Did You Unknowingly Consent to Damaged Health?

Do you recall the first time your doctor told you that you needed to take long-term prescription drugs (for blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, depression, etc.)?

Your doctor/nurse practitioner was probably reassuring: “I’m writing you a prescription to keep your blood pressure (cholesterol/blood sugar/thyroid/depression/sleep/etc.) under control.”

Did you accept this, or did you have doubts?

Did you feel that long-term drugs were inevitable, or were you upset that your health had fallen to this? Did you wish for some other solution than drugs but have no idea what to do?

Your Prescription May Be Inadequate

Most people taking medication for long-term health problems experience symptoms that are not improved by these drugs. Many of these drugs also have side effects that can add to these symptoms.

These symptoms (fatigue, anxiety, digestive, hormonal, pain, etc.) may negatively affect your life. You might worry that your health will get worse or that you’ll have a health catastrophe in the future. You may be aware that your productivity and happiness are taking a hit from your symptoms and health problems.

Your prescriptions may be protecting you from some serious consequences of your condition but may not be effective with the concerns and symptoms that affect your day-to-day life.

Your Prescription May Be Causing New Health Problems

Many medications affect your nutrition:

• The medication can attach itself to a nutrient and pass it out of the body
• The medication can alter the pH in the gut so that the nutrient can’t be adequately absorbed
• Some medications need specific nutrients for them to be able to work and may cause deficiencies.

See below for more information: “Blood Pressure Medications and Nutrient Deficiencies.”

The Failure of Conventional Medicine

The philosophy of using pharmaceuticals for any and every health problem has resulted in a society where 60% of all adults have unresolved, long-term health conditions (per the CDC).

What I’m complaining about here is simple: This philosophy and the practice of a drug for every ill doesn’t work.

You CAN Be Happy and Healthy

What’s needed is a different approach to health care that addresses improving health instead of suppressing symptoms.

It was my own frightening health experience that inspired my clinic. I understand, personally, how it feels to have a health problem with no solution.

For 28 years and 10,000 patients, I have pioneered an approach to health care that has successfully changed the lives of myself and my patients.

Here’s a short video explaining how this works:

Blood Pressure Medications and Nutrient Deficiencies

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

I first want to give you a brief overview on how medications impact important nutrients.

HOW MEDICATIONS AFFECT NUTRIENTS
The following are a few ways that blood pressure medications can affect how our bodies absorb essential nutrients.

• The medication can attach itself to a nutrient and pass it out of the body
• The medication can alter the pH in the gut so that the nutrient can’t be properly absorbed
• Some medications need specific nutrients in order for them to be able to work.

The Following are Blood Pressure Medications, Nutrients Commonly Depleted and the Negative Impact of the Deficient Nutrients

ACE INHIBITORS
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE Inhibitors) are one of the most commonly used families of blood pressure medicines. Examples include; ramipril, enalapril, lisinopril, quinapril, fosinopril, trandolapril and captopril.

Nutrients that can be depleted by these medicines are zinc, magnesium, potassium and calcium.

Deficiencies in these nutrients can cause hair loss, slow healing of wounds, loss of taste or smell, prostate problems, loss of sex drive, frequent infections, leg cramps, weight gain, bone loss, high blood pressure, higher risk of cancer

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS
Another commonly used family of blood pressure medicines. Examples include; amlodipine, nifedipine, felodipine, diltiazem and verapamil.

Nutrients that can be depleted by these medicines are potassium, calcium, vitamin D and possibly Co-Enzyme Q10.

Symptoms that can occur due to deficiencies in these nutrients are fatigue, leg cramps, frequent infections, thirst, muscle weakness, bone loss, confusion, high blood pressure, confusion, heart disease and rapid or irregular heartbeat.

BETA BLOCKERS
Examples of beta blockers include; atenolol, metoprolol, sotalol and bisoprolol.

Beta blockers can deplete the body of Co-Enzyme Q10 and melatonin.

Symptoms that can occur due to deficiencies in these nutrients are insomnia, disrupted sleep, increased risk of cancer, autoimmune disorders, muscle cramps, memory loss.

CENTRALLY ACTING BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATIONS
Clonidine and methyldopa are examples of this.

These blood pressure medications can deplete Co-Enzyme Q10.

Depletion of Co-Enzyme Q10 can result in fatigue, weakness, muscle and leg cramps, memory loss, frequent infection, liver damage, higher risk of heart attack, higher risk of cancer.

Conclusion

The above blood pressure medications may in fact cause nutrient deficiencies making it more important to consider supplementing with these nutrients to decrease the negative symptom consequences

IMPORTANT

Always discuss this important information on blood pressure nutrient deficiencies with your healthcare provider.

Compliments from Functional Medicine University

References:

Pharmavite. Common drug classes, drug-nutrient depletions, & drug-nutrient interactions. www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/about_us/sponsored_resources/Nature%20Made%20Handout.pdf. Accessed September 20, 2019.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5874849/
https://nutritionreview.org/2016/12/practical-guide-avoiding-drug-induced-nutrient-depletion/

Recovering from Anxiety & Depression Without Drugs

Anxiety and depression can mess up your life.

Mental health problems are not understood at all. Research hasn’t gotten to first base on any of them. Treatment is limited to controlling symptoms, and often the treatment is worse than the disease.

Origins of Anxiety & Depression

Over the past 27 years, I’ve had upwards of 6,000 patients suffering from anxiety and depression along with their other symptoms. At some point in their treatment with us, almost all of them have either improved dramatically or expressed that they no longer had the problem.

This sounds very promising (and it is), however I’ve never directly treated a patient for anxiety or depression.

I have become convinced that many mental disorders could be a result of physical health conditions. When the patient recovers physically, they also improve their mental problems.

There is a lot of science behind this. It’s well known that hormone and blood sugar problems can cause even severe forms of anxiety and depression. Specifically, thyroid problems often cause anxiety, mental lethargy and physical fatigue. Sex hormone problems can cause depression and bi-polar symptoms. Blood sugar problems can cause extreme irritability, anxiety and irrational behavior.

Despite the research evidence, medical treatment for mental conditions is always for the specific symptom, not for the underlying cause. A case in point is the DSM, the manual listing all accepted mental diseases and used to diagnose mental illness. The “diseases” in the DSM are all statements of symptoms, not possible causes.

When Depression Is Normal

Many patients have told me that they believed their depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in their brain.

However, no research has yet linked mental illness to brain chemistry (look it up… “belief” “suggest” “may result” “tend to” “strongly linked” but no actual science).

Depressed patients commonly have chronic illness, are often in constant pain, have no energy, can’t sleep, and have been told by multiple doctors that they should “learn to live with” their physical condition because there is no treatment for it.

So, I have asked the person, “Do you feel that you have much hope of achieving any of your goals in life, given your physical health problems?”

The patient thinks, and tells me that no, they’ve given up. I then have asked, “What emotional condition do you think would be normal for a person in your situation?” The patient will often start to laugh, and tell me, “Depression would be completely normal, I think!” They no longer worry about the chemical brain imbalances after this, either.

I agree, because I’ve observed that once a person recovers their physical health—they have energy, don’t hurt, sleep well, digest well—that they aren’t depressed anymore!

Mental Illness Medical Non-Solutions

In my experience (which is considerable), mental illness is often linked to or caused by physical health conditions. These health conditions are always chronic, and typically have no medical treatment.

Medicine treats symptoms, and chronic illness can only be addressed by helping the body regain its ability to heal itself. This is something that conventional medicine is not equipped to do.

So rather than find and improve the cause of mental illness and give the patient back their lives, medicine treats it as a symptom, the same as they do any other heath problem.

The result? Over 100 million cases of mental illness, many of which could be resolved completely, but instead will be drugged into some level of stupor for years, until their bodies become unresponsive to the drugs used.

It’s ugly.

I’m just so happy to be able to show the way out to so many of my patients who work hard to help their own bodies heal, both physically and mentally.

Roundup and Heart Disease

If you have a house with a yard, you probably know about Roundup.

The stuff is truly miraculous! Spray it on just about anything, and the unwanted plant shrivels up, dies, and doesn’t come back. It seems like nothing else comes close to being as effective.

Roundup and other products made with its active ingredient glyphosate are wildly popular commercially. Roundup is how power companies keep their transmission line rights of way clear. It’s why railroad tracks aren’t overgrown with weeds.

Growing crops is where Roundup is used the most. On farms, Roundup is used in combination with special genetically modified plants. Here is how this works: The farmer plants the special GMO seeds. Then, as the plants (and weeds) grow in his fields, he sprays the whole field with Roundup. The weeds all die, and the crop is unaffected (well, it doesn’t die anyway).

Trouble in Herbicide Paradise

Roundup was first sold in 1973 and is now THE MOST WIDELY USED HERBICIDE and is used in most countries.

So, what could go wrong? Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) can enter your body by direct skin absorption, eating treated foods, or drinking contaminated water. The WHO (World Health Organization) classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen in humans in 2015. Studies have shown that glyphosate disrupts the bacteria in your gut, creating a decrease in ratio to harmful bacteria because the bad guys have resistance to Roundup.

A growing number of studies find that glyphosate can mess up your heart’s electrical system, leading to life-threatening arrhythmias. SEE STUDY IN JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY STUDY HERE.

Can I Ride Just One More Time??

Like a little kid on a merry-go-round, governments around the world KNOW they must ban glyphosate but want just a little more time before they finally act.

The US (currently using 1.8 million tons of glyphosate annually) has over 150 cities with local bans. However, the EPA still sticks to its declaration that “glyphosate is unlikely to be a human carcinogen.” So don’t look for any widespread relief soon.

Austria banned glyphosate in 2019. Germany is phasing it out by 2023. Nineteen countries are either regulating, banning, or in the process of doing this currently.

Protect Yourself

The GMO crops currently grown using Roundup are soy, corn, canola, alfalfa, cotton, and sorghum. Horrifyingly, wheat is under development.

Here’s what to do:

1. Avoid eating GMO versions of these crops. (Eat only organic versions)
2. Avoid eating meat from animals that were fed these crops. (Eat only organic versions)
3. Avoid eating dairy products from cows fed with these crops. (Eat only organic versions)
4. Don’t use Roundup or other glyphosate-based herbicides on your lawn. If you have a lawn service, make them show you an ingredient list of anything they spray.
5. Show this article to all your neighbors and see if you can get them to stop using Roundup as well.
6. Avoid walking near powerlines or railway rights of way or other areas that appear treated with weed killers.
7. Treat farmland for what it has become: dangerous. You don’t want exposure to the things they spray, and often you don’t want to eat the food they grow.

Do you have chronic health problems (possibly from toxic exposure)?

I may be able to help you.

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information and have my assistant call you for any additional information and let you know if you might be a good fit for my clinic. It’s complimentary, no strings attached. Either I can help you or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.

DO NOT DRINK OUR WATER!

When you come to my clinic, PLEASE don’t drink the tap water.

Our tap water contains ten toxins in potentially unsafe levels, including nine carcinogens. (You can check out the water quality in your zip code HERE)

How to Have Safe, Healthy Water to Drink

1: Don’t drink tap water. Why not? Put your zip code into this search and see exactly.

2: Filter water that you cook with or drink. On a budget? You can use a carbon filter on your tap or a filtered water pitcher. Carbon filters (including those on filter pitchers) reduce many common contaminants such as lead, and the disinfectants used to treat tap water. Better (FAR better) is a reverse osmosis filter that gets most contaminants out.

3: Carry and store water in safe containers. Use stainless steel and (shatterproof) glass containers. Plastic can break down and release chemicals into the water.

4: Don’t trust bottled waters. Many “spring waters” are processed tap water, no matter what the label says.

An Ideal, Yet Practical Water Solution

In a typical residence, two water contamination problems need solutions:

Showerhead Carbon Filter

1: Drinking and cooking water needs to be as clean as possible but still contain natural minerals and electrolytes.

The best cost-effective solution is a reverse osmosis water filter. These filters look a bit like a rocket engine, with bottles and tubes in all directions. However, they are inexpensive ($250 – $700), not particularly hard to install (DIY or a simple handyman job), and fit under your kitchen sink. A bar tap on your sink dispenses the clean water for cooking and drinking. You can pick one up at Home Depot.

Strangely, DISTILLED WATER is not a healthy choice. See the article below, “Potential Risks of Distilled Water” for more information.

2: Water for bathing and handwashing needs to contain safe chlorine levels.

Chlorine is a necessary evil for tap water. Like water in your swimming pool, dangerous bacteria and fungus will grow in non-chlorinated water. The CDC says that four parts per million is the limit of chlorine in tap water. Because the danger of too little chlorine is much worse than too much, city water systems can err on the high side.

How to know if there is too much chlorine in your tap water?

• Tap water smells like a swimming pool. If your tap water really smells, it may have too much chlorine.
• Dry, itchy skin. If this is worse after a shower or bath, you should test your chlorine levels.

You can get a simple strip test for your tap water for $12 HERE (Amazon)

The best fix for chlorine is to get 95% of it out of your water. You do this with one of two solutions:

1: Showerhead filter. It screws onto your showerhead, costs $50, and lasts for years. This eliminates the hot chlorinated water you are soaking in and the chlorinated steam you are breathing.

2: Whole House Filter. This is a cartridge that is mounted (usually) where your water line comes into your house. It takes a handyman or plumber to install it ($200-ish), costs as little as $200, and lasts at least a year. Replacement cartridges cost $30 and can be installed (by you) in a few minutes. This cleans up all the water going into your house, usually including the water you use outside on your lawn.

Are You at Wits’ End With a Health Problem?

I may be able to help you.

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.

Potential Risks of Distilled Water

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

While distilled water is the purest type, it’s not necessarily the healthiest.

The distillation process is very effective at removing potentially harmful contaminants, but it also removes the natural minerals and electrolytes found in water.

If you drink distilled water, be aware that it may have some drawbacks. The lack of minerals could prove problematic if you aren’t getting them from another dietary source. In addition, the water might cause intestinal discomfort.

Along with unwanted impurities, beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium are also left behind as the steam rises during the distillation process.

Distillation typically removes around 99.9% of all minerals found in tap water.

The lack of naturally occurring minerals in distilled water, such as sodium, chloride, and potassium, can negatively affect health. These minerals are known as electrolytes.

Therefore, your body is forced to give electrolytes to the mineral and nutrient-free water. With this, your electrolyte level will slowly decrease and eventually cause electrolyte imbalance in your body.

To sum up, if you drink distilled water consistently, you are putting your health at risk. It has insufficient minerals and nutrients that can protect your body against diseases and illnesses. Second, it can potentially lead to certain health problems such as bone deformities, digestive tract disorders, and even blood-related sickness.

I believe the best source of drinking water is spring water.

Of course, I expect some debate about my opinion but spring water from a reliable source has proven to have many health benefits.

Here are some valuable benefits:

• Balancing the pH of your body
• Natural source of necessary minerals

How to choose a good spring water brand?

The points to remember when choosing a water company are as follows:

• Determine how long they are in the business
• The source of water
• Does the water pass purification and tests
• Is there a water test report available (especially on their website)
• Does the bottle have the label of the brand?

Compliments from Functional Medicine University

A Way Out of Menopause Problems?

My sister-in-law was at my house a week ago and complained, “I just hate getting old” (she’s 53). She was discouraged that she couldn’t remember words and felt mentally sluggish.

I explained to her that this was a common symptom of menopause due to low estrogen levels. At first, she was excited by this information—something could be done about it! But then she realized she couldn’t take any estrogen with her breast cancer history.

The Toxic Soup

She’s not alone in wanting to avoid the use of hormones or drugs to treat menopause symptoms. A visit to your OBGYN with typical menopause symptoms can result in prescriptions for any or all of the following:

• Hormone Therapy: Estrogen is what works, but it can be a risk. So your doctor will probably prescribe the lowest dose over the shortest time. Many women are not interested in the risk and will pass on this.
• Vaginal Estrogen: Same story as hormone therapy.
• Low-dose Antidepressants: These SSRI drugs are prescribed for hot flashes and “mood disorders” caused by hormone imbalances. All of these drugs have side effects, and many are addictive.
• Gabapentin: A seizure drug repurposed as a treatment for night sweats.
• Clonidine: High blood pressure med repurposed as a treatment for hot flashes.
• Osteoporosis drugs: The most popular drugs build “bone density” by inhibiting the destruction of old or dead bone cells. This increases bone density but without increasing bone strength.

Surely there must be another, better way.

Why Hormones Go Whacky

Your hormones are a communication system in your body. Like bulk mail, trillions of molecules of your hormones plug themselves into “mailboxes” on your cells. Your cells then read the mail and know what your brain wants them to do.

Hormones are very specialized chemicals. Sadly, in our high-tech society, we use similar chemicals for pesticides, insecticides, drugs, plastics, etc. The molecules of these toxic chemicals in our environment are so identical to your hormone molecules that your body can’t tell the difference.

These toxic molecules interfere with your natural hormones, creating stress that has been linked to hundreds of chronic diseases.

These toxins are called ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS. Here is a link to the EPA’s Endocrine Disruption webpage.

My experience has been that these toxins are a significant factor in menopause symptoms.

An Effective, Non-Drug, Non-Hormone Solution

There are many imbalances that create menopause symptoms. Each woman’s answer is different. I do a great job of finding your problems and rebalancing your body so you feel great—even in menopause.

One of the techniques I use to help women with hormone problems is an acupressure treatment called “Systems Balancing Technique,” or SBT. I have been using this technique since 2001 and have helped thousands of women to improve hormone imbalances related to sex hormones, adrenals, thyroid, and many more problems.

How SBT Works

In 1. below, a natural hormone (letter) can’t get to the cell’s mailbox because it’s being blocked by a toxic chemical (ED stands for “Endocrine Disruptor,” a toxic chemical that mimics a hormone and fools the body).

SBT treatments bring the body’s attention to the ED molecule with the intention that the body will realize this isn’t a natural hormone and eject it from the mailbox.

In 2. below, the hormone letter can plug into the receptor site freed from being blocked by the ED.

Neither I nor anyone else can know what is happening inside the body on a molecular level. The explanation above is my “working theory” of how SBT works, but I have no way to know for sure.

However, the results I have obtained with this technique speak for themselves!

A Plan to Balance Your Hormones

If you’d like to find out if a non-drug, non-hormone solution could work for you, here are two possible actions for you to take:

Neither I nor anyone else can know what is happening inside the body on a molecular level. The explanation above is my “working theory” of how SBT works, but I have no way to know for sure.

However, the results I have obtained with this technique speak for themselves!

A Plan to Balance Your Hormones

If you’d like to find out if a non-drug, non-hormone solution could work for you, here are two possible actions for you to take:

Do You Have a Stubborn Health Problem?

I may be able to help you.

Dr. Melodie Billiot

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.

Depression: You Need a Program, Not a Pill

If you or someone you love is suffering from depression and anxiety, what is needed is real help.

What isn’t needed is temporary “solutions” that depend on theories developed to market pharmaceuticals.

FALSE: Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain

Recent studies have disproven this theory. In truth, there has never been a study that showed any evidence that it was true in the first place, so finally having the theory disproved shouldn’t be a shock.

Read about the recent study here.

This theory was first developed to justify antidepressant drugs. The pitch was that if your depression was caused by chemicals, then more chemicals could correct this.

What do Antidepressant Drugs Do?

According to the CDC, one in six American women over the age of 15 takes antidepressant medications.

What IS known about these drugs is that they are dangerous and addictive (see the “black box” death warning on most of them).

What is a mystery is how and why they affect different people different ways. Some people seem to get help from these drugs. Others can’t tell that they are taking them at all. Some get very negative reactions.

Overall, the longer a person takes these drugs, the more dangerous they become.

Also, the chances for possible relief of your depression and anxiety are not that great: about 20%:

Following is from “Depression: How effective are antidepressants?” NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine):

Studies involving adults with moderate or severe depression have shown the following:

• Without antidepressants: About 20 to 40 out of 100 people who took a placebo noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks.
• With antidepressants: About 40 to 60 out of 100 people who took an antidepressant noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks.

In other words, antidepressants improved symptoms in about an extra 20 out of 100 people.

What is not included in this study are the health and life disasters that often result from long-term drug use.

The truth is the patient doesn’t need a pill; they need a program

Anyone with depression and/or anxiety has many interrelated health issues that have resulted in their symptoms. There is no “silver bullet” single drug or treatment that will solve the problem.

What is needed is an integrated program including:

• History of infections
• History of head trauma
• History of chemical and toxic metals exposure (such as amalgam dental fillings)
• History of previous drug use
• Dietary, exercise, and sunlight habits
• Testing for allergies, blood sugar problems, and hormone imbalances

I have been using this evaluation method and finding the root causes of depression and anxiety for decades in my practice. I can report that most patients improve, don’t take medications, and progress through any mental therapy course.

As a “bonus,” these patients make overall health improvements that often result in greater energy, better sleep, better digestion, less pain, and overall well-being.

Becoming healthy is itself a valid therapy for anxiety and depression!

Patient Story:

I Have a Real Sense of Hope Instead of a Chemically Induced High!

I have seen significant improvement with my last 3 – 4 visits. My headaches have all but vanished. I have so much energy and mental clarity, and it feels amazing. I have been waking up in the morning feeling like my night’s rest was adequate and restful instead of needing 3 hours to get myself fully alert. I can get so much more accomplished during the day than I used to. I have been off antidepressants for over a month and a half, and I have a real sense of hope about my life instead of a fleeting, chemically-induced high. My sugar cravings have diminished significantly, a truly amazing feat considering when I first walked in here about the only thing I ate or craved was sweets and sugar. The best part is that I have learned so much about nutrition and my body, information that will be invaluable to me for the rest of my life. THANK YOU! — J.R.

Are you experiencing anxiety and depression?

I may be able to help you.

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.