​Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal agent widely used in many different products, such as hand soap and sanitizer, plastic kitchen tools, cutting boards, high chairs, pencils, deodorant, clothes, toys, bedding and other fabrics.
A 2014 study published in the American Chemical Society's journal Chemical Research in Toxicology found that triclosan, as well another commercial substance called octylphenol, promoted the growth of human breast cancer cells. Use products that do not contain these two toxic chemicals.
References
​Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S
Hye-Rim Lee, Progression of Breast Cancer Cells Was Enhanced by Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals, Triclosan and Octylphenol, via an Estrogen Receptor-Dependent Signaling Pathway in Cellular and Mouse Xenograft Models, Chem. Res. Toxicol., 2014, 27 (5), pp 834–842.

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Grisanti and his functional medicine community. Dr. Grisanti encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Visit www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com for more information on our training in functional medicine.

Written by: Eli Ben-Yehuda--www.resperate.com

Want to know about an exercise that can lower blood pressure significantly? We're talking as much as 10-20 mmHg. No, it's not an endurance exercise. No, it's not strength exercise. It's actually an exercise you can do anytime and anywhere. It's called isometrics.
What are Isometric Exercises?
Isometric exercises, the kind where you contract large muscles without actually moving the body part, may help reduce blood pressure in healthy people, a study shows. And something as simple as squeezing your inner thigh muscles together while you sit would qualify.
That's right. Isometric exercises can be done anytime, anywhere, and they don't require you to bend or lift. In a handful of studies, folks with normal blood pressure who did three 15 to 20 minutes sessions of isometric exercises every week for 10 weeks experienced more than a 10-point plunge in their systolic blood pressure. And their diastolic pressure fell almost 7 points. Not bad for not lifting a finger! Simple things like doing a static hand grip, flexing the bottoms muscles, or doing leg squeezes all count. In the research, the three weekly sessions included doing multiple 2-minute rounds of isometric exercises like those, with 1 to 3 minute rests in between.
In one study a hand grip spring dynamo-meter was used for IHG (Isometric Handgrip) exercise training. A total of 30 normal healthy volunteers in the age group of 20-40 y were enrolled for the study. Exercise training protocol consisted of five 3-min bouts of IHG exercise at 30% of maximum voluntary contraction separated by 5 min rest periods. The exercise was performed 3 times/wk for 10 wk. Subject's blood pressure was measured before and after exercise.
There was a significant reduction in resting blood pressure following 10 wk of exercise training. Both Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure reduced significantly.
In the mid-1970s, the U.S. Air Force asked Dr. Ronald Wiley, an expert in heart and lung physiology, to find a way to keep fighter pilots from losing consciousness when flying the F-16 fighter. This jet could accelerate so fast that the G-forces it generated made it difficult for the pilot's heart to pump blood to the brain, causing vision problems, trouble thinking, and blackouts.
One of Wiley's strategies was a hand grip that pilots could squeeze to boost their blood pressure enough to maintain circulation to the brain. As he worked with pilots, he was struck by a contradiction ” Those who practiced with the hand grip for a few weeks lowered their resting blood pressure.
Types of Isometric Exercise
Plank Bridge
Lie down in the push-up position and place your elbows under your chest. Rest your body on the floor. Now, the entire weight of your body will be concentrated on your forearms. Push up your body and count to 10. Hold this position for 10 seconds and repeat 2 to 3 times. This is one of the simplest forms of isometric exercises, and it can be performed daily.
Isometric Push Up
Get into the pushup position as before and lie down with your arms extended. Lower your body to the halfway position and hold for about 10 seconds or count slowly until 10. This exercise can be repeated for 2 or 3 times, depending on your fitness level. Most isometric exercises are not very tiring, but you must take it slowly if you're a beginner.
Isometric Bicep Exercise
This is the simplest type of isometric exercise, and it can be easily done at the office. Put your hands under the desk and place them against the tabletop, with your palms up. Now, press against the tabletop, keeping your elbows tight against your ribs. Hold your hands in this position for 10 seconds or count slowly until 10, and then repeat 2 to 3 times.
Isometric Shoulder Raises
For this exercise, you will need a pair of dumbbells. Hold one dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Raise both arms upwards from the side until they're parallel to the ground. Hold them in this position for about 10 to 25 seconds, and repeat 2 to 3 times. If you find it difficult to raise both hands at the same time, you can start by raising one hand at a time.
Ball Squeeze
The ball squeeze exercise requires only a tennis ball or any other small ball. Hold the ball in one hand and squeeze it for 60 to 90 seconds. Place the ball in your other hand and repeat the squeeze for the same amount of time. Repeat the exercise three times with each hand.
Athletic Gripper Hold
Athletic grippers can be found at nearly any sporting good store. Grippers generally come in different resistances so you'll have to choose one appropriate for you. Ideally, you should use one that you are able to squeeze for two minutes before your muscles fatigue. Hold the athletic gripper in one hand and squeeze it for two minutes then switch hands and repeat the exercise. Complete the exercise twice with each hand.
Practicing isometric exercises offers various benefits to our body and they are:

1. Isometric exercises help in strengthening and conditioning muscles.
2. They aid in strengthening dormant muscle tissues on isolated muscles.
3. They improve one's control over the body.
4. Improve body posture and spine alignment.
5. Help in preventing injury.
6. These exercises are used in injury rehabilitation.
7. Help in the development of lean muscles.
8. Improve bone density and make them strong.
9. Increase resistance power and endurance ability.
10. These exercises activate all the major units in the body.
11. These exercises can be done anywhere and anytime.
12. Most isometric exercises do not require any equipment, or at most a set of dumbbells is enough.
13. Help in graceful aging, keeping body posture straight and erect even in the old age.
14. These exercises can also be done by elderly people and are considered good for them.

As with any new exercise routine please speak with your family practitioner to see if you are able to start this practice. For those diagnosed with high blood pressure, I would start with the isometric hand grip exercises. Isometric exercises using the plank or weights can cause spikes in blood pressure. Again please consult your physician.
​
Comments from Dr. Grisanti-- I want to thank Eli from Resperate (http://www.resperate.com) for sharing this article. I have recommended Resperate for my patients suffering with hypertension. The results are quite impressive in lowering blood pressure. I also want to mention a product I recommend to my patients for isometric exercises. It is called Zona (https://www.zona.com). You have a powerful combination of using the Resperate and Zona to help in naturally lowering blood pressure.

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Grisanti and his functional medicine community. Dr. Grisanti encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Visit www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com for more information on our training in functional medicine.

​Many of you reading this short article already know that hemoglobin A1C is extremely useful revealing what the "average" blood sugar has been over the previous ninety days.  
This is the same standard laboratory measurement used to measure blood sugar control in diabetics.


What many people may not be aware of is the fact that hemoglobin A1C has important implications for your brain health.
In a landmark study published in the journal Neurology, the researchers documented that elevated hemoglobin A1C is associated with changes in brain size.
The study showed researchers looking at MRIs to determine which lab test correlated best with brain atrophy and found that the hemoglobin A1C demonstrated the most powerful relationship.
They commented, “when comparing the degree of brain tissue loss in those individuals with the lowest hemoglobin A1C (4.4 to 5.2) to those having the highest hemoglobin A1C (5.9 to 9.0), the brain loss in those individuals with the highest hemoglobin A1C was almost doubled during a six-year period.
 



​







​Hemoglobin A1C and Brain Atrophy

This profound study strongly indicates that hemoglobin A1C is far more than just a marker of blood sugar balance.
The good news is in most cases you have absolute control over your A1C.
An ideal hemoglobin A1C would be in the 4.8 to 5.4 range. Keep in mind that reducing carbohydrate ingestion, weight loss, and physical exercise will ultimately improve insulin sensitivity and lead to a reduction of hemoglobin A1C.
 

Reference:
C. Enzinger, et al., "Risk Factors for Progression of Brain Atrophy in Aging: Six-year Follow-up of Normal Subjects," Neurology 64, no. 10 (May 24, 2005): 1704-11.


The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Grisanti and his functional medicine community. Dr. Grisanti encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. 

When it comes to air quality in your home I commonly recommend a good hepa filter like the Austin brand (http://austinair.com). However there is another good alternative that many people are doing and may not be aware of the benefits.

This includes filling your home with house plants. NASA has found that some species of houseplants can eliminate up to 87 percent of toxins from the air, including formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, carbon monoxide and even dust. The best plants found to be the most effective for optimal air quality include: English ivy, spider plants and the Boston fern. One or two plants won't make that much difference. It is recommended to have many plants through-out your home.
Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N, M.S., CFMP

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Grisanti and his functional medicine community. Dr. Grisanti encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Visit www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com for more information on our training in functional medicine.

In a previous blog, we discussed the mechanisms by which Bisphenol A (BPA), a compound used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, induces undesirable weight gain. By disrupting the entire adipocyte metabolism and inducing a pro-inflammatory state, BPA is considered an “obesegen”.
Now, in a first-of-its kind human study by the Journal of the Endocrine Society, BPA has been linked to altering insulin release in non-diabetic subjects, even when people are exposed to what is considered a “safe” daily amount. After witnessing insulin resistance in animal studies, the University of Missouri-Columbia researchers conducted this human study. Non-diabetic men and post-menopausal women were orally administered a safe dose of BPA (50ug/kg body weight, an amount comparable to what they may encounter by handling cash receipts) and were compared to a control group. They assessed the insulin response using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hyperglycemic clamp (HG), tests that measure both the initial and later phases of the insulin response to stable levels of glucose.
In the OGTT, a “strong correlation was found between HbA1c and the percent change in the insulinogenic index (Spearman=.92) and the equivalent C-peptide index (Pearson=0.97). In the HG clamp study, several measures of insulin and C-peptide appeared suppressed during the BPA session relative to the control session; the change in insulin Cmax was negatively correlated with HbA1c and the Cmax of bioactive serum BPA”.
Results from both experiments showed that the subjects receiving “safe” amounts of BPA had an altered insulin release compared to the placebo exposure.
 
Courtesy of Biotics Research​

Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) is a major cause of disease and dysfunction in modern society, accounts for at least 50% of chronic complaints, as confirmed by laboratory tests.
In LGS, the epithelium on the villi of the small intestine becomes inflamed and irritated, which allows metabolic and microbial toxins of the small intestines to flood into the blood stream. This event compromises the liver, the lymphatic system, and the immune response including the endocrine system.
Some of the most incurable diseases are caused by this exact mechanism, where the body attacks its own tissues.
This is commonly called auto-immune disease.
It is often the primary cause of the following common conditions: asthma, food allergies, chronic sinusitis, eczema, urticaria, migraine, irritable bowel, fungal disorders, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory joint disorders including rheumatoid arthritis are just a few of the diseases that can originate with leaky gut. It also contributes to PMS, uterine fibroid, and breast fibroid.
Leaky Gut Syndrome is often the real basis for chronic fatigue syndrome and pediatric immune deficiencies.
Leaky Gut Syndrome is reaching epidemic proportions within the population. Historically, the only way bowel toxins entered the blood stream was through trauma, for example by sword or spear.
This quickly led to septicemia that might be treatable, or more probably, ended in death. Outside of trauma, the body maintained a wonderfully effective selective barrier in the small intestine, one that allowed nutrients to enter, but kept out metabolic wastes and microbial toxins rampant in the intestines.
What Modern Event Allowed Such A Break-Down?
Primarily it has been antibiotics, secondarily non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, Motrin, Aleve and Advil) with NSAIDs being the major cause of leaky gut because they so viciously inflame the intestinal lining, causing a widening of the spaces between cells and sometimes hemorrhaging.
Other common causes are chemotherapy, ingested alcohol, inhaled formaldehyde from a new carpet, food allergens, stress emotions, lactase deficiency, gluten/gliaden allergy, abnormal gut flora (bacteria, parasites, yeasts).
The first antibiotic, penicillin, did not enter mainstream health care until 1939. Since the 50s and 60s, antibiotic use has been frantically prescribed for every infection and inflammation, particularly pediatric ear infection, bronchitis, and sore throat.
It is sadly ironic that most of these infections are viral in nature, and not only are the antibiotics damaging, but they are ultimately unnecessary. Antibiotics should be considered a hospitalization level medicine, when bacteria have entered the blood, bone, or organ.
Antibiotics Destroy Beneficial Bacteria
Antibiotics create their damage in two ways. The first is by destroying beneficial bacteria. The small intestine and large intestine host over five hundred different kinds of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria perform hundreds of functions required for healthy metabolism and immune response.
Through enzyme secretions, bacteria transform metabolic and microbial wastes before they are discharged by the body. These wastes include cellular debris, hormones, chemical wastes, bile, pus accumulations, viral toxins, bacterial toxins, etc.
For example, the body creates bile not only as a lubricant to flush wastes out of the liver, but also, to detoxify many of the poisons accumulating in the liver. Bile however is extremely damaging to large intestine epithelium.
When bile enters the small intestine via the common bile duct, beneficial bacteria break the bile salts down into a less toxic compound, making it non-dangerous by the time it reaches the large intestine.
When you take antibiotics you destroy these bacteria and the bile salts freely enter and damage the large intestine. I believe this contributes significantly to the high incidence of colon cancer plaguing today's society.
Beneficial bacteria also break down hormone secretions that are discharged from the liver to the small intestine. If you lack the bacteria to break down estrogen and the intestinal permeability has been altered, the patient is now reabsorbing estrogens in their original state.
The body will deposit these in estrogen sensitive areas such as the breast, uterus, or ovaries, contributing, if not causing, fibroids and tumors. The same scenario is responsible for premenstrual syndrome as well.
Healthy mucosa allows nutrients to pass the barrier while blocking the entry of toxins.
With leaky gut, the barrier is dysfunctional, blocking nutrients at the damaged villi while permitting toxins to enter the blood stream.








​Antibiotics Promote the Growth of Fungus
The second way antibiotics damage the intestines is by fostering the growth of Candida albicans and other pathogenic fungi and yeast. This event, more than any other, precipitates Leaky Gut Syndrome. In a healthy situation the small intestine epithelium maintains tight cell junctions, which contributes to the physical barrier involved in intestinal absorption. In addition to the physical barrier, there is an important chemical barrier within the mucus that contains immune agents, which neutralize any toxin that comes in contact.
Candida exudes an aldehyde secretion, which causes small intestine epithelial cells to shrink. This allows intestinal toxins to infiltrate through the epithelium and into the blood. The secondary barrier - immune agents in the epithelial mucus - remain the sole agent for neutralization.
Eventually, the immune system becomes exhausted rising to this challenge.
The damage done by Candida is to the intestinal epithelial barrier, allowing the absorption of serious toxic agents and chemicals, which then enter the blood and affect numerous organs, including the brain.
Food Allergies: The Complicating Factor
When the integrity of the intestinal barrier has been compromised, intestinal toxins are not the only pathogens to be absorbed. The barrier, in a healthy state, selectively allows digested nutrients to enter the small intestine when all is ready.
With leaky gut, nutrients can be absorbed before they are fully digested. The body's immune response, through specific antigen-antibody markers, will tag some of these foods as foreign irritants.
Every time that particular food touches the epithelia, an inflammatory immune response is mounted which further damages the epithelial lining. What started as a Candida irritation with shrinking of the cells has now been complicated with active inflammation every time a particular food is eaten.
Food allergies are a common secondary problem to Candida, and if present, will maintain the leaky gut continuously, even if the Candida is eradicated.
The most common food allergies are dairy, eggs, gluten grains (wheat, oats, rye), corn, beans (especially soy), and nuts. There are seldom real allergies to meat, rice, millet, vegetables, or fruit, although an allergy to garlic is not uncommon.
We have to distinguish a real allergy - that which causes a histamine inflammatory reaction at the site of the small intestine (SI) epithelia - from sensitivity, which may cause uncomfortable symptoms, but seldom is damaging.
Sensitivities are usually due to low stomach acid or pancreatic enzyme secretion, that is, poor digestion.
In the healing of the intestinal lining, exposure to a significant allergy can sabotage the treatment. For example, one may be very good at restricting wheat, dairy and eggs, but then compromises the treatment by taking garlic tablets.
The Role of the Liver and Lymphatic System
The metabolic and microbial toxins that enter the bloodstream during leaky gut end up in the liver, which has the job of detoxifying and discharging the poisons. Under normal conditions, the liver is taxed just by processing the daily metabolic wastes created by cell and organ activity.
Imagine the further load created by dumping serious intestinal toxins on a regular basis. There is a point when the liver becomes saturated; it cannot further detoxify the poisons, and they are returned to the blood circulation.
The blood has sophisticated mechanisms for preserving chemical homeostasis, and will diffuse as much of the toxic chemicals and physical debris into the interstitial fluids as is possible. From here the lymphatic system will attempt to collect and neutralize the toxins, but unable to send the toxins to the liver, the body essentially becomes toxic.
Microbes grow and develop, hence there can be chronic lymphatic swelling, especially in children. Over a period of time, toxins will be forced into distal connective tissue around muscles and joints, causing fibromyalgia, or into the cells, which can precipitate genetic mutation and ultimately cancer.
Stress to the Immune and Endocrine Systems
The immune system is stressed in three major ways. First is at the site of the intestinal mucosa. As toxins and food antigens brush up against the mucosa, the immune system mobilizes to neutralize the toxins. Normally, much of this work would have been done by beneficial bacteria, which have been destroyed by antibiotics.
For toxins that make it to the mucosa, the body will tag them with a chemical secretory IgA (SIgA), which attracts macrophages and other white blood cells to consume the toxins. It is not long before this immune response is overwhelmed and depleted.
This can be measured directly with a stool or saliva test for the intestinal SIgA level.
The second stressor happens in the liver and lymphatic system, which, also overwhelmed, puts demands on the immune system. The third stressor is a consequence: as the immune response diminishes, more microbes (viruses, bacteria, and fungi) multiply, allowing for a chronic state of infection.
The most important organ in the production of immune agents seems to be the adrenal gland, and Leaky Gut Syndrome slowly diminishes adrenal function. In the early and middle stages, there is actually an adrenal excess, as measured by excess cortisol output. Eventually, cortisol levels drop, and one now has exhaustion.
The Role of the Digestive Tract
Candida flourishes when the terrain in the intestines favors it. Just killing Candida is usually not successful, because the chemistry and vitality of the terrain has not been normalized, and Candida returns.
Antibiotics are the original cause of the change on the terrain. By killing acid forming bacteria (Lactobacillus bacteria produce lactic acid, for example), the environment becomes alkaline, which promotes Candida.
Antibiotics and chronic illness reduce stomach acid production, contributing to the alkalinity, and also allowing poor digestive absorption. In fact, many people with LGS are malnourished and will lose excessive weight, no matter how healthy the food is that they eat.
The idea that lactobacillus supplementation is all that is required after antibiotics is somewhat delusional; in fact most of the lactobacillus from supplementation does not survive in the intestine, due to poor terrain. Just to make sure you have a full understanding of the seriousness of Leaky Gut, the following is a summary:

• When the gut is inflamed it does not secrete digestive enzymes to digest foods properly or absorb nutrients and foods properly. The result can indigestion with gas and bloating, called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
  
  
• When large food particles are absorbed, food allergies and new symptoms are created (e.g., IBS, gallbladder disease, arthritis or fibromyalgia).
  
  
• When the gut is inflamed, carrier proteins are damaged, so malabsorption and nutrient deficiencies occur.These deficiencies slow down the ability of the gut to heal and can cause any number of other symptoms (e.g., magnesium deficiency induced angina or gut spasms, chromium deficiency induced high cholesterol or sugar cravings, zinc deficiency induced prostatitis or lack acid formation)
  
  
• When the detoxification pathways that line the gut are compromised, chemical sensitivity can arise. Furthermore, the leakage of toxins overburderns the liver so that the body is less to handle everyday chemicals in foods, water and air.
  
  Now many foods can cause symptoms that never did before, because the gut's detoxification (liver) system is unable to cope with the hundreds of chemical additives, dyes, colorings, preservatives and pesticides common in our foods.
  
  
• When the gut lining is inflamed, the protective coating of the gut antibodies can be lost. With loss of the secretory immunoglobulin A (SigA), the body becomes more vulnerable to infections in the intestines from bacteria, viruses, parasites and yeast and they become resistant to treatment.
  
  
• Ironically, the more resistant the bugs become, the more-high powered antibiotics doctor prescribe, resulting in more overgrowth of resistant fungi (Candida). As the unwanted bugs grow, the gut gets more inflamed and leaky initiating a vicious cycle of worsening condition and major cause of so many incurable diseases.
  
  
• When the intestinal lining is inflamed, bacteria and yeast can translocate. In other words, they can pass from the gut cavity into the blood stream and set up infection anywhere else in the body, including the brain. This is often the mysterious and undiagnosed cause of infections in the teeth and gums, bones, prostate, bladder and sinuses.
  
  
• With the formation of antibodies, the food antigens that leak across the gut wall can sometimes resemble the natural antigens on tissues. Protective antibodies will then attack the antigens, as they should and the tissues, causing further damage.
  
  It is the very reason why auto-immune diseases begin. Lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, myocarditis, iritis and thyroiditis are some of the members of this ever-growing category of mysteriously incurable auto-immune diseases.

 Read Special Article from the New York Times Titled "The Boy With a Thorn in His Joints" Click Here

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.
The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Grisanti and his functional medicine community. Dr. Grisanti encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Visit www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com for more information on our training in functional medicine.