HouseCall: Keto & Your Kidneys, Coffee Crash, Fruitarian Diet, Ma Huang, Blood Pressure Medication, MRT Food Test, Copaiba Oil

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:

Jan: Hello Dr. Cabral, I am a big fan of your thoughts, stories and your podcast over several years now. Within the last years, I adopted several of your suggestions regarding nutrition, movement and general life style behaviour. Today I have a question about a kidney issue. I know that you are an experienced functional expert but you also have experience in sports and training. I am going to the gym 3-4 times per week doing weight training. I do not exaggerate it with weights and length of training but usually use the weights until muscle failure (max training time is 30-45 minutes). I gained some (not much though) muscle mass despite being – and always was – very slim. I eat low diet for many years now always trying to play around with the macros. I know you are not a big fan of staying in ketosis too long – I am usually in ketosis for 1-3 weeks and eat a little more carb after that period of time – usually staying below 100g per day. My protein is 70 percent animal based – around 0,8-1,0 g/kg in sum per day. I do not take protein or creatine supplements. Now the question: During a routine check the creatinine values were 1.30 mg/dl (blood) which is higher than normal. The doctor now suggested to stop my training (or switching to mainly cardio) and lower the protein intake. SInce you are also a sport expert, I hope that you can tell me that slightly higher values are normal when doing strengths training? Does keto / low carb interfere with it and might be worsen the kidney situation (the doctor also suggested to eat more carbs and fiber)? By the way, the blood values for cystatine c were 0.65 mg/dl (normal), eGFR (Creatinine) 75 and eGFR (Cystatine) 125 – no protein in the urine. I am happy to hear your thoughts about it. Keep up your very good work! Jan

Taylor: Hi Dr. Cabral, long time listener here, thank you for all your valuable information and teachings. I’m currently working with your practitioners and doing the CBO protocol, among other things, to get my health back. However, I still struggle with energy and focus in the mornings, as well as waking up. I like coffee, I like caffeine and the buzz and energy (mentally and physically pick me up). However, every time I drink it I seem to get cold. My body just feels cold, and I get cold hands and feet. Also, I seem to crash a couple of hours afterwards. I’ve even tried your cbd coffee, and still experience the same symptoms, however some of my anxiety is slightly mitigated. I don’t seem to do well with any Teas, black or green/matcha, because of my oxalate sensitivity and/or histamine and DAO sensitivity. Do you have any recommendations of an alternative to coffee and tea that I could use to get a pick me up in the mornings? or on a busy work-day. I do like the caffeine buzz and possibly dopamine hit. Also, why do I get so cold? is there anyway to mitigate these coffee side effects?

Erica: What’s your perspective on the fruitarian diet as a healing strategy? I’ve heard of many people healing various digestive issues / chronic issues through it. Curious about your perspective! Thanks so much

Natalie: Hi Doctor Cabral you have influenced my medical career thank you! Do you think the herb ma-Huang (ephedra) is safe to use in a tea for weight loss? I can’t find any safety information on pub med or related searches. Please help! Thank you

Keiko:Hi Dr. Cabral,  My husband is on Lisinopril (ACE inhibitor/Blood Pressure Medication) for about 10 years except for a few years during the time he didnt need it. His blood pressure tends to get high although he doesn’t have any other conditions and overall healthy. He eats well, not perfect, but much better than most Americans. His exercise is on and off, it’s not consistent. He’s pretty stressed at work. The last few years, he says that he’s been having mild anxierties and lack of motivation or socialization. He started to take bacopa monieri and Ashwaghanda and he says he feels like he’s back to normal. My question is can the blood pressure medication be one of the causes of his anxiety? Also, other than regular exercise, stress relief modality like meditation (which he doesn’t want to do) or healthy eating, what can he do to get off the medication? Thank you so much for your work!

Judy: Can you please share your thoughts on how your food sensitivity testing compares to MRT food sensitivity testing? Is one more accurate than the other?

Jen: Hi Dr. C, I’m wondering if you’ve heard about the debate going on about copaiba essential oil having the same benefits and working better than CBD. There have been claims that copaiba is more powerful, requires much smaller dosages, is more cost effective and works directly on the CB2 receptors (vs CBD indirectly on CB1 and CB2). I’d love to know your thoughts about copaiba vs CBD. Do you think this is an apples to apples comparison? What are your thoughts on ingesting copaiba? Thanks for your insight on this topic!