Thirty percent of Americans have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and don’t know it.  It is asymptomatic until it has progressed to hepatitis (NASH) and mostly doctors are not looking for it.  Before 1990, liver disease was rare and confined primarily to alcoholics or drug abusers. The recent upsurge coincides with the increase in obesity and metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar, low LDL, high triglycerides, and belly fat).  Even children are being diagnosed with NAFLD.  The good news is that it is reversible because the liver can regenerate.

If you are overweight, tired, have low HDL and high triglycerides and high VLDL, with elevated liver enzymes you may have NAFLD.  The cause for concern is that it can lead to NASH with the eventual need for a liver transplant.  The sad part is that most people would make the necessary diet and lifestyle changes to reverse the NAFLD if they knew they had it–and there is the added benefit of dropping weight!

Simple, routine blood work (metabolic panel and a cholesterol panel) are very useful for assessing the risk of NAFLD.   Bring your blood results to us for a nutrition consult and we will help you with dietary and lifestyle recommendations for getting your liver back into good working condition.

Anyone who eats needs to be informed about our food supply–it’s just too easy to make bad choices while thinking you are doing good for yourself and the planet.  Check out this interview in the Price-Pottenger newsletter for the nitty-gritty on fake meats.  I couldn’t agree more—Excellent job!

We now offer the OmegaQuant tests for quick and easy determinations of the body’s balance of fats (pro-inflammatory vs. anti-inflammatory), vitamin D, and even hemoglobin A1C.  A simple finger prick and collection of a drop of blood is all it takes.  These are all very important indicators of whether the diet is anti-inflammatory, immune-system supportive, and supportive of healthy pregnancy/lactation.  With these results we can make specific diet recommendations to address any insufficiencies/imbalances.  Ask for more information by calling our office or scheduling an appointment with Monica.

Recommendations for supporting the immune system:

1. Most important recommendation–eat an anti-inflammatory diet. Basically this means no sugar, white flour products/gluten grains, vegetable oils (canola, soy, corn, sunflower, safflower, peanut). For more details on the specifics. schedule an appointment with Monica or ask for our handout in the office.
2. Vitamin D3. Maintenance dose for adults is 5000 IUs a day (children ¼ to ½ of that depending on weight). If infection is beginning or has occurred, take 10,000 IUs a day of vitamin D3 for 2 or 3 days and then drop down to the maintenance dose.  We recommend the powdered form (not the kind in vegetable oil in gel caps).  We carry a brand that provides 5000 IUs per capsule, plus the option of a D3/K2 combo which is also powder.  We also have drops of Vitamin D3/K2 emulsified in MCT oil —this works for babies and children who can’t swallow pills.  Getting out in the sun has many benefits as long as you don’t overdo and burn but most of us live in areas where sun exposure year-round is not a reliable way to get vitamin D.
3. Vitamin C. The VitaminCfoundation.org has many research articles linked on their site regarding the efficacy of vitamin C for viral infections.  Apparently it is being used intravenously in hospitals in China for patients with corona virus infection.  Read the articles on the site for more information.  There are recommendations for oral vitamin C intake there also.  VitaminCfoundation.com has good quality vitamin C in various forms available to order.
4. Andrographis Complex. This is a MediHerb product that we have been using for cold and flu prevention for years.  It is a combination of andrographis, holy basil and echinacea root extracts.  It is available at our office.  If you can tolerate it, place one of the tablets in your mouth and allow it to dissolve; this can instantly improve a sore throat.  Another antimicrobial herb is oregano oil.  We suggest NeuroHemp which besides the cannabinoids provides oregano oil.  Swish a dropperful in the mouth before swallowing.
5. Chaga Tea. Chaga is a mushroom that grows on birch trees in northern latitudes (Canada).  It has many properties that support the immune system.  Here is a recipe and a source for chaga tea.
6. Zinc and Quercetin.  Zinc as losengers or as liquid ionic zinc.  , Some extra zinc (about 15 mgs a day)  is a good measure to take as many people are low in zinc. Quercetin helps zinc to be taken up by the cells to fight infection.   Don’t take extra zinc long-term unless you take extra copper also as it may create copper deficiency.  Long-term it is best to rely on a multiple that has all the essential trace minerals in it to maintain adequate zinc levels.  Plus a good multi will provide Vitamin A (as retinyl palmitate , not just beta-carotene) and vitamin K2 both of which help fight infections.
7. Elderberry extract. Purchase online or at local healthfood stores and take the dose recommended on the bottle.
8. Use the neti pot to rinse the nasal passages daily with salt water, plus brush your teeth with a drop of tea tree oil and 1/4 tsp. baking soda on your toothbrush along with your toothpaste for the anti-microbial effect of the tea tree oil. You can also gargle with a drop of tea tree oil in some hot, salt water–do this hourly to reduce microbes hanging out in the back of the throat that may or may not be causing symptoms.
9. Take a good spore-based probiotic such as Just Thrive or MegaSporebiotic, which we have available in our office.
10. NAC or N-acetyl cysteine is an amino acid that helps boost glutathione production in the body.  NAC has benefits itself but glutathione is a major detoxifier and that alone is a good reason to take–500 mgs a day.
11. Stay warm and hydrated with a variety of herbal teas, such as tulsi, licorice root, chamomile, mint.  Raise the body temperature to the point of sweating to help kill viruses by sauna or hot baths.
12. Breathe and get enough sleep! Diaphragmatic breathing to keep calm is a no brainer!  Ask for our instruction handout. Doing this before sleep is helpful for insomnia. And if you are exposed to wifi or cell phone radiation especially at night it is having an impact on your cellular health and suppressing your immune system.  Ask us for more information.

There IS a program, a functional medicine program, that has prevented and reversed cognitive decline.  People at risk or those with Alzheimer’s who are in the early stages of the disease have really had little hope for a natural treatment up until now.  I highly recommend the book, “The End of Alzheimer’s” by Dr. Dale Bredesen, MD.  Dr. Bredesen is also interviewed by Dr. Mercola on mercola.com.  As Dr. Mark Hyman says in his review on the book cover, “if you have a brain, read this book”.  Couldn’t have said it better.

We are now offering nutrition consultations by phone.  If you are interested, please call the office to schedule and receive instructions about filling out paperwork and emailing or faxing it to us.  Also, we continue to offer the best quality nutritional supplements but please call before stopping by the office so that we can have them prepared for you.

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your healthcare!

May 2021 Update on this post about NAC.   Amazon and some other suppliers are removing NAC and products containing it from there sites.  Read the updated article here.   There will be legal challenges as it appears that the FDA is on shaky ground on this one.  My supplier has been inundated with orders so NAC is TOS but more is in production and it should be available in June.  Call the FDA and let them know you want easy access to this very safe nutritional supplement.

Original post.  N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) has been recommended by nutritionists for decades as a very safe amino acid nutritional supplement that is a precursor for  glutathione  production in the body.  (Glutathione is a major de-toxifier.)  The FDA is hinting that it may review this supplement’s classification and, therefore, possibly make it difficult to purchase.  Please give the FDA a call at 888-463-6332 and ask that the classification not be changed.  NAC has many other important functions in humans–take a look at this Mercola.com article to learn more about FDA’s actions and the benefits of NAC.

Our Fall Nutrition Class participants were a pleasure to have at our clinic.  Here are a few things “graduates” have had to say upon completion of the 7-week class.

• “The nutrition class with you was life changing and positive.  I so appreciate how well prepared you were, all the food and teas you prepared, and your wealth of knowledge.”
• The class empowered me to take out “several food items that were unhealthy, pay more attention to food ingredients, implement more good foods for my kids.”
• The changes I made “eliminated brain fog, increased energy by 50%.”
• “Off sugar!  Trying new recipes and thinking differently about what to eat and drink.”  Lost 20 pounds!
• “No more acid reflux and heartburn, no bloating and gas.”  Lost 11 pounds!
• “Have had constipation issues but gut feels much better–no acid relux.” Lost 4 pounds.
• “Learned so much!”  Knees better, energy better and lost 4 pounds.

In our clinic we have observed many cases of patients who experience an increase in musculoskeletal pain when they begin taking  statin drugs.   It is not uncommon for patients to actually state that they have noted the correlation themselves or that they stopped taking a statin because they noticed it.   We, along with many nutrition experts, have questioned for years  the hypothesis that high cholesterol causes heart disease–and, therefore, we have questioned the need for statin drugs especially considering their severe side effects.    If you would like more information on this topic, visit Dr. Mercola’s website and read his July 24, 2019 article “Cholesterol Does Not Cause Heart Disease”.  He summarizes the latest research including a 2018 scientific review paper that calls into question all that we have been told over many decades about the link between cholesterol and heart disease.  Thank you, Dr Mercola, for your dedication to exposing the  truth in the field of medicine and nutritional science!

If you eat any dairy products, you need to check out this rating list or Dairy Scorecard as they call it, of dairy farms published by Cornucopia.  All organic dairy products are not equal, in fact some of them may not be much better in quality than conventional products, because of the erosion of our organic standards by the National Organic Standard Board and their National Organic Program.  Be warned, consumers, and be willing to pay more for quality–it will help keep honest farmers in business.