Tag: iron

Deflate Fatty Liver disease!

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

Many people have fatty liver and don’t even know it. When someone says, “fatty liver”, most people don’t know what that means — including the person saying it! To my understanding, it means everything: fatty acids, like triglycerides, phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol esters, bilirubin, dead red blood cell remnants, iron waste and water! In other words, it means lots of junk is building up in the liver! But the biggest junk is probably triglycerides filled with toxins, which is the main source of fat storage and fat accumulation — hence the term, fatty liver.

Anyone who has fatty liver, needs to look at their ferritin. My ferritin level was once over 280.

Yes, I have had fatty liver!

I have had fatty liver since fatty liver was not even in style — back in the 1980’s when I was 10 years old! I was blood poisoned (I believe) by painful injections in the buttocks, to supposedly manage my asthma condition!

 

Ferritin affects liver health:

To be clear, ferritin protein is where the body first stores excess iron. Do you know how much ions of iron one single ferritin complex carries? Up to 4500! So if your ferritin level is 50, multiply that by 4500 irons!
Now if your ferritin is 280, multiply that by 4500 iron ions!

Do you know what fatty liver is?: so much ferritin, that it turned into hemosiderin! Hemosiderin is the antarctic of iron waste. It is a graveyard of iron and dead lysosomes stuck in the south pole — actually, I meant, liver! In other words, when the body can no longer store excess iron in the ferritin complexes, it is forced to store it in this second option: hemosiderin. This hemosiderin storage system is hard on the body, especially the liver. And, it is hard to get rid of excess iron once it’s stored as hemosiderin.

Don’t get me wrong: low ferritin can also be distressing: it means the spleen is not recycling iron properly! But that can be simply resolved by consuming copper or wholefood vitamin C!
Does anyone know how to get out of the antarctic?

 

Enzymes affect liver health:

When doctors talk about liver enzymes, they are not only talking about the familiar AsT and ALt — they are also talking about such hardly ever tested enzyme(s) as GGT [Gamma-glutamyl transferase]. Actually, most doctors probably don’t even remember what GGT is! Often high when there is toxins in the blood such as from medication or alcohol or when there is hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatic obstruction or bile flow obstruction, GGT insures delivery of amino acids that make the powerful antioxidant glutathione. These amino acids include: glutamate, cysteine (cystine) and glycine.

 

Protein affects liver health:

What we also need to talk about is not only the liver enzymes, but also, the proteins produced by the liver. They also tell a lot by their too high or too low levels — such proteins as serum albumin and globulins! Abnormal numbers of these proteins may signal🚦 some type of dehydration, or worse, liver dysfunction. Chronic liver disease is characterized by a fall in serum albumin concentration and a rise in serum globulins.

 

Gallbladder health is affected by liver health:

Another thing needs mentioning is not only the liver — that very large organ, but its pipeline: the gallbladder!

Many people have liver issues because the gallbladder is stuck with sludge or gallstones! Can you imagine your kitchen sink pipe clogged with chewing gum? Many people nowadays are listening to their doctors recommend having their gallbladders removed, as if gallbladder surgery was an ice-cream treat! Removing your gallbladder is the same thing as removing the sac that holds bile that is needed to digests fats.

That’s why I also look at bilirubin levels — specifically direct bilirubin, to make sure gallbladder is opened (3mm) and working properly. Too high bilirubin (a “compound” from heme, produced in the liver) means gallbladder is clogged! That’s why I use chanca piedra or bhumi amla to unclog the gall-pipe!

 

The history of fatty liver:

There was once a time when doctors would only entertain the term fatty liver if someone consumed alcohol. If you did not fit that category and still complained that you may have fatty liver, then these doctors would say, “Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about! Stop complaining and enjoy life!” It was only after repeated and vehement complaints that science then began to realize there is fatty liver beyond alcohol fatty liver disease. They labeled it: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD.

As time went by, NAFLD became nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH. As more time went by, NASH became something that led to metabolic dysfunction -associated steatohepatitis or MASH in 2023 because, “nonalcoholic” and “fatty” seemed as if stigmatizing and trivializing the disease, they thought. In other words, science still could not make up its mind about what fatty liver disease is!

And to complicate things even more, we have another new term — i.e., liver disease caused from environmental toxins: toxicant-associated fatty liver disease (TAFLD), which can then lead to toxicant-associated steatohepatitis (TASH), which a more severe form of TAFLD.

 

Liver disease progression:

To simplify things for the purpose of this article, there are three grades of fatty liver: mild, moderate and severe, with up to 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 of fat deposit and fat accumulation, respectively. And there are progressive stages to fatty liver:

– Simple fatty liver (fat only)

– Steatohepatitis (fat accompanied with inflammation)

– Fibrosis (chronic inflammation) 

– Cirrhosis (widespread scarring that greatly impairs liver function).


Much of this is fixable, yes. But severe fatty liver disease with cirrhosis is going to need a lot of work. Be optimistic, but do not be fooled if someone tells you, “the liver is the only organ that regenerates itself and if you cut off a part of it, it will simply grow back!” Welcome them to the real world 🌎 — the liver won’t do anything good unless you work hard enough to fix it!

 

Reverse fatty liver disease:

Luckily, nature has provided ways to accelerate reversing fatty liver disease. It is called herbs! I have studied for years and tried to find the best answers to what the best things to reverse fatty liver disease are. And I think I’ve found them.

It is not milk thistle. Milk thistle is good for liver that is already healthy. It is not burdock root either — though that can be helpful. It is not artichoke extract or swedish bitters either. Yet those can be helpful. 

The herbs that I like to focus on at reversing fatty liver are from ayurveda: kutki, Bhumi amla and amla!

Kutki is a bitter herb that works like a mechanic, going into liver cells, and bringing them back to life. Bhumi amla is like a drainage plunger, unclogging gunk out of the gallbladder. Amla a.k.a Indian gooseberry is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that may help stimulate the regeneration of liver cells,  and facilitate in the repair of damaged tissue. 

But there are other things necessary to accelerate reversing fatty liver disease. They are: choline and  IP6-inosotol.

Choline helps remove fat from the liver, while IP6-inositol helps remove excess iron from the liver. Excess iron is a major cause of fatty liver disease and liver inflammation! Phlebotomy through blood donation can also relieve the body of excess iron in the blood.

 

And of course, eat healthily and properly:

If you have fatty liver disease, junk food and excess sweets are a no no. Excess alcohol is a no no. Eating excess amounts of animal meat is a no no. Animal protein may raise insulin levels to intolerable levels. Excess dairy and eggs are a no no. And foods high in oxalates is a no no. I have compiled a list of the safest, most nutritious foods! If you have fatty liver, you need to load up on B vitamins, as with the choline previously mentioned, but also particularly vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B5 (pantothenic acid) — found in organic bee pollen — to accelerate the healing process of a damaged liver. Other nutrients include magnesium, copper and phosphorus.

 

Sugar, sugar substitutes, and sugar alcohol may also contribute to fatty liver disease:

When someone says something like too much sugar causes fatty liver, I think one detail in that means, too much high fructus corn syrup and the nasty Maltodextrin that usually comes with it, contributes to fatty liver! So does aspartame. If you like sweet things, look for pure organic honey, coconut sugar, palm sugar, molasses, or even plain old cane sugar. These other sugars, such as sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners are destroying peoples’ livers! Monk fruit (sugar) is up for debate, since it is usually combined with other sugar alcohols to make it taste like sugar.


So, what should you do?:

– If possible, get an ultrasound for the liver.

– Get a blood test checking for:

– Ferritin: should be less than 75

– Ast and ALt should be less than 20

– GGT: should be less than 30

– Serum albumin: should be between 4.1 and 4.8

– Globulin: should be between 2.2 and 2.8

– Direct bilirubin: should be less than 0.3

Herbs:

– Kutki 

– Bhumi amla

– Amla

Supplements:

– Choline 

– IP6- Inositol 

Procedure:

– Phlebotomy (blood donation)

Foods

Eat healthy, limiting alcohol, sweets and excess animal protein. Pay special attention to food containing vitamins B2 and B5. Also magnesium, copper and phosphorus rich food are beneficial to help heal a fatty liver.

Belly Fat: The Root Cause

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

When your stomach is permanently bloated with ‎belly fat, think the worst, but hope for the best — you may have fatty liver. Fatty liver is a serious condition since a healthy liver is of vital importance to overall health. If the liver and its bile storage sac — the gallbladder — are clogged, then every other organ is affected — every other organ is clogged. Even the blood is clogged.

I have been looking like I was pregnant since I was 3 years old. I always had a hard, bloated stomach — and I always suffered from chronic constipation because of stress, a dysfunctional family, bad grades, poverty and loneliness.
I surprisingly overcame my constipation at the age of 20 simply by taking vitamin B1 (50 mg) for four days. Wow!!!

But the bloated, hard stomach continued. I realized I had damaged my liver and intestines almost permanently with the stress and bad choices I had made.
Insulin is a major cause of belly fat, visceral fat, fatty liver, ascites, or whatever you may want to call it. But I would like to add something else.

Our small intestine is long — very long. Ranging from 9 feet in length, up to 34 feet; but typically between 15 to 20 feet in length. If there is a traffic jam, guess what? Big problems. So I’ve learned if there is something wrong with the stomach, then there is something wrong with the liver, the gallbladder, the bile duct, the pancreas, the spleen, the intestines, the blood, and the lymphatic system. Wow! Where to start then?

Recently, I’ve been noticing a lot of products sold within the United States is enriched (wheat) flour, meaning fortified with iron, meaning synthetic iron filing, meaning rusting the organs. Could these synthetic iron filings be causing a disruption in the gut? Could it be damaging the pancreas? Could it be one of the causes, if not the main cause of insulin resistance, and thus belly fat? Could it be that we have too much free iron in us, wreaking havoc, in us?

A chronic bloated stomach, or belly fat, is a blatant indication that your internal organs are not working properly. Your endocrine system and the hormones it produces are not working properly. Your process of detoxification and elimination are compromised. Your lymphatic system, which can also be regarded as a drainage system, is most likely clogged somewhere. The lymph nodes may be even building toxins and becoming swollen. In severe cases, your blood may become so toxic from metabolic waste backing up, that it may have no choice but to use your own skin as a source of dumping site. Thus you develop the manifestation of skin disorders: psoriasis, eczema, acne. And the list goes on.

From personal experience, soft belly fat may not be that dangerous. It could simply be fat accumulation, namely subcutaneous fat, caused by hormonal imbalance. However, if the belly fat is hard and bloated, that may be indicative of something more serious. It may indicate small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), or something like too much insulin in the blood! Even more troubling, it may indicate visceral fat, meaning, fat is accumulating around the organs, vital organs — especially the liver. The liver is a living organ that needs space, and needs to breathe. Fat accumulation around this organ is sinister, filled with carbon dioxide, toxins and metabolic waste. This type of fat stifles the liver, and prevents it from performing its vital duties.

When the liver is stifled and prevented from doing its duties, the blood takes a hit. It becomes thick and dirty. When the blood loses its vitality, the lymphatic system takes a hit. Instead of draining toxins and metabolic waste, it too becomes clogged and polluted, like a toilet bowl filled with sewage that just won’t flush! Then the heart takes a hit – the birth of hypertension and heart disease!

As I indicated earlier — so long as we’re not practicing any other obvious bad habits — the food we eat may be the main culprit for these cascading events. Manufacturers are processing food in such a way, they deplete all of the nutrients out of them. These manufacturers think they are doing us a favor by putting these nutrients back in synthetic form. But vitamins and minerals made in a lab does not come close to the real thing, even though chemistry-wise, they may look like the real thing. Our bodies will indeed accept these chemically derived nutrients for a while. But eventually, microscopic damage will slowly build up into inflammation and autoimmune diseases that could have been avoided if we were consuming real food, the way nature intended.

Read the labels of the food you buy. Beware of anything listed as:

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid) đź”» Hydrogenated Rapeseed đź”» Maltodextrin đź”» Aspartame đź”» High Fructose Corn Syrup đź”» Ascorbic Acid đź”» Soy Lecithin đź”» Invert Sugar đź”» Artificial Color đź”» Canola Oil đź”» Palm Oil and Carrageenan.

Often, on these labels, “enriched flour” usually tops the list, meaning, this is the main ingredient. Like I said earlier, enriched flour is simply a fancy word for, among other things, synthetic iron filings. If iron is not absorbed properly in our bodies, then, like tools left out in the rain and environment, it will rust our organs. Iron is notorious for rusting our liver. Iron needs a carrier, like hemoglobin or haptoglobin to perform its functions properly. If it is free and unbound, as is the case with “enriched flour”, then it is no longer a mineral. Like mercury, lead, and arsenic, it is now a heavy metal, wreaking havoc and puncturing holes where it should not be. The body thus considers it a foreign object, and treats it as such — because it is. Now comes the birth of what we may call gluten intolerance or celiac disease or autoimmune disease. Now comes leaky gut, gallstones in the gallbladder, pancreatitis, insulin resistance, diabetes, Hashimoto’s, Parkinson’s disease and a host of other diseases science has no clue what causes them. Or so they claim.

So what is the solution? Eat healthy. Eat fresh vegetables, especially leafy greens, and fruits, especially berries, made by nature, which gained their life-force from the sun. Avoid synthetic unless you don’t have a choice. Drink natural spring water that contains minerals. Eat small amounts of animal meat and their organs, that when they were alive were allowed the graze out in the sun on natural, organic grass, that grow in pristine, rich, mineral soil. Consider certain sea-foods like oysters, harvested from pristine waters and rich in mineral content, on a limited bases.

But the damage done may have been so strong, that we may need to take it a step further. We may need to add certain healing herbs to fix and cleanse the liver, blood and lymphatic system. For the liver, the ayurvedic herb kutki is legendary for rebuilding damages done to it. For the lymphatic system, another ayurvedic herb called manjistha will unclog it, thus simultaneously cleansing the blood. Olive leaf extract has been made famous since biblical times as a healing herb for general health and well-being.

I personally follow these recommendations listed. In addition, I may occasionally include a heavy metal detox with IP-6 – inositol, to chelate unbound iron out of my body. I may also include modified citrus pectin, to bind and chelate any other toxins or heavy metal out of my system. It is not a quick process. It may take months before seeing noticeable results. Keep in mind that herbs should typically be used only three (3) times per week, and are best decocted or infused into tea form. Keep in mind also that IP-6 chelates not only unbound iron, but calcium and zinc as well. So be sure to be re-instituting your body  with food rich in these minerals after the process.

Osteoporosis: The Root-Cause

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

A condition whereby the bone becomes brittle and weak, developing tiny holes, and causing the potentiality of fracture — that is osteoporosis. This is the dis-ease that works silently and stealthily — causing no pain — until suddenly, there is a fracture! I have found osteoporosis, and its forerunner osteopenia, are caused by the most fascinating of reasons. And it’s not a need for more dietary calcium, as is widely believed amongst allopathic practitioners.

Our liver is the singular, largest organ within our body. Its priority is to store, to detoxify and to produce bile. This bile is stored in the gallbladder, ready to be triggered into the bile duct when especially fat is ingested. If the bile provided for fat breakdown is insufficient, then the fat remains undigested, causing a cascade of malfunction initiating in the small intestines, then in other parts of the body. When fat is not absorbed, calcium is not absorbed either. The blood then seeks its necessary requirements of calcium from the bones: the birth of osteopenia!

But what causes the liver to malfunction and minimize its production of bile? It is stones formed — intrahepatic stones and gallstones, made up of calcium deposits, cholesterol and heavy metals, clogging the liver from performing its natural duty. Among the heavy metals, unbound iron is often the greatest offender.

The elderly tend to be set and stubborn in their ways. A stubbornness towards  taking calcium is no exception. Someone they love and trusts told them calcium was the best thing for bone and osteoporosis. Be patient with them — I too use to think calcium was the Holy Grail of minerals. But of course, it’s not — I was wrong.

Anyone taking high doses of calcium supplements may soon suffer from depression. They will suffer from depression not because of their osteoporosis, but because an increase in calcium decreases magnesium, and that creates a magnesium to calcium ratio imbalance. A magnesium- calcium imbalance is the root of depression. We should be taking magnesium to regulate calcium, and NOT calcium supplements to regulate anything.

What is bone? Bone is a living tissue, breaking down and regenerating itself on a microscopic level at any given moment. It is highly made of protein collagen. Protein collagen is soft, but made hard and flexible by calcium and other minerals. But even more, what is inside bone? Bone marrow! What minerals are in bone marrow? Vitamin A, vitamin K2, copper, manganese, magnesium, silica, selenium, iron — correct? Collagen protein is made of many things, the least of which is calcium.

Silica is more important than calcium for bone health, and is needed for bone density, flexibility and even for calcium absorption. Silica, or its more absorbable form — orthosilicic acid — needs stomach acid to work. To those who are taking antacids, beware. Antacids neutralize stomach acid and mineral absorption!

The mineral boron is also well known by science to play an important and critical role in both bone and joint health and proper functioning. Boron activates cells known as osteoblast, which are responsible for creating new material to build new bone.

The main culprit for osteoporosis is an iron toxicity in the liver, wreaking havoc on bile production. Unbound iron may also be leaching into bone marrow and the bone itself, puncturing little holes and making bones brittle. Our diet should only consist of 1 mg of iron per day. Look around the elderly’s kitchen — don’t be surprised to see stuff loaded with enriched wheat flour, which basically means, synthetic iron and synthetic B vitamins. To get rid of this excess iron, you need ionic boron!

Menopausal women are susceptible to osteopenia and osteoporosis due to hormonal levels dropping significantly. Men with low testosterone are also vulnerable to osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Contrary to popular belief, milk may not make the bones strong from calcium. Milk contains phosphorus. Phosphorus competes with calcium for absorption — phosphorus often being in the winner. Be careful with the over-consumption of phosphorus. All forms of sodas are culprit.

So what have we learned? To fix osteoporosis:

We need to fix the liver to jump-start the adequate production of bile again

We need to remove gallstones and intrahepatic stones

We need to stop taking calcium and things that contains synthetic iron such as breakfast cereals.

For liver health and revitalization, an ayurvedic herb called Kutki has been renowned for rejuvenating a dying liver. A bile acid supplement called TUDCA can increase bile flow.

Start taking magnesium (glycinate or malate), vitamin K2-MK7 in the trans form, bioavailable boron (such as Vibrant Health Super Natural Boron), bioavailable silica (such as bamboo extract or Florasil) and something with natural copper in it (like black sesame seeds). These are the critical nutrients needed to build strong bones again. Natural vitamin C contains copper. Acerola or amla are excellent sources.

Epilepsy: Correcting the Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by “abnormal” electrical discharges in the brain. It is triggered from the brain not getting enough oxygen and disparately agitating the nerves to supply more. Symptoms of the classic epilepsy include sudden, unpredictable or “unprovoked” seizures and other health issues, that occur on a chronic basis. Thus the difference between epilepsy and the many dozens of other seizures is that epilepsy happens repeatedly. To heal epilepsy, high dose vitamin D3 is often recommended to actually seeing visible signs of improvement! The Ketogenic diet has also been used to curb symptoms of epilepsy in children. Here, I will dig deeper, by dealing with what I believe is the core instigator of epilepsy: too much unbound iron in the blood and tissues, too little oxygen in the cells that carry oxygen, too little magnesium and the co-enzyme B vitamins, too little natural sunlight and the benefits of natural sunlight, including vitamin D, a lack of bio-available copper, and especially a lack of sleep.

There are two distinct categories of epilepsy: Generalized onset and Focal onset. Generalized onset occurs apparently all over the brain at once, while focal onset occurs at a specific region, on one side of the brain. The most familiar form of seizure occurs under generalized onset, under the subcategory: tonic-clonic seizure. This is the most extreme form of epilepsy and involves loss of consciousness and  violent muscle contractions.

There is perhaps another category of seizure categorized as Unknown onset, that may initiate outside of the scope of the brain.

Allopathic medicine often treat epilepsy with medication, surgery or neuromodulation (nerve stimulation). In the case of medication, one, two or three anti-epileptic drugs would be initiated if the patient’s condition is receptive to such. In the case of surgery, resective surgery or laser ablation surgery would be implemented to remove a small amount of affected brain tissue or heat brain tissue, respectively. In the case of nerve stimulation, neuromodulation equipment is used to stimulate the vagus nerve in the neck, officially known as vagal/vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), or equipment is used to stimulate the brain directly where seizure occurs, officially known as responsive neurostimulation (RNS). At BIOinvigoRATE however, we always seek to exhaust all natural forms of healing before implementing allopathic methods for chronic diseases!

That free, unbound iron that is not attached to hemoglobin or anything may in fact oxidize and rust vital organs of the body, including the brain. To heal epilepsy, this rogue iron which has built up in all the wrong places and has reached the brain, needs to be eliminated from the body. One such way of doing this would be to donate blood once every six months to one year. Also using IP-6 on an empty stomach, away from food and other nutrients will help chelate and eliminate this form of destructive iron out of the body. By doing this, the brain should automatically have an increase in oxygen. (Be careful with IP-6, as it also chelates other minerals such as zinc and calcium out of the body.)

Another way to decrease iron and inflammation throughout the body is by increasing absorbable magnesium. Seek out leafy greens and other foods high in this mineral. Also supplementing would be beneficial. Magnesium glycinate or malate have a high absorption rate. Also increasing your intake of vitamin B6 in the form of P5P will automatically increase your magnesium absorption. Magnesium is very effective at decreasing whole-body inflammation. P5P will aid magnesium along that effort, along with other sources of natural B vitamins — such as found in bee pollen. It is worth emphasizing that the B vitamins are very effective toward increasing magnesium absorption and additionally, stabilizing neurological disorders!

The sun too is a wonderful healer of epilepsy, providing balance and homeostasis of all the minerals in your body, while increasing the vitamin D level naturally as well, to ideal levels. There are foods also that will aid in increasing your vitamin D level. These include irradiated mushrooms and lichens. Vitamin D turns into a hormone in the body, and is a powerful aid in regulating the immune system — thus regulating your general health to optimum performance.

Other methods that may aid in the healing of epilepsy include earthing and “tree hugging.” Earthing — exposing your bare feet to moist/wet grass (or soil/sand) is said to be very beneficial in balancing your body’s natural electrical charge. The underneath of our feet is very porous — and is susceptible to the benefits of nature and its healing powers, including the earth’s electrons. Tree hugging also rearranges your inner life forces and balance from one organism to the next — that being plant revitalizing life and homeostasis to human.

On speaking of electrical charge, the human body is operated by electricity. The mineral most responsible for this is copper. With the element carbon, and the micro-mineral copper, there is electricity. Knowing how to increase bio-available copper will also increase the electrical power of your body. Oysters and grass-fed/grass-finished liver would be excellent and appropriate sources of copper. Bio-available copper can also be obtained by supplementation. A bioavailable, chelated or ionic copper supplement may be an excellent source, temporarily.

Perhaps the greatest trigger of epilepsy is a lack of proper sleep. A lack of sleep increases stress and malfunctions the vagus nerve — that large nerve responsible for “rest and digest”. There has been one particular herb that has shown promise in utilizing the vagus nerves, thus bettering sleep, thus reducing stress; thus reducing outbreaks of epilepsy. That herb is called blue vervain. (Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, the “anemic” and those on blood thinners should avoid this herb however.)

In summary, epilepsy is not a permanent disease in which there is no hope. You may find relief with the right protocol. Decreasing unbound iron, increasing magnesium with P5P and other (natural-sourced) B vitamins, increasing sunlight and other natural sources of vitamin D, being out in nature, earthing and tree hugging; increasing bio-available copper, and improving sleep quality with the herb blue vervain are the most natural and effective ways I’ve discovered thus far in the quest to fight against epilepsy!