Trying to Fool Mother Nature Pt 2

Once again, I’ll lead with some outside-the-box supplement suggestions. Due to environmental factors and factory farming, much of our food supply no longer contains the full spectrum of nutrients that it had in years past, and changes to our diet, like the gradual loss of organ meats, play a part as well.

Several companies offer desiccated organ meats in capsule form. These offer to replace (some of) the nutrients from these organs that prior generations received. In addition, a collagen supplement, as well as organic bone broths, can replace the nutrients in animal cartilage that our ancestors consumed. Meanwhile, and especially with chicken and turkey, you really should chew up and swallow the cartilage at the ends of the bones; it’s natural and nutritious.

Another nutrient that you may not be familiar with, is glutathione, a master antioxidant that our bodies are supposed to produce, but probably don’t in adequate quantities, due to the reduction of its precursors in our diet. Glutathione is quite beneficial, but most supplements have limited bioavailability, with very little of the final product surviving your digestive processes. However, new liposomal formulations, such as this one, have significant bioavailability.

I’ve written previously about Methylene Blue (MB) for its ability to assist in fighting covid, as well as its value in supporting mitochondrial health and energy production. MB has a unique ability to cycle between oxidized (colorless) and reduced (blue) states because of a low redox potential. This helps promote cytochrome oxidase. Since it can both pick up and release electrons, it can both assist in energy production and  disable reactive oxygen species (ROS). Dosage should be around 1mg/Kg of lean body mass.

And lastly (for today) there is molecular hydrogen, a really awesome antioxidant, in that it activates on demand. Overconsumption of some antioxidants can interfere with the natural purpose of oxidative stress, which is to act as signaling molecules to trigger regenerative processes. For example, you should never load up on antioxidants prior to exercise, because the muscle damage and concomitant oxidative stress act as a signal to your body to produce proteins that enhance those injured tissues. You can find molecular hydrogen at various outlets. I get mine at Mercola.com, where I also get my liposomal glutathione. OK, moving right along…

This article addresses a broad range of medical miscalculations, starting with this question: “Is Ozempic right for you?” This is the advertising slogan for a GLP-1 agonist drug that supposedly promotes weight loss and curtails type 2 diabetes. This slogan became a meme when Jimmy Kimmel used it as part of his speech while acting as MC for one of Hollywood’s award shows. I don’t know which one, because I don’t watch award shows and have never found Kimmel to be funny or interesting. However, I did see a clip of him referring to Ozempic in his monologue. Ozempic has become the go-to weight-loss pill for those looking for a quick way to lose weight. As with all western medicines, Ozempic treats the symptom (obesity and diabetes) rather than the cause, which is the Standard American Diet, supplemented with the standard American snack foods and massive amounts of sugars and omega six fats.

In order to avoid any suspense, the answer to the previous question is a resounding NO! GLP-1 agonists are dangerous and potentially deadly, and there are much easier and much less expensive ways to solve both of those issues. This article is about more than just Ozempic, but that seemed like a nice point of reference, since it epitomizes the problem I wish to address, namely the foolish notion that a single gene or enzyme (like GLP-1) has a single purpose and that therefore enhancing or restricting it will have predictable and beneficial outcomes. There is also the folly that a drug like Ozempic that changes gene expression will only effect a single gene. More on Ozempic later.

People smoked tobacco products for centuries before we came to the realization that inhaling tobacco smoke was dangerous. Rather foolish if you think about it. Like sniffing glue or snorting cocaine, inhaling tobacco smoke (which makes you gag the first dozen or so times you try it) should have been rejected from the very beginning. Tobacco was a discovery from the New World brought back to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh. The Native Americans showed him the practice and perhaps their idea was to poison the invaders, or maybe they just forgot to tell him that the peace pipe was not something these indigenous people did twenty times a day, but rather only on special occasions. Smoking one cigarette, cigar, or pipe load of tobacco every seven to ten days is unlikely to cause you problems, just as inhaling a bit of smoke from your campfire or BBQ presents no danger. It was the continuous use of inhaled smoke that caused the cilia within the lungs to be destroyed, resulting in the inability of the lungs to expel toxins, and chronic exposure to carcinogens, including many in the air we breathe, at dangerous levels. A little bit was OK, a lot was dangerous.

As with tobacco, the stopping point for any drug should come in a short time. If you’re still taking the drug a year from now, clearly it didn’t work. Surely you must have thought this on your own. You may say you feel better, and stopping the medication may cause you to feel worse, but if you’ve been taking it for a year and the underlying condition didn’t go away, then clearly it did not work, where “worked” means that your affliction has vanished; you’re cured, completely over it. If all we’re doing is masking symptoms, that means the underlying disease is winning the battle. Whatever the underlying disease state might be that is causing your symptoms, by masking them, and not addressing the underlying condition, you allow the illness to continue to damage your body, tax your immune system, and deteriorate your health.

What then is the value of the drug, given all the possible adverse reactions that you can read on the small pamphlet (in nearly unreadable 5- or 6-point type)? Oh, you took the drug without reading the pamphlet? Of course you did; doesn’t everybody? “We” have way too much trust in our doctors. You should always, always, always read, at the very least, the full list of possible adverse reactions, the so-called “side effects,” which are simply unexpected and unwanted (by the drug’s developers) affects that you may not experience until you’ve taken the drug for a protracted period.

A lot of guys (and a few gals) are or were “gearheads.” We tinkered with our cars, did our own tune ups, and may have even rebuilt an engine or two. When we go to a mechanic today, we want to know the precise definition of the problem; we want to understand and perhaps even challenge the “diagnosis.” No slick-talking grease monkey is going to con us into a new radiator if we can see that the leak is somewhere else. We’re not going to pay for a new head gasket if we look and listen and can see that the head gasket is fine. Then we go to our doctor, and he says, “take these three prescriptions…” and we nod like a bobble-head doll and obediently head to the pharmacy. We look at auto mechanics with a jaundiced eye and then kneel before the altar of western medicine.

It might interest you to know that most doctors in China and India regard western medicine as useful in terms of imaging and surgery but have little regard for western pharmacology. Those countries also don’t allow drugs to be advertised. I suggest we either join them in that practice or mandate that every pharmaceutical advertisement require the adverse effects to be mentioned before the alleged benefits and to be printed in the same or larger type as said benefits or spoken at the same pace and volume. Did you ever notice how the announcers voice gets softer and faster when, at the very end of the ad, they give you just a few of the precautions? Big Pharma wants you to fixate on the wonderful life you’ll likely not actually experience once your symptoms have been abated. But would you still want the Ozempic if you knew that there was a 31% chance of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or constipation, in the short term, and the potential for intestinal blockage requiring emergency surgery and the possible removal of part of your colon in the foreseeable future?

Violence, including suicide and homicide, is a serious side effect of at least 25 different psychiatric drugs, some of which are now given to young children, toddlers and even babies. When you tinker with your emotional chemistry, the dangers far outweigh the potential for improvement. And here again, adjusting part of the equation is likely to cause downstream consequences, because your body won’t just sit back and accept these tweaks.

Antidepressant medications were birthed because someone deduced that a process called monoamine oxidation, triggered by monoamine oxidase enzymes, caused a depletion of dopamine and serotonin, and generally resulted in disturbed brain chemistry. So it was determined that drugs that could inhibit the process; monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), would fix the problem. They didn’t. It was like trying to stop your car by applying the brake without easing up on the gas. Results were rarely consistent, nor persistent, and dosages had to be raised to dangerous levels over time. A partial list of possible side effects included nausea, diarrhea or constipation, headache, insomnia, dizziness, involuntary muscle jerks, weight gain, difficulty with urination, muscle cramps, and paresthesia (prickling or tingling sensation in the skin). And if that isn’t enough to scare you off, these drugs only gave partial and temporary relief. There were also numerous food interactions, things that had be avoided while taking MAOIs, such as aged cheeses, sauerkraut, cured meats, draft beer and fermented soy products like soy sauce, miso and tofu. The interaction of tyramine found in these foods with MAOIs can cause dangerously high blood pressure. There are also problematic drug interactions to be monitored, because if you’re on anti-depressants, it’s likely that you’re on other drugs as well, and they might even be the cause of your depression.

Next came the idea that serotonin, sometimes called our “happy hormone,” was not properly transiting neurological synapses, leading to the creation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) like Prozac. For those paying attention, Prozac and other SSRIs have an undeniably strong relationship to violent outbursts, as numerous mass shooters were found to have been prescribed SSRIs and suffered a psychotic break. But the amount of serotonin you have, and its normal function, are so much more complex than anything a single pill can affect. And SSRIs affected more than just the transition of serotonin at the synapse.

Disrupted circadian rhythm has been identified as a strong contributor to brain disorders, including depression. Increased exposure to artificial light at night increases a person’s risk for psychiatric disorders according to a recent study involving 86,772 subjects published in Nature Mental Health, which also showed that increasing exposure to natural daytime light can act like a non-pharmacological means for reducing psychosis risk. This is just another piece of data underscoring the need to get back to a more natural way of living.

People were meant to rise with the sun and turn in when it set. Electric light bulbs not only fool Mother Nature by keeping you awake, most of them emit harmful wavelengths that disturb natural brain chemistry and can damage your eyes, leading to Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and deterioration of your sight. If you must stay up late, change all your lighting to 2700K, get some blue-blocking glasses, and change your screens to the warmest possible settings. Natural warm light (think campfire) does not carry the same dangers as those bright “daylight” bulbs and fluorescent tubes. Go out and buy a package of 2700K bulbs and just change one. You’ll see the difference immediately, and you’ll likely think it will look strange, but once you change them all, it will seem perfectly normal. Normal “daylight” varies in color temperature from less than 2000K at dawn and dusk to as much as 18000K at high noon, but our eyes don’t notice any difference, because our brains were designed to adapt.

Sunlight should be the primary input to your circadian clock, with daytime light strengthening rhythms and night-time light disrupting them. The study showed that artificial light exposure, especially at night, was associated with increased risk for major depressive disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and self-harm behavior. Depression alone, showed a 30% higher incidence in people exposed to high amounts of light after sundown, while those who received the most natural light (outdoors) had a 20% lower incidence of depression than the baseline. Perhaps something to consider before looking to a pharmaceutical solution.

Adding to that, science has recently discovered that the entire serotonin-depression theory is just plain wrong. Serotonin has multiple purposes in concert with your body’s various rhythms, and is actually part of what we call a cascade: The synthesis of serotonin (5-HT) begins with the essential amino acid tryptophan, which undergoes hydroxylation (an oxidation reaction) to 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) and decarboxylation to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). The hydroxylation reaction requires tryptophan hydroxylase, which is considered the rate-limiting enzyme of serotonin production, and the decarboxylation reaction requires aromatic-L-amino acid decarboxylase. Tryptophan hydroxylase is primarily localized to the raphe nuclei of the brain and enterochromaffin cells of the intestinal mucosa, the main sites of serotonin production. ~ Serotonin: a review. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2008 Jun;31(3):187-99, Mohammad-Zadeh LF, Moses L, Gwaltney-Brant SM.

The preceding should make it obvious that a more likely candidate for “curing” the serotonin problem would be to supplement the rate-limiting enzyme, not the hormone, and not the reuptake inhibitors. But even that would be wrong. Putting more gas in your car won’t make it run better if the fuel lines are restricted or the spark plugs are fouled. If you want more serotonin, get more natural light, eat a more natural diet without added sugar, hang out with positive people, find meaning in your life, fast in order to let your body cleanse itself of toxins, reduce your intake of mood-altering substances like alcohol and THC, and see which prescription medications you need to stop taking, which just might be all of them.

We next came up with selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs) which fared no better than SSRIs in the long term. The drugs failed, because serotonin and norepinephrine have other duties besides mood elevation.

By the same token, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), designed to conquer heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) elevate stomach pH to levels that precluded stomach acid from performing one of its essential duties, neutralizing dangerous toxins, parasites, and other microorganisms that can inhabit foods. And as my friend A Midwestern Doctor (AMD) will explain in detail, excess stomach acid is very rarely the problem. Some years after their introduction and marketing, these drugs were found to be connected to lymphoma and potentially other cancers as well. Lawsuits commenced, but how much can a monetary settlement make up for the fact that you’re dying? And if you ask around, you’ll find several friends who are taking PPIs on an ongoing basis, even though they are only FDA approved for short-term use. If you feel a need for them, I suggest you read this excellent piece by AMD explaining the underlying mechanisms of heartburn and GERD: Stomach Acid Is Good For You. FYI, AMD posts anonymously due to the militant attacks on doctors speaking out.

A few drugs that should never have been approved:

From Dr. Hyde’s laboratory of looniness, we get a new entrant: Extremely popular recently, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) such as Ozempic and Wagovy were designed to control insulin levels and reverse type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 is released when you eat to regulate insulin, along with other functions. It is those “other functions” that are the fly in the GLP-1RA ointment. One effect is to delay gastric emptying, with studies showing that the time food stayed in the stomach before passing to the duodenum and small intestine was increased between 8 and 35 times, leading to a significant risk of gastroparesis, an affliction characterized by abdominal pain, nausea, small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and even bowel obstruction, which can be life threatening. You must also advise your surgeon that you take these drugs, because of the danger that anesthesia could lead to vomiting and aspiration, causing significant complications up to and including death. And since habitual ibuprofen use (another drug NOT approved for long-term use) can also lead to restrictions and blockage of the small intestine, if you’re taking both your likelihood of an ambulance ride to the emergency room and surgery is even greater.

Additional adverse effects found from the studies include acute pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, scute gallbladder disease, hypoglycemia, acute kidney injury, anaphylactic reactions, angioedema, diabetic retinopathy, suicidal behavior and ideation. Do you still think this is worth it to lose that unsightly excess fat? Now consider the alternative, a program of eating naturally, which means significant periods without eating, such as time restricted eating and single or multi-day fasting, which can both reverse type 2 diabetes, and result in significant weight loss, with absolutely no risk of adverse reactions.

Another “wonder drug” dominating the airways is Skyrizi, a suggested remedy for Crohn’s Disease, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis (all usually curable by dietary interventions). Common adverse effects include: Upper respiratory infection, headache, fatigue, injection site reaction (bruising, erythema, extravasation, hematoma, hemorrhage, infection, inflammation, irritation, pain, pruritus), tinea (dermatotic fungal) infection, immunogenicity (24% of trial subjects), infections such as cellulitis, osteomyelitis, sepsis, herpes zoster (22%), upper respiratory infections including tonsillitis (13%) fatigue, headache folliculitis, and hives.

More recently we’ve seen that the “wonder drug,” Remdesivir, foisted on us during the pandemic by America’s snake-oil salesman, Anthony Fauci, who just so happens to hold significant financial interest in the drug was a massive failure. All evidence suggests that Remdesivir did far more harm than the good — if any — that it may have provided. A great many patients suffered renal failure and even death from Remdesivir. Chinese and Indian doctors did not employ Remdesivir, and their results, in terms of covid deaths, were far superior to the US. While US deaths from covid were 0.35% of our population, China reports 0.0004%, India 0.038%. While there are other factors to consider, one can safely say that the US, under the direction of Mr. (not Dr.) Fauci, handled covid just about as poorly as possible ranking behind 216 nations, and only outperforming 14.

Perhaps America will wake up to the limitations and dangers of thinking that there might be a pill that can fix whatever ails you. I’m not optimistic, based on the number of advertisements and media proclamations in support of Ozempic, Skyrizi, PPIs, and the dangerous and demonstrably ineffective mRNA injections. But you can certainly take heed. Medicine and healing are not well connected; medicine and wellness even less so.