I Disagree

by Patrick Flynn

  Here’s a real-life example for guys that will clarify the importance of what’s happening in the liver. If you have lots of testosterone production from your testicles and your adrenals, that doesn’t necessarily mean your testosterone levels will be great. That testosterone eventually makes its way to the liver. The function and nutrients there can impact how it is converted there. If you have an enzyme called 5 alpha-reductase enzyme you will convert that testosterone to DHT too quickly. Too much DHT has been linked to baldness, acne, and other problems. That’s not all that can go wrong once testosterone makes its way to the liver. The number one thing that accelerates the conversion of testosterone to estrogen is an enzyme called aromatase which is increased by insulin. What causes increased insulin? We talked about this earlier. It’s sugar. If guys produce too much of that enzyme, they will convert that testosterone they have been working hard for into estrogens and they will end up with a chest like a woman’s. Sad but true, guys! Yes, you want to be sure your liver is functioning optimally.

  That’s why taking testosterone supplements doesn’t address the actual problem. Your problem wasn’t that you were short on testosterone, it’s that something else is happening and that is affecting your testosterone levels. Taking a synthetic hormone doesn’t get you back to normal. It might feel amazing at first, but it doesn’t get you back to normal. When you have low pregnenolone, it’s very common to have the other hormones low too. That’s why you never want to synthetically lower your cholesterol. Like we have talked about, if you have excess cholesterol there is a stress in the body that has led to that increase in cholesterol. If a doctor synthetically lowers your cholesterol, your body can’t make pregnenolone. When I see high cholesterol, I look for the cause; as we know that can often be mental stress. Here’s that chart that looks at hormone conversion.

  Look at that middle row where pregnenolone can either take the pathway to convert into your estrogens or it can convert into cortisol. Remember, cortisol is your stress hormone. This kicks in when you need it. Say your house is on fire. Your cholesterol is going to skyrocket to make pregnenolone and your body is going to go into fight or flight mode. It’s supposed to for you to be able to survive. Your cortisol and adrenaline are going to kick in to get you out of that house. That pregnenolone is going down the pathway to make those stress hormones. It’s how your body was designed to survive.

  Who has the most mental stress? Ladies! Chronic mental stress leaves us in that fight or flight mode. The body doesn’t know the difference between whether it is a fire causing that stress or if it’s because of all the everyday stresses life throws at you. It just knows stress. So, a lot of mental stress will cause the pregnenolone to be stolen for the production of your stress hormones.

  This pathway is why a man can give up soda and lose twenty pounds in a week and a woman can give up soda and nothing happens. Sugar is a major stressor for men, but it’s not her major stressor. That’s why it doesn’t matter if a woman eats good or eats poorly, she can still gain weight. Your adrenals can steal pregnenolone and stress can drain your hormones.

  A lot can be happening in the liver that can show us why those hormone levels are off.

  We can’t talk about each hormone and every enzyme that affects every hormone pathway. A lot happens in the liver. What is important to know is that a lot can be happening in the liver that can show us why those hormone levels are off. Let’s look at estrogen dominance specifically related to progesterone. What causes estrogen dominance? It could be phytoestrogens like soy, plastics, toxicity, a liver pathway issue where liver doesn’t break them down and it could be too much sugar. These all are affecting conversion change but what are they ultimately affecting? They are affecting the liver. They are affecting the liver’s ability to process and regulate and normalize what the levels should be at in an optimal scenario. Our lifestyle and the 3-T’s ultimately affect the liver; that reflects in the hormones.

  If you want to have great hormones, it’s essential to have great liver function. I can’t give you a magic herb that will fix your hormones. Your medical doctor can give you a drug that will change your hormones, but that’s not a true magical fix either. A lot of hormone issues are revealed in the function of the liver. The thing is, your liver isn’t kept in a bubble. Yes, if you have a bad liver you can have bad hormones, but there is more. The gallbladder is essential for liver function. It stores the bile that breaks down the toxins from the liver. If you have a bad gallbladder, or no gallbladder, you can have bad hormones. The stomach is needed to help flush out the toxins so that the liver can function properly. If you have a bad stomach, you can have bad hormones.

  We need to look past the symptoms and to what is causing them.

  How did I become The Hormone Whisperer? I didn’t worry about hormones. I worried about all the things that affect your hormones. As you can see by just looking at a small part of what the liver does, it plays a major role in the hormones and the body’s function overall. Just like the rest of your organ systems that make up your unique Swiss watch. We need to look past the symptoms and to what is causing them. It’s sad that most readers won’t find out all of this until they are already sick. Anything you do to reduce irritation or inflammation will put a lesser demand on the hormonal system.

  CHAPTER 15

  Detoxing in a Toxic World

  We live in a toxic world. Some people say it’s really not that toxic, and some people say our bodies can handle the toxicity. I disagree with both groups. They’ve introduced over 80,000 hazardous toxins since the industrial revolution. 4.5 billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed on crops every year. We just talked about how the liver has hundreds of jobs and one of those roles is a part of the detox process. Since the body is like a Swiss watch, those toxins aren’t just impacting the liver; they are affecting the whole body. Everything works together. If you have a problem in one system, it is going to impact others. If you have a problem with the digestive system, that’s going to impact your other gears. Your body can’t function properly if there are a lot of toxins. Juice cleanses are popular, but they aren’t an actual detox. If you haven’t done a proper detox overseen by a professional, then you probably have a high toxic load.

  Every choice we make is either adding to our toxic load or supporting our body. The majority of my patients aren’t functioning anywhere near 100% and a lot of that starts with their toxic load. How did toxins get in your body? We are exposed to toxins daily and can acquire them from our environment by breathing, ingesting, or coming into physical contact with them. Also, most drugs, food additives, and allergens can create toxic elements in the body.

  When a new patient comes into my office, they have already encountered numerous toxins adding to their very heavy toxic load. So, when I tell them they have to give up Mountain Dew it might be painful for them, but it is just the tip of their toxic iceberg.

  When their eyes flutter open after hitting snooze for the third time, their nose is breathing toxins from the laundry soap and dryer sheet residue on their pillow case. They stumble to the bathroom to brush their teeth with toothpaste that has fluoride, which is a known neurotoxin. Then they hop in the shower. Their shower curtain is likely made with phthalates that they will breathe in. They squirt some chemical-laden body wash in their hands and slather it on. Then they lather up their hair with shampoos that can have one of over 10,000 chemicals that are commonly used in personal care products. How many more products will they use before they leave the bathroom? That varies but the average woman uses twelve per day, which means she’s potentially been exposed to hundreds of toxins before she left the bathroom.

  Then it is time for breakfast. The average American diet does not include a breakfast of whole, organic foods. It’s usually a prepackaged meal and processed cereals. Nobody tells people the impact the ingredients in processed foods has on them. If you are eating three times a day, there’s three more times you’re opening yourself to toxins. If you aren’t eating organic, whole foo
ds then you are eating a lot of pesticides and chemicals.

  What kinds of pesticides and chemicals?

  • Did you know DDT is still used in Asia, South America and Africa—sure, we don’t use it in the U.S., but do we get food from other places? We sure do!

  • Glyphosate is the #1 pesticide used in America and more commonly known as Round-up. With the surge of GMOs that are resistant to pesticides your breakfast comes with an extra serving of Round-up.

  • Atrazine # 2 pesticide is used in America with 26 million pounds used on U.S. crops each year.

  • Artificial colors and flavors are common in our foods. When the public becomes informed of specifics that may be harmful, they just change the name to make it more difficult to find.

  • MSG is not just in Chinese food. It’s in lots of processed foods and is an excitotoxin that has been linked to brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and learning disabilities

  • Red dye #40 triggers hyperactivity in children

  • Blue dye #2 has been linked to brain tumors.

  Next in my patients day: how many pollutants did they breathe in on the drive to my office? Too many. I know, I hear it coming… “But Doc, didn’t you say the body was built to detox naturally?” I did and that’s still true. Here’s the thing, our bodies can only handle so much before it becomes difficult for the body to naturally detoxify. Everybody has a bucket and once your bucket is full it gets harder to detoxify. What’s your bucket? Let me explain.

  When a baby is born the umbilical cord will contain an average of 280 toxins.

  There’s a theory that explains this need for detoxification called “The Bucket Theory.” Picture for a moment that every person has a “toxin bucket” that they are born with. At birth, some people have buckets that are somewhat empty, some are about half-full, and others are nearly full. Why are some people’s toxin buckets nearly full at birth? Heavy metals and other toxins can pass through the placenta to the baby. When a baby is born the umbilical cord will contain an average of 280 toxins.

  Metal fillings, metals from vaccines and prescription drugs, cadmium from smoking or just being around cigarette smoke, lead paint, and aluminum from soda pop are all examples of toxins that mom could have passed to you through her placenta. If your bucket is half or nearly full at birth, would you agree with me that it would not take many more toxins to fill it up, and cause it to start overflowing? This is why we are seeing so many more sick children today! When the bucket “splashes over” you will see outward manifestations of toxic overload occurring in the body.

  Potential Signs of Toxic Overload:

  • Asthma and seasonal allergies

  • Cognitive problems

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Fatigue

  • Headaches

  • Memory problems

  • Chronic pain

  • Autoimmune disease

  • Weight fluctuations

  • Eczema

  • Infertility

  • Cancer

  • Chemical sensitivity

  • Chronic infection

  • Diabetes

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Skin reactions

  • Food allergies

  • High blood pressure

  • Hormonal imbalances

  We talked about how a person can start out their day encountering 100’s of toxins. If these aren’t detoxed, they build up in the body. These built-up toxins can lead to many different health conditions. Even if you were born with a nearly empty bucket, with all the toxins surrounding us, it’s only a matter of time before your bucket will fill up. Don’t wait until your bucket overflows!

  CHRISTY’S THOUGHTS

  When I got pregnant, I was still in the process of changing my diet, household and body care products, and environment around me. What I didn’t realize at that time was how toxic I was from my past exposure to lead paint/pipes, aluminum, and other heavy metals, as well as having a messed up immune system due to past antibiotics, and a diet that included foods that were either toxic (full of chemicals and pesticides) or toxic to me due to food allergies I didn’t know I had. So, I passed toxins and an unhealthy immune system to my child. Did I have mommy guilt? Perhaps, but let me explain something that might help other mothers experiencing a similar circumstance. The fact that you are reading this book right now means that you realize that changes need to happen.

  At the time that our oldest was born, we were already on a path towards homeostasis, and I knew that I was given a gift: a child. Despite all of my past health challenges. And with that gift, I was given a responsibility to continue to learn and grow in order to make sure our children would grow up healthier than me. When each of our children were born, I knew they had some toxins in their buckets. As a result, we purposefully chose to limit their toxin exposures in all areas of our lives and build their immune systems naturally. Don’t look back with guilt once you learn truth. Instead be grateful you are learning it now and make changes moving forward. Raise your children with that ’toxin bucket’ image in mind and teach them how to reduce their exposure to toxins as they are growing up so that when they are ready to have children, they won’t be passing on a half or nearly full bucket of toxins to your grandchildren. If this is the first time you’ve heard anything about toxicity, I pray that you take this new knowledge to heart and share it with your loved ones to create a healthier future for generations to come

  If you take the time to assist your body in detoxification, you will help in emptying out your bucket, which will reduce the toxic stress on your body and allow it to function better. Once function is restored, your body will again be able to naturally detox itself, to some extent, on a regular basis. Now that doesn’t mean after a detox that you can go back to eating non-organic, heavily processed foods or other toxic bad habits.

  Built-up hormones from a stressed-out liver can be stressors on the body.

  When you make a commitment to your health, it’s a lifelong commitment. Every day your body is working to get rid of both external toxins and internal toxins. Yes, internal! Did that surprise you? Toxins can come from within. Built-up hormones from a stressed-out liver can be stressors on the body. Our overall health is a reflection of the health of our cells and their ability to work together in harmony to maintain balance. Our cells constantly take in nutrients and oxygen from the blood to work, grow, or create products, and that process gives off wastes. In addition to the wastes that normal function produces, we are further burdened by toxins absorbed from the intestinal tract. Poor food choices, poor digestion, and dysbiosis (parasitic, bacterial, and fungal infections) can make a mess of the intestine which makes it harder to detox. Together these absorbed toxins and the wastes produced by cells are discharged from the bloodstream into the surrounding tissues, “the cellular garbage dump,” where they sit until they are transported to the organs of elimination for final disposal.

  Toxins can cause weight gain.

  You see why minimizing your toxic exposure and making sure your body is detoxing properly is so important. It’s not a given, and it could very well be the reason you are sick. Or maybe you don’t think you are sick. It’s just old age, right? I can’t tell you how many times I have had patients go through the detox, and not only did the symptoms for health problem they came in for alleviate, but they tell me they feel years younger. Sometimes twenty, thirty or even forty years younger! That’s another happy side effect of being healthy. They often lose weight too. Toxins can cause weight gain. Toxins get into fatty tissue. The body holds on to these toxins as a defense mechanism, so they aren’t released into the bloodstream. Once you get the toxins out of your system, your body won’t hold on to that fat anymore. That’s long-term health benefits, not just water weight loss!

  These are benefits you can’t get from a cleanse. You wouldn’t believe how many times I hear from people who have done a cl
eanse. You might lose some bloating, and may even get back a bit of energy, but you can’t get a good detox from a cleanse. You may be surprised to hear you could actually end up making yourself even sicker. There is a lot of confusion out there with all the fad cleanses. Let’s take a look the difference between a cleanse and a detox. I have another analogy to help you to better understand!

  Picture a long hallway lined with doors… now picture Mr. Janitor sweeping and scrubbing that hallway. This is what a cleanse does–it simply cleans the hallway. Now picture that same hallway lined with doors. This time Mr. Janitor not only sweeps and scrubs the hallway, but he also opens the doors and sweeps/scrubs the rooms that line the hallway. This is what a detox does. A cleanse may not require doctor supervision, but they may inadvertently harm delicate systems. The GI tract is a delicate ecosystem comprised of many kinds of bacteria. When people innocently use a cleanse to clean out their colon for example, they don’t realize that they may be clearing out some good bacteria, altering the delicate ecosystem and ultimately making themselves even more sick. And the janitor didn’t even do a good job cleaning!

  When doing a real detox, we are focusing on all the detox pathways and all the organs. We are going to help clean up the whole body the best we can. You can’t clean just one room or hall way and expect the whole system to function better. Eventually the mess from the other rooms spills out into the room you cleaned. Keep thinking of the Swiss watch principle! The body works as a whole.