HouseCall: The UK, Gynecomastia, Bone Broth Myth, Sauna Recommendation, Starter Lab Test, Clean Out the Candida

Thank you for joining us for our 2nd Cabral HouseCall of the weekend!

I’m looking forward to sharing with you some of our community’s questions that have come in over the past few weeks…

Let’s get started!

Dalila: Hello, Could you kindly tell me, whether you deliver to England, UK. I am very interested in doing your wellness and food sensitivity test! If not, would you be able to recommend anywhere in the south of England that may practice something similar to what you do. This would be of great help. I love listening to the podcast, very informative. Thank you for your time. Kind Regards, Dalila

Aaron: Hi Stephen, thanks for the podcast. I have been struggling with gynecomastia caused by low testosterone. Everywhere I look online seems to say that since it is not weight-based there is not much to do. I also do not want to begin taking testosterone. Thanks

Tenille: Greetings from Hobart, Australia Dr Cabral! I really appreciate your podcasts, the wisdom you share & am really hoping you can provide some guidance for my own health issues. I ordered various tests last year and now have a clear picture of what I’m dealing with. I’m seeing a local Dr (integrative medicine specialist); her knowledge is amazing, but admits she’s honestly not 100% sure of an exact diet plan to suggest for all of my symptoms (aside from a cup of organic bone broth 3 times/day to repair stomach lining/heal gut, no fruit, no starchy veggies, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar daily, only eat soluble fibre (ie: soaked psyllium), no coffee, no yeast products or gluten, etc), which I find extremely difficult to navigate & follow as it’s bland, unappealing & I honestly haven’t been able to stick to it 🙁

I recently listened to your podcast via Melissa Ambrosini’s show & believe you may be the person who can help 🙂

Here are the results of various blood tests, colonoscopy/endoscopy & complete stool test:

– no h.pylori or parasites detected

– Aerobes: Overgrowth of streptococcus gallolyticus (formerly called strep. Bovis); thankfully colonoscopy detected no bowel cancer, nor polyps. Normally streptococcus level allowed is <5%; I have 58.33%.

E.coli undergrowth; level is 41% (should be 70-90% range)

Anaerobes: bacteroids low – only 39.5% & only 3 species detected.

-severely lactose intolerant

– GORD/erosion of oesophagus/experiencing frequent reflux/heartburn

– high level of candida overgrowth

– zinc level is 10.4 (low considered 11.5 on Australian scale & 23 considered high)

– copper toxicity found: Australian scale states 8 is low & 21 is highest margin. I’m 38.4 (extremely high)

– low bile production level

– oestrogen dominance

– not breaking down fats properly

– leaky gut / malabsorption of vitamins & minerals

– luckily all thyroid levels were within normal ranges

I have also gained 20kg in 2 years. I have been on the contraceptive pill for 23 years now (tried to stop it on 6 occasions only to have severe acne breakouts).

– experiencing very low energy, fatigue, brain fog, gurgling stomach, etc.

I dearly want to fix my gut, absorb all the vitamins & minerals naturally from veggies, fruit & meat, and then finally; stop taking the pill. I’ve spent over $3,000 on testing, hospital visits, supplements & Drs appts in the past 4 months. I’ve also completed the OAT test, but can’t afford to return my Dr just yet for the results, as her visits are so expensive and I’m trying to renovate my home on the top of everything else.

I imagine your CBO protocol is probably my next best step, but is it possible to purchase a shopping list or a nutritional guide (eg: month 1 of the protocol) separately, then the other 2 months in due course? I’m trying to find the most economical solution as it has been an expensive road getting to this point & stressing me out like crazy!!

I’ve been prescribed in the past months the following:

– 1 mth of Nexium (1 tab daily) for GORD. Reflux has returned nightly since stopping it.

– 2 mth course of Nilstatin to combat candida overgrowth

– high strength vitamin c daily

– co-enzyme Q10 daily for fatigue

– Uflora Intensive (1 daily) made by Metagenics

– Activated Vit. B6 (1 daily)

– Activated Vit B (B12, etc) 1 daily

– zinc citrate (30mg/day zinc equivalent) – 1 daily (to help pull out copper slowly)

I was also prescribed 2 x 2 week courses of Erythromycin initially to try & kill off the strep. Gallolyticus

(Eg, 2 wks of antibiotic, then 2 wks Uflora intensive to try to rebuild gut flora, then 2wks antibiotic/ then continue to take Uflora.

I know this is a long message, but I wanted you to have a clear picture of where I’m at. I’m doing all I can to be proactive in learning, researching & funding better health for my body, but I really need some expert advice to put me on the right track moving forward.

With deepest gratitude, Tenille

Dee: Hi Dr Cabral, We recently purchased a Therasage personal sauna on your recommendation. We love it! I’m wondering if there is a guide as to how long you should stay in the sauna and also at what temperature? I’ve googled it, but there are many differing opinions. I remember one of your podcasts said just 20 minutes is beneficial, but we don’t even start sweating until after 15-20 minutes at 140 degrees. Thanks for any info you may have on the subject.

Jennifer: Hello, Jenn here. I listen to your podcasts during my commute to work on a daily basis and enjoy learning. i am very interested in health and wellness and am hoping to transition into that arena in the future. I am going to order a few of your tests that I think would be right for me and see where I am. Currently I have no major issues, that I am aware of. I am 43, 3 year plant-based with minimal processed food and sugar. I occasional drink. I get my B12 and Vit D checked often and taken both supplements. I think the hormone test might be best for me, thoughts?? I just want to be my best self and improve anyway I can.

I also want to schedule an appointment with you or your staff for my husband, Matt. Not sure what my options are and pricing. He is 40, 3 year plant-based as well. We both train for 70.3 triathlons. We believe he has some sensitivity to gluten, do to his congestion when drinking beer. Whenever he trains consistently for a few months he ALWAYS gets sick. He has constant sinus, mucus stuff going on. He got the sinus surgery and did not help. We tried gluten-free for 3 months and seemed to help only minutely. This has been going on for over 10 years, even before we has plant-based. He too takes B12 and Vit D. It makes him depressed and discouraged to workout and train when he always gets sick and it sets him back. We would love to figure this out. Thanks, Jennifer

Tila: Hello Dr. Cabral, I’m trying to make this as short as possible. Since I was a baby I had multiple ear infections (which meant rounds of antibiotics) and because of that I had tonsillectomy when I was only 2 years old. I got my first food allergies and sensitivities when I was around 5 and had always stomach issues when growing up. In my teens I was sick all the time, I had low fever almost daily, stomach issues (which I thought were normal) and multiple sinus infections (more antibiotics).

I kind of just got used to feeling tired all the time and having my stomach issues. Fast-forwarding to my College years. I got super busy, like most of us. I did college year faster than others which meant long days and weekends studying. I was also in a long-distance relationship which brought more stress in me because of the 10-hour time difference. I think I finally hit my limit. One day, out of nowhere I got really serious allergic reaction from peanuts (anaphylactic shock), I ended up going to hospital for a day. MD’s did one good thing, they sent me to do more food allergy testing. I had so many food allergies and sensitivities it was crazy! No wonder my stomach had been hurting for years.

I got some diet help from a professional, I removed all the foods that caused trouble for me and I started to follow SCD Diet. It helped so much. Year later I moved to United States. I had lof of time to study about nutrition and I got really into plant-based diet. However, I was also emotionally stressed because of being far away from my family and I started to eat more sugar than ever again. In couple years, my stomach issues were back.

This year I went back following SCD diet. It’s hard because I would love to eat mostly plant-based diet, but it seems like my stomach has hard time handling certain carbs and sugars. I wonder if my gut bacteria is still unbalanced or if I have parasites/candida? What would you recommend to do? I would really love to feel energized and live my life without my stomach issues. Especially, because like you, I would love to help people with their health issues in the future, but I don’t feel super confident, because I can’t even fix my own issues. Thank you so much!

 Thank you for tuning into this weekend’s Cabral HouseCalls and be sure to check back tomorrow for our Mindset & Motivation Monday show to get your week started off right!