• Where Has All The Fiber Gone?
• Herbal Tip…
• Detoxification and Purification
• Nutrition and Supplementation
• Options for Fibromyalgia

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Dear Health Conscious Individual,

Welcome to House Calls with Dr. Cutler!

Today I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss the importance of fiber in your diet. We’ll also look at the symptoms you can look forward to if you’re not getting enough fiber in your diet.

We will also take a close look at some toxins that most of us come in contact with every day and how your body is fighting a constant battle to detoxify.

As I answer a question from a reader, we’ll take a close look at fibromyalgia and some treatment options to discuss with your personal doctor.

We’ve got a lot to cover today… so let’s jump right in.

Yours for healthy living,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Medical Advisor, True Health™

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Where Has All The Fiber Gone?

I’ve been greatly concerned about the lack of fiber that is in our diets today. There has been a dramatic decline in the fiber we consume due to the nature of our modern diets.

Too many people are relying on processed foods and less natural fruits and vegetables, as well as wheat and oats as part of a regular, balanced diet. The result is that many of our modern health problems are caused by this dramatic decline in fiber.

Processed foods and fast foods have virtually eliminated fiber from our diets. Think of your digestive system as a flowing river. It can get blocked and clogged.

Fiber, especially insoluble fiber, can keep that river flowing properly. With the right amount of water each day, fiber will encourage our elimination, regularly flush out harmful chemicals, toxins and wastes from our systems.

These questions deal with one of the most important protectors of your health. Answer each question with a yes or no:

1. Are you irregular in your bowel movements, i.e., you don’t have a bowel movement with firm, light brown stools once every 12 to 24 hours?
2. Have you or a blood relative ever had gallstones or gallbladder disease?
3. Have you or a blood relative ever had diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, appendicitis, or varicose veins in the lower extremity?
4. If you’re over the age of thirty-five, is your total cholesterol less than 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood?
5. Is your HDL cholesterol over 50 milligrams per deciliter?
6. Have you or any blood relative ever had cancer of the colon or rectum, or polyps?

Insoluble fiber is the indigestible part of plant foods. It passes through the stomach and small intestine without being digested.

What can the right amount of fiber help us with? It can help with conditions like hemorrhoids, appendicitis, diverticulosis, heart disease, gallstones, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, polyps, colorectal cancer and breast cancer.

How much fiber do you need? That depends on the size of your digestive system. The more you weigh and the bigger you are, the more fiber you need.

In general, these are the fiber amounts you need each day by weight:

Weight Optimal Fiber Range

• 100 lbs. 20-25 grams
• 125 lbs. 25-30 grams
• 150 lbs. 30-35 grams
• 175 lbs. 35-40 grams
• 200 lbs. 40-45 grams

The best way to get fiber in your diet is to eat more cereals, fruits and vegetables. But you should concentrate on eating the right kind!

• Don’t eat a cereal with less than 4 grams of fiber per serving.
• The cereal should have at least 2 grams of hard or insoluble fiber.
• Strive for over 7 grams of fiber per serving.

Sometimes fiber supplements are necessary. Metamucil is the most familiar. It is a typical soluble fiber designed to help maintain regularity. The only rule is that the supplement should provide over three grams of fiber in a convenient serving. Be sure you purchase a fiber supplement and not a powdered laxative.

Regarding fruits, the best sources of fiber are blackberries, pears and raspberries. For vegetables, we know peas, corn, beans and brussels sprouts are excellent. A few rules on dietary fiber apply:

• Eat fruit at every meal
• Eat vegetables at every meal
• Eat vegetables or fruit for snacks
• Use fiber supplements to make up shortfalls
• Eat a high-fiber cereal daily

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Herbal Tip…

Rosemary: Prevent Fats from Going Bad Inside You.

Rosemary is one of the herbal antifungal and anti-bacterials and because of this, it is commonly used as a food preservative. This is why rosemary helps prevent fats in meat from turning rancid. It has antioxidant properties as well.

I recommend that you regularly include this herb in your cooking as you season to taste.

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Detoxification and Purification

Why are people toxic today? Look at the tremendous amount of harmful chemicals we absorb that accumulate in our tissues when the liver, digestive system, and skin cannot eliminate them:

• Crop poisoning with pesticides and herbicides
• 5,500 chemical food additives
• Foods which are genetically altered, refined, frozen, fried, irradiated, hormone-filled, etc.
• Auto exhaust, lawn sprays, household cleaning products, cosmetics, etc.

The main two organs of detoxification of these chemicals are the intestinal tract and the liver. The intestinal tract is the first line of defense against harmful chemicals. When its lining becomes easily permeable (leaky gut syndrome) then harmful chemicals are allowed into the body.

The liver has two stages of detoxification of chemicals: they become water-soluble and get excreted via the kidney, or else they become inert to go out with the bile via the intestines. It is in the intestines where these toxic chemical by-products or acid body wastes could get reabsorbed via the intestines.

The main message here is that by eating natural foods we actually clean out, build, and regenerate healthy organ function. When a person does this they nearly always see weight loss and a return to normal metabolism and hormone balance. Blood sugar, insulin (pancreas) and cortisol (adrenal) function normalize, allowing thyroid function to also return slowly to normal.

Our diet is causing a slowdown of our pituitary and adrenal gland function by poor nutrition and high-stress lifestyles. This causes overproduction or imbalance of adrenaline, cortisone and the sex steroids made in this gland.

The pituitary gland is the master gland that feeds back to the other hormone producing glands such as the thyroid and the pancreas (insulin, sugar metabolism, storage of unused carbohydrates into fat cells which get larger and larger if allowed to).

The body can deal with toxic chemicals in three general ways: remove them from the body, bury the toxins in body fat or deposit them in organ tissues.

Here is a list of symptoms which may correspond to organ toxicity:

• Poor digestion
• Constipation
• Overweight
• Skin conditions/allergies
• Dark circles under eyes/puffiness
• Recurring headaches
• Food allergies
• Fluctuating blood sugar
• PMS
• Poor sleep

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Nutrition and Supplementation

If you were to convert your current diet to one of 100% natural (raw) foods, you would detoxify your organs, regulate your hormone (adrenal and thyroid) metabolism of calories, and promote optimum health. For example, start with implementing foods such as:

• Kale
• Broccoli
• Red beets
• Cabbage
• Onions
• Red peppers
• Garlic
• A host of green leafy vegetables as the majority of the foods you eat
• Then add in fruits at half the amount of vegetables
• Then add whole grains, seeds, nuts, etc in limited amounts
• Next, add in natural starch such as kidney beans or brown rice 1 cup twice daily
• Lastly, consider adding lean meat 3-4 oz (size of a deck of cards) twice daily
• Be creative with seasonings to be able to last on this pattern of eating for at least 21 days at which time a habit is formed and your cravings are gone

What to avoid? You will know because it will be boxed, canned, bagged, frozen or otherwise altered by chemicals to change it from its natural state (unless it is an herbal blend or a raw glandular used to build tissue of the liver, pancreas, adrenal, etc).

Having taught and seen my patients improve their health and weight management goals, I strongly encourage you to follow these guidelines and wish you continued good health.

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Q & A

Each week in the Q & A section of House Calls with Dr. Cutler, I will share with you some of the many questions I get every week from subscribers to my monthly advisory newsletter, Easy Health Options™. For more information on Easy Health Options™, visit www.easyhealthoptions.com.

Options for Fibromyalgia

Dear Dr. Cutler,

I just read your ad about “Ultimate CoQ10 Formula™.” I’ve been taking this preparation for several months, but my chronic fatigue symptoms seem to be getting worse. It’s been going on throughout 2007.

I noticed that Dr. Cutler treats fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I recently read on the Internet that the two are really the same, but CFS doesn’t seem to produce much pain.

The treatment protocol given is to use guaifenesin, (active ingredient in Mucinex) and stay away completely from salicylates. Is this a reasonable approach? What is Dr. Cutler’s protocol?

I really need help. I’ve had heart, thyroid, and testosterone checked, and all 3 are normal.

Sincerely,
Herbert Minnich

Dear Herbert,

As you are aware, Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has multiple possible causes and usually several causes at once, all contributing to the symptoms of pain. There is a nutritional component, an allergy component (this may be to foods, environmental allergens or industry-produced chemicals), and an emotional component in my experience. Your immune system gets “inflammed” in reaction to these causes, but there are no tests to prove you have a problem.

While CoQ10 does promote improved energy and muscle strength, it is a poor treatment for FMS when used alone. Some folks respond to the safe medication guaifenesin, yet most do not. And there is a long list of viable treatments with not one of them being the cure-all.

The following are some possibilities for those suffering from fibromyalgia. This list is for informational purposes only and any changes to your regimen should be discussed with your own doctor.

There are four major areas to focus on for treatment – pain, exercise, sleep, and psyche.

• Botanicals:
  • Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng)—to support the adrenals and to increase immune status
  • Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice)—potentates Cortisol to help energy status (dose in the am and at noon to correspond to Cortisol spikes)
  • Silybum marianum (Milk Thistle)—to help support the liver in detoxing toxins
  • Piper methysticum (Kava Kava)—strong sedative to help sleep and an anxiolytic
• Supplements:
  • Calms Forté: A mix of herbs and minerals to help promote sleep.
  • Chromium Picolinate
  • Coenzyme Q10: An important part of the mitochrondrial membrane.
  • DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone): Turns into estrogen and testosterone in your body. High doses (25-50 mg/daily) can trigger heart irregularities. Some FMS patients report it helps them feel better.
  • Digestive Enzymes: To help the gastrointestinal system break down foods.
  • Glucosamine and Chondroitin: May be beneficial in cases of inflammation, bone or cartilage degradation, or problems with ground substance. Glucosamine may cause worsening of symptoms for FMS patients with high levels of hyaluronic acid.
  • 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP): The body converts this to serotonin. It easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and effectively increases synthesis of serotonin.
  • Human Growth Hormone (HGH, somatotropin): This hormone is converted into insulin-like-growth-factor-1 (IGF-1).
  • Melatonin: Melatonin is a neurotransmitter that the body changes into serotonin. It may help reduce tender point count and severity of pain as well as improve sleep significantly in FMS patients. Patients with FMS may have low melatonin secretion during the hours of darkness. This may contribute to poor sleep, fatigue, and enhanced pain.
  • Malic acid and Magnesium: Malic acid plays a key part in the metabolism of carbohydrates, as well as in the formation of ATP. Magnesium and B6 are needed for malate to work in energy production.
• Nutritional:
  • Nutritionists commonly urge Fibromyalgia patients to limit the amount of sugar, caffeine, and alcohol they consume since these substances have been shown to irritate muscles and stress the system.
• Physical Therapies:
  • Precise injection of the myofascial trigger points with 1% procaine (a local anesthetic).
  • A gentle program of stretching and aerobic exercise is essential to counteract the tendency for deconditioning that leads to progressive dysfunction in fibromyalgia patients.
  • Craniosacral Therapy.

All the best,
Michael Cutler, M.D.