YouTube Livestream Q&A Transcript, September 23, 2025

Question
“Is there anything I can do to get rid of or lessen the dark pigmentation from the sun on my legs, arms, and chest? Dermatologist calls them sunspots or liver spots. I know not to go into the sun without sunscreen. I would like them gone. Is there anything? HALO laser? BBL?”  [0:03:48]

Answer
We would want to ask questions like, How old are you? Are you on any prescription medications? Do you have any other comorbidities or illnesses? How is your microcirculation? What is your heavy metal burden? Because as the tiny capillaries get older, the connection between one cell and the next gets broken apart, and we get what we call leaky capillaries, and red blood cells can leak through. And you know, the red blood cells have hemoglobin, which is bound to iron. Iron deposits can be dropped into your skin, and that's pretty much a permanent stain, like a tattoo. So people who have chronic edema and inflammation of their lower extremities get these broken tiny capillaries and blood vessels, and they start looking like they have brown socks on their feet, and that's from the iron deposits from the red blood cells that have leaked through. The poor junctions became loose and opened up, and then the red blood cells leaked through. 

The other thing is, as we age, we also have disease and general metabolic breakdown, which is oxidative stress. When you have oxidative stress, fats that make up half of the cell membrane, so a cell membrane is a bilipid layer, and it goes all the way around the cell like that, it's made of fats and proteins. These fats can get, so to speak, oxidized or burnt. When they're burnt like that, we call it lipofuscin. Lipofuscin creates these brown spots, which we call liver spots. And that's just showing your level of repair and oxidative function is aging and diminishing. And one of the good things about taking highly researched, well-proven nutraceuticals is that they give you antioxidants, and we've been doing this here for at least 30 years. I've been recommending entirely as my main antioxidant, the Juice Plus, which is the fruits, vegetables, and berries that are put in a capsule and dehydrated to make available all the polyphenols/antioxidants that help the level of protection of the human body on many, many different levels. One is that your skin quality is easily seen if you've been taking antioxidants for many years. And we've been doing this, I've been doing that. I think it has benefited me over my 72 years of life, and the amount of stress that I've been under will generate a lot of oxidative stress. And I really do think that my Juice Plus, all these years, since about 1999, has really been a great benefit to slowing my aging. Also, for instance, like cataracts. I don't have the early hints of aging eyes or that kind of stuff. I do take EDTA chelation, which helps pull out the heavy metals. There may be some value to that for the iron deposits that are in the body. If you do chelation therapy, for sure it'll help the microcirculation, so you don't continue to have as much capillary damage and leaking of the iron in each red blood cell to be deposited into the connective tissue. 

So, outside of that, I don't know of any other real thing that I can tell you, the whole lifestyle of a low oxidative, stressful life. Drink your water, get a good night's sleep, ground yourself, and eat healthy, grass-fed, wild-caught, prairie-raised natural beef and poultry and fish and such. And don't eat late at night because our digestion slows. And if the digestion slows, it's staying in our system too long, our stomach is still having too much food in it, so that when we lie down, the body will not release growth repair hormones when it senses a full stomach. It takes, you know, probably four, six, maybe even eight hours for an older person to empty their stomach out as they age. And then, God forbid all these people using Ozempic and all these semaglutides, GLP-1, and GLP-inhibitors. These medications are slowing down gut transit times, which are going to produce constipation and gut paresis, slowing, and that will stop some of our growth and repair time. So, it's a big mess when we think we know how to jiggle with a certain molecule and create a downstream effect of a lot of damage. 

Question
“What do you recommend for joint pain due to pickleball? Like knee and plantar fasciitis?”  [0:09:26]

Answer
Well, again, your age is going to matter. If you're over 40 years old, it's very likely that your rate of repair for microtrauma is limited. So, the frequency and length of time you do it may need to be cut down. Although I'm very much in favor of exercise, the sudden stopping and starting of this may create tiny micro tears in the tendons and cartilage there. Remember, the knee doesn't have any, per se, blood supply. It's the cartilage lining, the top bone, the bottom bone, and the patella, and the only way fluid gets in there is through one little synovial artery. And all the diffusion of good nutrients and repair nutrients, or removing waste material, is very limited, so you have to be very well hydrated. I would take systemic enzymes because we lose them with age, and that helps reduce inflammation. I would get a very good night's sleep and not eat late. I would stop eating somewhere around 3:00 in the afternoon, especially if you're 60 years old or older. And I would eat a rich, protein, healthy diet of grass-fed only beef and wild-caught fish, and prairie-raised animals that don't get insecticide exposure or hormones injected into them. So, that'll help repair the cell membranes made of proteins and fats. The enzymes will disinflame. The water will help the microcirculation. Of course, you could always do EDTA chelation to enhance that. And the richness of the collagen and the protein that's in the meat, fish, chicken, and pork materials that are made of these things will help speed up the repair of the joint that is stretched out, irritated, and inflamed from pickleball. So, there you go. 

Question  
“I’m a 54-year-old female, 192 pounds. I take no vitamins. Should I be taking any supplements? I have no medical problems.”  [0:11:43]

Answer
Well, I don't have any medical problems either, and I'm 72. And I would say, one of the things that I have to realize is that we're in a more chemically-polluted, energy-polluted, light-polluted environment. On top of the chemtrails that dump boron and aluminum particles, aluminum oxides are scattered in the air as they film out of these airplanes, and you see the trail for hours and days, even as the film spreads out. This has tiny metallic particles that reflect waves of energy off of it, so you can bounce energy waves off of it and create a dome, which will create some weather changes. It will also deflect waves of energy coming from space, such as to heat the planet. So, we're messing around with that, but ultimately it lands on all the trees, the ground, and the forests are turning into tinder sparks because aluminum is a known pyro accelerator. In other words, aluminum is a thing that will help ignite and start fires more easily. So we're having the aluminum powder all over the earth and in our forests, which are aggravating it. When you think of that and getting on our soil, your plants grow up with these toxins in them. Industrial farming has taken away the love of personal families, nurturing and watching over the soil of their land, and rotating it. So, we are literally getting less quality food, less nutrient-dense food, food that's artificially modified and made to have more sugar. And I appeal to its beauty rather than its nutritive content and value. So, given all the food corruption, the chemicals, the heavy metals, the energetic waves that are detrimental, the oxidative stress, the challenge to stay healthy today is increased, and we can also see that with the explosion of the chronic medical problems we're seeing in our young children. We are made of cells, and these cells have a membrane that's protein and fat; it's a biolipid layer, and it goes all the way around the cell. This is made of fat and protein. Your body is composed of fats and proteins. We're not made of fruits and vegetables. We take out of fruits and vegetables certain micronutrients if we can digest them, but with all the stress, we're digesting less well, and we cannot repair the trillions of cells and the micro-damages that we're accumulating at, I think, a faster rate these days. 

So, if you say, Do I think you need to take supplements, I'm going to say. I have universally seen massive Vitamin D deficiencies, and those people who sit in my office here and say, “I eat well, I eat a healthy diet.” All I do, decade after decade after decade after decade, is see patients for the most part who think they are doing well, and I see massive vitamin D deficiencies. I see significant water-soluble B vitamin deficiencies because you urinate them away. They're water-soluble, so you can easily lose them as opposed to vitamin D, which is fat-soluble; it doesn't tend to be as rapidly lost. I see almost everyone is iodine-deficient. I would say upwards of 96% of all my patients are iodine deficient, 97% percent deficient. I see most of my patients having metabolic syndrome, early signs of. Insulin resistance from a high sugar diet that's oxidative stressing their body. So, yeah, I give iodine, I give vitamin D, I give a good antioxidant, methylated B complex, and amino acid chelated minerals. And I will give them, I'm against fish oils. I am for linoleic and alpha linolenic acid because we're not fish, we're at 98.6 degrees. When you take in five double-bond EPA and six double-bond DHA fatty acid chains, they're unstable, they easily become oxidized or rancid, and you're taking in largely, I think, rancid fats and oxidatively stressing your body. God designed us to have two double bonds in linoleic and a three double bond in alpha linolenic acid. So I give the correct Clinician Preference Oil and Juice Plus, the antioxidant. Those are the core items that I use. So, yes, I do think you need some supplementation in today's world. 

Question
“My 87-year-old but physically and mentally healthy mother tripped on a step and hit her head on a tile floor. Since she's in good shape for her age, she was able to get up by herself. Yet, she has a few bruises under her eyes. How to determine if she had a head concussion? She refuses urgent care or an MD.”  [0:17:33]

Answer
No, I would have this looked at because bruising under the eyes, unless she hit her head right onto her forehead, may imply that she has a more fragile body, and tiny bleeds could occur in the brain, you could get a subdural hematoma. I wouldn't fool around with anything like that. She needs to be seen and evaluated by a doctor. Yes, I know it's been a week now since you sent this question in. Even still. I would have her evaluated and looked at for this reason, and yeah, I would go to her doctor and handle it that way. I can't tell you how important it is. Any trauma to the head in an older person puts them at a significant risk for even a minor head trauma for a bleed because, you know, you don't know if she took aspirin that day or she's on some other prescription medicine. Please take her in. 

Question 
“Hi Dr. Ellithorpe, My mom is 87 years old with stage 4 kidney disease and recently took a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, which was positive. Since she’s at the beginning stage, her neurologist prescribed Donepezil HCL 5 MG to help with her memory and clarity. Is there a supplement she can take instead?”  [0:19:12]

Answer
I recommend a lifestyle approach. We would tell you that the brain and the tissues are made of fat and protein, and the fat and protein of the brain, the fat content, is even higher. So, a largely carnivore diet, very low carb, always helps with mental clarity. Fasting, having intermittent fasting times, generates ketones, and that helps mental clarity. Doing exercise with resistance training and aerobic walking or stationary biking is very helpful for memory. Taking vitamin D is very mood-lifting; it's fat-soluble and helpful with memory. Taking magnesium or a very good multimineral is very important for cofactors for helping brain repair. The choline in the acetylcholine Aricept, the medicine you were given, is a cholinesterase inhibitor. It tries to prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, which is a neurotransmitter, and you should be eating a lot of meat, fish, turkey, chicken, beef, egg yolks to get the choline and these precursors, therefore, for her to be able to make coenzyme A and acetylcholine from the fats. So, a high-fat diet rich in animal foods. Stop eating after 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Exercise. Be well hydrated. Make sure she's getting at least 64 ounces of water. Have her take a multimineral with magnesium in it, vitamin D at least 5,000 IU is what we start here, for all our patients with memory problems. 

The other thing is I put all my memory patients on hormone replacement therapy because estradiol will help arouse the brain and improve the depth of sleep and quality of repair at night. So we use natural hormone replacement therapy, along with exercise and vitamin D, multivitamins, and methylated B complex to prevent the APOE methylation problems, without having negative effects on oxidative stress and aging in the patient. So, there's a book out there, and there's a neurologist by the name of Dr. Bredesen. I taught him everything he knows; that's a joke. But everything he has in his book, we've been doing long before he wrote his book, because we've been doing this 40 plus years, and I'm glad to see the specialist finally doing something and making it popular over the past 10 or 20 years. But, you know, it took wonderful doctors like Julian Whitaker and Linus Pauling and Dr. Klenner in North Carolina with vitamin C, Dr. Ray Evers for EDTA chelation. I mean, these giants in the field existed long before me, and they taught me. Dr. Ray Evers was my physician. And so, then we carried on the mantle from them. And so, I think we've just been pushing the envelope, and now, finally, we're seeing these specialists, like Dr. Perlmutter, Dr. Bredesen, all these guys are finally coming out from behind the trees and writing their books, and we thank them for admitting that the nutritional lifestyle was the correct way to go. That's not to say surgeries and certain drugs aren't beneficial or potentially valuable, but certainly not to the expense of not being taught about all the lifestyle things that must be done that help a family grow up healthy, a community grow up healthy, and a state grow up healthy. So, we have to restore this training and give honor to our forefathers, and no one takes any individual credit because it's all one big process where God's trying to wake up all of us, and we should all do our job. And we don't need a pat on the back. That's our reasonable service to the industry for the betterment of mankind. All right. So that's what I would start to do for your mom with Alzheimer's. You know, there are other nutraceuticals. We use vinpocetine in a product called Membrin, along with other ingredients, to help memory. And then try to find a good functional doctor in your area, and then just keep on asking questions, and let us know how she's doing. 

Question
“I want to use Ivermectin and fenbendazole or mebendazole for liver cancer and cirrhosis. I have not taken chemo or radiation. Can you provide information?”  [0:25:09]

Answer
Well, I would say these are not the standard of care. You should have an oncologist whom you go to and ask your questions about. If they don't have any information or help you, there is a gentleman by the name of, two people, one is called Dr. Casey Peavler, and he is on YouTube. So if you go onto YouTube and type in “Dr. Casey Peavler,” click on his website, you'll see his round face in the picture there, hit it, and you'll see his, I think it's called Metabolic Pathways YouTube. And there you can look at his fenbendazole research. And he goes with current research on fenbendazole, ivermectin, vitamin D, enzymes, berberine, vitamin C, all these kinds of things, and the ketogenic diet, all these various things he goes over. Dr. Casey Peavler. He does an excellent job. There's a book out there written by Dr. Thomas Seyfried, PhD, and the name of his book is Cancer is a Mitochondrial Disease. Metabolic Disease. And this is what Dr. Casey Peavler read, got all excited and made his YouTube video about. We've known about this and we're doing this in the 1990s when I was working with Dr. Burzynski in Houston, Texas, on his antineoplaston therapy for brain tumors, and we've had survival of glioblastoma multiforme in all my practice for years and years and decades. And so, this is nothing new. It's just finally getting into the mainstream. So we're most thankful to God that he has made this available and that some people have had the blessing of getting notoriety over this. So we thank the Lord for it. But those are two resources for you that may be helpful to you. But do share it with your oncologist. 

Remember, your oncologist is also under pressure to learn the nutritional ways now, do some homework, and earn his income. Oncologists are the highest-paid doctors, so they certainly can do some more homework and learn about these things. Give him the name of Dr. Casey Peavler and Dr. Thomas Seyfried and share with them what you're doing. And find a functional doctor nearby to help you, work openly, share the information, and help everyone this way. 

Question
“When starting an HRT regimen - not menopausal yet, how can I tell when menses is breakthrough or may be something more serious? What days should I use progesterone with estradiol when cycle upset?”  [0:28:26]

Answer
In general, if you're premenopausal or just beginning to get near perimenopause, I tell you, I'm usually having my young ladies, even teenagers, all of them, go on natural progesterone cream day 15 of their menstrual cycle to day 25 because there's so much stress, the cortisol hormone is released under stress, it blocks follicle-stimulating hormone, so you don't get your ovulation, then you get estrogen-dominant, then you get the lining built up too big in the uterus, you get fibroids. On top of that, most of us are eating a lousy, high-carb, high-fructose corn syrup diet. Insulin is a growth promoter. It'll promote fibroids and thickening of the lining of the endometrium as well. So, I recommend natural progesterone cream from Day 15 through 25 for every woman on earth because it's so stressful. And day one is the first day of our menstrual period. So, 15 days from the start of our menstrual period to day 25 is when you do it, and that would augment ovulation. Women normally ovulate around days 7 to 15. So, if you start the progesterone on day 15 or 16, you're not going to interfere with your own progesterone ovulational production. So, that's a very wonderful supportive thing to undergird all natural feminine cycles, improve fertility, reduce endometriosis, along with a low-carb diet and exercise, and reduce fibroids and cramping. All these wonderful things occur when you do that. That's what I would encourage you to do. 

Now, I still cycle. I'm 72, and I still have a monthly menstrual cycle because I take progesterone day 1 through 15 of every month because I don't have a cycle to follow anymore, and I take my estradiol cream every day of my life. So I generate a certain level of estradiol in my system, just enough so I don't get hot flashes or night sweats, just enough that it builds the lining of my uterus up a little bit. So by the time I start progesterone on the 1st of the month through the 15th, it builds up enough, so when I stop it on the 15th or just right before, I start to have a little cleaning and breakthrough release of my lining of my uterus and get a very tiny, very, very light, mild menstrual cycle. So, I have never had menopause. I've never gone through those symptoms. I've never lost my sleep over it. My bones are excellent and normal in bone density. My energy and stamina, my immune system, my heart, my skin, my hair, all these things are supported because they're general contractors to the human body in helping it stay functional and healthy. So, hopefully that helps you. And find a good functional doctor who can help you with that. Keep on going to different functional doctors until you find someone who has experience and is going to work with you, test your levels, and compare them with how you feel. 

Question
“Help with menopause, please. Vitamins? Lack of sleep, night sweats.”  [0:32:05]

Answer
Well, you need to see a doctor who is familiar with prescribing estradiol and natural progesterone. And I prefer cyclical, although there are those who do continuous of both. Normally, progesterone is cyclical in a woman's body. So, I often offer cyclical, but I tell the woman she'll probably wind up having a little menstrual period once a month. But you have to measure the levels and see how much estradiol is and get a steady state over the course of a year or two, and see how our body responds. Very often, we have them go to their gynecologist or get a pelvic ultrasound and look at the lining of the uterus, their fallopian tubes, and their ovaries. But you need to find a doctor who will give you estradiol and progesterone to help you get rid of these night sweats and help you get some good sleep. Vitamins are the ones I mentioned earlier. Vitamin D helps with mood. It helps as a bone builder and has an anti-cancer effect. You want the multivitamins with the magnesium, especially to help you relax. You want iodine to help your mental acuity and to help you with your thyroid function. And you want a good antioxidant, I always recommend the Juice Plus series. These are the antioxidants that are rich in all the colors of the fruits and vegetables, and berries. And then I would use systemic enzymes. I always give systemic enzymes to women who are on natural hormones. We also lose our enzymes, and with that, we get more stiff and less cleaning, there's more debris, so you get stiff all over. I thank the Lord, I just don't have a stiff bone or joint in my whole 72-year-old body, and I can just bend over, lift, and do everything I need to do. Glory be to God. But I am taking the enzymes, and I drink the water, and I eat a low-carb diet, and I won't eat late. So, if a woman in my practice will not drink her water, not exercise, not take her enzymes, and be low carb, then I won't give her the hormones because she's trying to give it into a failing vessel that's going to have breakdown problems. If you're going to do hormones, you need to drink the water, exercise, you need to be low carb, not eat late, and take the enzymes, and then I would certainly recommend the D, the antioxidants, the multiminerals, the methylated B complex, and the iodine. Hopefully, that helps you. I hope you find a good functional doctor.

Question
“If the cycle is off now and I can't tell what the first day is, do I just start on day 15 anyway?”  [0:35:09]

Answer
Yeah. Very often, I will just set a 10-day sequence in the calendar month. So, 15 to 25 of the month, and then your body should start behaving better. But again, you need to have experience. I need to know how old you are. I would need to see what your blood levels are, any other comorbidities, and what your weight is. Your blood type also plays a great role in understanding your metabolism, how well hydrated you are, and how active you are with exercise. But yeah, you could just pick out a 10-day period of time, put on the progesterone, and then see how your cycle responds to that messaging. And then, once you get what you think is a clear period starting, you just declare that's day one. But if this is always changing, then at some point it's like a dance. Should the man lead, or when does the man lead in the dance? Well, I guess when they know what they're doing. So, when does the doctor lead with the hormones and just give the estradiol and give the cyclical progesterone, like I'm on a fixed calendar progesterone, the 1st through the 15th, and estradiol every day? Well, I do it with my blood levels, I've checked, compared to my symptoms, and I feel great, and I get a very slight menstrual cycle, and so I'm very happy and healthy. I don't freak out because I have a menstrual cycle every month in my 70s, and I don't need an OB-GYN to examine me. And you need a doctor who knows how to work that with you and find out where you are in your cycle.

Question
“Is DSMO safe for the body to process? Do I have to dilute it even if I'm using a teaspoon dose? It relieves pain in my feet, but I'm concerned it's a byproduct of industrial processing.”  [0:37:16]

Answer
DMSO is helpful as a solvent. Let's say it's a solvent. So, like soap, if you put soap in the dishwasher, it loosens up the grease on the pan so you can wash the pan. DMSO is like a solvent, like that. And so, the question then is, is DMSO safe for the body to process? Well, I don't believe in taking DMSO necessarily. I used to work many years ago in the 1990s, when I worked with Julian Whitaker in Newport Beach at Whitaker Wellness Institute on Birch Street, which is now closed. But we used a lot of DMSO. But the sulfur smell, it smelled like garlic all the time, and eventually we would put it in the IV. So, yes, you can take it internally. So, yes, it's safe, but I saw no added benefit, to my knowledge, that it helped with chelation any more than if you left the DMSO out. So, we at ACAM, and I used to teach chelation to the doctors for many years all around the world who had come to the American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine on how to get certified for administering chelation therapy. We don't recommend adding DMSO because why add something that isn't necessarily making things better? So, this is more topical for joint pain and topical applications. And so, that's what I think about it. Is DMSO safe for the body to process? The answer is yes. 

Do I have to dilute it even if I'm using a teaspoon dose? I've always heard that you should recommend it, at least 50/50 with distilled water.  Now, I think it's still safe to do topically. But again, I am not an expert in this, and the last time I ever used it was in the 1990s. So, you can find a lot of naturopathic doctors who use more DMSO than I ever will, and maybe you can find one who knows more than I do on that. I hope that helps you. 

Question
“I’m 60 years old and was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis. In addition to weight training 3-4x a week and eating daily more protein, are 24-hour fasts on a weekly basis good to continue?”  [0:40:08]

Answer
Yeah, I think it's just fine. I don't believe in prolonged fasting. I do a prolonged fast myself twice a year. I do it on September 1st, Labor Day, and I do it on January 1st, and that's because in my personal life, August is full of a lot of birthdays and my anniversary. And so, there are too many occasions in my personal immediate family where we're having a party or something. And the same with Christmas, too much eating of bad food. So, on January 1st, I always fast for three or five days. But outside of that, a 24-hour fast once a week is very health-promoting. I couldn't imagine doing anything other than benefiting and deacidifying your whole body, which will improve bone density. Yeah. And keep up your weight training. Make sure you're doing serious weight training. I recommend the machines only, and I recommend it at your level. But don't baby yourself. Push those weights or the number of repetitions until you start feeling some burn in your muscles to exhaustion. And then I also talk about stomping, stomping, stomping your feet and getting that sudden deceleration up your body, getting a rubber hammer and hitting something, getting that sudden deceleration up your wrist and arm. That's also. And then vitamin D levels, when you test the blood, are somewhere in the range of 80 to 100 on your blood tests. I don't like these 50-60 ranges, and I also recommend natural hormone replacement therapy. 

Question
“Are bioidentical hormones safe compared to regular HRT hormone therapy?”  [0:42:28]

Answer
You have to understand, most doctors are not really trained well. They don't get enough chemistry or biochemistry. They get basic chemistry 101, and they get organic chemistry for a semester, and that's it. Now, they understand their chemistry a lot better because everything's about learning how to read scientific papers. I certainly do wish that every doctor would be required to get published and learn how to publish papers so they can understand this. But regarding hormones, we used to use equine estrogens from horses to make Premarin, and then we used synthetic, fake progestins, which are synthetic progesterone mimickers, and they are associated with the Women's Health Initiative of 2002. It was associated with that fake progestin, Provera, with an increase in breast cancer. So, these are synthetic hormones. This is what people usually called back in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, regular hormones, which used to be Premarin and Provera. Then with doctors like myself and the ones before me that helped train me, and the ones I've influenced that helped the doctors now that are coming out from the trees and starting with their board-certified neurology and board-certified OB-GYN, they're board-certified cardiology and board-certified dermatology, and board-certified neurology, all, they're coming out because they realize natural hormones help everything because they're general contractors. But what they need to understand is that the human bioidentical estradiol is the female hormone of importance and magnitude that helps with hot flashes. Estrone doesn't. Estriol doesn't. It may have a tiny benefit locally right at the vaginal area, especially in women who cannot take any estradiol, let's say if their oncologist says they can't use estradiol, so they'll use estriol. So, natural human bioidentical testosterone, human bioidentical estradiol, human bioidentical progesterone, and there's only one progesterone, just one molecule of progesterone. 

Estradiol has a title name for three types. One is estradiol, one is estrone, and one is estriol, but the estrogen title has three of them in there, and only estradiol is the one that has any meaningfulness in use. And I don't like this fancy jazzed up bias, trias, mixing them all up into one thing. You can't manage it well. So I think everyone's trying to pull the wool over their eyes like they know something super-duper about hormone replacement therapy when really you just need to use the estradiol and find out the dose and the delivery method that works for your patient and progesterone. Those two things, learn them, okay. That's what I have to say and stop at this foolish bias, trias, foolishness, and marketing. 

Question
“Does taking magnesium with thyroid medication interact negatively with each other?”  [0:45:57]

Answer
I have no knowledge that there's a negative interaction. No. No, it does not. 

Question 
“Hi Dr Rita, I'm a patient of yours. My cousin in Arizona has colon cancer. And unfortunately, she is allergic to a lot of things. She will be going on chemo, but she wants to do as much holistically as she possibly can. Do you recommend a keto diet or a carnivore diet? Do you think fasting would help? She is allergic to almost everything.”  [0:46:10]

Answer
“Do you recommend a keto diet?” Yes, I do. Carnivore is even better. 

“Do you think fasting would help?” Absolutely. 
In Arizona, there are several anti-aging alternative functional medicine clinics in the Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona area, and I would call and look at that and explain to the office manager that you have colon cancer, is your clinician there familiar with natural supportive therapies, like high-dose vitamin C, EDTA chelation, ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, managing a ketogenic or carnivore diet, maybe even looking into fenbendazole and ivermectin or mebendazole. Look into Dr. Casey Peavler. Look up Dr. Thomas Seyfried. Both of them are on YouTube. You can read Dr. Seyfried’s book, Cancer is a Mitochondrial Metabolic Disease. All those things should be a big help to you for your cousin, and that's what I would do. 

Question
“Hi Dr. E., I’ll be 48 in October and recently saw a doctor who said I’m due for a colonoscopy. I’ve never had one, and they sound quite invasive, so I was curious what your thoughts are on that procedure. Thank you.”  [0:47:59]

Answer
Well, I want to tell you, my brother-in-law died of colon cancer. So I have my biases. I do try to let my patients know, who see me, my biases. I tell them my worldview is as a Christian, and I see each patient as a creation of God and I have to try and do my best to honor God's creation because I answer to God every day, every night when I go to sleep, if I think about what I've done in the day or if there’s anything I could have done better. And one of the biases is my brother-in-law, who died of colon cancer. I was 38 years old, I think he was 45, and he was married to my older sister, and he was working with my husband in construction. They looked very healthy. We took them out to a steak dinner. And then my sister called me a few days later and said David's ankles were swollen, and I thought that was very odd for a 45-year-old man. And, you know, I kind of blew it off because I knew I'd be seeing him relatively soon. And I said, well, you know, if it gets worse, call me certainly within a week. So, she called me dutifully a week later, and she said the swelling's up to his knees. Well, I freaked out. I was an ER doctor, and I had him come to my emergency room, and we did a CAT scan. And we saw the CAT scan, his abdomen was full of metastatic colon cancer to his liver and so forth. Unfortunately, right before my eyes, without any symptoms, he was without complaint. He was a lovely, Godly man, and he worked. He had a servant's heart, and he just never complained. And so, within a month, he was gone. So, this was back in 1995 when this happened. So I have a low threshold. I do value getting at least, you know, your initial colonoscopy done. If you had the injection of the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA, I think there's concern that there may be some immune risk and a higher risk for developing other serious disorders. So, I would have that checked, especially if you did that injection. So yes, I would do it. 

And, you know, there's a risk getting in your car tomorrow and driving anywhere or getting on a plane. Theoretically, you could get in a terrible accident or the plane could crash. So, we live around judgment calls, but I think the risk from the poor diet, the tumor-promoting high-carb, high fructose corn syrup diets are so growth-promoting, fat-promoting, cancer-producing, that. I think the risk of one colonoscopy is not to be compared to the value of the peace of mind that you get from knowing what it looks like. In my 45 years of practice, I would say I've had one patient, I think, who had a colon perforation that had to be kept in the hospital until they got better, and they were fine. So, it's extremely rare. 

Question
“Is there a bone protective amount of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy recommendation when dealing with osteoporosis?”  [0:51:33]

Answer
Well, your doctor has to be informed enough to understand that a progesterone level has to be at least around 4 to 6 ng/dL in your blood, and the estradiol should probably be at least around 75 ng/dL. So, yeah, I would say about a 75 estradiol and about a 6 for the progesterone is what I'd be generally looking for, and you'll see the beneficial effects at that level. 

Question
“When you go to the gym, are you being observed by a personal trainer? I've completed a few sessions with a physical therapist for osteoporosis, but now I'm on my own for those high-impact and resistance exercises. Most of these gyms do not have anyone familiar with osteoporosis to offer guidance.”  [0:52:14]

Answer
Well, good. Just get out there, push the metal, and be faithful and stomp. Look, we all get in the car, and we don't have a car driver's trainer. Just get in the gym. I recommend using the machines only so that you can't make a mistake with holding a free weight and falling, pulling, and jerking your muscles. Just use those machines and you should do very well. That's what I recommend. 

Question
“When taking supplements, such as Proven MD MultiMin or Methyl B Complex for which multiple capsules are recommended, do you recommend spacing them out over the course of the day, or all at once?”  [0:53:01]

Answer
I take them all at once. So, I don't think there's any credible research out there saying with food, without food, all at once, or spread out. It just doesn't exist. We are so busy, we are so active. You have to work out what's best for you, but I take mine all at once. 

Question
“Hi Dr Rita, is there any way to reverse liver failure? 67-year-old male. Due to alcohol. Weighs 133 lbs. Vitals good. What should his diet be at home? In the hospital for ammonia toxicity. Slowly getting better.”  [0:53:45]

Answer
He needs to be under the care of a good functional medicine doctor. My niece, actually the gentleman who was my brother-in-law, his daughter abused alcohol and got liver disease, and the toxicity led to encephalopathy, which comes from the ammonia poisoning. So, yeah, I'm very familiar with it. And we took care of all of her nutritional needs. We put her on alpha lipoic acid. I had given my own niece with those same problems, about 500 mg three times a day. I also gave her anti-inflammatories, such as systemic enzymes, on an empty stomach three times a day to help improve circulation. I made sure she drank about 64 ounces of water every day. I made sure that she ate a largely roasted chicken, prairie-raised, wild-caught fish, with only one cooked vegetable at a time. That was mostly high fiber vegetables like broccoli with the beef. And I would give Brussels sprouts with the chicken, and I would give green beans with the pork loin, and then eggs and a little raw cheese for that, and so she had four menus, and she only ate breakfast and lunches, rich protein, buttered everything, salt and pepper. She took her multimineral, she took an iodine, and I gave her the antioxidants Juice Plus as an antioxidant. And I held off the vitamin D because that's fat-soluble, and I slowly titrated her up on her vitamin D, and I checked the blood levels on that quite often because the liver has to process fat-soluble vitamins. I gave her high-dose vitamin C infusions, IVs of 25 grams of vitamin C twice a week. Alpha lipoic acid. Yeah. So that's what I did. She was on a very low-carb diet. Find a good functional doctor. You can talk about the things I used for my niece and then see if that's a help. Go to ACAM.org and find a functional doctor in your area who can help work with you and the hepatologist. But yes, she's totally fine now and recovered. So we thank the Lord, and it just goes to show you, don't judge a person and throw them in the waste bin because they suffer from an addiction. We who are mature in the Lord have to be long-suffering and patient. I will never give up on helping people. I will never give up on helping anyone who is asking for help. I'll always offer love and help, no matter what the addiction, no matter what the problem. 

Question
“Hi, Dr Rita! Do you recommend adding collagen to a diet for a 61-year-old lady? My sister-in-law recommends it. Thank you!”  [0:57:35]

Answer
You know, if you eat enough meat and pork and chicken, these animal products are so full of collagen and elastin fibers, you're probably going to get enough, and it's all bioavailable. The problem with over-the-counter purchases of collagen, unless you get a high-quality product, is that I do carry the Ortho Molecular series called CollaGEN, and the size of the collagen molecule, called adult in size, has been researched and studied with orthopedic clinical studies for bone density and imaging. So we use clinical research material. But I always tell my patients, you've got to eat this in your life. You can't keep on buying supplements. But yes, I'm in favor of collagen, but preferably from eating it from your animal sources every day of your life.

Question
“Do you recommend multiple types of magnesium in one supplement or specific magnesium? E.g., I take mag glycinate in PM only. 72 years young, but some hamstring cramps during the night that this seems to help.”  [0:59:53]

Answer
Yeah. I don't like oxides. I don't like magnesium oxide. These are inorganic magnesium. So magnesium glycine, magnesium glycinate, magnesium taurate, magnesium malate, magnesium sulfate, although that's the least I use, is magnesium sulfate. So, yeah. Magnesium citrate is primarily used to help you move your bowels and is a cleanser for pre-colonoscopy to clean out your bowels. But if you take magnesium citrate in smaller amounts, then it helps you with your bowel movements, and oral vitamin C. Magnesium glycinate is absorbed more and is longer lasting, and it is much more relaxing for the muscles. So, yeah, that's what I would do. 

Question
“I read that excess vitamin D has the potential to result in elevation of liver enzymes. Any comment?”  [1:01:00]

Answer
I've seen that but only extremely rarely, once. Once in my life as a doctor, I had one patient who was managing some of their own vitamins, and I had given some, and I wasn't aware they were taking some other D. Their vitamin D level got up, their calcium level raised, their liver enzymes went up a little bit, and they totally reversed it and turned it around. They did go to the hospital and were hospitalized for a day, and they took a calcium chelating agent, and they did just fine. So, yes, it's theoretically possible.
I almost never see it. And I'm using doses of vitamin D in the range of. 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 units a day all the time for years and years and years and years. Yes. So, yes, it's possible. 

Question
“It's been said that it's acceptable to have extremely low cholesterol levels because about 50% of cholesterol sits on the surface of blood cells and is, therefore, not counted in a blood draw. In other words, if a blood draw comes up with a very low reading for cholesterol level, it's misleading because there's still a lot of cholesterol present.”  [1:01:58]

Answer
That's a real doozy. I don't believe that. I disagree. All cholesterol is carried around in lipoprotein packages. Because cholesterol is fat, it won't mix with the water of your plasma, and so God has these lipoproteins that wrap around it. So, I don't know what you read, but that's not true. I don't believe that at all. 

Question
“My friend was given Paxlovid as a treatment for COVID recently. I've not read particularly good things about it. Your thoughts?”  [1:02:44]

Answer
Paxlovid stops, tries to inhibit; it's a protease inhibitor. So when you get an early infection, you're trying to stop it, taking over the machinery of protein replication inside your cells. Well, I guess a wonderful way to do that is to take natural quercetin and take zinc 25 to 50 mg a day at the onset of a cold, which will be a protease inhibitor and stop the replication of it. Why take Paxlovid? That's my thoughts on it. 

Question
“Hi, Dr. Rita. Do you have any thoughts/opinions on the efficacy of taking molecular hydrogen before or after exercise?”  [1:03:28]

Answer
Well, yeah, it’s an extra electron donor, hydrogen. And so, it helps with oxidative stress. And you know, there’s going to be the purest who’s going to argue, you need a little oxidative stress after a muscle workout to stimulate signaling for muscle repair and growth. So, they’re going to argue that. I think in general, if you have the hydrogen water, and you drink it, it’s just fine. The hydration is going to help you, and the antioxidant effect of the extra electrons will be of benefit.

Question
“Can you comment on giving blood. Is there a health benefit? If so, how often? Does your blood type matter? When your body makes a new pint of blood, does that improve circulation? Should a person with anemia of the chronic condition give?”  [1:04:21]

Answer
In general, if you have anemia chronic disease, you can’t, you’re not supposed to give your blood for that. You should be under the management of whatever chronic disease you have. But men in general have a higher risk of building up iron. Of course, women menstruate all their lives, and up until the point menopause occurs, women’s risk for oxidative damage, aging, and heart attacks is very low. As soon as we hit menopause and we stop bleeding, our risk rapidly equals that of a male. So, you know, I do believe a man, and there isn’t any real good data suggesting O-type blood has a higher proclivity to have hemosiderosis than a B-type blood or an AB or an A. But I do think that's wonderful. If you’re a healthy man and you can give once a year for just the general welfare of all people, especially if you haven’t taken any vaccines of the mRNA type, the blood banks are really looking for people like that. Yes, I do believe that it has some value through reduction of oxidative stress, primarily through the iron metabolism of ferric to ferrous in the oxidative management of iron in our body. The less oxidative stress, the longer you’re going to live. 

Question
“Hi Dr. E., what are your thoughts on using modified citrus pectin as a detox aid? Thank you.”  [1:06:00]

Answer
I think it’s wonderful, and it is usually employed in people with cancer to prevent metastatic disease. And I think there are credible studies out there that say if you take citrus pectin, galectin-3 contents of this modified citrus pectin, that there seems to be a dramatic reduction in metastatic disease in these patients. I’m not sure if we totally understand how and why, but yes, I’m in favor of it.

Question
“I am a blood type O. I was recently told by an alternative practitioner that he believes that type O has some component that makes type O people less vulnerable to both diabetes and cancer. He says he has observed this over decades of practice. What do you think?”  [1:06:35]

Answer
Well, in my 45 years, I’m going to say, I think O-type blood people in general have faster-twitch type skeletal striated muscles. And there’s research, Dr. Gerald Pollack has talked about this a lot, but the O’s seem to have this, and that means they tend to be people who are much more active. And maybe that’s why they have fewer blood sugar issues and so forth. So, it’s interesting, and if you’re more active and your blood sugars are lower, that will mean your insulin is less stipulated, which will be less stimulation for the growth of tumors and fat and stuff. So, you know, all these things should be taught and studied in an open discussion. That’s why I’m so happy that the JFK, Secretary of Health and Human Services, is now re-examining vaccinations, all of them, whether they should be done or spread out or what all, and we should have an open mind and not come in with pre-committed opinions and be open to looking at everyone’s conversation without prejudging them.