by drmiranda | Jun 28, 2015 | Uncategorized
In post #2 of Hidden Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight series, I am going to explore protein: one of the most common nutritional deficiencies I see among dieters.
Full disclosure: I am a dedicated omnivore. My first course of study was anthropology. For that reason, I tend to look at things from both an anthropological and a physiological perspective. All of that firmly points me to the assertion that we are protein driven creatures – that is why we have the brains we currently have. That is why we have mixed dentition, and our current collection of digestive acids and enzymes. That is why we have one stomach and 23 feet of small intestine and 6 feet of large intestine. If you are a dedicated vegetarian, you are not going to like what I have to say. I don’t have the inclination or the time to argue with you, so just take this as a forewarning that you might want to skip this post! We will have to agree to disagree.
When you think of protein, you might think of juicy steaks and succulent chicken thighs. You probably don’t really give it much thought. You certainly don’t think it is something that you could be deficient in. If you are a habitual dieter, or if you have unsuccessfully been trying to lose weight, you may be completely wrong. One of the key deficiencies that I identify when I am doing my ‘Plateau Buster’ consultations, is an overwhelming need for increased protein intake.
Protein is an essential macronutrient. It is comprised of varying combinations of amino acids and those amino acids make up every tissue and substance in our body. They truly are the building blocks of life. There are two key types of protein: complete, and incomplete. Complete proteins contain the full complement of essential amino acids and they are associated with animal sources. Incomplete proteins, contain a partial array of essential amino acids and are typically associated with plant sources. You need to have ALL of the essential amino acids for optimal health, and that means consuming adequate supplies of complete protein. When you consume foods, whether plant or animal in origin, your body breaks those foods down into those amino acid building blocks. Now, it can’t store amino acids for a rainy day — it is a ‘use it’ or ‘lose it’ system. Complete proteins must be consumed on a very regular basis to fulfill your body’s daily requirements. If you do not intake enough protein, your body pays the price!
So, could you be protein deficient?
If you are a current or former dieter, if you don’t eat high quality meat sources 4+ times a week, if you are a vegetarian, if you are over 55 year old, if you have had recent surgeries, or if you tend to consume a considerable amount of processed foods – chances are good that you are protein deficient. If you have been dieting and your weight has hit a plateau – then it is most definitely one of the factors that you need to consider.
SIGNS OF PROTEIN DEFICIENCY
| · craving sweets and carbohydrates |
· fatigue, especially after activity |
| · joint pain, muscle pain |
· get sick frequently |
| · feeling hungry soon after you eat |
· slow wound healing |
| · brain fogginess |
· various scents make you nauseous |
| · hair shedding |
· edema |
| · fragile hair: breakage, split ends |
· depression/ anxiety |
| · ridges on fingernails and/or toenails |
· tendency towards constipation |
| · dry skin or frequent rashes, flaky patches |
· poor muscle tone |
| · headaches |
· sleep issues |
Let’s have a look at some of the larger signs and symptoms:
1) Chronic muscle and/or joint pain. As a chiropractor, we see this musculoskeletal sign frequently. This is partly to blame on the Standard American Diet (SAD) which is heavy in junk. We can also see a huge shift in our diet since World War II. Prior to that, most parts of an animal were utilized. We ate organ meat on a regular basis. We made soups with the bones and joints of the animal carcass – and this rich bone broth supplied us with an incredibly supply of protein, gelatin, glycine, proline, and amino acids that supplied our own muscles and joints with premium building blocks so they could maintain optimal function. Families used to cook more meat on the bone, and people would fight over who got the gristle! Now, our diets are ‘sanitized’. Our kids have not grown up helping us prepare anything. To them, meat consists of hotdogs and hamburgers (often the worst cuts of meat on the animal). Our soups are completely processed and come in convenient red and white striped cans. We find eating with our fingers distasteful, so if you can’t eat it with a knife and fork – we don’t bother. Many of us don’t consume any meat that is not processed or prepackaged, and then we wonder why we hurt all of the time. We hurt because we are putting hollow building bricks into our bodies. You can’t build your temple with wet cardboard! I would also like to add that your daily protein requirements increase significantly after surgery or during periods of elevated stress, so if either of those things affect you — adjust your diet accordingly. Also, as we pass 40 years of age, our ability to produce stomach acid and digestive enzymes decrease (it declines much faster after age 55), so your ability to assimilate protein decreases as the years tick by.
2) Constant Cravings. Not all cravings are caused by protein deficiency, but many are. If you have a tendency to crave sweets and carbohydrates, then you could very well be protein deficient. If you feel hungry frequently, or if you feel hungry shortly after you eat ( see Satiety Index), then you are probably not getting in enough protein. Instabilities in blood sugar lead the body to want to correct itself, this means that one of the first things the body does in response to blood sugar instability or fluctuations is to cause you to crave sweets or carbohydrates (for you bread lovers). This is a stop-gap or a band-aid approach, but your body senses an issue and aims to correct it with as little effort as possible. If you have a secret stash of candy, if you are someone that has to snack between meals, if you are vegetarian (or just don’t eat much meat), and if you get absolutely ravenous if you skip a meal — you have strong indications that you don’t consume enough high quality complete protein.
3) Your hair, skin, or nails are a wreck. This is a trickier sign, because you might do a bunch of things to abuse your hair, skin, or nails – like flat iron your hair three times a day, or slather yourself in the latest & greatest skin acid lotion in the hopes of warding off wrinkles. As a general rule though, if you find yourself shedding hair often or if your hair grows slowly, or is fragile – it breaks or splits easily, then that is a clear indication that you need more protein. Similarly, if your skin is thin or dry, if you get frequent skin irritations or blemishes, and if you take a long time to heal – then you certainly need more protein. You will notice that people with protein-poor diets tend to get premature aging, their skin thins in places, and they get lines and creases on their face before they probably should. Their nails are thin, or they contain ridges, and they tend to peel or break. Again — all of these things are signs that your body has run out of building blocks. Think of it this way: when you don’t consume enough of the complete protein your body needs, it has to break down YOU to get the necessary building blocks to support life. It doesn’t target your love handles, it goes after your muscles, your energy reserves, you hair, skin, and immune system.
4) The inability to lose weight. Is protein deficiency the main reason why people stop losing weight? No, but it is in the top 10, and it is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies I see among dieters. As part of what I do when I put on my “Plateau Buster’ hat when I work with someone to figure out why they are having such a hard time losing weight — I have them complete a multiple-day food journal. More times than not, I see people starting off the day with fruit and dairy products, they might have a sandwich at lunch, and maybe a burger or nachos for supper. They usually snack on more fruit or granola bars. They are eating meal after meal that spikes their blood glucose and they are not getting in near enough protein! This results in maintaining elevated insulin, and leads to insulin resistance — which we know is associated with weight gain. In fact, some healthcare practitioners believe that as few as 5 extra pounds is a sign of insulin resistance. There are several different ways to calculate protein need, but for otherwise healthy individuals looking to lose weight, I use the formula :
IDEAL WEIGHT divided by 2 = # of grams of protein you should consume daily
So, if you currently weight 200 lbs, but your ideal weight is 160, you take the 160, divide that by two to get 80, and use that as your guideline for protein intake. I have seen many people move out of their weight loss plateau simply by adding 20 more grams of protein to their daily intake. Sometimes it is the simple fixes that work the best! Following this, I am a HUGE advocate of starting your day off with protein. I have other blog posts which go into considerable on the science behind WHY I find this necessary, but suffice to say – I believe that a protein rich breakfast starts you out on the best footing to have the protein requirements you have to initiate fat loss, it minimizes the cravings that can sabotage your diet, and it helps you to maintain steady blood glucose levels that are necessary for burning fat.
You can consider your body as being lazy, or as a highly tuned machine: either way, it attempts to maintain a steady state – or equilibrium, at all times. It wants to get the most work done for the least amount of effort, and it likes to prepare for those inevitable rainy days. If your body is in a deficiency state, it goes into self-preservation mode, or ‘conservation mode’. It realizes it doesn’t have everything it needs and so it saves itself for later. This is why it is so darn hard to lose weight sometimes. This is why you can be eating like a bird but the scale refuses to budge.
So, how do you correct protein deficiency? Quite simply, you need to consume more protein. Let me correct that, more high quality complete protein! Beans, legume, lentils, etc are fine for some of your protein needs, but they are incomplete, and they contain fiber – which binds to the protein, making it less available to you. You should be adding fresh, high quality meat to your diet, at the least – every other day. Organ meats and bone broths are one of the best things you can do for your health. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that soup eaters tended to weigh less and have smaller waists than non-soup eaters1. Compared to muscle meat, organ meat is much more densely packed in just about every nutrient, especially B12, B6, B1, B1, folic acid, and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Grass-fed animals provide an even better source of these nutrients over their commercially raised counterparts. Now I am not suggesting that you need to eat an 18-oz porterhouse steak every day, but it behooves you to keep a food journal and use one of the popular fitness apps to track your dietary intake. You may be shocked to see what you actually consume. I will add a caveat here – many of the fitness apps I have seen grossly underestimate the amount of calories you consume, so please don’t go by that alone. This is partly due to user input errors; people guestimate their portion size to the lesser degree, and completely omit certain food items, like the cheese on their sandwich, or the three packets of mayo they used. I advise my clients that aim to lose weight that they need to consume at least 20 g of protein with every meal. Eggs, fish, nuts, aged cheese, etc. are all great sources of protein as well.
The cornerstone of my Plateau Buster program is achieving balance, because when your body is out of balance – health issues result. Where weight loss is concerned, there are several key factors I look at:
What does the diet look like?
How much physical activity is occurring? (you can’t out exercise a bad diet)
Does the person have a gallbladder or not?
Is there evidence of thyroid dysfunction?
Is there evidence of adrenal dysfunction?
How is their digestive system working?
Is there evidence of gross nutritional deficiencies?
Are they on medications know to inhibit weight loss?
Do they have other health conditions associated with weight gain?
What diets have worked well for them in the past, and which ones haven’t?
What emotional factors are weighting them down?
In essence, there can be so many different factors that cause excess weight, and you are not restricted to only having one issue on the list. Many of these things, including protein deficiency, are things you can trouble shoot yourself. If you are sitting there reading this, thinking, “meat irritates my stomach” – then you need to read my blog post on gallbladder dysfunction, and look into digestive enzymes. For more information, please join my community on facebook – Weight Loss Resources with Dr. Miranda.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24382211
by drmiranda | May 12, 2015 | Uncategorized, weight loss
Did you know that calcium absorption is a major issue for bariatric patients? Approximately 85% of all calcium supplements sold in the United States contain calcium carbonate (also known as limestone, or chalk) – and this form of calcium is rarely recommended for bariatric patients because of several key features: 1) it acts as a functional antacid, 2) it requires a highly acid environment to be absorbed, and 3) as a direct result of surgical alteration of stomach size – most people will no longer have the physical capability to absorb any of the elemental calcium from it.
The two forms of calcium that bariatric patients hear bantered about most frequently are CALCIUM CITRATE and CALCIUM LACTATE. Both of these are excellent sources of calcium, however, one has a distinct advantage over the other. If we are speaking about the best form of tableted calcium for people who have not had surgical alteration of their GI tract – then I would agree that calcium citrate pills are ideal. However, when you take into account how bariatric surgery affects the stomach and/or small intestine, and knowing that a large percentage of bypass surgeries involve bypassing at least part of the duodenum (which is where calcium is normally absorbed) – then calcium lactate becomes the winner.
Furthermore, calcium is a bulky mineral. You have to take a lot of it to be able to absorb the percentage you actually need. That is why calcium tablets are usually fairly big. Knowing this, vitamin manufacturers have two choices when they configure their supplements – they can either divide the dose into multiple tablets or capsules, or they can compress it into one or two giant ‘horse’ pills and compress them to the point that they are veritable cement bullets. This leaves bariatric patients in a catch-22, — they usually do not want to feel full and bloated from taking a lot of pills, but they also know if they take one of the highly compressed tablets, that they will likely absorb very little from it.
The solution is to take powdered calcium, and the ideal form of powdered calcium is calcium lactate. Calcium lactate is considered to be one of the most neutral forms of calcium. It is not chalky or soapy like calcium carbonate, and it lacks the bitterness of calcium citrate. If you need a calcium that is readily absorbed, and has a high solubility factor, which means that you can easily mix it into any beverage you so choose — then calcium lactate is the one to choose. It is significantly more soluble over other forms so you can fit a larger dose in a smaller serving size. Naturally gentle on the stomach, powdered calcium lactate provides the most available surface area for absorption once it passes into the small intestine.
That isn’t to say that you can’t get calcium citrate in powdered form. There are a few commercial preparations that use it, but powdered citrate does not mix readily into beverages. If you put a spoonful of it into a glass of water, you would have to stir and guzzle the contents very quickly or you would lose a significant amount as it would settle to the bottom of the glass or stick to the sides. Having to chug a big glass of bitter, gritty calcium, 2-3 times a day may not be appealing to many people.
That said, it is my belief that most Americans do not have a calcium issue. Per capita, American’s has one of the highest calcium consumption rates in the world yet they have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis. This tells me that we don’t have a calcium issue, but a magnesium and co-factor issue. We know that 80% of women are magnesium deficient. If you are going to supplement with calcium, please speak to your physician about adding a magnesium supplement to your regimen. Vitamin C enhances the absorption of both calcium and magnesium, so they are good nutrients to pair together. My office carries a supplement which contains a balanced ratio of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C. Please contact us for details.
by drmiranda | Oct 7, 2014 | sleep, weight loss
Today’s post is indirectly related to weight loss, but when the scale just won’t budge – you have to think outside of the box!
As a chiropractor, I get a surprising amount of questions about sleep and mattresses in particular. Unfortunately, there is no perfect mattress – but here is some sage advice to help you with your beauty sleep.
First things first, do you need a new mattress?
If you are asking this question, the answer is a resounding YES! On a serious note, no matter what the warranty may be on your mattress – if it is over 7-8 years old, it is time to consider replacing it, and if it is 10 ears old, it really must be replaced. There are very, very few exceptions to this. Period. Over time, dust mites, dirt, dead skin, dried sweat, and other nasties that you don’t want to envision yourself sleeping on all build up within your mattress. In addition, springs wear out and foam and padding materials break down, all resulting in less than ideal sleeping situations. Older mattresses can collapse, creating a hammock effect which puts your spine in an unnatural position for 8+ hours each night. Other considerations that it may be time to replace your mattress:
1. You frequently wake up stiff and achy. You have moderate joint pain, or feel unrested upon waking.
2. You have chronic back pain that isn’t responding to treatment.
3. Your mattress has lumps, bumps, or divots.
4. You often find yourself sleeping in an alternative spot, ie. your favorite chair, the couch, the guest bed, etc. as opposed to wanting to go to bed.
5. Your mattress creaks, squeaks, crinkles, or otherwise makes noise. This is an audible sign of material breakdown.
I have found that people often scrimp when it comes to buying a mattress, but you can’t put a price on a good night’s sleep. Remember, you spend 8 hours a night on this contraption. An investment in your mattress is an investment in yourself. People spend tens of thousands of dollars on a car that they spend 30 minutes a day in, but they balk at spending $1000 on a mattress that they will spend 8 hours a night in for the next 8 years.
365 days in a year times 8 years is 2,920. Figure out how much a good night’s sleep is worth to you. Is it a dollar a night? 50 cents? Two dollars? etc. If two people are sharing the mattress, divide your figures in half to get real-world estimates. Mattresses vary tremendously from brand to brand, and even within brands. Quality is of key importance, because a mattress purchase is an investment in YOU and your health. A $400-$500 bargain mattress that leaves you in constant pain, or breaks down in 2 years is not the bargain you thought it was.
The importance of a good night’s sleep
Several studies have linked weight and sleep. One published last year by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, entitled Adequate Sleep to Improve the Treatment of Obesity1
found that participants that slept fewer than the 8.5 hours per evening lost 55% less fat than the participants sleeping 8.5 hours per night. Furthermore, in a 6 month controlled study, women that slept over 7 hours per night and had better subjective sleep quality, had a 33% better chance of successful weight loss. I have had patients with poor sleep patterns who have had complete weight loss plateaus, so it is one of the things I always ask about when someone is looking to lose weight.
Furthermore, there is a well known connection between sleep and mood. Not only does sleep affect mood, but mood affects sleep – which creates a vicious downward cycle of ever increasing stress, exhaustion, and depression. Studies have found that 15-20% of people diagnosed with insomnia will develop major depression. 2 In another study people with insomnia were 20 times more likely to develop panic disorder (a type of anxiety).3.
You do virtually all of your wound healing and repair while sleeping, and children grow when they are sleeping, so sleep is one of the most crucial biological functions. Your brain processes, decompresses, and organizes your thoughts and experiences during sleep, so we know it is necessary for all higher order mental functioning. Now add stress, anxiety and weight gain as possible side effects for not having enough high quality sleep and you should have more than enough motivation to replace that mattress you’ve been schlepping around for far too long.
Types of mattresses and their pro’s and con’s
Traditional Innerspring Mattresses – the majority of mattresses fall into this category. These consist of a series of metal coils tied together and layered between layers of cotton and padding. You will see references to “coil count”, with the higher coil counts being associated with firmer mattress levels, additional expense, and longer shelf-life. Comfort levels and lifespan very considerably based on the materials used in construction. Most Innerspring mattresses have some sort of pillow-top on them now, which prohibits you from flipping or rotating your mattress – thus shortening its lifespan. Additionally, pillow tops are frequently the first part of a mattress to break down, leaving obvious lumps, sags, hammocking, or central humping of the mattress.
Individual Pocket-Coil Mattresses – some manufactures individually enclose each coil in its own sewed pocket as opposed to tying them together to make a large supportive framework as seen above. Each coil is capable of independent movement, which means that one sleep partner’s movements will not translate to another when they roll over or shift positions. The same issues with pillow top breakdown are seen with these mattresses.
Memory Foam Mattresses – Made of heat or pressure sensitive foam, and designed to relieve pressure points where the body touches the mattress, foam mattresses can be a godsend for people with fibromyalgia or a strong history of joint pain. The down side, memory foam mattresses are often amongst the most expensive. They frequently run hot, so if you like to be cool while you sleep – you may find these too hot and sweaty. Memory foam also comes in several grades and densities, ranging from super-compliant to incredibly firm, so one person’s perfect fit, is another person’s misery. Foam itself is prone to both off-gassing (if you are sensitive to chemical odors) or physical break down, although these problems tend to be lesser with the better established foam manufacturers. Make sure to purchase at least 5lb memory foam so it doesn’t collapse and break down too quickly.
Latex Mattresses – barely squeak by with their own category. They are very similar to memory foam mattresses. Obviously not a good choice for those with a latex allergy, and amongst the most expensive of mattress types, latex mattresses in general have the longest lifespan of any mattress type. If a high density foam is purchased, you should not have major divots or humping issues, and the mattress can be flipped or rotated – further extending its lifespan. Most tend to be fairly firm.
Adjustable Air Mattresses – You know the ones, where you ‘select your number’. Early models had issues with mold growing in the baffles and spontaneous deflation in the middle of the night. A quick google search will show you that many people were unhappy with the level of customer support offered to them. Now, I have heard that the latest models do not have these issues, and that the mold possibility has been eradicated. Just to be safe, I would stick to the higher level models because they do have thicker and more supportive layers. There are knock-offs now too, but their reviews have been haphazard.
Futon Mattresses – Are not just for lumpy college folding-couches. Futons, particularly the high-end 10″+ thick, hand made ones are divine to sleep on. You can get these made organically, which is fantastic for people with environmental sensitivities. They are quite firm, hold up very well, can be rotated and flipped with abandon. They also breathe very well. Downside – there is no spring, so coital actions require more energy. Also, if you sweat, or have an accident, these are quite difficult to dry or clean.
Action Steps You Can Take Now
Comfort level is very subjective, and maybe you aren’t ready to toss your bed to the curb yet. I am a huge advocate of mattress toppers. Both lambs wool and foam toppers can temporarily rescue most mattresses, and buy you comfort and time. When looking at toppers, try to fin one at least 2″ thick, and remember that the are TEMPORARY. They are expected to be disposable, and you should replace them after a year or two.
If you purchase a new firm mattress, you can markedly extend its life and comfort level by using silk, wool, or foam toppers. People with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia swear that sleeping on a lambs wool topper reduces their joint and muscle pain. Also, by using disposable toppers, you can readily replace the part of a mattress that wears out the fastest, allowing you to extend your mattress dollars considerably. Without these toppers, mattresses that are too firm will create unnecessary pressure points where your body comes in contact with the bed. Diabetics in particular need to make sure that they do not have pressure points in their sleep and this can further impair their blood supply to already compromised tissues.
Also, your mattress was meant to be used with a mattress pad. Get a fitted cotton pad and use it. Invest in good sheet sets. If your sheets have shoddy elastic, or they pill, or do not fit your mattress perfectly, get a new set. Cotton and bamboo sheets are the best in my opinion.
Dr. Miranda’s tips for Mattress Shopping
- Don’t go by price. Many mattresses are made by the same manufacturers and just private labeled. In fact, I had an older model Stearns & Foster pillow top mattress set that retailed for over $4k, but within a year of buying it, I saw my exact same mattress bearing a different brand label (and by exact same – it was identical, right down to the fabric, trim, and stitching) at Costco for $700.
- Look at construction. Number of layers, spring count, types or thicknesses of foam, etc. These are all indicators of quality.
- Plan on dedicating a significant amount of time to mattress shopping. Physically lay down in your preferred sleep position on each one that you are considering, and spend a few minutes there. You may feel silly, but you will never see any of those shoppers again, and you don’t want to make a rushed judgment.
- Remember that men usually prefer a firmer mattress than women, so both parties should be present when choosing their new mattress. Leave the kids and any distractions at home!
- Ask the salesman to leave you alone while you shop. You will tend to rush if they are hovering over you.
- Ask about warranties and get them in writing. Unfortunately most mattress warranties are not worth the paper they are written on, with exclusions for removing the tags, getting marks on the mattress, or actually using the mattress. Know what you are buying, what the exclusions are, and what the fees are for service calls. Ask what percentage of warranties they uphold or honor, right down to the number of beds they replace per year. Also – get it in writing if you will be responsible for restocking fees, shipping the replacement mattress to your home, shipping the old mattress from your home, or any other handling fees.
- Encase your mattress with a waterproof and dustmite proof case. You never know when you may need this protection, but when an incident occurs — you will be thankful you did.
- Replace your box spring when you replace your mattress. I recommend the low-profile box springs that have come out in recent years. They lower the sitting edge of the bed a few inches, which makes it easier to get in and out of bed if you have health issues.
- Remember that most mattress companies will allow you to return your mattress within a specific time frame, usually 15-30 days. So, if you get one home and really hate it – return it.
Lastly,
Mattresses have a definite shelf life, and even ones that say 25 YEARS have been proven to only last 7-10 tops and after 7-8 years the springs and resilience of the materials have broken down to the point where they will contribute to your discomfort. We have already established that when it comes to sleep both quality and quantity are very important. If you are dealing with chronic pain or chronic stress, or if you are doing everything right but still not losing weight, you need to have a look at your mattress.
A lot of people ask me what we sleep on, and we replaced a high-quality futon mattress with a 20″ Stearns & Foster model back in late 2006. We kept that mattress far longer than we should have, because it broke down prematurely. Recently, after great debate, we replaced the Stearns & Foster with a Tempurpedic model. So far, we are really enjoying the reduced pressure points it provides. Between that and the lack of conductive motion – we are easily sleeping longer and getting up less frequently throughout the night. A win-win in my opinion.
Copyright (c) 2014 Miranda Jorgenson. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission of the author. You are welcome to share this link or print this page and use in its entirely.
1. First published September 17, 2012, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.120876 CMAJ September 17, 2012 cmaj.120876)
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
by drmiranda | Jul 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
If you’ve never had gallstones, you’ve probably never thought about your gallbladder. However, if you have had gallstones, chances are good that you have had your gallbladder removed. Either situation has its own inherent issues, and one thing that healthcare providers rarely tell gallbladder patients is that surgery will forever impair their digestion and may make losing weight very, very difficult.
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ under your liver that concentrates and stores the bile that your liver produces to aid fat digestion. Most people don’t give it a second thought until it starts to trouble them, and unfortunately, for many years, the medical establishment didn’t realize the full importance of healthy gallbladder function. They felt its removal had few, if any consequences. I am of the opinion that we were not designed with unnecessary parts, and the gallbladder is no exception. In fact, science is just beginning to understand the true importance of healthy gallbladder function and the detrimental consequences of its dysfunction or removal.
Each day, your liver produces ~27-34 ounces of greenish-brownish-yellow bile, which is concentrated anywhere from 5-18 times, and then 1-3 oz is stored in the gallbladder awaiting your next meal. When you consume foods containing dietary fats, your gallbladder is triggered to release this concentrated bile into the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum, where it acts as an emulsifier to break down those fats and aids in the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins, A,D,E, & K, and any essential fatty acids. If you have ever vomited until a bitter, yellow substance came up — that was bile, and while you may not have thought so at the time – bile itself is an amazing substance. Comprised of bile acids, bile salts, cholesterol, phospholipids, pigments, water, electrolytes, and amino acids, bile is a bitter, acidic substance that breaks down fats into components that the body can use. Healthy fat absorption is crucial to our health. In fact, we were designed to eat fats rich in healthy fats. Our brains, our hormones, and even our very cell walls are dependent on a steady and healthy supply of fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids.1 Vitamin A is an important antioxidant that plays a crucial role in cell division, cell differentiation, reproduction, immune function, growth, and vision. Vitamin D is a prohormone which not only regulates calcium metabolism, but is essential for the functioning of the nervous system, for bone health, for muscle strength, for immune function, regulating blood pressure, hormone production and for cell differentiation. Vitamin E is a blanket term for eight different nutrients (4 types of tocopherols and 4 types of tocotrienols) that have string antioxidant properties and also play a role in immune function, healing, repair, and cardiovascular functioning. Vitamin K is a nutrient that scientists are just starting to devote research time to. It is known to play a key role in bone health, blood clotting, and heart disease, but studies are showing that it may have many more far-reaching effects. Essential fatty acids (EFA’s), such as omega-3 fatty acids, are ESSENTIAL to human functioning. Long recognized for its powerful anti-inflammatory benefits, EFA’s are required to make the cell walls of every cell in your body and they play a key role in immune functioning, musculoskeletal health, cognitive function, and heart disease. Considering the overwhelming importance of fatty acids and fat soluble nutrients to general health, it makes no sense to willingly cut out gallbladders with no plan of action to compensate for the deficit caused by its dysfunction or removal. Whether you have a gallbladder that isn’t doing its job or you have already lost yours – there is a solution.
So, how does all of this apply to lack of weight loss — or worse, weight gain?
In simplistic terms, the body is a finely tuned organism. We need 17 nutrients in specific quantities just to make adequate levels of stomach acid and other digestive substances. When gallbladders dysfunction, two things can happen: First, the bile gets too thick and stagnant, which creates an ideal situation for gallstone formation. Second, when gallstones impair or block the emptying of the gallbladder, fat digestion decreases dramatically, which in turn, puts your body into starvation mode. The body requires the absorption of those fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, but it recognizes it is in a chronically deficient state – so it hangs on to the fat it has (which unfortunately may be that stomach pooch) for dear life. You in turn want to lose that stored fat, and may erroneously take on a low-fat diet at the advice of your healthcare provider, which only makes the matter worse.
Causes/Risk of Gallbladder Dysfunction
- hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid)
- low fat diets
- high fat diets
- food allergies and sensitivities
- gluten intolerance
- being overweight
- dieting, rapid weight loss
- pregnancy
- sedentary lifestyle
- birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy
- heartburn
- use of antacids and Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)
- 40+ years of age
- females are at greater risk in the United States (in other countries, males can be at higher risk – it is thought that alcohol consumption plays a causative factor there). Women that have birthed children also have a greater risk of developing gallbladder dysfunction
- alcohol use (the more you drink, the greater your risk)
- bariatric surgery
- ethnicity (more prevalent in Native American populations and Hispanics)
- family history of gallbladder issues
- extreme diets which eliminate any key food group
- elevated cholesterol, especially high triglycerides or LDL
- consumption of statin medication or immunosuppressive medication
- medical conditions including hypothyroidism, diabetes, insulin resistance, inflammatory bowel disease, PCOS, hemolytic anemia, etc.
- western diets, diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugars
That’s a long list of risk factors – it’s a miracle that anyone has a normal functioning gallbladder given our Standard American Diet (SAD) and reliance on fried and processed foods. In fact, gallbladder dysfunction is so common that clinicians refer to it as the 4-F syndrome: Female, Fat, Forty+, Flatulent. However, most people with gallbladder dysfunction are asymptomatic. Studies estimate that anywhere from 67-80% of people with gallstones have no symptoms. That said, many people discount gallbladder symptoms as being related to poor digestion or other factors. Everyone with gallstones started off with thick or stagnant bile. You have to have one to lead to the other. The pattern of symptoms associated with gallbladder dysfunction is so varied that many people without digestive pain may not associate their muscle pain, dry skin, poor wound healing, dry (or shedding) hair, headaches, heel calluses, or inability to lose weight despite doing everything right with a gallbladder that is not operating at par.
Symptoms of gallbladder dysfunction: Most commonly: pain or discomfort after eating. This can include gas, bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea, queasiness abdominal discomfort, extreme fatigue, pain under the ribs, particularly on the right side, or shoulder pain. Additional symptoms include headaches over the right eye, constipation or diarrhea, light colored or ‘floating’ stools, dark urine, offensive body odor or breath. People with gallbladder dysfunction tend to have bowel extremes — they experience diarrhea (up to 10 bowel movements per day) or constipation (often having days between bowel movements) and rarely have normal bathroom habits.
Have you had your gallbladder removed? You are not alone. Over half a million gallbladders are removed every year in the US. It is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures. Symptoms of postcholecystectomy syndrome (PCS): gas, bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea, queasiness abdominal discomfort, extreme fatigue, pain under the ribs, particularly on the right side, or shoulder pain. The need to run to the bathroom immediately after eating is fairly common. Additional symptoms include headaches over the right eye, constipation or diarrhea. Notice the symptoms are almost exactly the same for people with NO gallbladder as for those with a dysfunctional one? Researchers estimate that at least 40% of people who have had gallbladder removal continue to experience significant abdominal pain.2 It is estimated that 5-40% of people who have had a cholecystectomy experience long term symptoms from it . 3 One British study looking at the after-effects of gallbladder surgery found that 87% of men and 68% of women experienced weight gain after cholecystectomy and urged physicians to caution patients about this ‘side-effect.4 I can easily say that in my 12 years of practice, I have NEVER had a gallbladder patient tell me that they were informed of the likelihood of weight gain prior to their surgery!
Where Weight Gain & Weight Loss Issues Come into Play
Having a dysfunctioning gallbladder or having no gallbladder are both associated not only with difficulty losing weight, but with weight gain. Anecdotal reports are abound of women having few issues maintaining their healthy weight until they had gallbladder removal surgery. On a functional level, we know that nutritional deficiencies are associated with difficulty losing weight, and by drastically impairing fat digestion through having stagnant bile or by surgical removal of the gallbladder – we create the foundation for broad-spectrum health disorders. Our bodies are designed to maintain an equilibrium, or steady state. It craves balance. So when we have gross nutritional deficiencies, our bodies inherently want to hang on to its stores of fat and nutrients. It doesn’t want to exacerbate its deficient status by losing more of anything – and that includes your love handles.
So, what can you do about it?
1) First and foremost, you need to concentrate on eliminating the nutritional deficiencies. This is imperative if you want to get your body out of starvation mode. I suggest that you take a high-quality, highly absorbable multivitamin. Look for a high potency multivitamin that contains more than the 100% RDA amounts. Those amounts were designed to keep a person out of gross deficiency status, they are not amounts your body needs for optimal functioning.
2) The second thing I recommend is supplementing with pancrealipase and organic beet extract. I carry two different formulas – one for people with gallbladders who need to thin their bile so their digestion works better and another for people who no longer have a gallbladder and who need to add ox bile extract in addition to the pancrealipase and organic beet extract so they can start breaking down those dietary fats , get themselves out of a deficient status, and start losing weight. Either formula can be ordered directly from me (message me through facebook), or through the manufacturer. These supplements are only sold through licensed healthcare providers, and I am prohibited from publishing prices publicly, but if you visit my facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/weightlossresources/ and check the FILES section. I have included complete ordering information along with a discount code for my clients.
3) Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates. Not only are these typically ’empty’ calories, but they rob you of minerals like magnesium and chromium, and your b-vitamins. They also induce insulin spikes which further stress your liver and gallbladder.
4) Increase your magnesium intake. Whether you take oral magnesium preparations, or you use epsom salt baths – magnesium has been shown to prevent gallstone formation. It is also required for making appropriate levels of stomach acid.
5) Increase your intake of taurine-rich foods. Taurine is one of the major amino acids found in bile. Healthy digestion depends on getting adequate supplies of taurine. Meat, eggs, seafood, certain dairy products, and brewers years are all good sources of dietary taurine.
6) Eat healthy fats! Your body needs fat in order to lose fat. If fat digestion troubles you, start slowly with small amounts of unrefined organic coconut oil and slowly add other healthy oils into your diet. Let your body accommodate to them. Healthy fats include grass-fed butter (which is a source of vitamins A,D,E,K, as well as selenium, and CLA), ghee, lard, egg yolks, organ meat, palm oil, olive oil, most nut oils, etc. Bad fats include corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, margarine, and anything listed as ‘hydrogenated’. These refined oils are a source of omega-6 fatty acids which not only contribute to obesity but cause inflammation within the body, and that includes liver and gallbladder inflammation.
In short, having gallbladder problems or no gallbladder whatsoever need not cause you issues. There are simple solutions that allow your body to work the way it was intended to. You can get the weight off and avoid the bizarre food cravings that come along with those nutrient deficiencies. You can feel normal after meals. You can have normal bowel movements, and you can get rid of the fatigue that overwhelms you. If you combine healthy food choices along with the simple supplements I suggest, you will see results. If you are able to combine the two with lifestyle improvements you will see results that much faster. I sincerely wish that more medical providers educated their patients on the detriments of gallbladder surgery before they submitted to it, so they could take preemptive action, however, in the words of Mick Jagger, “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might end up with what you need”. So, in closing, I hope this information is what you need. Please visit me on facebook at Weight Loss Resources with Dr. Miranda. If abdominal pain persists, you may have a problem caused by something other than the gallbladder. Other possible causes of abdominal pain include irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, stomach ulcers, or pancreatitis. Please seek the advice of your licensed healthcare provider to rule out serious health conditions.
♥♥♥Other posts of mine that you may find helpful (click on any of the blue text below to open) :
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1) http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-gallbladder
2) Hearing, L Thomas, K Heaton, L Hunt
Post-cholecystectomy diarrhoea: a running commentary Copyright © 1999 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Society of Gastroenterology.
3) http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/postcholecystectomy-syndrome-topic-overview
4) Weight gain after cholecystectomy. BMJ 1984; 289 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.289.6455.1350 (Published 17 November 1984)Cite this as: BMJ 1984;289:1350
Other sources:
1. Bates T; Ebbs SR; Harrison M; A’Hern RP.Influence of cholecystectomy on symptoms.
Br J Surg. 78(8):964-7, 1991 Aug.
2. E Ros, D Zambon . Postcholecystectomy symptoms. A prospective study of gall stone patients before and two years after surgery. 1987 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Society of Gastroenterology
3. CAROLE MACARON, MD,MOHAMMED A. QADEER, MD, MPH, JOHN J. VARGO, MD, MPH, Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine March 2011 vol. 78 3 171-178, Recurrent abdominal pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy
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http://www.principlesforparents.com/gall-bladder-energy.html -(graphic)
by drmiranda | Jan 24, 2014 | dietary supplements, network marketing, Plexus Slim Doctor, Uncategorized, weight loss
This isn’t an exciting post but we have to stop throwing the word ‘detox’ around. If you do not define what you mean by it, the term is meaningless, and the vast majority of people are using the term as a symptom catch-all and that is simply not how detoxification works.
DETOX. For such a little word, it is sure used a lot in dietary supplement claims and reports.
Starting a new supplement & you’re feeling bad? You must be detoxing!
How does supplement X work? It detoxes you!
Have a headache? You are detoxing!
Do you have gas & bloating? You are detoxing!
Constipation? Diarrhea? You are detoxing!
You have a rash? You are detoxing!
Not losing weight? Your fat cells need to detox!
Blah, blah, blah.
Let’s start by detoxing the term detox!
I really don’t like the word DETOX. I think it has become highly overused, and most people don’t have a clue what it means or what they are actually referring to when they use the term. So in effect, it has become a vague term that people use when they don’t have anything better to say. In fact, in one British study, a network of 300 career researchers investigating ‘detox supplements and products’ found that no two companies even used the same definition of “detox” and most companies made vague claims without even referencing what “detox means or proof that it actually works.”1
Do I believe that the body accumulates toxins which impair health? Absolutely. Can I think of any science proving or even suggesting that a specific supplement can detox the body of all of these environmental toxins? Absolutely not.
To be clear, this isn’t an exciting blog post. There is nothing exciting about detoxification, especially when so many people have it so spectacularly wrong. First, let’s review some basic physiology. Everything your body ever comes in contact with, and everything you ever breathe in or consume needs to be processed through either your liver, your kidneys, your lungs, your bowels, or through your skin. Water soluble substances don’t pass through the skin readily but are filtered by the kidneys fairly efficiently. Oil-soluble substances can be absorbed readily through the skin and are processed by the liver, and sent through the bowels for elimination. Gaseous substances, like anesthetic, are cleared directly from the lungs. Most of the toxins you are exposed to will be via your mouth in the form of what you eat and drink. Looking at the digestive tract for a moment, consider it a ~30 foot tube connecting your mouth to your anus. Approximately 80% of your immune system is centered in and along that tube, and maintaining its balance is a single, fragile layer of cells only one-cell thick. If this layer of cells is damaged, the selective barrier loses its selectivity, and foods, toxins, and other substances that would normally pass through your system with little consequence, can now be absorbed directly into your system (where your body can mobilize antibodies and inflammation for protection against this onslaught). In addition, there is an intricate balance of over 500 different types of bacteria (about 3 pounds worth all together) that live along is this tube which form part of a collective ecosystem to help you digest food, produce vitamins, make nutrients available, regulate hormones, and excrete toxic byproducts of your metabolism. When this lining or bacterial ecosystem become impaired, then you suffer from a wide variety of health complaints because your organ systems simply cannot operate at full function. Now, your body being the masterpiece of engineering it is, it tries to maintain an equilibrium, or ‘steady state’. So it takes these substances that it recognizes as foreign and it walls them off or stores them in the tissues it deems less critical for survival. As far as your body is concerned, your fat stores are less critical to your immediate survival needs than the health of your ligaments, nerves, and muscles. So initially, your body packs away these metabolites and toxins in fatty tissues and this can lead to cysts, lipomas, or benign tumors. Next in the line of potential storage spots, your body likes the myelin sheath – that fatty layer of insulation that surrounds your nerves and aids with nerve conduction. Connective tissues like ligaments, bones, and blood, and then tissues such as nerve and muscle tissue come next. Areas bathed in fluid, like joints are always prime targets for metabolite deposition (an example would be uric acid crystals depositing in joints in people with gout). If toxic and metabolite exposure goes on long enough, entire organ systems can be affected and thereby become dysfunctional.
Getting back to your gut, many supplement companies do not take into consideration actual human physiology when they talk ‘detox’. I swear that most people think the word detox is synonymous with the word poop. Let me be very clear, just because something makes you have a bowel movement – that doesn’t mean you are detoxing. Every symptom you have is not a sign of detoxing, nor is it a sign you need to detox. Nothing gets me more wound up than all of these ambiguous posts online that blame every negative side effect or symptom on toxins. And please, don’t get me started on all of these posts where people come to a group forum and ask a legitimate health question, only to have their symptoms brushed off or minimized by some well-intentioned but ill-informed individual under the guise that “all is fine, you are just detoxing!” As a health care professional, when I see someone referring to the word ‘detox’, I read their statement as “I don’t know what I’m talking about and have nothing better to say, so I am going to baffle them with BS”.
On a very simplistic level, when we were embryos and our guts formed, one collection of nerves, the ‘neural crest’, forms and divides with one section becoming the central nervous system and the other section becoming the enteric nervous system. These two nervous systems are connected by the longest of your cranial nerves – the vagus nerve. This vagus nerve starts in the brain and terminates in the gut and this is the source of the brain-gut connection that you read about. It is also why you have ‘gut feelings’, why eating certain foods are addictive or simply make you feel good, why you want to eat when you are stressed, why food sensitivities can cause behavioral changes, and why medication such as antidepressants can cause stomach upset or nausea.
When most people refer to detoxification they are referring to liver function, or to Phase 1 and Phase 2 conjugation in the liver specifically. This is truly your major site of detoxification and it is the organ most intimately connected to hormone balance. In Phase 1, blood carrying toxins enters the liver, and the liver prepares these toxins , usually moving them towards being water soluble, and makes them more accessible to Phase 2. In Phase 2, there are a sophisticated set of reactions involving a multitude of things, including Cytochrome P450. In all, there are 6 main types of reactions that occur in the liver – with each one being completely chemically different. That is why there is no magic detoxifying agent that can clean you out entirely. Of these 6 main reactions, 3 (glucuronidation, methylation, and sulfation) are the most likely to be impaired, and the other three are more likely to affect your hormone levels.
- During sulfation, your body adds sulfur groups to certain toxins so they can be removed. Your body requires sulfur-bearing amino acids like cysteine and methionine, and B-vitamins like B12 and B6, and folic acid for these processes.
- During methylation, your body requires methyl donors to facilitate the toxin removal. Up to 40% of the population may carry genetic anomalies which hinder this process.
- During glucuronidation, your body requires glucuronic acid, various B vitamins and a significant amount of specific magnesium ions to work properly.
This all leads to glutathione conjugation, where your body then uses master antioxidants like glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, along with the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, and selenium.
OK, so have I bored you to death yet? This is as exciting as watching paint dry, right? But if you have stuck with me this long, you might be asking me what this really means? In a nutshell, it means that there is no single supplement or product that can act as a total detoxing agent. Anyone who suggests otherwise, is steering you wrong and just doesn’t understand basic physiology. CBC Marketplace (click link to watch the video) , Canada’s version of 20/20 style news exposè , recently did a show where they had a group of sorority girls from my alma mater follow Dr. Oz’s popular 48 hour detox or act as a control group. Extensive blind testing was provided by a team of medical specialists before and after the ‘detox’, and would you be surprised by their conclusion that they could discern absolutely no differences between the two groups upon the completion of the detox program? This leads us to a very important point, if you can’t find any biochemical proof that toxin levels are decreasing, then what are you really doing? There is an incredible lack of scientific literature that supports most detoxification claims; not only can people not agree what detoxification is, but they can’t prove that they are causing it.
You can take specific supplements or combinations of supplements to pull, chelate, or adsorb (not absorb) specific toxins from the body, like using chlorella to bind with excess mercury you may have in your body from consuming shellfish or having amalgam fillings; using EDTA to pull lead from environmental exposure; or using N-acetyl-cysteine to detoxify from acetaminophen exposure. But (big BUT) when it comes to detoxification, there is no magic bullet. You can’t go around claiming that every supplement under the sun is ‘detoxing’. They just don’t work that way, and even if a substance supports a step of detoxification, it doesn’t cause detoxification in its own right, and blaming all negative symptoms on detoxification is haphazard and potentially dangerous.
I have kept a running list of the ‘detox’ references I have seen in the online groups I follow over the past few weeks. Here is a list of symptoms that I have seen people blame on supplementation:
- fatigue
- hives and other skin rashes
- weight gain
- gas
- bloating
- nausea, vomiting
- dizziness
- insomnia
- inability to concentrate, mental fog
- headaches/migraines
- diarrhea
- constipation
- heart palpitations
These are not symptoms of supplement-induced detoxification!!! These are symptoms of dehydration and starvation. When many people undertake a detox plan or a new diet, they dramatically cut their caloric intake and unfortunately the do not consume enough water, or consume substances with diuretic properties which therefore increase their odds of becoming dehydrated. On day one of a typical ‘detox ‘/ diet, people often feel bad. They are hungry, may experience dizziness or irritability, and feel fatigued. By day two, their body starts breaking down muscle mass to provide them with energy and they may experience additional mood swings, difficulty sleeping, or overwhelming fatigue. By the third day, they are likely having headaches, muscle pain or stiffness, and even dizziness or nausea. Rolling into the fourth and fifth days (if they have lasted that long), their body has started to adapt to the new situation and slowed down your metabolism so they don’t feel the same degree of hunger, but they still may be dealing with altered mood, headaches, and nausea. Many people who report a 6-8lb weight loss during the initial period of any detox or diet are truly losing water and a small degree of muscle mass. They are not losing fat! You will notice that when you look at symptoms in this light, they are nearly all truly the result of dehydration and lack of calories, they have nothing to do with ‘detoxing’.
Yes, we can take steps to reduce our intake of toxins, and that may be the most practical approach to detoxification, but we can also take supplements which reduce inflammation or support optimal liver functioning so that our livers are best equipped to deal with the chemicals we assault them with. For anyone interested in detoxing, it should be clear that this isn’t a process you undertake in a few days or weeks, it should be a lifestyle change where you eat ‘clean’ and provide your body with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with vitamins and minerals, and other key nutrients to ensure that our systems are always handling toxins adequately. When someone tells me that they want to ‘detox’, my number one question is what they want to accomplish. Most commercial detox programs are nothing more than fancily packaged bowel stimulants. They make for expensive laxatives, and have no proven, measurable results, and for that reason, I do not recommend them.
While I am at it, I want to tackle ‘gluten sensitivity‘ and ‘candida overgrowth’. As these are two other catch-alls that get as much ill-informed press as detoxification. First, let’s look at gluten. Do I believe that gluten is an issue? Yes. Do I think it is anywhere as prevalent as what people like to say? No. In fact, a recent study2 found that people with self-reported (and to be fair, the gluten sensitivity tests are horribly unreliable) gluten sensitivity actually had no physical reactions from consuming gluten and instead experienced a total elimination of all of their GI symptoms by eliminating FODMAP’s (Fermentable Oligo-Di-Mono-saccharides and Polyphenols, or rather fermentable, poorly absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates) from their diet. FODMAP’s are what we would traditionally consider to be high-residue foods, things that linger in the gut and prove a fertile ground for bacteria to grow and feed off of. When bacteria thrive in disproportionate quantities or in imbalanced ratios, people can experience significant gas, bloating, cramping, constipation, diarrhea, etc. So what are these FODMAPS? The most common ones are fructose containing substances such as fruit, agave, honey, and HFCS. Oligosaccharides such as beans, lentils, wheat, onions, cabbage, and the other cruciferous vegetables. Disaccharides like dairy (particularly in unfermented dairy products), and sugar alcohols like xylitol, malitol, and sorbitol, which are found in many diet products. So looking at this list, you can be eating what you think is a perfectly healthy diet but causing undue havoc with your gastrointestinal tract and immune system. A lot of people are jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon as of late. In fact, I have colleagues who make their living being gluten-free gurus. I have sat down with internationally known scholars in the field and I just don’t see that gluten is the whole answer. Face it, we were all raised on gluten, and while there were a small portion of the population that have celiac disease and cannot metabolize gluten, the majority of us, for hundreds of generations, did just fine with it. It was the advent of genetic modification that heralded the onset of all of this gluten fuss. It countries that do not allow GMO wheat, they do not have the same gluten issues that we face in the United States. I will say that in the allergy blood tests I run on people, I frequently see wheat as an allergic agent but infrequently see gluten, so my personal experience supports the findings of this and other studies.
Lastly, I have received a bunch of questions lately about candida, and specifically the validity of the candida saliva test. I am of the professional opinion that everyone has candida, it is just a matter of whether your immune system keeps it in check or not.
Truthfully, candida is like Epstein-Barr virus; if you go looking for it you are going to find it. It may be more advantageous and easier on your wallet to simply treat for candida if you believe you have symptoms of candida overgrowth. Now, the candida saliva test (where you spit a mouthful of saliva into a glass of distilled water and look for ‘strings’) isn’t overly accurate.3 It can be better said that it is a test of saliva viscosity or thickness, it isn’t reproducible, nor is it specific. Yes, some people have oral candida (also called thrush) and will produce a positive spit test, but many people have candida-free mouths but may have candida over growths on their skin, or in their intestines or vagina’s. Yeast is an equal-opportunity offender. You can spend hundreds of dollars having blood, stool, or skin tests done, but does that really change your course of treatment? If you believe you have it, it may be a lot easier and cheaper just to treat for it, and treat for the appropriate length of time* (*most treatments need to be for a minimum of six weeks to be truly successful). Now I am officially on the record as saying I feel the candida saliva test is a no-harm-no-foul test. You can do it if you want, it doesn’t cost you anything but 10 minutes of your time, and it may or may not help you confirm that you have an issue. I do not think it is fool-proof or diagnostic by any means, but some people need to see things in order for them to believe them, and this is a tangible test that anyone can do but it should not be something you bet the bank on!
1. Detox Dossier. Retrieved 1/24/14 : http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/resources/48/Detox-Dossier-Embargoed-until-0001-5th-jan-2009.pdf
2. No effects of gluten in patients with self-reported non-celiac gluten sensitivity after dietary reduction of fermentable, poorly absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates. Retrieved 1/24/14 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697
3. http://www.acneeinstein.com/candida-spit-test-unreliable/
