If you have followed my wife’s story, you have probably heard us talk about ozone therapy.  Ozone therapy is what turned Natasha’s life around when she was battling Epstein Barr Virus, and mold toxicity.

What is Ozone Therapy?

The scientific definition is: “Ozone (O3) gas was discovered in the mid-nineteenth century. Ozone therapy has been utilized and heavily studied for more than a century…Its effects are proven, consistent, safe and with minimal and preventable side effects. Medical O3 is used to disinfect and treat disease. Mechanism of actions is by inactivation of bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast and protozoa, stimulation of oxygen metabolism, activation of the immune system. Medication forms in a gaseous state are somewhat unusual, and it is for this reason that special application techniques have had to be developed for the safe use of O3…Diseases treated are infected wounds, circulatory disorders, geriatric conditions, macular degeneration, viral diseases, rheumatism/arthritis, cancer, SARS and AIDS.” – J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2011 Jan-Jun; 2(1): 66–70 

The layman’s definition is: Ozone therapy involves creating ozone using technology that can be administered a variety of ways; IV therapy, rectal insufflation and in water.  Ozone helps create an oxidative reaction in the body that stimulates the following:

1) Immune modulation – Immune modulation is the process of your immune system seeing and killing pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and other infections), while at the same time avoiding attacking your own body (autoimmune conditions)

2) Oxygen saturation – More oxygen…Mmmmmm!!!

3) Body Detoxification – Ozone helps detoxify chemicals and toxins from your body.

Testimonials

Due to COIVD “shelter in place” orders, I have been unable to see patients in the clinic for ozone therapy.  The alternative…ozone therapy at home, rectally.

Similar to performing a coffee enema, you may administer ozone therapy at home.  Natasha and I both do this even though we can get ozone administered at the clinic because it is easier, less costly, and we can do it daily if we wanted to.

Here are two short testimonials from patients of mine that recently started doing ozone therapy at home:

“I finished my 3rd session and I feel more energy, sleeping better and I passed a parasite, I couldn’t believe it!” –

Angela L., CA

“The ozone therapy is amazing!  I am feeling much better, less inflammation and more energy. After the 3^rd session, I could already play basketball with my son.  By the 10^th, I felt I could run a marathon!” –

Nivia F., CO

My Story with Ozone Therapy and Prednisone

Almost two months ago I contracted Contact Dermatitis.  Sometimes dermatitis is in a localized region, and other times it is global, across most of your body.  Unfortunately for me, it was the later. 

I toughed it out for almost 2 weeks and then couldn’t take the itching anymore and got on prednisone for 10 days.  If you have ever tried coming off prednisone, you know some of the side effects, which are HORRIBLE!  I developed Red Skin Syndrome (RSS).

RSS will drive you insane!  The internal burning (I described it as an internal sunburn), itching, redness, pustules, and sleeplessness nights were taking their toll on me. 

I had IV ozone therapy administered several times but decided to buy an ozone generator for home use.  Why?  I could do ozone daily (even two times a day for me), I didn’t have to pay for an IV tech/supplies, and there was no needle involved (I am a baby).

Within one week, my RSS was beginning to clear up.  I continued ozone daily (two times a day on the weekends) for the next 4 weeks to completely clear up my skin.

Wanna Learn More

I filmed this educational video on ozone: https://youtu.be/jjcdl8RQqO4

Here is a great story of ozone therapy being used for COVID patients: CLICK HERE

www.drsozone.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3SQgmP-RGMJvvGOXEwfP4A

Where to Buy Ozone Generators

www.simplyo3.com is the company I have used for our ozone generators/UVB devices for the clinic and their at-home units.  The company does give me a discount for patients.  If you are interested in a unit, feel free to email me any questions: drking@askdrking.com Soon, I will have these units on our website to buy direct.

I am Seeing a Trend

Trends come and go.  Every year there is a new diet that promises to be the best thing since being a caveman/woman.  The holidays are sure to “release” a new weight loss gadget that “guarantees to help you lose 125 lbs while sipping your Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte”!

I say, GO AWAY you horrible trends…I can see through you!

Although, there is one trend that I see picking up steam…you may have heard of it due to great marketing from companies like 23andme.com and Ancestry.com…genetic testing.

However, I am speaking of a little different genetic testing.  While knowing your ancestral history and chances of having a baby with blues is really cool, I am referring to learning about your genetic mutations.

Your genetic mutations, in my opinion, are going to dictate how you respond to LIFE!

Are you more predisposed to developing an autoimmune condition, such as Celiac Disease?  Should you eat that piece of genetically modified sliced bread?  Is developing a thyroid disease in your future?  Can you detox the junk your body is exposed to every single day?  If you are on birth control, can your body clear the excess hormones being released into your blood stream?

These are all questions you can find answers to by looking at genetic mutations.

What does having a genetic mutation mean?

The layman’s definition of a gene is: a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.

This means that our parents pass down genes that determine who we are.  The color of our hair, how tall we may be, and even our personalities.

Many times, and in all of us, these genes are not perfect.  They can be broken, or mutated.

If I know what those mutated genes are and understand the role the genes play in your body, I can figure out why you may have an autoimmune condition, or why you have ovarian cysts, or why you have low testosterone.

Back to this trend…

More and more patients are reaching out to me to run their genetic markers to get to the root cause of their health condition.

Quick story…I have a patient that I helped many years ago.  Back in those days, I didn’t utilize or understand genetic testing because not many people were discussing it.

I was able to help this patient reach her goals!  She was a hairstylist at the time.  Hairstylists tend to be some of the sickest patients I encounter.  Why you ask?  Think about what you smell when walking into most salons.  Think about what the stylists are putting on their clients’ hair/scalps.  Heavy duty chemicals are routinely used.  Although, more and more salons are beginning to switch to more natural products.  Awesome!!!

Even though I was able to help this patient years ago, she slowly began battling symptoms that were taking their toll on her health as years went by.

She knew I have been running genetic testing on patients and reached out a few months ago requesting to test her mutations.  Specifically, I ran mutations looking at detoxification pathways, how she clears hormones, and her neurotransmitters (how she feels emotionally).

Today, she requested I order the same genetic tests for her daughter and son (albeit, male hormone mutations).  Why?  Because after seeing her mutations, I was able to put together a healing plan addressing what we learned about her genes.

Guess what?  Her hot flashes have gone away.  The “sludge” she had on the layer of her stomach has disappeared and she is seeing results.  Wooohoooo!!!  Genetic testing saves the day, again!

How Do You Test Genetic Mutations?

Super simple!  You collect saliva and send the sample to the lab.  I use a lab called GX Sciences (www.gxsciences.com).  Not all labs are created equal, and for this reason I put my trust in these fellas.

The lab sends your results to me and I began playing detective, combining the genetic results with blood testing, and other specialized lab tests.

Gathering many pieces of the puzzle will help me help you!  The more I see and understand about you, the better game plan I can create to help you reach your goals.

This Trend Will Change Healthcare!

I firmly believe the more we can get to the root cause of people’s health conditions, the healthier they can become. 

More and more people are realizing the medical model’s Band-Aid approach to chronic disease is not working for them.  They are not healing and living life as they did in the past.  It is for this reason more patients are reaching out to me asking for more in-depth testing to get to the bottom of their issues.

Are you still having a difficult time reaching your health goals?  If so, consider running some genetic tests to figure out why.  Getting a sample of saliva is a heck of a lot easier than struggling with health symptoms for 10 or 15 years.  Plus, there is no needle!!!

When Mold Strikes

Having a chronic health condition or an autoimmune condition is frustrating.  Finding out that the environment you are living in could be contributing to how you feel is infuriating, especially considering what you are going to go through next.

Background Story

4 years ago, Natasha and I were exposed to black mold while living in Laguna Beach, CA.  This triggered Epstein Barr Virus to turn on in Natasha, which caused Hashimoto’s Disease to develop.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019…

Colorado had an incredibly warm summer (we live in Boulder).  During this time, Natasha and I thought we were having allergies.  Unfortunately, the allergies didn’t improve, and Natasha’s health took a nosedive.

Natasha travels a lot for work.  When she was away from the home, she felt great.  When she came back home, immediately the next day she would feel crummy. 

This was very reminisce of what happened while living in CA.

We decided to test the home with a mold test called the ERMI (read more here: https://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/ermi-testing)

Side note: Prior to moving in we had a company come and test, twice, using ambient air testing (I do not recommend this form of testing due to the variables at play).  We were “told” that everything was ok, and the mold spore counts were not high. 

The ERMI scores came back very, very high.  The ERMI’s HERTSMI score was 24, anything above 15 you are advised to NOT re-enter the property until full remediation has been performed for those with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).

What Do You Do Once You Have Mold?

Natasha and I did a ton of research, combined with the knowledge we already have from 4-years ago, and decided to remediate our personal items ourselves.  Keep in mind, Natasha are very skeptical regarding mold remediation, and VERY OCD about our health. 

Luckily, Natasha and I don’t own the home we were living in.  We decided not to buy when we moved to CO, because we didn’t know where we wanted to live yet.  If this was our personal home that we own back in Texas, we would certainly hire a company to remediate the home. 

The steps I am about to explain have been very time consuming and frustrating.  I would not wish this on anyone.  With that being said, what did we do?

After we found mold in the home, Natasha and I moved out.  Hotel life is fun for a couple days.  Not a couple of weeks.  This was our first step…getting out of the environment that was making us sick.

Personal items…what to keep and what to throw away???

This is difficult.  Natasha and I try and live a simple life, and we dont have too many personal items that we don’t use.  But we have lots of toys/equipment (bikes, snowboards, backcountry gear, rock climbing gear, camping gear, etc.). 

When we learned about the mold, the couch and rugs were tossed, along with our mattresses.  Companies will say they can remediate them, but we didn’t want to take the chance.  This was tough because Natasha loved her West Elm couch, and I loved our mattress.  But this is our health. 

We began (with masks on), going through all of our personal belongings, deciding what we would keep, and what we would donate.

Clothing

Clothes that we could wash, we kept.  Dry cleaning clothes were tossed.  Why did we throw away clothing instead of donating?  We didn’t feel right about donating clothes that could potentially make someone else sick.  Dry cleaning does not kill the mold spores/toxins, from the research we did.  There are Hepa filters mold remediation companies use to vacuum your items…again, we didn’t want to risk it.  We have read too many horror stories.

One thing we learned with this mold exposure is you need Rubbermaid containers for putting your personal belongings in.  U-haul boxes are porous, and spores can pass through the cardboard.  After several trips to Target, we have close to 60ish Rubbermaid bins (the big ones). 

Remediating clothing

We purchased EC3 laundry additive products from Micro Balance, along with a ton of Borax.  All the clothing went into the Rubbermaid containers and we have spent hours at our local laundry mat, washing and drying our items. 

We purchased EC3 spray to use on hard items, as well.  The containers were sprayed down after the contaminated clothing was washed.  Don’t put clean clothes into containers that were exposed to mold/toxins. 

Drying your clothes in the sun (UV light) and high temperature dryers helps kill any spores/toxins, as well.

This process has taken days to finish.

Kitchen Items

All food was thrown away, even food in containers in the pantry (it gets exposed). 

Anything with a motor (blenders, convection ovens, etc.) was fogged and ozinated (more about this in a moment).

Glasses, plates and bowls and cutlery were sprayed with the EC3 product and dipped in a solution of borax and vinegar and stored in the containers.

Big items

This includes our bikes, camping gear, rock climbing gear, pelican cases, luggage…anything we felt we could remediate, we kept.

Mico Balance EC3 Sanitizer Cold Fogger: we bought this machine to fog our items (most mold remediation companies will do the same thing).  Even though the price tag was a bit steep ($349), we plan on fogging our next home periodically to keep any environmental spore counts low.

All items were fogged and left to dry in the sunlight. 

MaxBlaster Ozone Generator: we bought his machine because we wanted extra peace of mind knowing we did everything in our power to remediate the issue.  This machine was pricey (retails for $795).  After items were fogged, we sealed them in a garage and ran the ozone generator as the “back-up”. 

The ozone generator is also used for vehicles to kill any spores/toxins. 

Since I use ozone therapy in my office for patients exposed to mold, I thought we would do the same with our personal items, cars and next home. 

EC3 spray was purchased to wipe down any items that are non-porous as well.

Remediation Experts

We could have hired a company to do this for us, and many may want to.  We could have saved time, lots of it.  Financially, we may have saved a little as well.  However, we weighed the pros/cons and decided to tackle it ourselves. 

Plus, we have some technology that we can use over and over again.

This is not an exhaustive list of what we have done, just an overview to show you that mold is serious.  You can’t skimp on remediating items, or not throwing them away.  This is your health and you can’t heal if you are still breathing in mold toxins. 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Let me start by saying, I don’t feel I am completely comfortable writing this article.  Why?   I am not a parent, yet! Well, do two cute French Bulldogs count?

Although we may only have 4-legged furry kids, I want to share what Natasha and I are doing prior to her getting pregnant. 

I hope this will help some of you that may be in a similar boat to us. 

Quick story…

Natasha has Hashimoto’s Disease, an autoimmune condition of the thyroid gland.  There are multiple reasons this condition turned on: genetics, weakened immune system, chronic mold exposure, Epstein Barr Virus, emotional stress and physical stress.  If you add up all those triggers, you have the makings of an autoimmune condition.

Fast forward several years and we have diligently been working on the following health issues:

Detoxification – Binding and carrying the mold toxins (mycotoxins out of her system) out of her body, along with heavy metals, which Natasha test positive for.  Genetically, Natasha is a slow detoxifier and needs help getting the bad stuff out.

Killing off Epstein Barr Virus – The traditional medical model will tell you that killing viruses is not possible.  Well, I beg to differ.  Between using Ozone Therapy and Rife Technology, this is possible!

Supporting the thyroid – Natasha takes thyroid support every other day (we were able to fine tune this dosage with follow-up lab tests).

Keeping an eye on her female hormones– We check Natasha’s hormones every 6 months to make sure they are “looking good”.

Killing any candida, bacteria, and parasites – Natasha grew up vegetarian and loved sweets and fruit.  If you take her history of antibiotics and carb loading for endurance sports, you have a breeding ground for candida to take over.  She had the highest candida markers of any patient I have ever tested. 

And…she LOVES sushi.  Recently, on her birthday we ate at a wonderful, high-end sushi restaurant.  BAM!!!  She picked up a critter and battled major bloating and gas for almost 2-weeks as we worked on killing the little suckers.

Layers of an Onion

I like the analogy of our body healing similar to peeling back layers to an onion.  You peel one layer back, but there is another layer staring you straight in the face.  Our bodies are very similar, especially when you are dealing with an autoimmune condition.

This process takes time, and a lot of hard work. 

Many of you have, and I am positive about this, have wanted to throw in the towel on multiple occasions.  How do I know?  Natasha has ridden the same roller coaster ride as you. 

Emotionally, healing the body takes a toll on you, and your loved ones.  Autoimmune conditions, mold toxicity, chronic viruses/infections are very difficult to work with.  They will be frustrating at times, and you feel as if all the hard work you are doing is for nothing. 

Good days are limited, and your bad days seem to be never ending.  Hang in there, this will begin to shift, and your good days will soon outnumber the bad.  I see this happen with every single patient.   

Checklist

If you are starting out on your healing journey, I recommend you looking into the following areas of your health:

Your gut: Infections will prevent you from healing and weaken the immune system.  Clear your gut of any infections you may have and begin patching up that lining.

Nutritional Deficiencies: This goes hand and hand with the gut, but if you are low in A, C, D and E, you need to increase your levels.  Running low on energy, maybe you are deficient in your B vitamins.  This is where nutritional IVs come into play, and why I recommend them to my patients.  If you have chronic GI infections, which most AI patients do, you will have nutritional deficiencies.

Toxins: If you know you have lived in a moldy environment, check for mycotoxins in your system.  If there, detox, detox and detox some more.

Lyme Disease: Are you an avid outdoorsman/woman?  You may want to check for Lyme Disease as this can be a trigger for many autoimmune conditions and thyroid dysfunction.  Don’t rely on the “I have never had a bull’s-eye rash…” mistake.

Run Epstein Barr Virus markers – I see this infection in a TON of thyroid patients.  Did you have Mono when you were younger?  If so, you MUST check for EBV.  Chronic fatigue not improving?  Check for EBV!  Can’t recover after exercise?  Run your EBV markers.

Look at your genetic mutations – Can you detoxify your body well?  Do you make glutathione properly?  Are you gluten sensitive?  Can you methylate well?  Genetic testing will let you know what you may need to work on.

Follow up on your thyroid/hormone testing: Always keep an eye on your body.  If you are working diligently on improving something, check to make sure your hard work is paying off.

Stay the course: Don’t give up, the battle is worth it.  I love having my wife “back”!

The Steps Work

While Natasha and I don’t have a “little one”, yet.  Many of my patients do because of the above steps.  Some of those parents have autoimmune/thyroid conditions like many of you.  It is possible to have a healthy baby, even if you have not been healthy in the past.

Stay the course!

Yoga not helping your anxiety? Learn how your genes may play a HUGE role in your emotions!

Many of your sought-out yoga to help decrease stress and anxiety in your life. 

Focusing on breathing, posture, and fluidity during class helps to decrease cortisol, your stress hormone, allowing your body to feel at peace.

Unfortunately, some of you may still be looking for the magical yoga class that melts away all of life’s stressors.  Maybe you are becoming frustrated because no matter how much meditation or ujjayi breathing you perform, your anxiety is still there. 

I work with many patients who struggle with anxiety.  Some of these patients have health conditions that affect their neurotransmitters (feel good hormones) in the GI-tract and brain.  Conditions such as Lyme Disease and hypothyroidism classically cause anxiety.

Medications may not always solve the problem, as medications do not address the underlying cause: infections, inflammation, and hormone dysregulation.

In many patients with anxiety, their doctor has tried addressing the condition that may cause the symptoms, but the result is the same…anxiety persists, which eventually turns into depression.

Does this mean you should you take two yoga classes a day?  Ground yourself more?  Turn off social media?  Quit your job?

No!!!

Why Would the Symptoms Not Improve?

What if I told you that your genes may be causing your anxiety symptoms, and no matter how much you practice yoga, your symptoms may still hang around?

That is right, maybe…your anxiety was passed down to you!!!

Every new patient I work with is asked to run a genetic test to determine if any of their health symptoms are caused by faulty, broken or mutated genes.

Take a look at these two case examples.  Both of these patients contacted me because they were struggling with anxiety and depression.  These patients told me, “Dr. King, my life is great!  I love my job/school; my family life is solid.  But, I can’t control my anxiety.  It seems to come out of the blue!”

Unfortunately, these two patients had been seeing psychiatrists who put them on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications which began causing MORE symptoms.  Both patients ditched the medications due to the increase in symptoms and sought my help.

Patient #1

34-year old female; occupation – nutritionist; married with one child.  Chief complaint, anxiety and depression that comes out of nowhere.  She was on two different medications (Xanax and Abilify).  History of Hashimoto’s Disease which was incorrectly diagnosed as Hypothyroidism.

What are we looking at in this test result?  Let me explain…

On the left-hand column, you will see the gene (i.e. COMT V158M) and the result (i.e. +/+; red).  Next to the colored column, is a list of vitamins/minerals that help support the genetic mutations, followed by the next column that lists a specific product that combines the vitamins/minerals into one supplement.  Lifestyle recommendations are listed to the right, along with a recommendation for further testing.

Now that you know what you are looking at, let me explain genetic mutations and how they impact your emotions.

The genes that are listed help your body perform physiological functions to help you feel well.  If those genes are mutated (AKA: altered or broken), your body will have a difficult time performing its duties.

Since we are looking at the neurotransmitter (feel good hormones) genes, you can expect to get some answers to solve your anxiety problems IF the genes are mutated.

Let’s start with the first two genes: COMT V158M and COMT H62H (Catechol-O-methylatransferase)

When these genes are “normal”, not mutated, they allow people to rapidly reverse feelings of anxiety or depression.  Patients that have mutations in these genes have a sluggish ability to alter anxiety or depression episodes, and are more prone to prolonged episodes of anxiety, depression, and OCD.

The next gene that is mutated in this patient is called GAD1 (Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase).  When this gene is mutated a person has a difficult time converting glutamic acid (a stimulant neurotransmitter) to GABA (a calming neurotransmitter). 

What does that mean?  If your body is being over stimulated due to high levels of a “stimulant” and you can’t calm down because your “calming” neurotransmitter is low, you will struggle with anxiety, sleep disorders and/or the “glass half empty” syndrome.

Do you think the medications prescribed to this patient addressed these mutated genes?  No, not at all.  Hence, the patient was not feeling better.

What was her treatment?  I had her take a supplement that contained many of the vitamin/minerals that were listed in the results.  We did address her autoimmune condition, as well.  

BAM!!!  She was a happy camper after 2 weeks of being on her genetic support.

Patient #2

22-year old female; occupation – she is in college.  Her chief complains consisted of anxiety, which has led her to feel depressed, along with the inability to focus well at school and when studying.  Her doctor prescribed Ritalin to help her “cope”.

She, too, has a mutation impacting her COMT V158M gene = hard time reversing feelings of anxiety and depression.

She does have two mutations of the MAO gene (A and B).  These two genes degrade, breakdown, the neurotransmitter dopamine.  If the body can’t degrade dopamine, a person will have risk of clinical depression, mood disorders, and aggression.

You will see she does have two mutations of the GAD1 gene, similar to the first patient. 

Medications did not help this patient but addressing her genetic mutations did. 

Where Does This Leave You?

We ALL are faced with triggers that can cause neurotransmitters hormones to be released in our body.  Genetically, healthy individuals should be able to adapt to those hormones being released and still keep feeling well. 

When the genes are mutated, you may still have anxiety/depression, regardless of your rocking yoga practice, because your genes are not doing their job.

What Should You Do?

If you have tried other means to control your anxiety symptoms, but you are still struggling, think about talking to your doctor about genetic testing.  Most traditional medical doctors are not educated on genetic mutations and may not know how to handle them.

One way to find a doctor with experience in this field is to contact GX Sciences.  They are the company that runs the genetic testing we looked at.  Ask them for a list of doctors in your area with training in genetic mutations.

Don’t give up hope if you are still struggling with anxiety, or depression.  Keep searching for answers.  All you may need are a few more pieces to your health puzzle to help you achieve your goal(s).

Could Genetics be Your Answer for Healing?

How many times have you heard people say, “I have XYZ condition and it runs in my family”?

Before studying genetics, I thought that answer was an excuse the patient would give for not maintaining a healthy body.

The more I studied genetics, I thought, “some of these patients may be right!”

Whether We Want Them or Not!

Genes get passed down to each of us from our parents.  That is out of our control.  What is in our control is the environment that we live in, and we can only control this to a certain extent.

What do I mean by environment?

We are all exposed to environmental toxins, which we can’t control.  We breathe in toxins in our air, no matter where we live.  If you live in LA, you breathe in more compared to living out in the country in Kansas. 

However, we can control HOW we live in our environment!

We can control what eat, our stress levels, our exercise routines, our sleep habits, the people we are around…

We can control A LOT…BUT, with genetic mutations this “control” of ours may not be enough.

What Size is Your Bucket?

What do I mean by that?  

This is an analogy I use to describe why we become sick.  All of us have different size buckets that fill up with toxins throughout or life.  Our genetics will dictate the size of that bucket.  

For example, Natasha and I were living in a home with mold.  Natasha became extremely sick, but I did not.  WHY?  Our buckets are different sizes.  Her bucket filled up and start over-flowing = she became sick.  Natasha has more genetic mutations than I do.  I didn’t get as sick as she did because I have still have plenty of room in my bucket to collect more toxins.

Also, she is a slow detoxifier.  How do we know?  We looked at her genetic mutations that impact her body’s ability to detoxify.  If you can’t detoxify, your bucket is filling up, and you can get rid of those toxins on your own = bucket overflows = you become sick!

Watch the Video Below!

Now that I have taught you a little about genetics, the video below will dive a little deeper for you.

I hope you enjoy!

Free Genetic Sample Report Below…

Would you like to receive a sample genetic report?  Feel free to download it below.  Starting on page 11, you will find the definitions of each gene that is tested, and you will learn more about why that gene is important!

5-Tips on Preventing Hormone Imbalance

Are you struggling with PMS, hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog (foggy thinking), depression, chronic fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and/or decreased libido?

Did you know that those symptoms may be due to a hormone imbalance? 

Hormones are produced and released each day from several different organs.  When the body is in a “stressed” out state, hormones begin to shift from being produced and released properly, to being converted to other hormones, produced in excess, or not produced at all. 

Several organs make and release hormones: ovaries, testes, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, and the adrenal glands…to name a few.

What Can Go Wrong?

Many triggers can throw off your hormones: starting with stress. 

Stress, emotional and physical, will impact your adrenal glands.  Think of your adrenal glands as the gas pedal in your car: if you smash the gas pedal down you know what happens.  When you over stress (smash the gas pedal) the adrenal glands, they will release more cortisol, among other hormones.

High amounts of cortisol make you retain weight, cause brain fog, make your muscles more fatigued, and destroys your gastro-intestinal lining.

Not only that, but high cortisol tends to suppress your appetite, leaving you craving sugary foods.  Have you ever pigged out on sugary foods when you are stressed out?  High levels of sugar can contribute to Candida, which affects hormones as well.

The biggest issues with high cortisol levels is thyroid gland dysfunction.  Specializing in thyroid dysfunction, I have seen hundreds of thyroid patients have decreased levels of thyroid hormones due to adrenal gland dysfunction.

Your thyroid DIRECTLY impacts female and male hormones.  When working with thyroid patients that are struggling with hormone dysfunction, I focus on fixing the problem (the thyroid) before addressing the hormones. 

Go after the problem, not the side effect!

Eating Too Much

High levels of insulin will cause the ovaries to produce more androgen hormones, such as testosterone.  High levels of testosterone will cause PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) in women.  PCOS happens to be one of the leading causes of infertility in women.

As testosterone rises in women, the female hormones get pushed to lower levels and women may start to grow body hair, have more acne and irregular/ fewer periods.

Plus, high levels of testosterone can increase a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

To prevent large spikes of insulin, focus on eating smaller meals throughout the day.

Focus on Your Liver

Your liver plays a crucial role in your hormones.  We discussed how the thyroid directly impacts female/male hormones, and the liver will do the same.  If the liver is not working optimally, your thyroid hormone conversion will be decreased.  Essentially, your metabolism will slow and losing weight may become difficulty, acne begins, the body may feel cold, and hair loss may occur.

Your liver helps to “clear” off exogenous (too many) hormones.  If you were on birth control, the liver had to filter all those hormones.  Many years of filtering, and collecting, those hormones will impact your liver’s ability to do its job: detoxify the blood, converting thyroid hormone, making cholesterol, etc.

If your liver can’t clear (detoxify) the hormones, then more hormones build up in the body, throwing off your normal levels of female and male hormones.

Some patients, especially thyroid patients, have gene mutations that impact the liver’s ability to do its job.  You can test for this by running the genetic test www.23andme.com.  You will need a knowledgeable doctor to explain the genetic results to you.

5-Tips to Help Balance Your Hormones

• Manage your stress levels: This is KEY to stabilizing your hormones. Too much stress and not enough recovery will force your adrenals to work overtime, taking your hormones on a roller coaster ride!

Meditation and yoga are fantastic to help keep the body in balance and manage your stress levels. 

• Stabilize your blood sugar: Keep in mind, when your blood sugar drops, cortisol rises. Cortisol equals weight gain, brain fog, and thyroid dysfunction.

Eating too large of meals will spike your insulin levels.  Insulin triggers the ovaries to make more testosterone, pushing a woman’s estrogen levels down and triggering PCOS to begin.

• Perform a liver flush: There are many ways to perform liver flushing. I teach three of my favorite liver flushes in my online course: thefundamentalsforhealing.com

• Check your genes: Science is always improving and through the use of genetic testing, we now have more pieces to the health puzzle. If you have genetic mutations (specifically, the MTHFR gene), your liver will not function optimally, affecting thyroid and female/male hormones.

• Work on your sleep patterns: Nothing throws off hormones more than lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns. Sleep is controlled by the adrenal glands and your body’s circadian rhythm (fancy terms for your sleep cycle). 

If you voluntarily throw off your sleep patterns, your body’s hormones will begin to suffer as the adrenal glands are impacted.

Don’t Settle for Less Than You Deserve

If you are struggling with any of the symptoms we have discussed, find a doctor that can help you.  I am a little biased, as I am an Integrative/Functional Medicine doctor, and I have seen thousands of patients thrown through the medical merry-go-round.  I recommend more of an integrative approach vs. seeing a “hormone specialist” that only looks at your hormones.

Remember, there are many pieces to your health puzzle!  Don’t work on the side effects, fix the problem.

Dr. Corey King, D.C., B.C.I.M. utilizes Integrative/Functional Medicine to help his patients heal.  Dr. King has been specializing in autoimmune diseases, thyroid gland dysfunction, diabetes and gastro-intestinal dysfunction for the past 12-years.  You can learn more atwww.askdrking.com, his many social media channels, and his online course,www.thefundamentalsforhealing.com