YouTube Livestream Q&A Transcript, October 6, 2026

Question
“Hi Dr. Ellithorpe! Would you recommend the HPV vaccine for an 18-year-old girl? Thank you!”  [0:07:08]

Answer
Well, I think the Gardasil 4 vaccine has been out since, I don't know, 20 years ago. I think it came out in the early 2000s. And with that, it is supposed to protect you against human papillomavirus, that is, many, many, many types of viral strains, dozens and dozens of them. In the research, they have found certain numbers are identified in the genetic structure of the virus that are associated with vaginal and penile warts, genital warts. Other strains are associated with cancer, cervical cancer. And when Pap smears were started- I don't know, even before I started practicing medicine; it was early on, maybe 10 years before I started practicing medicine, something like that- the Pap smears were starting to be done. And we found a tremendous reduction- I don't know, 70% in cervical cancers through the screening of Pap smears, and that was from 1970 to, I don't know, the early 2000s. And then when the vaccine came out, maybe around 2005 or 2006, then there was a continued drop in cervical cancer cancers, and the death rate due to cervical cancers has diminished also. So, we have seen a tremendous decrease in cervical cancer deaths. We have seen the plateauing of the incidence and now some decline in it. We know that if you take the vaccine that is recommended. Merck I think makes it, Gardasil is the name, and it's Gardasil 4 because it's gone through some new iterations. No, I think it's Gardasil 9. Gardasil 4 was the older variety. But anyway, as they develop it and they study the strains, they do modify it. It is a recombinant vaccine, which means they take parts of a virus and combine them together. So, it's not live; it's attenuated, dead parts of the gene code of the virus. And then they mix it with adjuvants; in this case, Gardasil 9, I believe this is, mixed with aluminum, a type of aluminum that I think there's 500 mcg per injection. So, it's like a half milliliter, and you get injected with that irritant aluminum to help rev up the immune awareness of the shot. 

And so, the side effect profile and the risk seem to be within ranges that are considered to be not serious because the CDC has continued to endorse the vaccine. The, I don’t know, the mortality rate of cancer from HPV cervical cancer somewhere is maybe 2.1% out of 100,000, and the diagnosis incidence is somewhere maybe around 7.7% I think, on the latest. So, these questions come up often. So, it's very, very, very low. I would say the overall death rate in the American population is 0.003%; that's the last one I think that's been out there. So, there's been a dramatic decline. Now, it is associated with multiple partners and unprotected sex, and the risk is much higher. It has an ethnic cultural higher risk in certain groups of people that is well defined in the literature. So, Hispanic and black Americans are at higher risk of being diagnosed with this. So, if you are monogamous and married and there's no risk of any promiscuity from either partner, then they really don't push the HPV vaccination. So, given all that, given that its incidence is declining and the death rate is now actually coming down, and that you can screen with routine Pap smears. And usually the identification of the virus and the development into cancer is 10 to 15 years. Then you have to ask the question: do I really need this if I'm going to be in a monogamous relationship? And then you have to ask what are the risks. I would say the established risks are very low. Very low. I don't think there's been any significant signal of death due to the vaccine with Gardasil. Maybe 6% of all the reported side effects of the various vaccine-related adverse reactions are minor stuff. Pain at the site, hyperventilation from fear, anxiety, localized reaction pain. These are not serious. But if you're fainting or you're having seizures or fever, anything that's neurological, these are less than 6%. So, if I had daughter, I would not be advising her to do that because I would advise her to be – I would raise her in my worldview as a Christian, and I would ask her, and my son because it's also recommended for young men as well, I would ask both the male and female offspring to be celibate until marriage. And that's one of the protections of marriage – it is a good immune system and a healthy life. If, however, they are not able to contain themselves, then I think the second best thing is to do some protective vaccination. It is more effective if you do the vaccination before you become sexually active; that's established in the literature. And two shots are considered to be adequate for approximately 15 years’ worth of coverage. If you start later, after you're sexually active or you get into your 20s, 30s, and 40s, then they want three vaccinations to be done. It's not clear; at least I'm not clear on whether, if you've already been told you have positive human papillomavirus, getting the vaccine then significantly reduces your risk of developing cervical cancer. I think that's still being documented, but I think the early evidence- early, it's been out 20 years- the vaccine. So, I think the evidence is there, but I don't study this all the time. I think it is significantly being reported that it does reduce the likelihood of having cervical cancer, even if you get the vaccine after you've been diagnosed with a Pap smear with a positive HPV. 

So, that's my thought on it. And educate your daughters, your children, your sons about this. And I would also say build your immune system by keeping your sugar and carbs down. Don't eat late, exercise, take vitamin D, get outside, get some good sunshine, and use vitamin C and/or something like I use Juice Plus for my vitamin C and polyphenols and antioxidants, and I use a multivitamin mineral to get my zinc in and my selenium. And I stay away from the sugar and starchy carbohydrates that are well known to reduce your immune system because your immune system is designed to identify viruses that are abnormal and foreign and to kill them off, and sugars will harm you if you don't understand that; that will slow your white blood cell reactivity to these foreign invaders. All right, hopefully that helps you.

Question
“Hi Dr. Rita. I was wondering if a doctor is recommending regular antacids for ulcers that return, is there a better natural alternative?”  [0:17:57]

Answer
So, if a person has a gastroenterologist who does an endoscopy and they do see ulcerations, they should use the standard test for H. pylori and then put them on a treatment course of the Prevpac, which is an H2 blocker with two antibiotics to kill off H. pylori. If no H. pylori is identified, they'll still probably give the H2 blocker. So, there's a reduction in acid with a proton pump inhibitor. It's PPI, Proton Pump Inhibitor; H2, hydrogen 2 blockers. These antacids are for about a 6-week period of time; depending on how bad the ulcer looks, they often do a repeat endoscopy. So, if you're under the care of someone who has said you have this ulcer, you need to follow up on that. O-type blood people tend to produce much more acid as a general class than the A, AB, or B type bloods. So, it's mostly the O's that tend towards this problem, but it can occur in any one of them. We would put everyone on a phospholipid powder. We call it Phospholipid powder here, and actually it's so common; I use it all the time here because it works so well. Phospholipids. This is a fat; it's a glycerol molecule with three 3 fatty acids hanging off of it. It's a powder, and so it doesn't mix well with water. So, I use warm water with it, and then I put the SBI Protect Powder. This is a serum bovine immunoglobulin. So, IgA and IgG antibodies that need to be in the gut are mixed in. So I put this powder with it, one scoop of each in some warm water, and mix it up. I try to use those battery-driven little frothing things in that warm water and take a shot down. I also usually put in a Probiotic 225 powder. There are 15 packets in here, and this will last for two weeks. Once the packets are done, I go to an oral probiotic, and then I will continue the Phospholipid with the SBI Protect Powders for about anywhere from 1 to 3 months. And if everything goes well and the repeat endoscopy is better, then – and they usually always are healed and better by then. 

I ask all these patients to tell me their blood type. The A-type bloods, I will help them use Digestive Enzymes with food so that they can better empty their stomach and get it cleared out. Those who have O-type blood, I ask them, as well as everyone else, to never eat late. I ask them, please finish your eating early. Early, I would say, you know, depending on how old you are, because the older you are, the harder it is to digest, and food stays longer. The longer it stays in your stomach, the more it will affect your sleep and shut off your repair and growth hormone. So, I try to get my patients to eat anywhere from shortly after getting up and doing their chores and exercises. Then eat until, you know, if they're young, I try and get them to stop by 5:00. As they get older, and certainly by age 60, I ask them to cut back to 4:00 and even 3 o'clock. I try to cut off at 3 o'clock. I would have to admit that very often it's about averaging out to 3:30, 4:00 when I get to eat. So, that's what I would do. And yes, it helps. Yes, there are many other things. There's zinc carnosine. There's some mastic gum for ulcers. Also, it’s helpful if you've had a history of H. pylori. Elevating the head of your bed. A rich simple menu where you're eating roasted chicken, roasted beef, roasted pork, broiled salmons, egg with a yolk, these kind of things are so rich in natural phospholipids, but I usually don't see people eat enough. That's why I made this powder drink. And then that will help heal the lining because what is the lining of the stomach made of? Like every other cell membrane, phospholipids. So, why do we give phospholipids? Because they'll go immediately to the site to try and heal up those ulcerations, and that's the direction we would begin in. So hopefully that's an idea of how we would begin to help.

Question
“Dr. Rita, thank you for being here for us! You are such a blessing! I am tapering down from prednisone from 20 mg after 10 months. I am at 4 mg now. Question: How can I wake up my adrenals?  [0:23:47]

Answer
Well, have your doctor check your cortisol and your DHEA levels. And then have them do a chemistry panel to look at your salt levels: sodium, potassium, and then chloride levels. And I think the number one thing I would do is take DHEA, exercise, and get a good circadian rhythm going where you're up at the same time every day. Get some early morning sunlight, you know, 3 to 5 minutes where the sun is shining right in your eyes, don't have glasses on, and get outside there grounding, stand barefoot on some wet sand or on the wet grass for 3 to 5 minutes, get some good exercise going, and then that's the direction I would go to recover my adrenals. Try to shut all your electronics off at least 30 minutes before you go to bed, at least, if not an hour. And then I would try to sleep in a cool, darkened room. And if necessary, get a mask for your eyes and have a good, cool night's sleep. Go to bed on an empty stomach. Try not to eat late at all so your human growth hormone will go out and start sending out repair, and your pituitary-hypothalamic-adrenal axis will start getting restimulated naturally. Hopefully that helps. 

Question
“Dear Dr. Rita, with the replacement of knees, and especially hips, how does this affect the production of blood in the body, if at all? Thanks for your explanations in advance.”  [0:25:52]

Answer
Yeah, the end where they put in your hip joint prosthetic and the knee, these are not the site. It is in the length of the bone, the shank you might call it, not the bulbous ends where the joints meet. Your bone produces the marrow in these long middle sections of your bone, so it wouldn't have an impact. 

Question
“I have a pressure headache from gadolinium toxicity. I have been using Detoxamin for about a month and a half, but I have to stop to prepare for surgery but the headache has returned and seems a bit stronger and I am worried it will affect how I respond to anesthesia.”  [0:26:46]

Answer
Okay. So, I'm going to say EDTA, calcium disodium EDTA, is a good chelator of gadolinium. And I would go to someone who is experienced or working with an experienced doctor in their team, because as we're getting doctors that are all starting to try and learn functional medicine, there's not a lot of us old doctors who have 30, 40 years of experience. So, we have to be patient and loving to help them move into this new area of knowledge, catch up on their studies, and work with your doctors on that because I don't know the quality of Detoxamin, the suppository, anymore. I think it's made out of country, so I can't speak to its contents, the ingredients, the quality, and the matrix that they put the EDTA into to suspend it to make it into a suppository. I pray that it is as good as the original back in the early 2000s when I did publications and research on it; it was effective. So, it could be that you're having problems because the product isn't what it used to be anymore. Find an ACAM doctor, www.ACAM.org, and go to that doctor and get some IV chelation, plus you'll get all the wonderful vitamin C, which promotes healing and helps prevent scarring. You'll get true pharmaceutical EDTA. You'll get the right dosing every time. And you'll get the minerals; you'll get the methylated B complex. It's just a safer way to do it. So, I would recommend www.ACAM.org. Find a chelation-certified doctor and then go from there to work on this, and that'll help really. I've never seen it fail to lower gadolinium levels. It's just wonderful. 

Question
“Hi Sister, got a question about the new product from Juice Plus called Metabolism. What do you think of this new product?” [0:29:41]

Answer
The company, Juice Plus, has a very good record of being associated with very needful and very high-quality products, from their original smoke alarms, and I think they had some water filter or something. Then they eventually got into the fruit and vegetable and berry concentrate made proprietarily, and that's in the early 1990s when they went full force into getting research-supported, third-party independent university-based clinical studies on it. And they set the tone for the entire world, you might say, to wake up physicians to the quality of fruits, vegetables, and berries because it has the most research on any supplement ever studied out there; Juice Plus is the number one. Now, the Metabolism, I can't speak to it because I'm not recommending it. I have not used it in my practice. I think the components in it- you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong. I think it has something like berberine in it to help with sugar metabolism. And if it does, I'm sure it's a great-quality product and that they do good sourcing. But I just don't have any studies on it. And if I don't have studies, clinical experience, and lab work, I'm not going to recommend it. I have to stick to being a practicing physician with actual data on that. So, hopefully they'll get it and let me know what's in it. 

Question
“Can castor oil be used on eyes after I had cataract surgery now that I have new lenses put in? And also, is castor oil good for milia on the eyelids to remove small growths?”  [0:32:04]

Answer
I would not. I would not use castor oil on the eye at all. And instead, I would use Argentyn silver, which is a 23 parts per billion nanoparticle suspension of high-quality silver, which is a universal treatment for the ages for treating bacteria, viruses, and fungi. So, that's what I use. I use Argentyn. I'll put a drop in my eye if I – you know, now that I'm in my early 70s, I get dry eye from menopause. And instead of any drugs or prescription or over-the-counter things, I will use a drop of Argentyn. And then, of course I try to get a good night's sleep, moist heat, and I would leave it at that. But consider some natural hormone replacement therapy because that helps with the quality of your skin, even your eyelids, and the little meibomian glands that make the sebum and discharge at the eyelids there. All right. Hopefully that Argentyn silver will help you. 

Question
“Also worried about a lot of scarring from surgery, as someone who had a lot of gadolinium injections developed a lot of scarring from the same abdominal surgery that I am scheduled for. I had 2 injections more than 10 years apart but have developed symptoms from the MRI contrast/Gadolinium from three months ago. I am worried about continuing the Detoxamin too close to surgery as it draws out the gadolinium, which is good, but maybe not while recovering from surgery, though I hear gadolinium goes towards scar tissue – not good as it is then harder to get out.”  [0:33:45]

Answer
Yeah, I don't think I would worry. No, I don't think there's ever going to be studies done on it. But I would say, my clinical experience over, I would say, closing in on 40 years here, with people getting surgeries left and right, those who do EDTA chelation prior to the surgery, the day before, and then a few days after their surgeries, after they're back and mobile again, I have never seen a problem with gadolinium issues. Indeed, I would certainly recommend it and support that work. So, please go ahead and consider using it. I've never seen a problem with that. 

Question
“Hi Dr Rita, my son is 10 and has a dry cough. I'm thinking allergies, but not sure. He doesn't seem sick. Is there anything I can do to help? Thank you. God bless.”  [0:35:14]

Answer
I would be very aggressive about getting and educating your children about the dangers of fake food, like substances that they put in the grocery store, they put in the checkout lanes, so that the kids are screaming for treats and so forth, your children's videos, the classroom junk food. These highly processed, refined foods have got to go. And I'm glad Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now working with and changing the dietary recommendations, such that they flipped the pyramid to emphasize the healthier, richer eggs, fish, meat, protein-rich foods, and reducing to the very minimum any grains and sugars that are refined. So, that is the number one thing that will harm the immune system of the children, causing even fatty liver from all the fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, all the sweet drinks that are out there, all the alleged health drinks, like Gatorade that have junk in them, like bromelain, and these sports drinks are just excuses to harm the children, in my opinion, with bromelain and their sugars in it. Please use good old-fashioned water. Salt the foods. Give real food and start teaching them about self-control over the treats. A thousand people in the Bible, it talks about don't follow the mob. It clearly says that in the Old Testament. So, I would say, even though the classroom might have – I remember back in, I don't know, 1960-1961- my girlfriend, Chris Ofloy, her mother would always put a Hershey's chocolate candy bar in her lunch, and I never ever ever in my life got a candy bar ever put in my lunch. Mine had an orange, an apple, and a banana, or it would have an Armour baloney or a slice of cheese in it, and milk. 

So, we have to help our children see the difference between following a mob, following a trend, versus using our mouth as a receiving site for good, healthy food to have strength to do God's work, versus using our mouth as an entertainment marketing zone for ecstasy every time you open it. So, yeah. Now, the other thing you can do is give, for allergies, the quercetin. The company Ortho Molecular makes for children the child's level of what they call D-Hist. I don't know why they do that. I would just give the child; if they're under 80 pounds, I would give them two capsules of quercetin, which is called D-Hist. The adult form is just fine. There are 200 mg per capsule. If they're 50 pounds or less, then I would give them just one capsule a day; if they're above, say, age 5. And this quercetin, it has anti-cancer properties. It has a mast cell stabilizing effect for allergens. It has tremendous benefits for allergy control scenarios, anti-cancer benefits. So, that's what I would do. The other thing is I would use vitamin D in the child. I would get at least 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 with K2. And I would use a multi-mineral vitamin. We have the TLC Multi-Minerals. And if it's a child of 10, I would say at least one capsule a day. Two would be fine if their weight is close to 80 pounds. And adults, I would use three capsules, because the zinc is very important for their immune system and fighting off colds. So, you got the zinc, you got the D. Then finally, some Argentyn nasal spray; squirt it up the nose. It's just like water. It doesn't have any sting or anything to it, and it works as an antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. So, those are the directions I would go. 

The other thing is well studied, and we have millions of kids in these studies for Juice Plus. If you get your child on the Juice Plus capsule, fruit, vegetable, and berry, their days missed from school, their athletic and their academic performance, less medication needed, fewer doctor visits, that's very well established. That's been so well-proven. So, that's another suggestion I would do. 

Question
“Many folks say castor oil helps with multiple needs for our bodies. Do you know any benefits for its uses? Have you heard of Barbara O'Neill? She's a holistic x nurse who teaches God’s ways and natural healing through food and herbs and other ways, as you do. Thank you for your wisdom.”  [0:41:41]

Answer
Yeah. Castor oil, the type of fatty acid chains, and our skin cells are fat. So, if you put that oil on top of your skin cells, it will create kind of like a melding with your skin, and the idea is if you mix it with a castor oil pack, some excipients, you could even put, you know, some essential oils in with it, that it'll work to help as a delivery system for it into the body because your skin, this is all fat. And so, if I put a fat substance, it'll penetrate and meld with the skin and deliver the pharmaceutical active ingredient to the area. But not on your eyes. I just would not do that in the area of the eyes. No. Just a moist, warm cloth and Argentyn silver. Consider natural hormones to help your skin. Don't over-shower and rinse off your valuable oils, and let your skin have a healthier, moist base. 

She added, “Healing through food and herbs and other ways as you do.” Yeah, and I know what she's saying. I can only share my experience. I do not know everything. I've watched some of her videos, and I support all that she's saying to do, as naturally as we can, to take charge of our lifestyles and do a good job with our bodies. 

Question
“I am trying to take a lot of magnesium, with it exceeding the RDA, but my levels are still a bit normal to low due to a combination of impacts of gadolinium and EDTA. I am taking a lot of trace minerals to prepare for surgery and having enough electrolytes. Do you have any other recommendations if I continue EDTA up to surgery in 2 weeks?” [0:44:03]

Answer
No, just a good lifestyle, things that we said. Get a good night's sleep, eat a rich protein diet because if you're going to have surgery, that's an assault, so to say, on the body, and you're going to have to heal, and you'll need a lot of good protein amino acids. The lower your sugar, the better sugar control, the better, quicker, faster your body will make growth hormone. If you don't eat late, you'll have a higher spike of growth hormone. That's why I try to never eat within six hours of me going to bed, you know, around 9 or 10 o'clock at night. So, I have to finish eating by 3:00 or 4:00 every day. When you go in for surgery, typically they'll say to fast; come in fasted for 12 hours. I would say fast for 18, maybe even 24, if you can do it, because then your body will already be primed and trying to secrete growth hormone and repair when your body is assaulted with the incision, and the knife will create all these little trace traumas, little molecules that signal the body to repair. And if it isn't clogged up with sugar and sticky food allergy immunoglobulins, then you'll rush the signals to that site to heal quicker, better, faster. Then they'll say, and loving family members after surgery all want to fawn over the person who had the surgery and say, "Oh, eat, eat, eat because you need to heal.” Well, you should have done all that eating before surgery because the best response would be to not eat after surgery for a day and just be on broth and some salted broth. It has your electrolytes and minerals in there. And then, if you have to take anything, I would mix maybe 50-50% ginger ale and water and drink plenty of water, so that you have another healing time without your body working on food. It'll work on that site where the surgery was done. And then when you break your fast 18 to 24 hours after surgery, now you're close to almost a day and a half to two days without food, your growth hormone, your repair signals are going to be so good, you're going to get a far less inflammation, quicker, better, faster healing. And then, you know, just break your fast with gently scrambled eggs with butter on it, salted, and then maybe something like soft proteins, like salmon dipped in butter. And if you tolerate that well, then go to your regular diet. That's how I recommend it to my patients. 

If you're taking systemic enzymes, because my patients are all on systemic enzymes, prior to surgery I ask them to stop it, like four days before, because it does work as a platelet inhibitor to block clotting, and you're going to need to have little clots to heal up the wound. But the day after surgery, I tell them to get back on their systemic enzymes and double up for, say, two weeks because all the injury and debris has to be cleaned away.

Question
“Can you describe what you recommend for people to do regarding stomping on concrete to strengthen bones to prevent osteoporosis? Also, what is the length of time you recommend? Thanks so much!”  [0:48:23]

Answer
Well, the whole idea there is to get a sense of sudden deceleration. Even hitting your wrist like this makes that bone feel a sense of sudden deceleration. You could take a rubber hammer and hit it that way. All these things are jostling the bone. That's what these vibration machine rooms are doing. By you standing up and then banging and jamming your foot into the ground, you're suddenly decelerating the movement, and that shaking puts, like, a little shear stress on the periosteal sheath that surrounds the bone, and that's what a tendon attaches to, and then the muscle. So, it's kind of like pulling on the sheet, and that says Wake up, rebuild bone; you're alive; we need you; we are using you, and that signals through an electric- they call it a physio-electric impulse from that little jam and shock. It has the message electronically and biochemically to the bone to stimulate osteoblasts to help make bone. So, that's what we say. Now, how long to do it? You know, just 15 20 seconds. You know, I don't run, I don't hop and skip because all my life I've had larger-sized breasts, and I don't like the jiggling and the jiggling going on there. And so, I'd rather do leg presses in the gym three times a week, pushing up on the heavy weights, isometric holds, like doing a wall squat, doing all my weight training, pushing and pulling, that kind of stuff. But 15 seconds a day, maybe once or twice a day, stomping, hammering something. It's like the old days; the women would have to chop the neck off the chicken. I grew up on a farm, and we'd have these times where we would have the chickens, and we'd call our relatives over, and they would chop the head off the chickens, and we'd have so many, many chicken carcasses to peel the feathers off and boil and clean them out. It was kind of fun. It was a party. And then they got their chickens. Hopefully that helps you. 

Question
“What do you recommend for low iron? My bloodwork came back with Serum 46 mcg/dL and saturation 13%.”  [0:51:19]

Answer
Yeah. So, you're beginning to be low in iron. And I don't know your age; I don't know if you're menstruating or not, but my suggestion is it is the leaky gut because you have to take in–really, the best iron to take in is from eating red meat, where the iron is in a natural electronic valence, 2, versus being turned into a 3 valence charge, ferrous to ferric. And when your body gets this ferrous level in, and it's brought into your gut lining, that gut lining will bring that food with the iron in, and it'll get into the early part of the intestine, and the little receptors right there on that one-cell-thick membrane are looking for that actual healthy valence level, and it's absorbed into the cell in your gut for your bodily use. So, I would recommend you get animal sources: meat, pork, and chicken with the skin on it, preferably the dark meats. And then I would also encourage you to heal any leaky gut symptoms because if it's the lining of your intestine that's got to do all the work to absorb it, the more injured cells you have, the less well you're going to absorb your iron. If you're blood type A, you have to digest better, and you would need the digestive enzyme. If you're over age, say 60 or thereabouts, your digestion is diminishing anyway. So, we need to work on probiotics in our gut, digesting our food with a digestive enzyme as we get older, or earlier for blood type A people, and we have to work on getting the best available sources for iron that are chelated or in a state ready to be absorbed, which is preferably animal food products. That is what I would recommend. You work with a doctor that is very familiar with these things. Heal the leaky gut, exercise, stay active, those kinds of things. 

Question
“What do you suggest for constipation?”  [0:53:55]

Answer
Well, another thing with iron: if you drink a lot of coffee, you know, I'll have one or two of these a day, that is going to prevent your absorption of the iron. So, you have to be careful about caffeine drinks like that when trying to absorb your iron. What do I suggest for constipation? I would use vitamin C orally to tolerance, meaning we have a buffered, mineralized, balanced, or buffered vitamin C capsule, 750 mg in it, that I've used for years and years and years with my patients. I use it myself now more and more, where I'll take three of them. So, 3 times 750 is somewhere around 2300, 2.5 grams of vitamin C. I take that in the morning, and I often take it at nighttime. Vitamin C is very well known to assist with bowel movements and water to help keep it soft. And I will take it with my multi-mineral, the TLC Multi-Mineral. They are also chelated with amino acids for better absorption. The magnesium glycinate variety and threonate that's in it are very good, well-absorbed magnesium. So, a combination of that is what I would use: vitamin C with minerals. Some people need three vitamin C capsules with three minerals in the morning and in the evening to achieve bowel movements, along with good amounts of water. 

Question
“Can fasting too much or too long cause an imbalance of hormones in either men or women?”  [0:55:46]

Answer
The answer is yes. You have to realize that I used to do a 5-day water fast twice. Did I do it twice a year? Yeah, I did. And as soon as I hit my late 60s and early 70s, it was too hard on me. I was starting to really fade around day 5, so I cut it back to a 4-day fast, and now I only do a 3-day fast. And that's because the benefit-to-risk ratio gets harder the older you get because I need protein to keep my muscle mass. And I have to do that at a reasonable rate of consumption, and I have to take a higher dose. So, I always recommend that if you're over 60, you’ve got to use twice the amount of protein that a 20-or 30-year-old has to eat because there is what we call anabolic resistance to building muscle. To ring that notification bell to your genome to turn that protein into muscle is twice the amount you have to consume. So, if a 20-gram protein plate on a dish for a 20-year-old or 30-year-old will help make their muscles maintain or grow with exercise, you’ve got to take 40 grams of protein. So, I work to get in about 120 grams of protein every day of my life, and I just saw too much muscle loss with it. And what that also means then is your hormones become stressed because without the foundational blocks and pieces that you need to build hormones and replenish them, it becomes stress. So, the answer is, yes, it can be detrimental. And so, I would never go beyond a 3-day fast if you're over 60, and depending, you know, on your individual cases or problems medically that you have. Each case is individual, but certainly by age 60, you have to start to be thoughtful about that. And how often would I do a 3-day fast? I would never do it more than once a month. That would be maximum. And I don't think I do it even once a month. I'm probably doing that only two or three times a year. 

Question
“As a 55-year-old woman in late perimenopause considering HRT, is it worth testing hormones via blood levels or is HRT prescribed mostly on symptoms?”  [0:58:39]

Answer
I would do it on blood levels because you don't want to develop symptoms, and you know, a good doctor will be looking at all of it. So, the ladies I have on hormones, even I've had them on 20, 30 years, I'm still asking them how their symptoms are, but I'm always following their levels, usually twice a year. 

Question
“My mother-in-law had a stroke about a month ago. She has been in a hospital in Michigan. I’m trying to source a functional doctor to get her help. They are saying she has congestive heart failure. Are you familiar with Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)? Or any other alternative methods that might help with her condition?”  [01:00:01]

Answer
Well, yes, there are many options, but not enough, I guess, at this time to bring her to that, but testosterone should be looked at to help her, and getting her off of the fructose and carbohydrates, and EDTA chelation, especially if she has some degree of heart failure. You have to be concerned about the volume of fluid in those IVs. So, we use what we call a mini bag, and we can put in 100 mL, which is like a little over a half of a cup of fluid, which is always well tolerated. So, EDTA chelation can be done for her, but think about testosterone as well. 

Question
“Are the COVID test kits any good in determining if someone has COVID?”  [01:01:09]

Answer
It's been well documented that the false positives of these home tests are really unreliable sources for it. So, I am not in favor of trying to identify a word behind your flu-like symptoms. Just treat yourself for the flu with your vitamin D, your zinc, and your vitamin C, a low-carb diet, and rest, Argentyn silver nasal wash, oral sprays, or swish and swallows, and follow up with your doctor on that. I don't think we need to be trying to self- test at home. So, the false positive rate was astronomically high. We're talking in the 90s percent. So, there's so much controversy. I don't put any trust in it until that's better defined.