WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.200 Well good evening and welcome once again to this month's Ask Your Herb Doctor. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.700 My name is Andrew Murray. 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:08.500 My name is Sarah Johanneson Murray. 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:14.000 For those of you who perhaps have never listened to our shows which run every third Friday of the month from 7 to 8 p.m. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:20.000 We're both licensed medical herbalists who trained in England and graduated there with a degree in herbal medicine. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 We run a clinic in Garboville where we consult with clients about a wide range of conditions 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 and recommend herbs, supplements and nutritional counseling. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:33.000 So you're listening to Ask Your Herb Doctor on KMED Garboville 91.1 FM 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.000 and from 7.30 until the end of the show at 8 o'clock. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.500 You're invited to call in with any questions either related or unrelated to this month's subject of rheumatism in the broadest sense. 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:55.000 It's rheumatoid arthritis and the other arthropathies that I think will be related and an alternative treatment to rheumatoid arthritis. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:04.000 We're very welcome to have Dr. Peat's expertise on the show and of course as always a very counterculture viewpoint 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.000 but very positively associated counterculture. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:14.000 It's a very alternative scientific viewpoint not mainstream and not even naturopathic. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:20.000 There's a lot of information that he comes out with very much based and rooted in firm science. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Probably the science that some of which has been largely ignored and shelved in favor of new drug treatments 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:35.000 because we all know that new drug treatments are hugely profitable and not always beneficial. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.000 So we'll be introducing Dr. Peat here very shortly. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:46.000 Just incidentally for people listening to the show, if they want to look at Dr. Raymond Peat's articles, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:54.000 he has a pretty extensive list of articles covering many different conditions that people suffer with. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:02.000 And the articles are fully referenced, scientific articles, and they can lead you down a trail that will open your eyes 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:13.000 and illuminate for you what it is that he has uncovered, continued the research that's been done from people back in the 50s and 60s 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:22.000 and even before and brought it into a mainstream 21st century appreciation of what we now can detect 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:28.000 with our improved skills, etc., in measuring things. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:37.000 But anyway, his website, RayPeat.com, is fully referenced articles and he doesn't sell them. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.000 They're all available there for people to look at, print out, share, etc. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:46.000 We do encourage a lot of free material and free sharing. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.000 It's not about making money and making a profit. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.000 It's about sharing this wisdom with other people. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.000 So the other thing that people might want to make a note of is that on our website, 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.000 we have a website, westernbotanicalmedicine.com, all of the audio archives are on the website. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.000 So people, please feel free to download those, share and distribute them as well. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:13.000 I forgot to mention that some time ago we have a comprehensive list of shows from 2009 through 2016. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.000 There's one from 2008 there too, I think. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.000 Yeah, there's a couple there. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Okay, so we can be reached toll free 1-888-WBM-ERB for consultations or further information Monday through Friday. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.000 It's going to say after the show, but we won't be here. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.000 So Monday through Friday, 9 until 5. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Okay, so this month's discussion is going to be on alternative approaches to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:51.000 It's an extremely crippling and debilitating condition that affects, I think, the last count was something like 30 million people in the U.S. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.000 and obviously people globally. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.000 It's not just confined to the U.S. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:04:04.000 So to coin this loose term arthritis, we first need to differentiate rheumatoid from osteoarthritis. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Osteoarthritis implies a type of joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:22.000 Typical visual clues in the skeleton of the hand, the knuckle joints can display masses that they call Bouchard's nodes 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.000 and the fingertips have swellings referred to as Heberden's nodes. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 So this is what we were taught when we were studying herbal medicine. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 These were very diagnostic indicators and you can see them when people lay their hands on the table. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.000 These big swellings are very typical of osteoarthritis. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:44.000 The inflammation is typically not red or hot and the underlying cartilage is lost with the bone underneath affected from the wear and tear. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.000 And typically only the joints are affected. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Now with rheumatoid, it's a long-lasting autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the joints resulting in warm swollen painful joints. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:08.000 Pain and stiffness often worse following rest and commonly the wrist and hands are involved with the same joints typically involved on both sides of the body. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:15.000 There can be systemic involvement which is some of the worst presentations of this type of disease from the autoimmune condition 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:21.000 which can affect red blood cell count decreasing it, pleurisy and inflammation of the pleura and the lungs 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:27.000 and pericarditis, the same sac membrane that the heart has around it. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.000 The inflammation of that is not also uncommon. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 A fever and low energy may be present as well. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.000 So it's multi-systemic. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:38.000 The lungs, the kidneys, the heart and blood vessels can all be affected. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:48.000 So you can look at osteoarthritis as just a wear and tear breakdown of the joint with years of use and rheumatoid is an autoimmune condition where the body is attacking itself. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000 Yeah. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000 So it's three times. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:56.000 There's a couple of factors here that seem to differentiate it or single out the targets for it. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Three times more common in smokers than non-smokers. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:03.000 I think that's particularly significant especially in men. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:09.000 And vitamin D deficiency is more common in people with rheumatoid arthritis than in the general population. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:18.000 So from 7.30 until the end of the show, we're opening up the lines for people who want to call in with questions to ask Dr. Peat. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:29.000 His approach to what he'll be explaining is not particularly well treated with modern methods like methotrexate, for example, 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.000 a very toxic compound, very harmful to the liver. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:37.000 I think also gold, sorts of gold have been mentioned as treatments for it. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.000 But anyway, let's introduce Dr. Peat. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.000 Dr. Peat, are you with us? 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000 Yes. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.000 Thank you so much for joining us. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.000 I appreciate your time. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:50.000 As always, folks, just recognize that we don't pay Dr. Peat and he does this very freely. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.000 So I do very much appreciate your time giving what you do. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:58.000 So Dr. Peat, in terms of what you are uncovering, 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.000 I know it's linked to previous papers that you've written on cancer. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 And we've mentioned this failed war on cancer. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:14.000 And also this same war on rheumatism or rheumatoid arthritis is also kind of lost already. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:21.000 It very rarely yields anything beneficial and doesn't seem to be really providing too much for patients. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:30.000 In fact, probably making people, I would like to say worse in some ways through the modalities of treatment that are being used 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.000 because they're not very holistic and they're quite destructive. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:42.000 So how do you first see rheumatoid arthritis as a systemic condition? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:52.000 And how do you see it being produced and then any other viewpoints that you have around it? 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:00.000 First of all, I don't make a clear distinction between any kind of arthritis 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:09.000 or even between heart failure, atherosclerosis, various degenerative diseases 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:14.000 and any of the forms of arthritis. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:30.000 I think the interesting thing is to explain how a few basic metabolic problems have these very different looking expressions. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:44.000 And the really interesting research over the last 30 years or so has been in showing how inflammation relates to metabolism 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:56.000 and what the factors are that can increase inflammation or reduce our ability to resolve it, get over the inflammation. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:09.000 And in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, many years ago I knew two women who were completely disabled 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:17.000 with huge swollen knee joints and hands that they couldn't use. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:27.000 And I was interested in the fact that the condition developed when they started taking estrogen. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:36.000 One was only in her 30s and her doctor, when she developed the arthritis, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 I think he told her that she needed to increase the dose of estrogen 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:49.000 because of the very deep belief that estrogen is protective against almost everything. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:57.000 And I spent several hours over a period of two or three weeks going over some of the research with her. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:02.000 And she would, after each time we talked, she would go back to her doctor 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.000 and the doctor would say she had to increase the estrogen. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:13.000 But finally she was getting worse and she decided just to stop it. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:23.000 The other one had not taken so long to reconsider and had recovered within a week or two of stopping it. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:34.000 And this one had the same experience, total relief, clearing of the swellings. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And that got me interested in why they recovered so fast when they simply stopped estrogen. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.000 So I kept that in mind. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:55.000 And the next person I saw with rheumatoid arthritis was a man, about 48 years old, 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:01.000 who every afternoon his knee would just suddenly swell up hugely. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.000 During the night it would get better, but he was increasingly disabled, 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:14.000 hardly able to keep working at his bench fixing television. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:23.000 But remembering the way the women recovered from when they stopped estrogen, 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:32.000 I thought he might have the same imbalance and got him a bottle of 500 milligrams of injectable progesterone, 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:38.000 which he covered his leg with, all in one application. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:45.000 And about two hours later the inflammation was down and the next day it didn't return. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:55.000 And I saw him, I think it was 40 years later, and he was just starting to get knee inflammation again. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:00.000 Never had a return in all of those years. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:07.000 So I was convinced that estrogen had a central role, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:13.000 that progesterone could be more curative apparently than cortisol. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:18.000 The glucocorticoids are the main popular treatment, 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:24.000 but people usually end up using those for years. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:33.000 And one of the main side effects of the glucocorticoids is loss of bone density. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:43.000 Rheumatoid arthritis, which tends to involve overgrowth of the bone around the joint, 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:50.000 fades over eventually into breaking of the bones from osteoporosis. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:59.000 And I started reading about the osteoarthritis 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:05.000 and found that some of the studies that were published only in books, 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:13.000 not in the medical journals, made a clear association between estrogen and osteoarthritis, 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:21.000 even though the medical journals are very consistent in saying osteoarthritis, 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:32.000 with its loss of bone and cartilage, is caused by estrogen deficiency. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:43.000 I tended to believe that the research published in books somehow had been excluded from the journals. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:55.000 And so looking at the research on what activates the osteoclasts that cause bone breakdown in osteoarthritis, 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:03.000 endotoxin is a major activator of the osteoclasts. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:08.000 So that would have a role to play in both osteoarthritis as well as osteoporosis. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:13.000 Oh, yeah. And in all of the degenerative diseases. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:24.000 And several things follow once you start having endotoxin absorbed in your system. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:34.000 Then you begin overproducing nitric oxide and prostaglandins, for example. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:40.000 And Dr. Peat, can you please recap just for our listeners where endotoxin mostly comes from? 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:55.000 It's produced by bacteria and it's a combination of fatty acids and carbohydrate, 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.000 lipophilic saccharides is its chemical name. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:02.000 And the main source is from the intestinal tract? 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.000 Yeah, the intestinal bacteria are always producing it. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:18.000 And we absorb a little bit of it all the time and it acts as sort of a stimulant to the immune system 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.000 and other cells are being constantly irritated by it. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:29.000 So in everyday life, it doesn't have a harmful effect. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:37.000 And this is why you're a proponent of the raw carrots because they help to protect against some of that absorption of endotoxin. 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:43.000 Yeah, the bactericidal effect of the carrot suppresses the growth of the bacteria 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:50.000 and then the fiber absorbs and stimulates the excretion. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:55.000 So even in a healthy person that has a healthy digestive tract, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:03.000 this lipophilic saccharide is still going to be produced by commensal in our own gut bacteria that we need? 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:08.000 Yeah, and there's always a little bit of it getting into the liver 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:14.000 and probably a little always seeping into the general bloodstream, 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:21.000 but in a very small amount, it doesn't have those serious degenerative effects. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:30.000 When you let your liver function slow down, it massively gets past the liver barriers 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:37.000 and it starts poisoning all of your systems, increasing nitric oxide 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:43.000 and drastically lowering the oxygen metabolism. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:50.000 And this is where endotoxin and estrogen come together. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:56.000 They both interfere with the metabolic use of oxygen. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:04.000 And so that turns on glycolysis, turning sugar into lactic acid. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:11.000 The lactic acid shifts everything throughout. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:26.000 The more irritated a tissue or organ is, the more reduced it is, the more electron excess it has. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:35.000 And this shifts everything coherently through that tissue and organ and eventually through the whole organism. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:42.000 So this is the excitotoxic stage where these electrons need to be quenched 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.000 or need to be taken up by electron acceptors? 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:53.000 Yeah. The concept of reductive stress is now pretty well established, 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:58.000 but 50 years ago everyone was thinking about oxidative stress, 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:03.000 but really the degenerative processes are exactly the opposite. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.000 Not enough oxygen, too much reduction. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:16.000 And so estrogen and endotoxin do many things that interfere with the use of oxygen 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:26.000 and shift us over to the glycolytic lactic acid producing condition in which we, 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:34.000 since we can't oxidize glucose, then we are forced to oxidize fats. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:39.000 And that's very inefficient and leads to lipid peroxidation 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.000 and the increased production of prostaglandins. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.000 Right, which are pain mediators for those people listening. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.000 They're mediators of pain and inflammation. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:56.000 If our bodies are well loaded with polyunsaturated fats, 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.000 which we don't want, 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:02.000 yeah, then that tends to increase steadily with aging. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:10.000 And so as a person increases their stores of polyunsaturated fats, 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:17.000 every little stress becomes more reductive and more inflammatory. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:24.000 So the prostaglandins act increasingly to amplify any little stress. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:31.000 Let me just give out some details here and we'll carry on with your description here. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:35.000 For those people listening, from 7.30 to 8 o'clock, the lines will be open. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:41.000 For those people living in the area, there's an 8707 number, 9233911. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.000 There is a toll-free number, 1, let me see here, 888, no, yeah, 1-800. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:53.000 K-M-U-D, rad, so that's 800-568-3723. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:59.000 Okay, those people that are listening on the web also can contact the studio. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.000 We've very interestingly had people from Scandinavia, from Europe, from the East Coast. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000 That's always fun. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.000 I think we even had one from-- 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.000 South America, didn't we? 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:10.000 South America, yeah. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Okay. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:17.000 So Dr. Peat, can I carry on in terms of the way you understand rheumatoid arthritis 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.000 in terms of the processes that you've already mentioned, 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.000 things like estrogen, obviously increasing inflammation, 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:31.000 endotoxin absorption from the gut because of either poor gut bacterial habits, 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:36.000 either constipation I'm sure is definitely an exacerbating factor 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000 for increasing lipopolysaccharide reabsorption. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:46.000 As is diets that are deficient in non-digestible fibers. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.000 I know you mentioned lots of things like the carrots and bamboo shoots 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:55.000 as indigestible fibers that actually work to remove excess estrogen from the bowel, 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000 keep the bowel mobile so that the chances of reabsorption are minimized. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:06.000 So how else do you see the energetic aspect of rheumatoid arthritis 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.000 and how it manifests in such a wide range of systemic conditions, 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000 many of which are life-threatening? 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:23.000 There are two main directions other than these local processes 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:28.000 from the intestine to whatever organ that is failing. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:34.000 That ends up with the prostaglandin amplified inflammation. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:44.000 Meanwhile, the thyroid pituitary system are being affected by the processes of the intestine 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:51.000 and the organ itself which is wasting energy. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:22:03.000 The organ, part of how say an inflamed knee affects the thyroid is by leaking substance, 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:10.000 a weak cell leaks its various components, proteins in particular leak out. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:17.000 When a cell is under stress, the so-called stress proteins, 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:24.000 which include heat shock proteins and the glucose regulated proteins. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.000 These are like signals then, these are stress signals, 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.000 they act as a stress signal to the body. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:38.000 The so-called heat shock protein is activated by too much exercise 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.000 or too little oxygen and glucose, anything that de-energizes, 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:52.000 especially heat will stimulate the cell while wasting its energy. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:23:04.000 So these glucose deficiency specifically will bring up the glucose regulated stress proteins 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:10.000 and all of these are intrinsic stabilizing factors. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:19.000 They're defensive reactions that sort of hold the cell together acting as chaperones 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:27.000 but they leak out because of the cell's structure being loosened by the inflammation 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:35.000 and take up of too much water and these things leak out and become immunogenic. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.000 In their own right. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:44.000 Yes, that's where even before there are any signs at all of swollen joints, 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:49.000 people can detect the rheumatoid factor of the antibody. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.000 Right, that's a good point to bring up. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:59.000 I think I read that 70% I think of rheumatoid sufferers have it, 30% don't 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:03.000 and there are some people that have rheumatoid factor in the absence of rheumatoid arthritis 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:10.000 but it's a co-factor in other inflammatory processes, inflammatory diseases. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:17.000 Yes, I see it as a sign of stress that isn't being handled 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:26.000 that can eventually go in the direction of visibly inflamed and stiffened joints and so on. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:30.000 What you were getting to is I think is that the rheumatoid factor 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.000 and the other markers of inflammation are circulating in the blood 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.000 and they're either poisoning the pituitary, the anterior pituitary 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:41.000 or was it the thyroid gland directly? 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:49.000 The thyroid is responding to the same stress signals 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:54.000 that the local connective tissue is responding to. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:59.000 So the nitric oxide for example goes up in the whole organism 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:07.000 and this shifts the brain and the pituitary to increase the thyroid stimulating hormone 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:13.000 while blocking the ability of the thyroid gland to produce the hormone. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:19.000 So your functional hormone goes down while the TSH rises 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:24.000 and even within the normal range of TSH 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:34.000 which currently is something like 0.4 to 5.0 I think. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:37.000 Even though supposedly the American Association of Endocrinologists 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.000 lowered it to 0.3 to 3.3 I think? 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:45.000 Yes, but even within that normal range, the upper part of the range 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:51.000 is now known to be associated with an increased risk of death 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:55.000 from cancer and heart disease and other things. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:02.000 So I think the best evidence is that you want to keep your TSH low 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.000 because it's a factor that promotes all types of inflammation 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:18.000 especially the rheumatoid swelling, loss of energy, tumor necrosis factor, 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.000 interleukins 1 and 6 in particular and so on. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:29.000 So TSH is a major responder to the stress signals 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:36.000 which come from the intestine and the degenerating joints for example 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:43.000 and the antibodies that have been defined as thyroid specific antibodies 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:46.000 turn out to be joint specific antibodies as well. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:52.000 Wow, so things like the TPO, the thyroid peroxidase? 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.000 And the thyroglobulin? 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.000 Yes, the thyroglobulin. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:03.000 Yes, I think the thyroid globulin specific enzyme is also specific for joint tissue. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:09.000 Probably they'll turn out to have even more overlaps than that 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.000 if people begin looking for them. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.000 Like with heart disease? 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:24.000 Yes, and the known atherosclerosis associated with rheumatoid arthritis 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:31.000 actually doesn't seem to involve attack on the blood vessels by antibodies 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:36.000 but simply something going wrong in the whole organism 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:45.000 that causes more or less simultaneous degeneration of the blood vessels and the joints. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.000 It isn't a specific autoimmune process 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:55.000 even though the whole organism can be said to be in an autoimmune state. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:28:03.000 When people were studying viral encephalitis for example, 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:10.000 they found that an antibody in the autoimmune process seemed to be involved. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:19.000 So they engineered the animals so that they could prevent the autoimmune antibody production 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:25.000 and they found that the animals died quicker when they lacked the autoimmune process. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:35.000 So that supports the Jamie Cuddenliffe-Polly Matsinger approach to what the immune system is really doing. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:43.000 Jamie Cuddenliffe's idea is that the primary function of what is called the immune system 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:48.000 is a maintenance of order of the body and its tissues. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:58.000 And when something goes wrong, it can be an organism causing damage to the tissues. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:07.000 In that case, the organism is destroyed and creates a specific immunity to that type of organism. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:15.000 But that's really, in his view, a side effect of the basic cleanup process. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:26.000 There are many theories of virus or bacteria of various types causing rheumatoid arthritis 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:32.000 and the other inflammatory diseases, but I don't think you need those. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:39.000 When you have an energetically precarious tissue condition, 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:50.000 it just takes any little cause to tip it over the edge into an uncontrolled degeneration and inflammation. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:55.000 I think what comes over time and time again, I think most people really kind of lose sight of, 00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:02.000 is that if you want to put out that glib term, you know, we're all connected as human beings on a planet. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:09.000 The same interconnectedness exists in our body where nothing is done in isolation. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:17.000 So if you mention an organ or a tissue in any part of the body being affected, 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:25.000 obviously the blood is passing through that organ or through that tissue and carried to the rest of the body, 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.000 whether it's through the vasculature or through the lymphatics. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:36.000 Anything that is in any kind of degenerate state in one small location, the effects of that are far-reaching. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:45.000 And like you said, when things like the thyroid stimulating hormone is picked up again and is in circulation, 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.000 even in relatively low amounts, none of it is actually good. 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:55.000 It's pretty much an inflammatory marker in itself. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:06.000 And so the same thing with gut-related dysbiosis or, you know, whether it's a local trauma to one small area in the body, 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:12.000 it all has a potential to seed the whole body with these signals, these markers, these shock proteins, 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:20.000 these defensive cries for immune cells to come in and start unloading various chemicals 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:26.000 in a kind of defensive mechanism to try and restore or repair. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:35.000 But it's very important to get the concept of healthy eating and healthy living is not just, you know, one day and then not the next. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:37.000 You know, it's got to be a lifestyle change. 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:44.000 And so what reaffirms everything that you're saying and have been saying for years and years now, 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:52.000 and that we've been interviewing you for quite a few years, I sometimes catch myself thinking, well, you know what? 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:58.000 A lot of it is thyroid and progesterone and all these other anti-inflammatories. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:00.000 But they are so key. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:05.000 They're so key to maintaining structural integrity, energetic resilience. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:12.000 And these people that you've mentioned, Jamie Cunliffe, Matt Singer, and then Metchnikoff 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:19.000 and all the other, you know, kind of brilliant minded people that you've mentioned in the past all have this very holistic picture. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:28.000 And then we talk about holism as a very glib term and kind of think about, you know, I don't want to say what it is just in case it offends anybody because they do it. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:32.000 But the holistic approach is very much a way of life. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:38.000 And these things that you've mentioned, whether it's progesterone, whether it's thyroid, whether it's vitamin D, 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:45.000 these are all things that we should have adequate quantities of, but our diets have been radically degraded over the years. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:47.000 Our environment, food in the water. 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:48.000 Everything. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.000 So it's a constant. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:50.000 Plastics. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:58.000 Our own bodies are a constant melee, you know, it's just a constant war going on to try and maintain homeostasis and energy. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:00.000 It doesn't always work. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:08.000 And there are plenty of things that can be introduced into someone's lifestyle on a daily basis that will certainly mitigate these effects. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:09.000 It's 735. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:12.000 And I just want to let people know that the phones are open. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:19.000 Local number is 923-2511, 923-3911, beg your pardon. 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:23.000 And the 800 numbers 1-800-KMUD-RAD. 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.000 So we're taking calls until 8 o'clock. 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.000 I think I see the lights flashing. 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:42.000 Yeah, Dr. Peat, I wanted to have you go over a little bit more since it seems to be over the intestinal tract and the effect we can have on that in reducing these inflammatory mediators that seem to be starting up the whole inflammation. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.000 Well, before we do that, hold that thought, Sarah. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:47.000 Let's take this caller because they've been waiting here. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:48.000 Caller, you're on the air. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:49.000 Where are you from? 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:50.000 What's your question? 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.000 Hi, I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:54.000 Hi, what's your question? 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:01.000 Hi, I listened to your July 2013 recording on your website, Western Botanical Medicine's radio archive page. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.000 Okay. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:12.000 And, Dr. Peat, you mentioned that it's beneficial on that recording for women to have their monthly menstrual cycles throughout their entire life, which I was really surprised about. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:14.000 So I have two questions regarding that point. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:18.000 One, why is lifelong fertility beneficial for women? 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.000 And two, what do women need to do to achieve that? 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:45.000 One of the things about the cycle and degenerative diseases that people have noticed is that rheumatoid arthritis is frequently completely resolved during a pregnancy and then returns afterwards. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:52.000 And I think it's the huge production of progesterone that placenta takes over during pregnancy. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:35:05.000 And in both animals and humans, the number of pregnancies during a lifetime correlates very well with longevity. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:12.000 The more babies produced, the longer the mother lives and the better the health is. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:32.000 And that, if you look at the age of puberty, the mortality rate decreases from infancy when the organism is very dependent on conditions. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:43.000 As it grows and becomes more autonomous, at around the age of 12, the likelihood of dying is very, very low. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:52.000 Then from puberty on, there's a steady increase in the risk of dying from any cause. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:36:11.000 And I think that's the same estrogen risk factor that when the organism is detecting something in the environment that is threatening, it turns on the reproductive apparatus. 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:27.000 And when that apparatus is working efficiently, it produces these huge amounts of progesterone that have a life-protecting, anti-inflammatory, life-extending effect. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:39.000 But if the estrogen isn't adequately compensated because of low thyroid or toxins, anything interfering with progesterone, 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:49.000 then the estrogen cyclically produces damage to the organism and accelerates the aging process. 00:36:49.000 --> 00:37:03.000 So the reason that a cycle is valuable to maintain is that what shuts it off is the failure to produce enough progesterone. 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:10.000 So even though the actual production of estrogen decreases somewhat at menopause, 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:18.000 the effect of estrogen making the inflammatory factors that lead to degeneration, 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:25.000 those become persistent in the absence of the cyclic production of progesterone. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:32.000 So it would be better if you could delay puberty to the age of 70 or 80, 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:46.000 but in the absence of that ability, then having the regular early generous production of progesterone is what makes it valuable to keep cycling as long as you can. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:51.000 Wow, that's fascinating. Thank you so much and thank you for all your work, Dr. Peat. 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:53.000 Okay, thank you for your call, Carla. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:59.000 Okay, so the number here if you're in the area is 9233911, the area code is 707. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:06.000 If you're on the web or you're outside, toll free number is 1800KMUDRAD, R-A-D. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:08.000 So we're taking calls until 8 o'clock. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:15.000 So Dr. Peat, getting back to rheumatoid arthritis and the manifestations, 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:26.000 I came upon a fairly old, gosh, encyclopedia if you like, but it was quite an old text 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:31.000 and they mentioned quite a few different types of arthritis and some of which I didn't recognize, 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:38.000 but obviously I think some of these older documents would list things that we've kind of tend to forget now. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:45.000 One was an arthritis from mumps and I don't even know if people know what mumps are anymore because I mean I had them when I was a child, 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.000 but mumps are not that common these days. 00:38:49.000 --> 00:39:00.000 And then arthritis of leprosy, so there were infective arthritis, either gonococcal or tuberculosis arthritis. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:06.000 So these types of arthritis could also be bacterial in origin. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:11.000 Now whether or not any of the compounds that I kind of made a note of here, 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:17.000 whether they are herbal or isolated chemical compounds that have been used in the treatment of arthritis 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:25.000 are directly due to the antimicrobial effect and probably the antimicrobial effect in the gut is unknown, 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:34.000 but berberis and berberine-containing herbs were certainly implicated in reducing bacterial load 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:46.000 and this antibacterial action I would think probably has a definitive action on endotoxin production and/or general gut health. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:55.000 So herbs like Oregon grape, barberry, bark, golden seal root, and you mentioned a couple Chinese herbs. 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:56.000 Yeah. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:05.000 Have you had much experience with berberine and knowing its antimicrobial activity? 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:14.000 No, none at all. I've eaten the Oregon grapes as jelly, but that's the extent of my experience with berberine. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:21.000 Okay. I know they mentioned coptis, which is a Chinese medicinal golden thread, I'm pretty sure it's called, 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:24.000 and that's actually an adulterant of golden seal because it's a lot cheaper, 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:28.000 but apparently it's a very bright yellow, very much like golden seal root, 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:31.000 but it contains a pretty high concentration of berberine. 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:37.000 That's definitely was indicated here for rheumatoid and I think from an antibacterial point of view. 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:44.000 I thought I read in one of those articles that Dr. Peat sent the abstracts that berberine actually blocks nitric oxide. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:49.000 Yeah, that would be my first thought about how it's working, 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:59.000 because infections of any sort are going to increase nitric oxide and impair oxidative energy production. 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:05.000 Which goes back to what I was trying to say earlier about the intestines and eating foods that feed the bacteria 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:13.000 that then make the endotoxin that then poisons the system and creates that vicious circle of inflammation. 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:20.000 The berberine containing herbs are very antibacterial and then they're also stopping that nitric oxide production 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.000 if they're antibacterial and stopping the bacteria. 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:25.000 Okay, well we've got a couple of callers here, so let's take the first caller. 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:27.000 Caller, you're on the air, where are you from? 00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:28.000 Hello? 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:30.000 Yeah, you're on the air, where are you from and what's your question? 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.000 I'm calling from a little farther north than you are. 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:37.000 I had some questions about vitamin D. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:38.000 Okay. 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:43.000 Why are the stores selling vitamin D3 and not vitamin D2? 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:47.000 I had a doctor prescribe me vitamin D2. 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:54.000 And then what are the effects of vitamin D on weight gain and weight loss? 00:41:54.000 --> 00:42:02.000 And what are the issues having to do with toxicity, maybe taking too much vitamin D? 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:10.000 Okay. Dr. Peat, the difference between vitamin D3 and D2, you said you were prescribed D2? 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:16.000 Yeah, the doctor told me he thought I was low and then I was tested and I was low 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:21.000 and he told me take 5,000 units of vitamin D3 a day. 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:22.000 Oh, you said D3. 00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:24.000 And that's on the shelf. 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:31.000 And then he prescribed me 50,000 units once a week of vitamin D2 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:41.000 and then I know it seemed like six weeks or two months later I noticed a change in my hunger patterns. 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:46.000 And the last couple times I went to the doctor I had lost weight. 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:50.000 I haven't really checked on it since to see if things are happening like that, 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:55.000 but it seems like my hunger has returned a little bit more back the way it was. 00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:03.000 But it occurred to me that I could see that vitamin D might--you know, you get more in the summer 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:11.000 and it might fit in with weight gains and weight losses that would be normal to people in northern and southern hemispheres. 00:43:11.000 --> 00:43:17.000 But when I go to the store, I'll see if you can just buy vitamin D on the shelf. 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:20.000 It's not there. Vitamin D2 is not there. 00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:26.000 And I mean if it is going to help me lose weight, you know, I'd like to take lots of it. 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:30.000 It's really nice not to be like starving hungry all the time. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:37.000 Sure. Dr. Peat, from an energetic point of view, how would you--would you describe the difference between D2 and D3? 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:45.000 No, I don't know of any real evidence, but there were some publications around 1970 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:57.000 and arguing that D2 was contributing to atherosclerosis and calcification of blood vessels. 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:05.000 And up until that time, milk had been reinforced with vitamin D2. 00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:14.000 And suddenly, every milk producer in the country around that time had just quietly shifted to D3. 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:25.000 And that was really just a few papers with superficial, largely opinions rather than facts. 00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:34.000 But it convinced most people to stop taking the risk of using the fungal form of vitamin D. 00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:41.000 Do you think there's an energetic--I'm sure there is a metabolic energetic improvement, of course, 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:47.000 then from D2 that might explain that--from D3 or D2 that would explain its weight loss? 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:55.000 Well, I think it's the parathyroid hormone which is suppressed by calcium and vitamin D. 00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:00.000 Both types of vitamin D will keep the parathyroid hormone down. 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:11.000 And so calcium and vitamin D both reduce inflammation in multiple ways. 00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:21.000 And the reduced inflammation goes with a more productive, efficient, higher rate of metabolism, 00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:30.000 keeping the weight gain down, stopping the production of fat from protein and sugar. 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:31.000 Okay. 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:37.000 And from taking too much or monitoring your levels so you don't get too much, 00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:42.000 you want to have a blood test every couple of months until you find a stable level. 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:47.000 You don't really want it any higher than 75, and you don't really want it any lower than 50. 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:55.000 So 50 to 75 is a good reference range to have for your vitamin D level, and you'd want to check it. 00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:00.000 You wouldn't want to just take a load of it because it can be harmful in high levels. 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:01.000 Okay. 00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:07.000 Well, what I noticed was--and I'm not sure this is due to the vitamin D, but not much else has happened-- 00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:12.000 was that I would come in the house, say, after doing a lot of physical labor, 00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:19.000 and I could actually take a shower and take a rest, and I wouldn't have to eat, like, immediately. 00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:25.000 And that is very noticeable, not to be hungry like that all the time. 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:27.000 That's probably helping your liver store sugar better. 00:46:27.000 --> 00:46:29.000 And then when I was going to the doctor, I kept losing weight. 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:31.000 And I'm not sure what's causing that. 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:32.000 But thanks a lot. 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:33.000 Yeah. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:34.000 Okay, you're welcome. 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:39.000 There are really a lot of publications showing that a high calcium and vitamin D intake 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:48.000 will do almost everything good, including the avoidance of abdominal fat, 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:55.000 tending to have a leaner body, and keeping especially inflammation down. 00:46:55.000 --> 00:47:00.000 And it's just important to note that, listeners, when you want to take vitamin D, 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:02.000 if you change your dose or start taking it, 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:07.000 it takes eight weeks to get to a plateau level before you'd want a blood test. 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:09.000 And you can do finger prick tests. 00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:10.000 They're available online. 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:13.000 Okay, so milk and vitamin D are very beneficial. 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:15.000 So we have another one or two callers. 00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:17.000 Let's take the next caller on the air. 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:18.000 You're on the air. 00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:19.000 And where are you from, caller? 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:20.000 Hello. 00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:21.000 I'm from Arcata. 00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:22.000 Arcata. 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:23.000 Okay, and what's your question? 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:31.000 My question is I'm diabetic, and I read some research that said the little cells 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:34.000 that put out the insulin don't really die. 00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:35.000 Correct. 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:38.000 They just sort of -- in your pancreas, they just become like juveniles again. 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:39.000 Yeah. 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:40.000 Pancreatic beta cells? 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:46.000 And I just wanted to know if it is possible to wake them up, 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:51.000 if Dr. Peat has any advice about diabetes. 00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:52.000 I believe it's type 1. 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:59.000 So, Dr. Peat, senescent pancreatic beta cells. 00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:01.000 For type 1 diabetes. 00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:07.000 Yeah, the beta cells are always tending to regenerate, 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:12.000 but they die quickly when you're having diabetes. 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:21.000 And the factor that seems to be the main thing that kills them as they are being reborn 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:25.000 is lipid peroxidation. 00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:34.000 And so getting your polyunsaturated fats down, I think aspirin would be one of the protective things, 00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:40.000 but glucose happens to be the thing that maintains the renewal, 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.000 constant regeneration of the beta cells. 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:57.000 So keeping the metabolism under control so that you aren't degenerating the polyunsaturated fats 00:48:57.000 --> 00:49:04.000 into lipid peroxides and prostaglandins is the thing to keep in mind. 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.000 And this takes a long time. 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:09.000 It takes four years to replace your fat cells completely. 00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:10.000 Totally. 00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:13.000 But you can make a big change right away. 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:14.000 So replace your vegetable oils. 00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:21.000 Yeah, I've tried using polyunsaturated fats based on your advice, 00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:26.000 and will continue to do so and appreciate the advice and your research. 00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:29.000 Are you saying aspirin is helpful? 00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:31.000 You said that? 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:35.000 Yeah, aspirin improves insulin sensitivity. 00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:37.000 Oh, it does? 00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:41.000 Like the baby aspirin, 81 milligram dosage, would you recommend? 00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:44.000 Or like a regular big old aspirin? 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:51.000 One thing to remember, if you're going to supplement any quantity of aspirin for a long time, 00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:56.000 is to make sure your vitamin K is adequate. 00:49:56.000 --> 00:50:07.000 Taking a supplement of vitamin K is a good idea because chronic aspirin will tend to give you a bleeding syndrome 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:09.000 if you're deficient in K. 00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:17.000 So the dose is for one aspirin, 325 milligram aspirin, you'd want to be taking one milligram of vitamin K. 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:20.000 And it is on Amazon. 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:26.000 The Thorne Research is a very pure form that's just in a medium chain triglyceride drop form. 00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:29.000 And one drop is one milligram. 00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:34.000 And that would counteract the bleeding tendency you could get from taking one aspirin. 00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:43.000 But Dr. Feig, how much would you recommend is a good kind of dose for helping to block that lipid peroxidation? 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:48.000 Well, vitamin E and aspirin have overlapping effects. 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:59.000 And so the amount of PUFA that you have stored in your tissues is what governs the amount of those that you need. 00:50:59.000 --> 00:51:04.000 Okay, we've got two more callers I think, so let's get these next callers. 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:06.000 Thank you for your question, caller. 00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:07.000 And let's take the next one. 00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:08.000 Where are you from? 00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:09.000 What's your question? 00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:11.000 I'm from Ukiah. 00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:13.000 Okay, what's your question? 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:15.000 I have a question about T3. 00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:17.000 Does it affect TSH? 00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:18.000 Certainly does. 00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:20.000 Dr. Peat? 00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:21.000 What was the question? 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:24.000 Does T3 affect TSH? 00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:26.000 Oh, yeah, it does. 00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:35.000 But since you normally have a much higher level of T4 circulating in the body, 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:43.000 the pituitary has the ability to convert T4 to T3 locally. 00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:48.000 So usually T4 is what is suppressing the TSH. 00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:59.000 But if you get enough T3 into your brain and pituitary, then it's at least as effective as T4. 00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:01.000 Okay, we've got two more callers. 00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:03.000 Can I ask one more question? 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:04.000 Yeah, go ahead. 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:07.000 Reverse T3, what's the mechanism of action? 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:10.000 How does that affect metabolism? 00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:22.000 Apparently it's partly occupying the same response site that the active T3 would 00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:24.000 and simply competing against it. 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:31.000 And even T4 can outcompete T3 if there's too much T4. 00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:44.000 But there are local deiodinase enzymes that some of them can eliminate reverse T3. 00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:56.000 And if those are blocked by some stress substances, then the local reverse T3 can accumulate. 00:52:56.000 --> 00:53:05.000 So the systemic level of T3 and reverse T3 are both important, 00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:11.000 but they aren't the absolute factor that determines how effective T3 will be. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:17.000 That's why taking temperatures and pulses will tell you if you're getting enough T3 00:53:17.000 --> 00:53:22.000 or if your body is converting the T4 that you might be taking or producing naturally into T3. 00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:23.000 All right, thank you. 00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:24.000 You're welcome. 00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:25.000 Okay, we have two more callers. 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:30.000 So let's see if we can get through these callers with quick answers that will satisfy the next caller. 00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:31.000 Where are you from? 00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:32.000 What's your question? 00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:33.000 Is that me? 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:34.000 Yes, go ahead. 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:35.000 Your question? 00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:36.000 Hi. 00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:38.000 I have two quick questions. 00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:44.000 One, you mentioned about endotoxin and causing a problem in the bacteria. 00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:51.000 And I have been confused about whether probiotics are a good thing or a bad thing as far as that goes. 00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:54.000 So that was one question. 00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:58.000 And then the other question is about how much exercise is too much exercise. 00:53:58.000 --> 00:53:59.000 Right. 00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:00.000 Okay. 00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:02.000 Well, I'll quickly speak with Dr. Peat for the exercise one. 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:05.000 Any exercise that keeps you or makes you out of breath is not good for you. 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:11.000 So gentle, moderate exercise, gentle weight-bearing exercise, definitely what you want. 00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:15.000 Or if you do have those cardiac bursts, then don't let them last for too long 00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:18.000 because what you will do is go into the anaerobic respiration. 00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:20.000 And produce that. 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:26.000 So if you're just walking and, you know, your heart rate is raised a little bit, you know, 00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:30.000 but you're breathing fine, I mean, you're not like huffing and puffing, is that okay? 00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:31.000 That's ideal. 00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:34.000 You don't want to be over-breathing and you don't want to get your heart rate up too much. 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:38.000 So walking is gentle walking or just gentle weight-bearing exercise. 00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:46.000 So Dr. Peat, what do you say about probiotics in terms of the addition to the endotoxin load, 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:50.000 pros and cons of probiotics? 00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.000 Usually they're helpful but not always. 00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:58.000 And it depends on the particular species. 00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:06.000 And the individual probably can judge best by how you feel when you take it. 00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:11.000 Yeah, like some species will cause a lot of gas in people and I think that's harmful. 00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:20.000 Yeah, some people really get worse when they take certain prebiotics or probiotics. 00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.000 So your particular reaction, I think, should determine that. 00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:28.000 Because everybody's a commensal bacteria and their intestines are different anyway, 00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:31.000 so you're introducing another one in the interactions. 00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:34.000 Okay, we've got about two minutes left and we do have one more caller. 00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:38.000 So rather than not giving him a chance, let's just take this next call away from him. 00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:39.000 Hello. 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:45.000 Yeah, I heard you say that having more babies would prolong your life. 00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:48.000 I didn't hear the whole answer because I was interrupted for a few minutes, 00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:54.000 but you were saying that the more babies you have, the longer you tend to live. 00:55:54.000 --> 00:55:59.000 Before there was birth control, women got worn out having too many babies. 00:55:59.000 --> 00:56:02.000 Well, there were women that had 12 and 13, 14 children, 00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:05.000 so they must have been doing pretty good to produce that. 00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:10.000 Anyways, the guy that built the Taj Mahal, his wife died having her 14th child. 00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:15.000 And, you know, I have a friend who got pregnant at 48 with her 7th child, 00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:20.000 and they told her she would not probably make it through the pregnancy. 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:25.000 I mean, one lady I know had 10 children and almost died having a 10th. 00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:28.000 Dr. Peat, do you have a comment on that? 00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:37.000 There was a study in Hungary that looked at the whole population over a span of a lifetime, 00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:43.000 and they graphed the number of babies and the age at death of the mothers, 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:51.000 and it was a very smooth, perfectly straight increase in longevity 00:56:51.000 --> 00:56:54.000 with the number of babies up to eight. 00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:55.000 When was this? 00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:56.000 Up to eight babies. 00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:57.000 Did you hear that, Carla? 00:56:57.000 --> 00:56:58.000 Yeah, I heard she said eight. 00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:00.000 That's not 13 or 14. 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.000 When was this study done in Hungary? 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:05.000 Dr. Peat, did you hear it? 00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.000 The caller is asking when was the study done in Hungary. 00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:14.000 Oh, I read it in the 1970s. 00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:19.000 I think it was probably done around 1968 or '69. 00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:22.000 Okay, we better hold it there, folks. 00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:24.000 Thanks for your call. 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:32.000 As always, Dr. Peat, thanks for being so giving of your time and your energy and your knowledge. 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:33.000 Thank you so much. 00:57:33.000 --> 00:57:35.000 I'll just give people your details. 00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:36.000 Okay. 00:57:36.000 --> 00:57:37.000 Thank you. 00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:38.000 Good night. 00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:42.000 Okay, so for those people who've heard the show tonight and maybe not heard Dr. Peat explain 00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:48.000 his scientific rationale of approaching things that we often find bad evidence for, 00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:54.000 his website is www.raypeat.com, fully referenced articles, well worth a look. 00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:56.000 Go check it out. 00:57:56.000 --> 00:57:57.000 He doesn't charge any money for them. 00:57:57.000 --> 00:57:58.000 They're all free. 00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:03.000 We can be reached toll free 1-888-WBMO Monday through Friday. 00:58:03.000 --> 00:58:05.000 My name's Andrew Murray. 00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:07.000 My name's Sarah Johanneson Murray. 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:09.000 Thanks for listening and have a good night. 00:58:09.000 --> 00:58:11.000 Until next November. 00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:13.000 See you then.