugar. You get that out of your system. You start on a 30-day program to do that. And you have now taken the Titanic and turned the ship around. And then you can change the paint in the boat. You know what I mean?
I appreciate those questions. It gets me to answer... You know, because a lot of people think, "Well, Doc, don't you know what nitrates are?" Yeah, I do. "Don't you know the difference between organic and...?" Yeah, I do. "Don't you know the difference between grass-fed beef and corn-fed beef or whatever?" Yeah I do. I do. But get the big picture first. That's what I'm saying. But don't avoid bacon. Just find a better bacon if you're worried about it. And sodium nitrates are not going to make you sick. They don't. That comes from the cereal companies. They don't make you sick.
Okay, let me see here. Jocelyn, “What can I do for bulging varicose veins?” Well, I like Navitol because of that microcirculation. You want to fix that so that your body has little tributaries. Remember that term for rivers. They go down into little creeks, and you know what I mean? You want those things open because that's what helps your circulation. That's what helps in varicose veins. Navitol. Some people have seen great results. Not everybody, but it's the one I recommend.
Kathy. “What does it mean to have a half moon on fingernail?” Half moon. I'd have to think about that for a second. A half moon. Girls, answer the question up on the screen. I'm drawing a blank in the sense of what is a half moon on a fingernail? Do I have a half moon on my fingernail? I don't see any. Look, one thing about fingernails... couple of things, and then just in general and it may not, Kathy, answer your question specifically. Because I like looking at nails. I do. Because when I was in practice, I looked at them because I would see deficiencies there. One of the biggest thing of your nails is protein. Now, when you don't get enough protein in your diet, your nails are not going to be strong. Protein is the first one. Leaky gut, digestive issues. Not enough digestive enzyme. So therefore you're not breaking down your food. You're not absorbing those minerals and those vitamins that you used to be able to absorb. A lot of times that starts right in your stomach. You're not making enough enzymes and your nails can reflect that.
Did somebody say half moon? White part of the cuticles. I have nail polish. I can't see my nail. Me too. No, we don't. You guys are good because you're answering. Lack of zinc and calcium, Louise. Yeah, can be. Calcium absorption. It's zinc absorption. And I'm not big on taking calcium as a supplement. I'm not. I'm not even big on taking zinc necessarily. Now, we have zinc in our Prostate Formula. We have zinc in our Blood Boost, and it's citrate. It's already broken down. It's chelated, so you don't have to worry about digesting it. It's going to be immediately absorbed. You don't hear me talking about vitamin Z too often, only because I want you to eat it. If you eat steak, you get zinc.
And Liliana. “Any mineral or vitamin deficiencies that cause dizziness?” Well, look, B12. B12 can give you, you're almost spacey. If you have a fungal infection in your sinuses and in your middle ear, candida yeast, that can make you dizzy. I talked about impingement. Look at nerve impingement. Deficiency would be more B12 and maybe a little bit of low iron.
Kimberly's asking about ferritin. “What causes high ferritin?” Your liver. If you got high ferritin, your liver's gummed up. Fix the liver. Go on The Reset. Empty that liver.
Marcy, “My husband has type one diabetes and he eats a lot of crappy carbs. I've always tried to discourage him and he said he'll be okay.” Well, Marcy, can I tell you something? Your husband, every day, with type I diabetes and the way he is eating is got a loaded gun. And every day he's going... and he clicks. And so far, so far, the one round in his chamber, he's played Russian roulette. Type I diabetes and you are eating crap? It's an autoimmune type of diabetes, but you're just relying on insulin. And there's going to be a day, Marcy, there's going to be a day, believe you me, when eyeballs, kidneys, circulation, heart disease, cancer. He's playing Russian roulette. And by the grace of God, and I mean that, by the grace of God, he hasn't gotten seriously... Well, I don't know, I don't know his whole history. But you're right. Type I, you got to eat right. Type II, you have an allergy to carbs, for heaven's sakes.
Men, they're stubborn. Marcy, you can bring a man to water, but you can't make him drink. Oh, that's a horse. Yeah, men too. I used to get every year hundreds of men coming in. Why are you here? “My wife.” What's wrong? “Nothing.” Anything bothering you? “Nope.” And I'd say, "You big liar, because I got your blood work. I got your results. You're a liar, liar, pants on fire." And the only time they ever told the truth is when their wives came with them. Men, we're from another planet. Ooh, stubborn. Not me, though. I'm not like that. For you men that are watching… I'm a woman's doctor, sorry.
Last one. Susan, “Can you explain our lymph system?” Do you want an hour? I can do that. I can do a teaching on the lymphatic system. Your lymphatics is your drainage system. They're under the armpits, you got them in your neck, your lymphatics. They're the sewage system. They take away the debris. Even your brain has its own lymphatic system. They're called glymphatics. We didn't even know that, that it's got its own separate debris. So it's your sewage in your body. And you know what really helps it, Susan? You know what helps it? Rebounding, rebounding. I like that. Get a rebounder. It drains your lymphatics. That's what you want. Anyway, I'll do a teaching on it because it's a good question. I've got my own take on it. I'll put my spin on it with the lymphatics. So Susan, I'll go into more detail some other time. Guys, we love you dearly. Men, you're part of the group. Don't be insulted. You deserve it, but don't be insulted. Okay, guys, love you, guys. 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!