The Scary Truth about why you don't Feel Well

The Scary Truth about why you don't Feel Well

Dr. Kyle D. Christensen, DC, ND,MH

I was blessed with a curious mind. Years ago I had a patient declare to me that he had no testosterone.  What!! You're a man, you've fathered children.  What do you mean you have no testosterone?!  This was nearly 20 years ago and a lot has changed since then.  What was then an anomaly has now become common place. 

Today I see a lot of people, men, women and children who have been diagnosed with low thyroid, low testosterone and low adrenal hormones (primarily cortisol).  Heck, years ago it was only the fat guys that had saggy puffy boobs, now we see men and boys with mild to moderate gynecomastia (enlargement of breast tissue in the male breast). The medical answer (that is if you are a bit progressive in your orthodox medical views) is hormone replacement often which is marketed as bio-identical hormones (this is a marketing term for combining synthetic hormones based on your lab profile done by a compounding pharmacist).  The objective here is to take hormones that hope to mimic what you body should be doing but for some reason is not.

The problem here is not that medicine is trying to balance your hormone profile, but the problem is the question that is not being asked.  The simple question, WHY?! What is going on here.  And to be totally honest with you, I have fallen into this mode of treatment. Namely, trying to get the body to behave more normally.  Only I have been doing it with herbs, minerals and glandular supplements trying to build and strengthen the glands so that they can begin to function again.  Doing this has helped many people, but it has not addressed the question (at least not adequately), how did you get there in the first place.  

The truth as I am discovering is toxicity.  The world in which we live is nothing like our parents and grandparents world.  Sure they had stress in their lives.  But it was usually stress that could easily be identified such as a loss of job or loved one.  Today we are continually bombarded with stressors that are so foreign to anything the body has ever had to deal with, that quite frankly, the body, mind and spirit isn't dealing with it very well.  

There are whole classes of toxins or man-made chemicals that constantly swirl around us referred to as Hormone Disruptors.  One of the biggest culprits are plastics (found in plastic wraps that contain and cover our foods, water bottles, containers and even fragrances), but also fire retardants, pesticides, heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Water resistant clothing, carpets and non-stick pans contain chemicals that disrupt or mess with normal hormone function.  Some of these chemicals can compete for iodine receptor sites in the thyroid gland resulting in low thyroid function (Hummm . . . Do you know anyone who takes thyroid medication?)

In addition to hormone distruptors, there are so many harmful chemicals in the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. And this does not take into consideration those people who do not try to avoid food additives, preservatives and man-made chemicals.  For the majority of the population who microwaves food in plastic containers, drinks soda pop from plastic lined aluminum cans and eat convenience foods, the amount of plastics (think hormone problems) and other toxins that are consumed and accumulate in your body are much much higher.

Fortunately, we have a liver, which is designed to cleanse and detoxify the body.  Unfortunately, the liver can and does get overwhelmed.  And many of these toxins hang around in the fat tissue, organs and glands and are not readily released. Symptoms of toxicity are typically manifested as:

Fatigue and muscle stiffness

Digestion Issues and colon problems

Numbness, Tingling & Tremors

Depression

Thyroid Issues

Hormonal Issues

Headaches  

Weakness

Mood swings and memory loss

Allergies, Asthma and skin rashes

High Blood Pressure and Heart Arrhythmia  

Cancers (did you know that 95% of cancers are caused by environment and/or diet)  

The solution to so many of these problems is NOT to take something to appease the symptoms, although that may be necessary to help you survive the day.  But rather, we need to engaged in therapies and practices that will rid the body of the stifling cesspool of toxicity each of us wallows in. (YUCK!).   

These therapies and practices include:  Far InfraRed Sauna

Ionic Foot Baths, Oil Pulling, Chelation Therapy (EDTA or DMSA, or our favorite Cilantro - affectionately known around here as the Poorman's Chelation Therapy).  Additionally, drinking plenty of clean water (2-3 quarts daily), eating fresh fruits and vegetables. And of course eliminating the exposure and consumption of toxins.  Your biggest challenge will be to minimize the exposure to plastics that are in and around your foods.

While ridding yourself of toxins may seem to be a daunting task, it is something that we each can and should do if we expect to feel better and recover from the chronic problems that so many suffer from.  In my next email, I will discuss several of these therapies and what you can do at home for yourself and family.

Until then, 

Blessings,

Dr. Kyle Christensen

May 1, 2014