Health & Fitness

Worldwide, we’re seeing strong growth in organics and grass fed farming. More and more Americans are becoming familiarized with the drawbacks of factory farmed beef, and the fact that when herbivores are grazed naturally, without hormones, antibiotics and other drugs, you end up with a healthier — and generally safer, less contaminated — product.

According to a May 23, 2019, report by Bloomberg, grass fed beef sales rose by 15% in the last year.¹ Unfortunately, the current food system still leaves a lot to be desired and the largest players still cling to the status quo of large-scale factory farms that produce massive amounts of toxic and disease-causing waste.

For example, at least some of the foodborne outbreaks from romaine lettuce occurring in 2017, 2018 and 2019 appear to be the result of bacterial contamination originating from E. coli-contaminated manure.²

Built around efficiency and profit, inevitable quality and safety deficiencies are par the course. International trade agreements also protect profits over safety and consumer ideals.

While traceability is key for food safety, the U.S. appeal for country of origin labeling was rejected by the World Trade Organization in 2015 for unfairly discriminating against imports.³ In other words, you’re not allowed to know where your food comes from simply because that might influence your purchasing decision.

The ramifications are keenly evident in the beef industry, where tainted beef is being exported around the globe while local ranchers struggle to compete with bottom-priced imports. One piece of good news, though, is that the U.S. recently decided to maintain its ban on Brazilian beef, which in 2017 was found to contain vaccine-induced abscesses and other quality problems.

US Upholds Ban on Brazilian Beef Imports

June 22, 2017, the U.S. suspended imports of fresh beef from Brazil,⁴ the fifth largest beef exporter to the U.S. The ban came on the heels of an investigation by Brazil’s Federal Police, which revealed Brazilian food inspectors accepted bribes, falsified sanitary permits and allowed expired meats to be sold across the globe.⁵

Nearly 1,900 politicians also received bribes to the tune of $186 million over the course of a few years, including former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.⁶

Dozens of federal food inspectors were placed under arrest, and J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS SA, one of Brazil’s largest meatpackers and a prime suspect in the corruption investigation, agreed to pay $3.2 billion in fines.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began inspecting 100% of Brazilian meat imports in March 2017, after the scandal made international headlines.⁷ Among the problems discovered during inspection were abscesses in the meat — a problem Brazilian deputy agriculture minister Eumar Novacki claimed was due to rare adverse reactions in some cattle to vaccines that prevent foot-and-mouth disease.⁸

According to Novacki, the reactions pose no risk to public health, but their presence still highlighted widespread quality control problems. As reported by Reuters June 26, 2017:⁹

“The Agricultural Ministry's linkage of the abscesses to vaccines was questioned by some experts. Vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease are the No. 1 vaccines used in animals worldwide, said James Roth, director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University …

Roth said ‘any injection into an animal might rarely produce an abscess’ if the needle is dirty. However, ‘]I]f abscesses are showing up in the meat, there has to be a failure in the slaughter plant because those should be caught and removed’ …”

While several countries banned Brazilian meat in March 2017, the U.S. didn’t suspend imports until June 22 that year,¹⁰ after meat inspections resulted in 11% of Brazilian meat imports being sent back. Normally, the rejection rate is around 1%.

March 12, 2019, after a nearly two-year-long ban, Brazil's Minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina said she was optimistic that upcoming talks with the White House would lift the ban,^11,12 but things didn’t turn out as she’d hoped.

In October 2019, the U.S. told Brazil the ban on fresh meat imports will remain in place.¹³ While it’s heartening to know that the U.S. is insisting on proof of change, there are still plenty of problems in the American beef market that are being overlooked.

Imported Beef Labeled ‘Product of the USA’

For example, while the Tariff Act of 1930 requires imported beef to be labeled with its country-of-origin “unless the beef undergoes substantial transformation” in the U.S.,¹⁴ the U.S. Department of Agriculture has argued that imported beef can be treated as U.S. beef if it comes from a country with food safety standards that are equivalent to those in the U.S.

So, as long as it’s processed in a U.S. facility, it can be labeled “Product of USA”¹⁵ — even if that processing involves nothing more than unwrapping and rewrapping the package, or cutting a piece of meat into smaller pieces.

This misrepresentation has significant ramifications for American farmers, who have to compete with lower priced imports. According to the American Grassfed Association (AGA), “U.S. cattle producers received higher prices for their cattle when the origins of foreign beef was distinguished in the marketplace.”¹⁶

This is particularly true for grass fed beef, about 80% of which is imported into the U.S. from other countries,¹⁷ primarily Australia. Considering the steady growth of grass fed ranching in the U.S., why are we still importing the vast majority of it?

One of the main reasons is because Australia can produce it at a lower cost, as their climate allows for year-round grazing. In fact, in Australia, grass fed is the norm; 70% of the cattle there are raised on open pasture.¹⁸

Raising grass fed beef in Australia costs 59 cents per pound. In the U.S., that cost is around $1.55 per pound for large-scale producers, and may go as high as $4.26 per pound for a small producer.¹⁹

Contaminated Meat Is Commonplace

Contamination with pathogens and drugs is another widespread problem plaguing the conventional meat industry. As reported in “Majority of Supermarket Meats Are Still Riddled With Superbugs,” 8 in 10 supermarket meats are contaminated with fecal bacteria, many of which are resistant to antibiotics, and factory farmed meats are three times more likely to contain drug-resistant bacteria than grass fed beef.

This really is no surprise, since overuse of antibiotics in livestock is the primary driver of antibiotic resistance, and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) routinely use antibiotics. They also use a number of other drugs, and they too can end up contaminating the meat.

As reported by Consumer Reports in August 2018,²⁰ drugs such as ketamine (a hallucinogenic anesthetic), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory pain reliever known to cause blood disorders and cancer), nitroimidazole (an antifungal drug with suspected carcinogenic activity) and chloramphenicol (an antibiotic associated with toxic effects in humans) are all found in the U.S. meat supply.

“The data — as well as Consumer Reports’ review of other government documents and interviews with farmers, industry experts, government officials and medical professionals — raise serious concerns about the safeguards put in place to protect the U.S. meat supply,” Consumer Reports states.²¹

As for how are these drugs enter the meat supply, Consumer Reports lists a number of possible routes, including improper use (such as giving too high a dose or administering too close to slaughter), counterfeit drugs,²² contaminated feed and intentional misuse.

In my view, the factory farm system is indeed a breeding ground for intentional misuse, as profits are tied to the weight of each animal. For example, Consumer Reports notes that:²³

“… cattle that can’t stand on their own are not allowed to be used for meat. So … lame cattle are sometimes given phenylbutazone — a painkiller — shortly before slaughter, so they can ‘get the animal through the slaughterhouse gates without anybody looking closer.’”

Troublesome Contaminants Found in Nonorganic Collagen Too

Contaminants are also found in nonorganic collagen products, which makes sense since they’re a byproduct of the meat industry. Unless certified organic and grass fed, that collagen is most likely a CAFO byproduct.

As reported in “Buyer Beware: Most Collagen Supplements Sourced From CAFOs,” testing of nonorganic bone broth and bone broth protein products in 2017 revealed the presence of contaminants such as:

• Butylparaben, an endocrine-disrupting chemical associated with reduced testosterone levels²⁴
• Cyclandelate, a vasodilator drug
• Netilmicin, an antibiotic

Other studies have shown CAFO animal bones and hides can also be a source of heavy metals such as lead,²⁵ which is another potential concern when buying nonorganic animal products.

The take-home message here is that if you’re going to use a bovine collagen product (derived from cows), you’ll want to make sure it’s certified grass fed, ideally by the American Grassfed Association, which has the most rigorous standards.

Keep in mind that this applies not only to collagen supplements but also to gelatin, commonly used in cooking and baking. If you’re using a poultry-based collagen supplement, make sure it’s certified organic by the USDA,²⁶ as this is the only organic label that relates directly to food.

Authentic Grass Fed Beef Matters

Mounting research shows regenerative grazing methods:

As with collagen products, the only way to ensure you’re buying American-raised grass fed beef is to look for the AGA grass fed label. No other grass fed certification offers the same comprehensive assurances as the AGA, and no other grass fed program ensures compliance using third-party audits. Unless the beef has an AGA grass fed label, you really won’t know what you’re getting. Chances are, its imported.

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Aspirin has a long history, dating back nearly 4,000 years when Sumerians wrote of using willow bark for pain relief.¹ The ancient Egyptians used willow bark to reduce body temperature and inflammation, and the Greek physician Hippocrates used it to help relieve pain and fever. By the early 1800s Europeans were researching the effects of salicylic acid and how to determine a correct dosage of it.²

In 1899, Bayer begin distributing the powder, and it was sold as tablets over the counter in 1915. Doctors gave aspirin to Alexi Nicholaevich Romanov of Russia, who had hemophilia. The aspirin likely made the bleeding worse. When the family’s mystic Grigori Rasputin advised the family to stop modern treatments and rely on spiritual healing, the bleeding improved.

In an article published in 2010 in CNN, one physician from Harvard Medical School recommended reducing the risk of stomach bleeding associated with aspirin by taking a second medication — Prilosec.

By 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reversed their recommendation, concluding data did not support aspirin as a preventive medication for those who had not had a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular problems.³ In this population, not only had benefit not been established, but “dangerous bleeding into the brain or stomach” was a significant risk.

Salicylates Found Naturally in Some Foods

In the same year the FDA withdrew their recommendation for daily aspirin intake to reduce cardiovascular risk, one meta-analysis was published showing a reduction and cancer mortality in those taking daily low-dose aspirin.⁴ The researchers hypothesized the effect was the result of inhibition “of cox-2 in preneoplastic lesions.”

Their results were supported by a second meta-analysis⁵ published in the same year finding a reduction in nonvascular deaths and cancer with low dose aspirin. In another study published in 2018,⁶ researchers found data suggesting aspirin is associated with a lower risk of developing several types of cancer, including colorectal, esophageal, pancreatic, ovarian and endometrial.

As New York Times best seller author and nutrition expert Dr. Michael Greger writes,⁷ animal products made up 5% or less of their diet before Japanese citizens began adopting a Western diet.⁸ During the same period, there was a vast difference in cancer deaths between the U.S. and Japan.

The age-adjusted death rates for colon, breast, ovary and prostate were five to 10 times lower in Japan, and leukemia, lymphoma and pancreatic cancer death rates were three to four times lower. In part, this protection may have been the result of phytonutrients found in the plant-based diet, including salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin.

The highest concentrations in plants is found in herbs and spices with the greatest amount in cumin. Researchers have found eating a teaspoon of cumin will spike your blood levels of salicylic acid to the same degree that taking a baby aspirin does. Greger⁹ quotes one study describing the lower incidence of colorectal cancer in areas where people eat diets rich in salicylic acid:¹⁰ 

“The population of rural India, with an incidence of colorectal cancer which is one of the lowest in the world, has a diet that could be extremely rich in salicylic acid. It contains substantial amounts of fruits, vegetables, and cereals flavored with large quantities of herbs and spices.”

In another analysis¹¹ comparing organic versus nonorganic vegetables, scientists found soup made with organic vegetables contained more salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is produced by plants in response to stress, such as when they’re being bitten by bugs. Plants treated with pesticides do not undergo this type of stress, and studies show they contain six times less salicylic acid than those grown organically.

Is Aspirin Overrated?

Evidence supports the assertion that a plant-rich diet offers protection against certain cancers. Aspirin used to be recommended to reduce clotting time and the risk of heart attack and ischemic stroke, triggered by a clot to the brain. However, long-term use of aspirin has been associated with harmful effects, including hemorrhagic stroke, or bleeding in the brain when a clot doesn’t form.

In addition to aspirin side effects, results from a trio of studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated daily low-dose aspirin had no measurably significant health benefits for healthy older adults. Instead, the data demonstrated it did not prolong disability-free survival and contributed to the risk of major bleeding.

In one study the authors found those with helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection who used low dose aspirin had a higher risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding then those who took aspirin without the infection.

In another study¹² researchers found those who used aspirin regularly, which they defined as at least once a week for one year, experienced an increased risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Results from a separate study¹³ also point to a connection between frequent aspirin use and AMD, linking increasing frequency of use to higher risk.

Nattokinase: Aspirin Alternative Without the Side-Effects

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death¹⁴ in people of most racial and ethnic groups in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one person dies every 37 seconds from heart disease and cardiovascular deaths account for 25% of all deaths reported.

Using aspirin to reduce the risk of clot formation comes with significant risk. A better alternative is nattokinase, produced by the bacteria bacillus subtilis when soybeans are being fermented to produce natto. This is a fermented soybean product that has been a traditional food in Japan for thousands of years.

Without using conventional drugs, nattokinase has demonstrated the ability to reduce chronic rhinosinusitis and dissolve excess fibrin in blood vessels, which improves circulation and reduces the risk of serious clotting. Another benefit is the ability to decrease blood viscosity and improve flow, which consequently lowers blood pressure.

Data also showed consuming nattokinase decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure and demonstrated effectiveness in reducing deep vein thrombosis in those who were on long-haul flights or vehicle travel. Studies have demonstrated administration of a single-dose can enhance clot breakdown and anticoagulation.

Each of these factors affects your long-term cardiovascular health and risk for heart disease. In one study,¹⁵ researchers wrote nattokinase is a “unique natural compound that possesses several key cardiovascular beneficial effects for patients with CVD and is therefore an ideal drug candidate for the prevention and treatment of CVD.”

Could Earthworms Hold One Key to Heart Health?

One of the drawbacks of pharmaceutical interventions, including thrombolytics, antiplatelets and anticoagulants, is that they interfere with the anticoagulation system and carry a risk of major bleeding.¹⁶ Lumbrokinase is a secondary option that works as a fibrinolytic enzyme, activating the plasminogen system and direct fibrinolysis.

The compound also indirectly achieves anticoagulation through inhibition of platelet function. Additionally, lumbrokinase has an enzyme opposing the coagulation system. Research has demonstrated it promotes fibrinolysis but also fibrinogenesis, meaning it may have a built-in balance system that contributes to the safety record.

Interestingly, this complex enzyme is extracted from earthworms and is sometimes referred to as earthworm powder enzymes. Eastern medicine has used earthworms for thousands of years, and Chinese medicine practitioners believe they possess properties to “invigorate blood, resolve stasis and unblock the body’s meridians and channels.”

They are commonly found in a traditional herbal formula used to treat ischemic or thromboembolic conditions. To date, those producing lumbrokinase cannot make any therapeutic claims. Available studies have demonstrated safety and effectiveness in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke and impressive results in the treatment of coronary arterial disease including those with unstable angina.

Lumbrokinase has also been evaluated as an antimetastatic and antitumor agent, with evidence demonstrating a potential use in anticoagulation to limit cancer growth and metastasis. The authors of two review papers found adverse rates to be 0.7% to 3% with most symptoms being a mild headache, nausea, dizziness and constipation, which resolved when the enzyme was discontinued.

Neither of the reviews found the enzyme triggered bleeding or adverse effects in the kidney or liver. Both nattokinase and lumbrokinase have a lower side effect profile than aspirin and provide much of the same benefits to the cardiovascular system. While aspirin is no longer universally recommended, consider speaking with your physician to include nattokinase or lumbrokinase in your heart health regimen.

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Emily Givler¹ is a functional genetic nutrition consultant with the NutriGenetic Research Institute and Tree of Life, founded by Robert Miller, a traditional naturopath and trailblazer in the field of functional genomics, which looks at the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced "snips") of genes.

Here, Givler discusses the benefits of the urine organic acid test (OAT) — a little-known test that can provide you with valuable insight into your biochemical individuality.

"We're all living in this super toxic world, so everyone is being confronted by insult and injury to their bodies every day. Even those of us who are in this field can tweak things based on our biochemistry to make things work better for us," she says.

"There's not one right answer for everybody. We've got to find what makes us unique and find those places where we're a little bit more vulnerable and support those areas appropriately."

Givler's Personal Story

Givler's own health challenges were in part what drove her into the field of functional nutrition. She explains:

"I started with chronic pain and pretty excessive fatigue as a teenager … I had test after test and really got no answers. It took about five years before I got a fibromyalgia diagnosis. At the time, it was reassuring to know that this wasn't all in my head. Other people felt this way too.

But where I got frustrated was the only recommendations I was given were narcotic painkillers or antidepressants … I was still a teenager. I decided I wanted to have a liver and kidneys by the time that I was 40, so I did not go down that route.

But I really had to carve out my own path to try to regain my health. I definitely had some missteps along the way. I stopped eating meat. I started eating a lot of spinach, beets and Swiss chard. Sounds good, right? I was eating these three meals a day, seven days a week and just felt worse and worse.

My rheumatologist told me to plan on being disabled by the time I was 30. I was about 20 at the time and thinking, 'Boy, I knew to expect disability, but I didn't think it would happen this fast.'

It turned out I was really dealing with extremely high levels of oxalates, which cause crystalline precipitates to form in the muscle and connective tissue. This was causing much of my pain and depleting my nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which was zapping my energy. I looked like I had fibromyalgia. I really think a lot of people who have that label are probably dealing with something similar.

The healthy foods I was eating, the spinach and the beets, are sky-high in oxalates. I don't want to suggest that no one should eat them, but I was poisoning myself with these healthy foods … The lowest my pain level ever got was an 8 out of 10.

I can say that now, almost two decades later, it's completely managed with no painkillers … There are too many people who suffer every day. They think they're doing the right things. On paper, they're doing the right things. But what's right for one person may be totally wrong for them, [and] there are ways you can figure this out rather than just fumbling through the way I did."

SNP and OAT Testing Are a Powerful Combination

The irrefutable evidence Givler needed was found in her OAT test. She'd also done Miller's functional genomics test, which further supported her conclusion that her fibromyalgia was related to an excess of dietary oxalates.

Indeed, the combination of functional genomics testing and OAT can be very powerful. When I had the SNP test done, it revealed I have a genetic variant that is essentially equivalent to celiac disease, with the crucial difference that it does not cause any noticeable gastrointestinal issues. Still, this genetic flaw means I must abstain from gluten to optimize my health and avoid autoimmune problems. Turns out I have a problem with oxalate as well.

"As clinicians, we tend to get into the habit of wanting to put people on a protocol. We find something that works and we push it. It may work for a lot of people, but there are always going to be people who slip through the cracks because there are differences in our biochemistry," Givler says.

"Whether it's differences because of genetic predispositions that may make us metabolize things, like oxalates, histamine or glutamate, differently than the average person, or because of particular environmental insults that we're exposed to, either because of our occupation or because of our geography — those things pile up and may make us fall outside of that normal box.

If we can use genetics as kind of the framework around which we build our protocols, and then use functional testing like the urine organic acid testing, we can more precisely target the types of dietary choices or nutritional, supplemental interventions, and in some cases, lifestyle changes, we need to implement to really propel us towards health …

I think histamine foods are a really good example. We can read volumes about how good fermented foods are for your gut … and how we should be eating these things every day. But if you can't clear histamine, or if you're dealing with excessive mast cell activation, and you bring these foods into your diet, you may set off a catastrophic cascade of events and make your symptoms exponentially worse.

Too often then, you're going to be told, 'You're just having die-off. Just keep going. You're just not doing enough of it,' when actually you may be making yourself sicker. Getting the right guidance with the right functional testing can really make a huge difference in people getting on the right plan for themselves."

The Most Common Genetic Disorder in the World

Givler's SNP test also revealed she has glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) insufficiency, which is one of the most common enzyme insufficiencies in the world.

"This is where things get complicated," she says. "Very few of us are dealing with just one thing. We have to see where these patterns of weakness kind of pile up … G6PD insufficiency … can result in a significant loss of NADPH. That can increase inflammation in the body and decrease mitochondrial function.

That, piled on top of my genetic predispositions to over-absorb oxalates, which will also deplete NADPH, really gives me a one-two punch when it comes to energy … [Dr. Mercola] and I have spoken pretty extensively about things I can do to rebuild my nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and NADPH levels. That has really helped me to propel my health to the next level as well."

NADPH may in fact be as important as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), because while it lowers inflammation, it's also the primary source of electrons in your body to internally recharge antioxidants such as glutathione, vitamin C and vitamin E. If that's not working, it's very difficult to get healthy.

The good news is there are simple and inexpensive ways to improve your NADPH, such as glycine supplementation. The bad news is you won't know you have a serious NADPH problem unless you do these two tests.

I my view, doing genomic and OAT testing can go a long way toward figuring out what you need to do if you have a chronic complex problem and not getting better, and Givler is quite skilled in interpreting these tests. In my case, she also detected a B2 insufficiency. She explains:

"So few people are thinking about B1, B2 and B6, but they are critical. For you, for true metabolic flexibility, getting adequate B2 to work with the level of fat that you're eating was a big piece of it. Interestingly, with the gluten, it was not just the SNP test that showed it. That was reflected on the organic acid test as well. It took about four months, being strictly gluten-free, for you to get that metabolite back in line …

It's amazing how much insight we can get from looking at the right functional testing. These two are just a one-two punch for figuring out, 'Is it some inborn issue that you need more of a certain nutrient than someone else, or is it just poor dietary choices for you? Is it an environmental toxin?' When we pair [SNP and OAT] together, so many of those pieces really come to light."

Is Glyphosate Exposure Affecting Your Health?

There are at least two types of glyphosate screens currently available, one by Great Plains Analytical Laboratory² and another by Health Research Institute (HRI) Laboratory, which is the glyphosate test kit I carry in my online store. Certain patterns in your OAT results can also be indicative of a problem with glyphosate exposure.

"We can see patterns when there is high level of glyphosate exposure," Givler says. "Glyphosate's very disruptive for the gut microbiome but it doesn't kill all species uniformly.

If there are elevations in clostridia species, yeast and depleted beneficial bacteria, that is one pattern you can see with glyphosate exposure, because it'll kill the lactobacilli and the bifidobacterium and leave some of the more opportunistic organisms, which will make you more vulnerable to lipopolysaccharides.

Glyphosate also breaks down into oxalate. For some people who are not dealing with the genetic predisposition but are dealing with the secondary hyperoxaluria, that may be a result of glyphosate as well. If we see a lot of mineral depletions — since glyphosate is a mineral chelator — that may be an indicator that there are some problems.

High succinate on the OAT test also can be an indicator, because succinate and glycine combine to move into the heme pathway. Without the glycine, if it's being disrupted by glyphosate, that level may be elevated. If you're seeing high oxalates, high succinate, high clostridia and low good bacteria, I would start looking for glyphosate exposure."

A Clinical Example: My Personal OAT Results

To give you an idea of what OAT might tell you, I share my own test results in this interview, which Givler interpreted for me. My first OAT was in August, and the results shocked me. It was not at all what I expected considering how strict I am about living a healthy lifestyle and eating a healthy organic diet.

"There were definitely some things out of line," Givler says. "One of the first things that I always tell my clients is this is a written explanation for why you're feeling how you're feeling. Sometimes when people see things out of line, they get really upset about it …

But if we don't know what's wrong, then we don't know how to bring you back into balance. I'm a data lover. The more data we can collect, the better. This showed us that your gut was not in the best of shape. You were maybe overdoing it on good bacteria. I recommend that you slow down on your probiotics."

Turns out I had small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, also known as SIBO. Interestingly, I'm a huge fan of molecular hydrogen, as it has a long list of health benefits. Alas, SIBO type C is one of the few, if not the only, clinical conditions where molecular hydrogen may actually do more harm than good, as it feeds the bacterial overgrowth.

SIBO-C is typically caused by an overgrowth of archaea, which feed on hydrogen. Now, I had SIBO type D. But SIBO-D will often progress to SIBO-C, because the overabundant bacteria that cause the diarrhea produce hydrogen, which then feed the archaea, which then produce the methane, which then causes the constipation.

"That's why many people see evolving gastrointestinal issues that start in one way and end up another way," Givler says. "If you take hydrogen water and you get gassy, bloated, constipated or brain fogged, there is a really good chance that there's an overabundance of organisms in your digestive tract."

In my case, the therapy was cutting down on fiber and eliminating gluten. Elevated hippurate also revealed that my phase II liver detox was not keeping up with phase I. Givler explains:

"Phase I was moving too fast for phase II. Phase I takes those fat-soluble toxins and turns them into intermediary metabolites, which are more toxic than those toxins when they were sequestered in fat cells … They should move right onto phase II to move into one of our six conjugative pathways of detoxification so they turn into a water-soluble form to leave the body.

When hippurate is elevated, it's often an indicator that you're getting stuck with those more toxic intermediary metabolites. Phase II needs a little bit of assistance."

My last test, in February, revealed the bacteria in my gut had rebalanced, but I still need to improve my phase II detox pathway. This test also revealed a mold marker suggestive of black mold exposure, which makes sense, as I had a small leak in my laundry room that had gone unnoticed for perhaps a year or more. Some of the wood behind the wall was rotted through by the time I discovered the problem.

Oxalates May Be a Problem Even if Test Results Are Negative

As mentioned, one thing that's an issue for both of us are the oxalates. Interestingly, oxalates may be a problem even if your test is normal. Givler explains:

"[In your] first test we saw an overt elevation. There were oxalates physically leaving your body. The oxalic acid was elevated. But if you are storing oxalates, if they're all aggregated in connective tissue, in the lungs or the pelvic griddle, in your brain or in your eyes … then they don't necessarily show up in unprovoked urine tests.

Just in the same way that if you are doing an unprovoked heavy metal test, you are only seeing what's excreted and not what's being stored. There are times that the oxalic acid can show up in range, or even low, when there is truly a high body burden of oxalates.

This is where [you need to look] at the bigger picture. Is there mold? Is there yeast? Are there other types of dysbiosis? Are there genetic predispositions on genes like the alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGXT) or the glyoxylate and hydroxypyruvate reductase (GRHPR) or 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutarate aldolase 1 (HOGA-1)?

If you find variants there and you find patterns of inflammation and pain presentations going along with it, then you may actually be dealing with retained oxalates. This is a risk for osteoporosis. It's a risk for iron deficiency anemia because the oxalates will chelate your calcium; they'll chelate your magnesium; they'll chelate your iron and form these really painful precipitates.

The most common form or the one that people are most familiar with are kidney stones because the oxalates [are] physically leaving your body … But only 0.5% of people who have oxalate issues will actually develop kidney stones. The other 99.5% have issues, like myself, where the pain presentation or those oxalates are actually trapped in the body and creating issues.

They're linked with some really serious health conditions, as well as a pretty significant amount of chronic pain. Like myself, they may find themselves doing healthy things that are really wrong for them, but there are some really excellent, easy and inexpensive things you can do if you suspect the oxalates are an issue. Or if you have testing like this that tells you beyond a shadow of a doubt that, yes, oxalates are a problem."

How to Lower Your Oxalate Level

One way to lower your oxalate level is to take Epsom salt baths. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. When you eat sulfurous foods such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and eggs, your body must metabolize that sulfur. The sulfur goes through a multistep process, getting converted into sulfite and then into sulfate.

When you take an Epsom salt bath or foot soak, on the other hand, it's already in the sulfate form, which your body can absorb transdermally, thereby displacing a lot of the oxalates.

"Many of your listeners probably use Epsom salt soaks for aching muscles and they think, 'Oh, the magnesium is really helping me.' I don't want to discount the role of magnesium — it's really important for that — but that sulfate the magnesium is bonded to, if there are oxalates, that's the part that's really making the difference with pain," Givler says.

"If you suspect oxalates, the Epsom salts are a pretty safe, gentle and effective way of starting to move those out of your system."

Another little pearl Givler taught me is to combine any high-oxalate food I eat with calcium-rich foods or a calcium supplement. The oxalates will then bind to the calcium in the digestive tract, preventing them from becoming a problem.

"The oxalates get into the system through the sulfate transporters, and then they attach to the sulfate receptor sites, which is part of why they're able to get into so many tissues.

We tend to think about absorption as being a function of the small intestine, but our sulfate transporters are all over the colon. If you can bind the oxalate and the minerals in the stomach, then they will bypass those transporters in the colon and be excreted in the stool without giving you any difficulty," she says. "Bringing in any type of calcium source … is a really good idea if you have oxalate issues."

More Information

You can learn more about Givler and/or become a client by visiting the Tree of Life website.

"For many, food has become the enemy because they can't figure out what they'll actually feel good on. They don't realize they don't necessarily have to navigate that road on their own through trial and error.

We can take targeted action, eliminate a lot of the guesswork, actually make progress and save a lot of money by testing and seeing what the right answer is for you, rather than shifting through wrong answer after wrong answer," Givler says.

If you're a health care provider, you may consider joining the Environmental Toxins and Genomics Conference September 6 through 8, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. This event will focus on environmental toxicity, detoxification and methylation mapping.

You can register on NutriGeneticResearch.org. I will be speaking at this event, as will Dr. Neil Nathan, Dr. Jill Carnahan and many others. The annual Functional Genomics Conference will be held November 15 through 17, 2019, in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The NutriGenetic Research Institute also offers a 30-hour, 14-module online certification course to become a nutritional genetic consultant for health practitioners. This course will teach you what you need to know about functional genomic analysis and how to apply it in your own practice. Webinars for health practitioners are held every other Thursday.

Patients interested in more information are directed to the yourgenomicresource.com which includes a listing of doctors who have completed the training and are qualified to provide nutritional guidance based on your SNPs.

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In this interview, former Special Operations Navy SEAL Capt. John Doolittle and Steven Munatones — two KAATSU experts — discuss some of the many benefits of this revolutionary fitness method.

BFR, known in its land of origin, Japan, as KAATSU training, is the most innovative concept in exercise therapy I’ve ever been exposed to, and I’ve been passionate about exercise for over 50 years. I believe BFR is the answer for a majority of people, especially the elderly. The effect it can have on your health is truly dramatic.

What Is BFR?

BRF involves exercising your muscles while partially restricting arterial inflow and modifying venous outflow in either both proximal arms or legs.¹ Venous flow restriction is achieved by using thin elastic pneumatic bands on the extremity being exercised.

By modifying the venous blood flow, you create a relatively hypoxic (low oxygen) environment in the exercising muscle, which in turn triggers a number of physiological benefits, including the production of hormones such as growth hormone and IGF-1, commonly referred to as “the fitness hormones.”²

It also increases vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which acts as “fertilizer” for growing more blood vessels and improving their lining (endothelium).

KAATSU was developed over five decades ago by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato. At 72, Sato is still in excellent shape and a true testament to the value of this approach. As noted by Munatones, Sato experimented on himself for seven years, trying to determine the best way to build and maintain muscle. Eventually, he developed the protocols that are still in use today.

Between 1996 and 2015, Sato, along with exercise physiologist Naokata Ishii and Dr. Toshiaki Nakajima, a renowned cardiologist at the University of Tokyo Hospital, performed a variety of groundbreaking research, proving the benefits of KAATSU and discovering its underlying mechanisms. A lot of research on the more generic version, BFR, has also been done in the U.S. in recent years.

BFR Helps Prevent Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, is a serious problem in the U.S., and BFR can go a long way toward preventing this progressive and debilitating degeneration. It’s not just the muscle fibers that are being lost in sarcopenia.

You lose muscle strength. There’s something more going on than just atrophy. The degeneration has to do with the quality of your mitochondria, which get depleted, damaged and dysfunctional with advancing age.

Traditionally, conventional resistance training has been recommended to prevent sarcopenia. The problem is that heavy weights need to be used, and many elderly simply cannot perform these exercises.

BFR allows you to use very light weights, or no weights at all, which not only makes the exercise easier, but also cuts down the very real risk of injury. Since the muscle damage is reduced, you also recover faster than when doing heavy weight training. There’s very little or no delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) when doing BFR, as you’re not causing inflammation by tearing muscle fiber.

In essence, you’re tricking your body into believing that it’s lifting a weight far heavier than you actually are. As a result, you’re able to get the benefits of heavy lifting with virtually none of the damage. You just get the benefits.

Key Differences Between BFR and Conventional Training

Your “one-rep max” is the maximum amount of weight you can lift one time. Typically, when you’re doing conventional strength training, you’re working with weights in the range of 60% to 80% of your one-rep max.

In BFR, you’re using no more than 30% of your one-rep max. Low weight is actually one of the key aspects of effective BFR. The second key is a high number of repetitions. Rather than doing just eight or 12 reps, you’re doing 30 reps in the first set.

If you can do 30 of the next two sets, great, or you can go down to fewer reps. A third key is to minimize the amount of time between your sets. Sato recommends resting just 20 to 30 seconds between sets.

As mentioned, BFR involves strapping on thin elastic pneumatic bands on the extremities being worked and controlling it with handheld KAATSU units. For your arms, you want to avoid keeping the bands on for more than 15 minutes. For your legs, the recommended max is 20 minutes.

As for frequency, it depends on the form of BFR you’re using. If you have a KAATSU device and are using the cycle function, you can perform BFR as often as you want, including several times a day. The cycle function involves a period of pressure followed by complete depressurization of the inflatable cuff.

On the KAATSU device, the cycling mode is 30 seconds of pressure, five seconds of pressure off, 30 seconds of a higher pressure, five seconds off, 30 seconds of higher pressure. When using the training or noncycling mode, which has sustained pressure, you can do it once a day for 15 to 20 minutes, but it’s not recommended to do it any more than that.

BFR for Muscle Rehabilitation

In the interview, Doolittle recounts how he ended up getting into BFR training. During his 25-year career in the U.S. Navy, he had 11 orthopedic procedures done. After his last shoulder surgery, the physical rehabilitation therapist used KAATSU. He’d had an identical injury six years earlier, yet this time he recovered in about half the time. That got his attention.

“The beauty of KAATSU is you can really stress the musculature and the physiology of the body without straining the skeletal system. I think that’s the game changer when you’re talking about rehabilitation,” Doolittle says, “because we’re always interested in rapid rehabilitation, we want to get the guys back on the battlefield as quickly as possible.”

How Lactic Acid Influences Muscle Growth

The benefits of BFR are the result of restricting blood flow while working your limb — either the arms or the legs. Importantly, you’re not causing total occlusion. You’re merely restricting blood flow to about half of the arterial occlusion pressure.

Blood continues to flow in the limb, so there’s continued oxygen delivery, but at a radically reduced level. The venous output, however, the venous return back to your heart, is nearly stopped. As a result of that, you get an accumulation of metabolites.

To understand how BFR works, you need to understand that you have two types of muscle fibers. Type 1 fibers use oxygen and build endurance. Type 2 muscle fibers are fast and glycolytic. They use hardly any oxygen at all. Instead, they obtain their energy by converting glucose to pyruvate, which is then metabolized anaerobically without mitochondria or oxygen into lactate.

Lactic acid metabolism is what generates extra protons that cause the burn you get when you do conventional weight training. This burn occurs with BFR as well. In fact, you get even more of a burn because of the blood flow restriction.

When this lactic acid builds up locally, it stimulates a cascade of hormonal and metabolic benefits to cause a radical increase in the size, acutely and chronically, of your muscle, and the strength of the muscle. You can tell that this is occurring because your muscles swell up.

When done correctly, your muscle will typically swell by at least an inch in circumference. My arms start at about 13 inches in circumference and swell to 14.5 inches after I’m finished with a training session. It stays enlarged and swollen for a while.

The reason for this swelling is because your Type 1 fibers become exhausted from the lack of oxygen, forcing Type 2 fibers to kick in. You need to activate your Type 2 fibers to actually grow the muscle.

As a result of activating your Type 2 fibers, the lactate level will accumulate and rise in your muscle since the venous flow return to your heart is obstructed. The lactate increases the osmotic pressure. As a result of that, water has to be brought in to cause homeostatic balance, and this is what causes the swelling.

Lactate also inhibits a myokine called myostatin. “Myo-” means muscles and “statin” means stop, so myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle growth. When you have high levels of myostatin, which tends to occur as you get older, it actually inhibits your ability to produce muscle. By increasing your lactate levels through BFR, you can lower your myostatin by about 50%.

How Lactic Acid Benefits Your Heart and Brain

Once the pressure in the KAATSU bands is released (when you take off the bands), high concentrations of lactate floods into the rest of your body, including your brain, where it can be used as an alternative fuel source, and produces brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is known for its neuroregenerative capability.

The lactate also increases an angiogenic hormone called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which acts as “fertilizer” for your blood vessels. In short, VEGF helps create more capillaries, thereby improving your microcirculation.

As you get older, this becomes really important, because the capillary supply to your muscle, and specifically Type 2 muscle fibers and the muscle satellite stem cells that surround those Type 2 fibers, get depleted and compromised.

If you have compromised microcirculation in your Type 2 fibers, regular strength training will not result in significant muscle growth. The reason for this is because you have to have good blood circulation to your muscle satellite stem cells to increase muscle growth.

This is one of the reasons why BFR is so effective, as it increases VEGF, which improves microcirculation to your muscle stem cells. VEGF also stimulates capillary growth in your brain and heart, which is also important when you get older.

VEGF also increases a glycoprotein called follistatin (FST1) by as much as 900%, which inhibits myostatin even further. So, for a 15-minute investment of time, you get this incredible muscle growth and a radical improvement in strength.

Why You Need to Maintain Muscle Mass as You Age

Remember, muscle growth is not just about cosmetics or even mobility. Your muscles serve functions other than helping you move around. They’re actually very important metabolic organs that allow you to normalize your glucose levels and activate insulin.

If you have more muscle mass, your insulin sensitivity is likely to be better and you’ll be less prone to diabetes and obesity. It also prevents frailty, which is a real killer. Greater muscle mass also provides a reserve of protein, which is necessary when you get injured. It can even help your immune function.

So, it’s really important to maintain optimal muscle mass as you’re aging, and I cannot think of a better, more effective intervention than BFR training, because you don’t have to use heavy weights.

The loss of resilience as a result of sarcopenia is underappreciated as a major factor in the ability to recover from life’s inevitable challenges. It is clear that elderly with low muscle mass experience delayed recovery,^3,4 have higher rates of complications and infections following surgery,⁵ greater drug toxicity,⁶ and higher disease-specific and all-cause mortality.⁷

So having reserve muscle mass is an important protein buffer. If you ever get sick and need to go to the hospital this reserve can literally spell the difference between you getting out of the hospital alive or going to the cemetery.

BFR Reverses Many Aging Characteristics

Because of the blood restriction, you get this magnificent metabolic cascade that actually reverses, in some ways many aging characteristics. You don’t even need to use weights if you don’t want to. It can be implemented with bodyweight training as well. As noted by Munatones:

“Over 70% of our users are people over the age of 50. Most of those people, unlike the Navy SEALS, like John, or Olympic professional athletes, they’re not actually into any kind of resistance training.

We just have them go through the motion of movement, whether that’s stretching, whether that’s extending your arms up with the bands on. We see the effects.

Their arms may not increase an inch and a half, but most of our users over the age of 50, they’re not motivated or they’re not interested in an inch and a half growth. They just want to be more toned or be able to stretch and rub the top of their head or touch their toes if they’re standing up.

Those people … [can do] the KAATSU cycle, 15 minutes a day, twice a day, and without any extra equipment. They find that to be effective, convenient and very sustainable.”

BFR Walking, Swimming and More

Another way you can benefit from BFR without weights is to strap on a pair of BFR bands on your legs, near your groin, and then simply walk with them on. Typically, the recommended max is 20 minutes unless you have a KAATSU device in cycling mode; then you can walk longer.

You’ll get extraordinary benefits just by walking with BFR. I walk on the beach in the ocean nearly every day I am home. Or you can do squats, calf raises, lunges or a variety of other leg exercises. Yet another option is to put the bands on while swimming or doing aquatic exercises or when stretching. The applications are almost limitless.

BFR can also help speed up recovery after a broken bone. If your arm is in a cast, for example, you could simply place the band above your bicep and do unweighted arm lifts three times a day or use the KAATSU cycling mode. Even quadriplegics can use and benefit from BFR, although in this case you really need a KAATSU or BFR device with the cycling program.

Getting the Correct Pressure

As mentioned, BFR involves placing narrow elastic pneumatic bands around your arms or legs (the extremity being worked), but it’s important to get the pressure correct, as you do not want to stop blood flow altogether.

A simple test to check half or full pressure is to press your thumb into the area of your palm right below the thumb of your other hand until the area turns white. Release the pressure and observe how long it takes for the area to turn pink again.

If it’s less than a second, your band is probably tight enough. If it’s longer than three seconds, the band is too tight. If you experience any pain, numbness or tingling in your limb, it’s too tight and you must remove the band. What you’re aiming for is a pinkness or beefy redness in the palms of your hands or in your legs.

Once you’ve confirmed that you have the appropriate pressure for you (everyone is different), then you can do the exercise. Again, exercise should be restricted to 15 minutes for the arms and 20 minutes for the legs when wearing the bands.

On BFR Equipment

When it comes to equipment, you have a range of options, depending on your budget. When the professional KAATSU device was first introduced it was $16,000. That price eventually reduced to $5,000 and then a home version, called Nano, was $2,100.

The latest device, KAATSU Cycle 2.0, is now only $800 and you can purchase it on their website. In my mind, this is the best exercise investment I have ever made and now that the price is finally under $1,000 it becomes available to far more people.

The other alternative is to pick up a pair of inexpensive BFR bands, which are typically in the range of $25 to $50. They’re easy to use and easy to transport when traveling. The drawback is that you need to learn how to apply the proper pressure, and you cannot do KAATSU cycling (where the pressure in the cuff is raised and lowered at intervals).

You can find out more details about these bands by the comprehensive BFR instruction manual I created.

When using the bands, the pressure will remain consistent. You can still reap the benefits, though, and for many, an inexpensive set of bands may be all that’s needed. That said, there are important drawbacks of these bands that you need to be aware of. Munatones explains:

“I typically would look at cost as an inverse relationship to risk … We [engineered the band] so that the entire limb sits on a bed of air. Therefore, when you move the limb and change its circumference, the band is not only elastic, but also the muscle is sitting against a bed of air and it adjusts appropriately.

Now, if you have cardiac issues, if you are taking medications, if you’re older, morbidly obese, sedentary, et cetera, I personally would never ever put a band around my arm that is nonuniform in its pressure.

With air, it’s completely uniform. Also, when you put bands on, the amount of pressure that is on the limb, when it’s not elastic, will change … Our whole company and everything that Dr. Sato has been working towards and accomplished is fundamentally based on one key principle. That’s safety.

Because our core market is people over the age of 50; the oldest person who we have actively doing KAATSU is 104 … we’re trying to be extraordinarily safe … It’s really a safety factor.

Warm Up Before Doing BFR With Bands

Sato himself always uses cycling, because it helps warm up vascular tissue. At the capillary level, the cycled pressure allows for gradual stretching to occur, and Doolittle notes that “We never do any KAATSU sustained pressure until we’ve warmed up the vascular tissue.”

“It’s one thing if we’re talking about young, elite or tactical athletes who are already doing all kinds of other exercise to warm up their system,” Doolittle adds, “but if you’re a sedentary, somebody … who’s 50, 60 or 100 years old who is not warming up the vascular system before going right up to that optimal pressure, there are potential issues with that.

I kind of think of it as a guy going to the gym — he’s not going to throw 300 pounds on the bench press and get after it. He’s going to warm up to that.”

Another safety aspect to consider is the width of the band. They must not only be elastic, but they also must not be too wide. Many BFR bands on the market are 2 inches wide, which can be problematic. You want to make sure the bands you get for your arms are 1 inch wide, while the bands for your legs should be 2 inches wide.

While you need to use them responsibly, making sure you warm up first, before you put them on, and do your BFR exercises, I’ve found them to be an excellent option if you cannot afford a BFR device.

Professional Athletes Can Benefit in Many Ways

Professional athletes would also benefit greatly from investing in a BFR device, as the cycling program can really help with warmup and recovery. Doolittle explains how pro-swimmer Michael Andrew uses BFR:

“What’s incredible with Michael is he doesn’t just use it for training. He also uses it for the recovery immediately after heavy work. He uses it to warm up before an event. Imagine somebody getting ready before a big swimming event.

They’re in the ready room and they have the bands on, doing … the pressure-on, pressure-off, engorging at the capillary level … getting the vasculature nice and wide open right before an event to help with just simply improving blood flow …

And then … what Michael started experimenting with was instead of going into the warm-down pool, [he goes] right to the table where the trainers put the KAATSU bands on his legs. He does a cycle on his legs, two cycles on his arms or vice versa, in order to help flush those toxins and lactic acid out.

Because even when the bands are at a very tight aspect, they’re never so tight that the blood’s not moving. But the cardiac output or the stroke volume has to increase in order to keep the blood flowing, right? So now if you imagine you have the leg bands on, they pressure up.

Everything gets engorged distal of the bands. Now you have this rapid complete decrease in pressure, and the stroke volume cardiac output has responded to these tight bands. So now you have this almost flushing sensation. You really feel it …

He would use it as a warm-up and use it as a warm-down. In his training phases, he’ll swim in an untethered mode, which creates a pretty high lactic acid aspect and the corresponding hormonal cascade that comes with that during the training. He uses it for the whole enchilada.”

More Information

To learn more, check out their Cycle 2.0 site. There you will also find the details on the various KAATSU devices available. They also offer a KAATSU specialist certification program should you want to learn how to train others.

“We welcome any and all inquiries and questions,” Munatones says. “It could be from an academic researcher, a Ph.D., an M.D., or someone who knows nothing about exercise and science. We want to introduce this to everyone from the very best athletes to quadriplegics from coast to coast.”

Doolittle adds:

“The way I look at it is, yes, you can help any athlete make incremental improvements. I’ll guarantee that, 100%. But what’s more interesting to me than incremental improvement to an athlete [is that BFR] can have an exponential change in life for somebody who might be dealing with metabolic syndrome, hypertension or a whole host of things that better circulation helps them with.”

Indeed, it’s very difficult to lead a fulfilling life unless you have adequate muscle function, and BFR training will help you achieve that. It really is the single best, most effective strategy available. I’m just disappointed it took me this long to find this approach, as I could have been using it for decades already. Still, it’s so radically effective, I’m making significant gains even now.

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