HouseCall: Full Diagnosis, “No Frills” Diet, Wean Off Medication, GenoType vs. PhenoType, Cravings After a Cheat:

Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows!

This is where we answer our community’s wellness, weight loss, and anti-aging questions to help people get back on track!

Check out today’s questions:

Ruben: Hello Dr. Cabral, First of all, THANK YOU for putting in the time to put out the podcast on a regular basis. I wasn’t sure what address to reach out with my question, so I figured I would start with this one. The question is actually for my wife. She had a annual exam yesterday and the Cholesterol test came back high. The doctor prescribed her a low dose Statin. My wife has been really sad since then because she really watches what she eats and is active.

here is a brief overview:

Height: 5’8

Weight: 134 lbs

Age: 38

– Does not eat beef/pork

– Eats chicken ( once a week)

– eats fish ( once a week)

– drinks a green drink 98% of the time, daily ( spinach, banana, apple, ginger, turmeric, spirulina, water)

– when she doesn’t pull her back ( she has few back issues), she works out about 4 times a week.

– workouts consist: 10 minutes cardio fast pace, 20-30 minutes strength and conditioning.

– Prior to the blood test she hasn’t really worked out for about 2 weeks

here are the numbers ( fasted test)

Chol: 280

Trigly: 173

HDL: 51

Chol/HDL rate: 5.49

LDL: 194

Non HDL Chol : 229

Rest of the numbers look good.

She has a history of high cholesterol even though she doesn’t eat bad at all

2012 : Chol 169 | Tri 62 | HDL 40 | Ratio: 4.23 | LDL 117

2015: Chol 246 | Tri 139 | HDL 46 | Ratio: 5.35 | LDL 172

2017: Chol 226 | Tri 186 | HDL 47 | Ratio: 4.81 | LDL 142

2018: Chol 280 | Tri 173 | HDL 51 | Ratio: 5.49 | LDL 194

She does not want to start taking a statin but she really feels defeated, so I am reaching out to see if there are any other tests that she could do to make sure there aren’t other things that are actually causing the high cholesterol. Also, if she can do any of your protocols or any of the daily support products.

Any info that could give us some hope or something to try in the near future would be really really appreciated!

Kind Regards, Ruben

Breanna: Hi Dr. Cabral. Thank you so much for providing us with such amazing content, and inspiring many to live happier, healthier, and happier lifestyles. I listen to your podcast daily and have provided me with the knowledge I’ve always wanted to know growing up. I have a little story for you. For as long as I can remember I would be in excruciating pain 24/7, especially in the morning. I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance as a baby, but it wasn’t until I was 11 years old that the doctors diagnosed me with Celiac Disease… then depression, then anxiety, then acid reflux, then anemia… my symptoms never went away, my intestines never fully recuperated and I was taking 5 different pills daily at 12 years old, despite eliminating gluten. I stopped taking all medication a year ago because I was fed up and I am now 18. Through your podcast I now realize why all these extra symptoms occurred and how they were going against me.. the health system failed me. My intestines still aren’t fully recuperated but this isn’t part of my question. I just believe my health background may play a part in my current situation. I was always super active growing up as I was a competitive dancer. A year ago I decided to start going to the gym and got approached by a coach who offered her services to help prepare me for a bodybuilding competition. I did my first competition in April and won 2nd place. That diet wasn’t bad and didn’t have to do too much cardio as I was only 17 and she didn’t want anything bad to happen. 3 months later I started prepping for my second show, at 18 years old. My “diet” lasted 12 weeks. She started me off at 1800 calories, lowered weekly, and by the end I struggled to lose weight. For the last 4 weeks, I was doing 2 hours of cardio + 1-hour of weight training, and my diet composed of 5 chicken breasts and 2 tbsp ground flaxseed (+ 1/4 cup oats ONCE a week on leg day, and cut out those carbs 2 weeks out). How did I survive? Barely. I realize that this is extremely unhealthy, but I was too far in to give up. I had 0 days off the gym in 4 months. Also, I was extremely constipated. There was a period where I went 4 weeks only pooping 3 times and had to use diuretics each time to force myself to go!!! I started taking probiotics as another coach had told me this helped her use the bathroom, and it did for a while. My body toxicity was so high. She also advised me to use “estro control” to help get rid of that toxicity and lose the last pounds on my legs. I won first place by the way :). But here is my question.. what exactly did I do to my body? And what could I do differently next time? From listening to your podcasts, (especially your low carb diet ones), I realize I lowered my metabolism dramatically, lowered my thyroid, increased cortisol, burned a lot of muscle, and increases levels of disease from purely eating chicken. To put in perspective, I’m 18, 5ft, mesomorph body type, was 95 pounds before going to the gym, gained a lot of muscle, and started my diet at 112 lbs but cut down to 98 lbs for my competition. To reverse diet, she advised me to eat 200g carbs, 100g protein and 45g fat, and 0 cardio. I had very minimal “cheats”, meaning I only eat whole clean foods such as sweet potato, rice, berries, gluten-free oats, veggies, protein powder, eggs, chicken, extra-lean ground turkey, rarely red meat, nuts, peanut butter and coconut oil (literally all I eat). Following this diet I am 5 weeks post show and 120 lbs!!! I went from being 10% body fat to have the most fat on my body I’ve ever had. So what do I do now? Do I just follow this new diet and wait for my metabolism to reset? I know that lowering my calories and doing cardio is only going to hurt me more in the long run (metabolism, thyroid, cortisol)… so I’m just confused and extremely unhappy. On top of that, I haven’t gotten my period in months (and no I’m not pregnant). I now go to the gym 5 times a week to weight train and I take multivitamins, omega 3, potassium, digestive enzymes, and probiotic5, but no more extra control… should I still be taking these supplements? I have recently started implementing your morning routine (water, yoga, smoothie) and definitely feeling better, but not looking better. Can you help me? I’m sooooo lost. And I know you are the best of the best, and the only person I would trust answering this properly, as you always look at all perspectives

Amanda: Hi Dr. Cabral, I have been listening to your show for over a year and absolutely love it. I receive more knowledge from you to help my clients than most other sources.

My question is about a current private client I am working with.

She is about 65, has had 2 heart attacks in the last 8 years (the last one about 2 years ago) and she is on about 12 different medicines (metformin, wellbutrin, Spironolactone, Zetia, *Metoprolol ER, *Crestor, *Aspirin, Cymbalta, Levothyroxine, Plavix, Avapro) progesterona along with 2 topical hormones estrogen and testosterone.

My question is, what would be your order of operations for this client. She is open and ready to change her diet and lifestyle and ideally, one day she would love to not be taking any medications or the least amount possible.

I’ve got her on your daily support shake and doing berry smoothies daily. We are working on increasing her stomach acid and next I would like to help her get rid of heavy metals (is there something you recommend for this that won’t interfere with her medications?)

She is on so many medications and I can see that they are crossing to cause many of her symptoms, I also want to be sure to take things really slow and respect her doctor decisions (although she has tried to come off medications many times and they almost always resist her requests).

Any advice would be great, thanks for all that you do

Judy: Hi Dr. Cabral! I just finished your podcast (713) on body types and I have a follow-up question. I am currently on week 2 of your detox and I have suffered for over a decade with adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism. Therefore, I have metabolism issues that I didn’t always have at a young age. When determining my body type, should I consider my current state or when I was a kid with no health issues?

Judy: Hi Dr. Cabral, In your podcasts, you mentioned the importance of a cheat meal once a week for grehlin and leptin levels. I have a hard time resisting cravings once I cheat. I am on week 2 of your detox and no longer crave all the bad foods. I worry I will go downhill again once I allow myself the bad foods. What do you recommend I do to prevent a relapse? Are the better cheat foods to stick with that still address grehlin and leptin and avoid a relapse? What about portion sizes for cheat meals?

Thank you for tuning into today’s Cabral HouseCall and be sure to check back tomorrow where we answer more of our community’s questions!