WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.040 Prepare to have your health questions answered 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:07.059 here on Safe, Effective Natural Solutions with 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:10.439 Dr. Todd Binkley, owner of Binkley Healing Center 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:15.340 in downtown Ventura. Now, here's Dr. Todd. Good 00:00:15.340 --> 00:00:17.420 afternoon. I'm Dr. Todd Bankley, board -certified 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.699 doctor of non -force chiropractic and practitioner 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:23.539 of functional medicine. What is functional medicine? 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:25.600 A lot of people have heard about functional medicine. 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:27.780 People, listeners to the show are getting more 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:29.379 and more familiar with it every time you listen. 00:00:29.420 --> 00:00:31.379 Thank you for tuning in. But a lot of people 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:33.119 still have no idea. What does that mean, functional 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:34.420 medicine? What's the difference between functional 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:36.719 medicine and regular medicine? Well, regular 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.179 medicine, the practice of medicine normally is 00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:42.799 the diagnosis and treatment of disease. full 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:45.259 -blown disease that you already have that reaches 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:47.200 the criteria of a medical diagnosis, meaning 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.960 it's bad enough to warrant the risks and expense 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:53.619 of standard medical treatment, usually drugs. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.520 So drugs are essential when you need to intervene 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.380 now and get a quick, controlled, reliable response 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:01.640 to something that might kill you if you don't 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:04.040 get that quick response. But what if you haven't 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.400 felt right for several months or years? What 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.739 if you've been to several doctors and been told 00:01:08.739 --> 00:01:10.780 that there's nothing wrong with you? Or what 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:12.439 if you've been told that you need some kind of 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:14.340 medication and tried it for a while and the side 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:16.200 effects were so bad you decided you'd rather 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.239 deal with the effects of whatever's bothering 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:21.579 you that maybe weren't as bad as the side effects 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:24.439 of that drug? Well, functional medicine primarily 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:27.840 uses the same diagnostic tests as regular medicine 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:30.060 to diagnose and figure out what's going on with 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:32.099 your body, what it's missing. But we look for 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:34.620 earlier signs of stress on your various organs 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:37.500 and tissues. Earlier signs of a problem with 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:39.840 your liver or your kidneys or a stress on your 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.420 immune system or your cardiovascular system. 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:46.540 And early enough that you hopefully don't need 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:49.560 medication yet. Or even if you do, you can still 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.870 do in combination with that. High intensity or 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.390 high dose nutrient therapy based on the testing, 00:01:55.469 --> 00:01:57.730 identifying nutrients that your body's lacking 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:00.609 that will enable it to heal itself if you get 00:02:00.609 --> 00:02:04.260 adequate amounts in bioavailable forms. of those 00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:07.299 nutrients. Things like adequate protein, adequate 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:10.500 vitamin D deficiency is very common. Deficiency 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:12.500 in hydrochloric acid in the stomach that allows 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:15.360 you to absorb protein and minerals is a very 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.039 common thing that I find a lot. So functional 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:20.219 medicine uses the same testing, but then usually, 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.860 well, instead of medication, sometimes in addition 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:24.800 to, there are medical doctors that practice functional 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.180 medicine with pharmaceuticals and better food 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.620 exercise and supplements. So all functional medicine 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:34.139 practitioners generally recommend Better food, 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:37.680 exercise, and supplements. Many, many disease 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:39.900 conditions get better if you just get out and 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:42.439 move your body once in a while. Everyone knows 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:45.759 the importance of good diet, but the particulars 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.000 vary from one person to the next. And with testing, 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.319 you can identify, are you getting way too much 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.419 starch and sugar in your diet? Are you not getting 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:55.080 enough protein? Are you not getting enough of 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:56.919 certain vitamins and minerals? We can identify 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.300 these things with testing and make adjustments 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:02.000 accordingly. So functional medicine mainly uses... 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.780 better food, exercise, and supplements to enable 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:08.599 your body to better heal itself. Well, what's 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:11.319 the difference between a drug and a nutrient 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:16.080 or a supplement? Well, drugs directly alter and 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.219 manipulate cell receptors and biochemical pathways. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.819 That's why they work nearly instantly. But it's 00:03:22.819 --> 00:03:25.280 also why they're potentially toxic and often 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.060 literally toxic, have side effects because they 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.960 interfere with your normal physiology. The normal 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.780 control mechanisms are overridden. And consuming 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:38.759 too much or too many drugs can easily kill you. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.180 100 ,000 people a year in this country on average 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:43.639 die from properly prescribed medication. Not 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.280 medical errors, not where they couldn't read 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.479 the doctor's handwriting, but taking medicine 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.620 as directed kills about 100 ,000 people in America. 00:03:51.689 --> 00:03:55.430 So drugs are essential in many cases, but there's 00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:57.610 lots of good reasons to try and find other options 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:00.969 if they're available. So nutrients, unlike drugs, 00:04:01.169 --> 00:04:05.050 nutrients are foods that our bodies have evolved 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:08.530 the ability to assimilate and utilize for sustaining 00:04:08.530 --> 00:04:11.530 life. They provide the raw materials that your 00:04:11.530 --> 00:04:14.669 body needs to... heal cells to create new cells, 00:04:14.830 --> 00:04:17.149 build and maintain living tissue. They're non 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:20.730 -toxic because they support your normal physiology 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:24.490 and the innate control mechanisms remain intact. 00:04:25.089 --> 00:04:28.089 In general, if you consume more than you need 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:31.589 of most nutrients, your body will simply excrete 00:04:31.589 --> 00:04:34.189 them. So a great referral for a practitioner 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.310 of functional medicine is someone who's been, 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:37.990 who's having a problem, has been to the regular 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:40.870 doctor and is not getting any better or maybe 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:42.920 is even been told that there's nothing that they 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.600 can do for them. So here's an example. Somebody 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.160 that just came in today, came in a few weeks 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:48.920 ago, he just came back today, a 24 -year -old 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:51.740 man with irregular bowel movements, going back 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:54.339 and forth between constipation, constipation 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:57.439 and diarrhea, and his stools are orange. And 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.500 his main complaint was abdominal pain. So he 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:01.240 had unexplained abdominal pain. Nobody could 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:04.060 figure out why his abdomen was hurting. And he'd 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:06.860 also lost 50 pounds in the last few months. So 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:08.199 when he went to his regular doctor, they found 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.000 out that he had a really elevated bilirubin, 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:14.439 which is often a sign of a gallbladder, gallstones, 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:17.860 or an inflamed gallbladder, or a stone blocking 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:20.240 the ducts that go from the gallbladder and the 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:22.079 liver and the pancreas to the small intestine. 00:05:23.170 --> 00:05:25.050 Could be sometimes a liver issue or an issue 00:05:25.050 --> 00:05:26.750 directly with the pancreas. Anyway, they did 00:05:26.750 --> 00:05:28.810 an ultrasound and confirmed that he didn't have 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:30.949 gallstones. He didn't have any blockages in the 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:33.389 gallbladder or the ducting. He didn't have any 00:05:33.389 --> 00:05:35.170 liver disease or any disease in the pancreas. 00:05:35.189 --> 00:05:37.930 Basically, everything on the ultrasound was clear. 00:05:38.850 --> 00:05:40.970 And so his doctor basically said, well, there's 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:42.970 nothing we can do. It'll probably resolve on 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:45.610 its own, come back if it gets worse. He wasn't 00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:48.740 very happy with that, to say the least. And so 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:50.980 I looked at his tests and ordered a few more 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:53.240 tests and told him that he probably has some 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.620 kind of chronic inflammatory infection or autoimmune 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:59.779 condition that's causing increased breakdown 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:04.139 of red blood cells. Bilirubin is a product of 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:06.519 the breakdown, the normal breakdown of red blood 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:11.519 cells, and it's yellow. And so if that bilirubin 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.620 has got to be coming from someplace and bilirubin 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.720 is normally excreted in the bile. But if he's 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:19.259 overproducing it, it's got to come from somewhere. 00:06:19.620 --> 00:06:21.220 So I ordered a couple more tests. One of them 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:23.879 was to get what's called a peripheral smear, 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:26.000 where it takes some blood and have a pathologist 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.220 look at it under a microscope. That takes a little 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:30.459 longer to do. We haven't gotten that test back 00:06:30.459 --> 00:06:33.800 yet. But with the latest blood work, we did find 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.139 that he had some stress on his kidneys, that 00:06:36.139 --> 00:06:39.500 he was severely deficient in vitamin D, and that 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:41.720 his white blood cell count was really low as 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.120 well, which means that he's got some kind of 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.939 chronic stress on his immune system. This is 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:49.120 something I see relatively frequently that often 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:52.759 gets ignored by most doctors. When you think 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.379 of an infection, usually you're looking for expecting 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:57.800 to find an increased white blood cell count. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.199 If you have a cold or the flu, you get the signs 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:03.240 of an infection that everybody knows about. You 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:08.930 feel achy, you get a fever, nausea. frequently 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:10.810 end up needing antibiotics, et cetera, to fight 00:07:10.810 --> 00:07:13.189 off that bug. Well, a chronic infection, chronic 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.430 doesn't mean severe. Chronic doesn't mean bad. 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:18.949 Chronic, like chronological or chronos, means 00:07:18.949 --> 00:07:20.870 time. It means something that's been there for 00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:23.370 a long time. It could be mild. It just means 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:25.930 it's been there for a while. So a chronic infection, 00:07:26.069 --> 00:07:28.829 the result of having some kind of bug, some kind 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:32.290 of bacteria, virus, parasite in your system that 00:07:32.290 --> 00:07:34.529 your body's never able to completely fight off. 00:07:35.129 --> 00:07:38.110 That causes a drain on your immune system and 00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:41.230 it results in the inability to keep up with demand. 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:43.810 So it causes your white cell count to go down. 00:07:44.029 --> 00:07:45.910 So it's really important if your white blood 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:48.610 cell count is too high, but it's also really 00:07:48.610 --> 00:07:51.550 important to know if it's too low and do something 00:07:51.550 --> 00:07:53.560 about it. So this is a young guy. He's pretty 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:55.319 smart. He was doing some things on his own. He 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:56.720 was really frustrated with what he wasn't, the 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.360 help he wasn't getting from his regular doctor. 00:07:58.459 --> 00:07:59.899 He was really excited to hear that there were 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:02.060 some other things that he needed to do. And in 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:03.699 the meantime, he'd done some reading on his own 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:06.339 and he figured out that there could be a problem 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:08.860 in his gut. And he went out on his own, found 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:11.399 some really good supplements to support the normal 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:14.819 gut microbiome. He was taking some good probiotics, 00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:17.600 some prebiotics and other things to support. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.920 boosting the immune system and restoring a healthier 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.040 microbiome in the gut, which was great. And it 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:26.579 had only been a couple of weeks he was doing 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.100 that, and we put him on some high -dose vitamin 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:32.279 D, some fish oil, a good multivitamin to get 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:34.779 minerals that he's probably deficient in, something 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:37.529 called loricidin. to help support the immune 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:40.389 system, and one supplement to support the kidneys. 00:08:40.470 --> 00:08:42.750 His blood tests also showed some stress on the 00:08:42.750 --> 00:08:44.970 kidneys. I also told him he needs to drink some 00:08:44.970 --> 00:08:47.149 more water, just getting adequate amounts of 00:08:47.149 --> 00:08:49.490 water, about half your body weight in ounces 00:08:49.490 --> 00:08:52.690 per day, or for most people, two or three quarts 00:08:52.690 --> 00:08:56.049 a day. If you're over 170, 180 pounds, I recommend 00:08:56.049 --> 00:08:58.870 closer to a gallon a day, and he was doing about 00:08:58.870 --> 00:09:01.690 half that. And so just those things will probably 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:03.909 resolve his kidney issues. He's already doing 00:09:03.909 --> 00:09:06.789 a little bit better. Some of his tests are already 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.149 improving and he's having much less pain and 00:09:10.149 --> 00:09:13.850 less discomfort and stools are starting to get 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:15.289 a little bit better. So, you know, in three months 00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:16.649 we'll retest him again and there's a very good 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:19.980 chance that he'll be fine. I'm Dr. Todd Bankley. 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:22.179 You're listening to Safe, Effective, Natural 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:24.360 Solutions to Almost Any Health Challenge. If 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:27.139 you're just tuning in now, we just spoke about 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:29.740 the difference between regular medicine and functional 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.559 medicine and talked about a case of a young man 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.080 who was having some abdominal discomfort and 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.500 not getting the results he was looking for. And 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:38.779 it looks like we're going to be able to get him 00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:40.600 feeling a lot better with some support for his 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:42.940 immune system. Last week, I ran out of time talking 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:45.200 about three more things I wanted to talk about 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.440 for naturally reducing. High blood pressure. 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.460 It's so important to check your blood pressure 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:55.500 so that you know if it's normal or not. And on 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:57.700 previous episodes, I've also talked a lot about 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:00.580 the importance of breathing clean air. Here in 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:03.799 the Western... West Coast and almost everywhere 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:07.379 now, actually, we're getting bombarded with particulates 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:09.960 in the air from wildfires and other fires and 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:12.080 that particulate matter from smoke and other 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.759 pollutants is damaging to so many parts of the 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:16.320 body. More and more research coming out about 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.039 that. And so I often encourage people to get 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:22.700 a HEPA filter, high efficiency particulate air 00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:25.700 HEPA filter, and use it in your bedroom so that 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:27.860 at least at night you're breathing clean air. 00:10:28.350 --> 00:10:31.549 If you or someone you know wakes up with post 00:10:31.549 --> 00:10:35.450 -nasal drip or itchy nose or sneezing or phlegm. 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:38.120 mainly first thing in the morning, then that's 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.659 a good thing for anyone with those symptoms to 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:42.860 try to breathe cleaner air all night with a HEPA 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:45.179 filter. And I have one in particular that I recommend. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.080 I've tried a bunch of different ones, and it's 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:48.919 important to get one that's quiet so that you 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.019 can sleep okay without the sound of it bothering 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:54.259 you and that has good filters that don't get 00:10:54.259 --> 00:10:57.440 eaten up quickly. So anyway, email me if you 00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.059 have a question about that. But this is an interesting 00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:01.740 study that just came out, how air filters can 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:04.000 help elevated blood pressure. This was published. 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.039 by Dr. Douglas Bruges, Ph .D. of the University 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.720 of Connecticut in Farmington, published in the 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.179 Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:17.299 It was a trial of 154, small study, 154 adults 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:21.539 living near I -93 and Route 38 in eastern Massachusetts. 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:24.399 And they were randomly assigned to each receive 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.000 a month of either HEPA filter filtration or a 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.100 sham filtration where they just had a HEPA filter 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.200 unit with no filters in it. And then they compared 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.809 them. And his group highlighted the growing literature 00:11:35.809 --> 00:11:38.549 that indicates that air purifiers have an important 00:11:38.549 --> 00:11:41.470 beneficial effect on blood pressure. Even in 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:46.360 places where the particulate matter is low. there's 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.460 lots of preliminary data that has been shown 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:51.220 that that could help. So the results came back 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:53.639 and showed that, on average, the participants' 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.860 blood pressure went down by three points, which 00:11:56.860 --> 00:12:00.019 might seem like a modest result, but it aligns 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:02.360 with other lifestyle interventions and things 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.929 that are commonly recommended for lowering. blood 00:12:04.929 --> 00:12:08.590 pressure is clinically significant. And the general 00:12:08.590 --> 00:12:11.029 recommendation is if you live within 200 meters 00:12:11.029 --> 00:12:14.490 or 200 yards, call it, of a high traffic highway 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:18.870 or within 100 yards of a high traffic road, then 00:12:18.870 --> 00:12:22.240 it's probably worth getting a HEPA filter. Here's 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.100 another exciting study that I just came across. 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.279 I'm often talking about the benefits of the gut 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.519 microbiome on literally every aspect of your 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.059 health. And blood pressure is no exception. It's 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.100 an interesting study that was published in the 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:37.730 Journal of the American Heart Association. where 00:12:37.730 --> 00:12:40.750 researchers gave a group of men butyrate enemas. 00:12:40.789 --> 00:12:42.450 Well, what's butyrate? We'll come back to that. 00:12:42.509 --> 00:12:44.350 So they gave them butyrate enemas and then did 00:12:44.350 --> 00:12:46.750 blood tests and stool tests and measured for 00:12:46.750 --> 00:12:49.169 changes in their blood pressure. And the end 00:12:49.169 --> 00:12:52.429 result is their daytime systolic, the top number, 00:12:52.509 --> 00:12:54.409 blood pressure, the most important one, the top 00:12:54.409 --> 00:12:57.070 number was significantly lower after giving them 00:12:57.070 --> 00:13:00.129 a butyrate enema. And their conclusion is this 00:13:00.129 --> 00:13:02.129 study suggests that increasing gut butyrate availability 00:13:02.129 --> 00:13:05.950 can improve blood pressure. But not a lot of 00:13:05.950 --> 00:13:08.519 people are going to want... a butyrate enema 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.460 very often, I wouldn't imagine. And here's the 00:13:11.460 --> 00:13:14.860 good news. Butyrate is a short -chain fatty acid. 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:17.500 Well, that's kind of technical. We don't have 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:19.259 time to go into the chemistry of that, but just 00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:22.200 take it on face value for now. Short -chain fatty 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:25.980 acids are, butyrate is one of them. There are 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:27.360 several others, and these are things that are 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.320 made by the gut bacteria, fermentation of dietary 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.769 fiber in the gut. And these SCFAs, short chain 00:13:34.769 --> 00:13:37.169 fatty acids, play a crucial role in maintaining 00:13:37.169 --> 00:13:39.669 gut health by providing energy for the beneficial 00:13:39.669 --> 00:13:42.389 bacteria and sustaining the gut barrier that 00:13:42.389 --> 00:13:44.409 prevents leaky gut. If you've ever heard anybody 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:46.610 said, oh, my doctor told me I have leaky gut 00:13:46.610 --> 00:13:49.230 and that can cause autoimmune conditions where 00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:51.669 things that are in your intestines that don't 00:13:51.669 --> 00:13:54.309 belong in your bloodstream leak through that 00:13:54.309 --> 00:13:56.809 thin barrier and end up in your bloodstream. 00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:58.789 And then your immune system attacks those things 00:13:58.789 --> 00:14:01.190 and healthy tissue gets caught in the crossfire. 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:03.700 the etiology the cause of a lot of autoimmune 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.340 conditions so these short chain fatty acids help 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:08.539 play a crucial role in maintaining that gut barrier 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:13.120 and they just generally reduce inflammation so 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.620 these short chain fatty acids are made by beneficial 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:19.639 bacteria in the gut and so a good way to even 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:21.340 better way to increase butyrate availability 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.500 to improve blood pressure, among other things, 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:27.100 is to do a stool test. Because a standard comprehensive 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:30.299 stool test, well, when I say standard, I shouldn't 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:32.559 say standard, I should say comprehensive. Because 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.059 the stool test that most doctors do in a typical 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:39.000 doctor's office medical setting is not generally 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:40.679 going to be very comprehensive. There are very 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:44.179 few labs that even do that. The best one is doctor's 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:48.720 data, in my opinion. The good one is Genova Diagnostics, 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.019 and there are a few others. But you're unlikely 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:53.700 to get any of those from a regular visit to a 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:57.240 doctor with any kind of a gastric. So anyway, 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.299 a comprehensive test will include measuring short 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:02.340 -chain fatty acids, directly measuring butyrate 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:05.039 production levels, and the beneficial bacteria 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.399 that produce those. So then you know what you 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:09.200 need. You know what you need to change in your 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.379 diet, sometimes with supplemental probiotics 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:13.980 and prebiotics to help your body make more of 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:16.960 these short -chain fatty acids on its own, and 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.340 then maintain the healthy bacteria in the gut 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:22.179 that will continue producing them. And then once 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:24.580 you have a better level, if they're deficient, 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.879 then among other things, among so many other 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.039 things, there's even a good chance that can help 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.519 lower your blood pressure if it's high. One of 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:34.519 the most commonly overlooked causes, potential 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.379 causes, and often a significant existing cause 00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:40.700 for a patient that I see that most doctors don't 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:44.519 even check for is subclinical anemia. So anemia 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.039 is defined as the inability to produce enough 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.600 red blood cells to carry oxygen to all of your 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.440 tissue in adequate amounts. There are a number 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.759 of different ways to test that, but the most 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.200 common one is just to do a CBC and measure your 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:57.820 red blood cell count and your hemoglobin and 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:00.059 your hematocrit. And if that's within the broad 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:02.690 standard medical range, then you do not get a 00:16:02.690 --> 00:16:04.950 diagnosis of anemia. And that's fine. They're 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:07.230 basically waiting until it's bad enough to justify 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:11.210 certain medications or a blood transfusion in 00:16:11.210 --> 00:16:14.789 the most severe instance. But many, many, many 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:16.730 people who are fatigued and don't understand 00:16:16.730 --> 00:16:19.210 why or who are not healing and repairing or have 00:16:19.210 --> 00:16:22.269 a chronic condition that just never heals have 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:26.389 anemia. They're not carrying enough oxygen to 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:28.149 all their cells, which is obviously essential. 00:16:28.570 --> 00:16:30.940 And it doesn't meet the medical criteria. but 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:33.440 it is still not ideal. It's outside the narrower 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.059 functional range, these same tests, and you can 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:39.559 identify that you're slightly deficient. You 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:43.000 have slightly low iron, slightly reduced hemoglobin 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.820 or hematocrit, or increased concentration of 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:47.940 hemoglobin. If you're not making enough new red 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:51.820 blood cells because of a B12 deficiency, a folate 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:55.399 and B12 and sometimes B6 deficiency, then the 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:57.980 concentration and the average size of your red 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:01.200 blood cells gets bigger. So your red blood cells 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.080 live about three months, and as they get older, 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:04.940 if you're not delivering enough oxygen to your 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:08.000 cells, your body senses that, and the older cells 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.700 that haven't been replaced yet like they should 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:13.319 have get bigger to try and take up the slack, 00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:17.799 and that shows up on a CBC. Interestingly, pernicious 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.539 anemia. Anyone heard of pernicious anemia? That 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:24.630 sounds pretty awful. Until the discovery in 1920s 00:17:24.630 --> 00:17:26.609 that liver cured it, it was a death sentence. 00:17:26.910 --> 00:17:30.130 Doctors would identify that you have anemia and 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:32.609 they'd tell you, sorry, there's nothing we can 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:35.569 do. It might take two, three years, but you're 00:17:35.569 --> 00:17:38.410 going to die because your body will eventually 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:41.789 be unable to produce enough red blood cells to 00:17:41.789 --> 00:17:44.690 carry enough oxygen to sustain life. And in the 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:47.150 19th century, this was common. People would just 00:17:47.150 --> 00:17:50.279 be told that... There's nothing you can do, and 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.579 they would eventually die from lack of red blood 00:17:52.579 --> 00:17:55.400 cells and oxygen. So then in the 1920s, some 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:57.660 physicians found out that if you fed people liver, 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.299 it would cure Pernicillinemia. And then in the 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:04.759 1960s, they identified vitamin B12, the fact 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:07.660 that vitamin B12 was the thing in liver. Vitamin 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:10.180 B12 is stored in the liver, in our livers and 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:12.059 in the liver of animals. If you eat cow's liver, 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:13.940 pig's liver, any other kind of liver, you'll 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:17.480 be getting some B12 from that food. Carnivores, 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:21.400 like big cats, animals that are carnivores, that 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.440 don't get B vitamins from plant -based sources. 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.220 You'll notice in the wild, they often eat the 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:29.019 liver and the other organs first because they 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:31.339 know that they're full. They just have evolved 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:35.339 to know that they need the nutrients that are 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:38.839 in that tissue. So now, you know, it's very, 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:41.480 very rare to get a diagnosis of pernicious anemia. 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:43.059 If you've got a smart doctor, all you need to 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:46.299 do is supplement folate and B12 and your body 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:50.359 will naturally correct that. but only if it's 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:52.279 way outside the medical range. So a lot of people 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.480 do have deficiencies, slight anemia from lack 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.740 of iron, sufficient iron, and or sufficient vitamin 00:18:59.740 --> 00:19:04.119 B12, folate, and sometimes vitamin B6. Well, 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:05.759 here's an interesting study that was just published 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.359 in General American Medical Association based 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:11.940 on data from more than 8 ,000 people who had 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:14.240 laboratory iron levels on file as part of the 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.160 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:21.220 that was done from 2017. to 2020. And the headline 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:24.359 is nearly one third of U .S. adults may have 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.339 low iron levels that can add to problems ranging 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:31.180 from fatigue to heart failure. Even a minor anemia 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:33.599 is a constant strain on your heart and it's a 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.940 silent strain. You never know you have it until 00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:38.119 your heart just gives out or you have a heart 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:40.960 attack or a stroke. So it goes on more striking. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.180 7 % of U .S. adults have full -blown anemia that 00:19:45.180 --> 00:19:47.519 meets that medical criteria. But more striking 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.970 was the finding that a significant portion of 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:52.930 the population may have less severe iron deficiencies 00:19:52.930 --> 00:19:56.630 that have been linked to serious health problems, 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:59.829 including restless leg syndrome, mental and thinking 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:02.849 difficulties, reduced physical abilities just 00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:06.470 from the fatigue, and heart failure. Well, this 00:20:06.470 --> 00:20:07.990 is exciting. This is the first time I've seen 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:10.930 a study that actually measured for earlier signs 00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:14.710 of some of these functional effects of deficiencies. 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:21.319 14 % of people have absolute iron deficiency 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:23.240 where they don't have enough iron stored. That's 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.460 measured with a test called ferritin. And another 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:28.359 15 % have functional iron deficiency, which they're 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.579 measuring from doing a CBC and measuring your 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:33.099 red blood cell count, hematocrit, and hemoglobin. 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:36.440 So this is a common yet underappreciated public 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.559 health problem, said study author Leo Buckley, 00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:42.000 doctor of pharmacology and clinical pharmacology 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.720 specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:46.869 Boston. Because routine blood work, as part of 00:20:46.869 --> 00:20:49.049 an annual physical, doesn't typically include 00:20:49.049 --> 00:20:51.470 a check of iron levels unless there's an obvious 00:20:51.470 --> 00:20:55.289 cause for concern. And so this study was looking 00:20:55.289 --> 00:20:57.089 at regular people who would otherwise not have 00:20:57.089 --> 00:20:59.609 been screened. And, you know, treatment of low 00:20:59.609 --> 00:21:02.650 iron levels, often you can just remedy it with 00:21:02.650 --> 00:21:05.430 supplemental capsules, supplemental iron with, 00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:08.130 you know, a regular supplement. If it's severe 00:21:08.130 --> 00:21:10.650 enough, you might need to do IV iron, intravenous 00:21:10.650 --> 00:21:14.369 iron, for a while. Sometimes just getting more 00:21:14.369 --> 00:21:16.309 iron in your diet can do the trick because your 00:21:16.309 --> 00:21:19.170 body's very good at storing iron, but it just 00:21:19.170 --> 00:21:21.609 doesn't tell you if you're deficient in it until 00:21:21.609 --> 00:21:24.609 it gets really, really bad. Well, here's another 00:21:24.609 --> 00:21:27.529 huge problem. Millions of people, especially 00:21:27.529 --> 00:21:30.730 menstruating women, know they have iron deficiency. 00:21:31.349 --> 00:21:33.789 And their doctors give them a supplement and 00:21:33.789 --> 00:21:35.930 say, take this iron, you'll be fine. And they 00:21:35.930 --> 00:21:38.009 don't. They don't take the iron because it causes 00:21:38.009 --> 00:21:41.009 constipation and cramping in the gut. And the 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:45.009 reason for that is 99 .999 % of iron supplements 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:48.390 on the market are something called ferrous sulfate. 00:21:48.430 --> 00:21:50.509 And that's the most common form because it's 00:21:50.509 --> 00:21:53.829 cheap. It's almost free. It's really cheap. But 00:21:53.829 --> 00:21:56.809 the problem with it is it's very difficult for 00:21:56.809 --> 00:21:58.849 most people to break down and absorb efficiently. 00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:01.769 So it causes cramping. and constipation. There's 00:22:01.769 --> 00:22:04.349 an easy solution for that. There is a readily 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:08.190 available other form of iron called bisglycinate. 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.220 Bisque glycinate form of iron never causes cramping 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:15.000 or other problems for anybody. I've been giving 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.160 it to thousands of people for over 25 years, 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:20.460 and literally I've never had a single patient 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.220 that had difficulty with it. So it's usually 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:25.559 really easy to fix just by taking the bisque 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:29.140 glycinate form of supplemental form in capsules 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:31.420 and then retesting to make sure that your iron 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:34.819 levels are good. And so the takeaway really is 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:37.619 just even a slight anemia can raise your blood 00:22:37.619 --> 00:22:40.720 pressure. and causes a constant mild strain on 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:42.839 your heart, which never gets a break. It's continually 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:48.180 beating 24 -7, and even a slight deficiency in 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:50.140 these things puts an extra strain on it that's 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.099 easy to fix. It looks like we've got time for 00:22:52.099 --> 00:22:53.859 just one more here. This study was published 00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:56.240 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.109 Low -level tragus stimulation reduces... blood 00:23:00.109 --> 00:23:02.609 pressure in young individuals with hypertension. 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:05.329 So this is a randomized controlled trial. It's 00:23:05.329 --> 00:23:08.529 a small trial, but significant. Tragus is a cartilage 00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:11.329 on the outer ear where they applied this low 00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:13.569 -level electrical stimulation on the surface 00:23:13.569 --> 00:23:17.430 to stimulate the vagus nerve. So it's also known 00:23:17.430 --> 00:23:21.130 as transcutaneous across the skin vagus nerve 00:23:21.130 --> 00:23:24.170 stimulation. What's the vagus nerve? Nothing 00:23:24.170 --> 00:23:27.309 to do with Las Vegas, V -A -G -U -S, the vagus 00:23:27.309 --> 00:23:31.089 nerve. is the main nerve of the parasympathetic 00:23:31.089 --> 00:23:33.009 nervous system. It's a cranial nerve that comes 00:23:33.009 --> 00:23:36.170 directly off the base of your brain, comes down 00:23:36.170 --> 00:23:38.150 through your neck, and then once it reaches your 00:23:38.150 --> 00:23:40.690 abdomen, branches out and innervates everything 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:42.829 in your abdomen. You've got the, everyone's heard 00:23:42.829 --> 00:23:44.589 of the fight or flight sympathetic nervous system. 00:23:44.769 --> 00:23:47.750 The parasympathetic is rest and digest or calming 00:23:47.750 --> 00:23:50.210 and relaxing. So stimulation of the vagus nerve, 00:23:50.269 --> 00:23:52.650 the parasympathetic nervous system, calms you, 00:23:52.690 --> 00:23:54.650 reduces your blood pressure. And so you can reduce 00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:57.150 it directly by putting a little device. You can 00:23:57.150 --> 00:23:59.440 order. these things they're very uh you know 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.180 low level so it means that anyone can try it 00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:03.880 just to see if it works you can buy one on amazon 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:06.440 and see that's just another way if you have questions 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:09.079 about that email me another way that anyone can 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.599 use a small simple device to reduce their blood 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:14.880 pressure. As always, thank you for tuning in. 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:17.819 Remember, the condition of your body is always 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:20.579 more important than any disease that you've been 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:23.700 diagnosed with. Invest in your most valuable 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:25.779 asset, your health. Thank you for tuning in. 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.539 Have a wonderful weekend. You've been listening 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:32.019 to Safe, Effective Natural Solutions with Dr. 00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:34.720 Todd Binkley. If you have a health question you 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.119 want discussed on the show, email your health 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:41.000 questions to drbinkley at binkleyhealingcenter 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:58.359 Here on 98 .3 FM, The Word.