HouseCall: Pilonidal Cyst, Red Eyes, Kapha Spices, Macronutrient Split, Nutrition Books, Putting It All Together

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!

Mariellen: Thank you for all that you do. I have had a pilonidal cyst for the past three weeks that has been so painful. It hurts to sit and I cannot lay on my back when I go to sleep at this point. I sit all day at my job, 40 hours a week 5 days a week. I am 23 and a female. I have no dairy or gluten in my diet. I am very sensitive to sugar and recently feel as if I have candida. I really do not want to get this drained. I have had this before but I feel like it went away on its own or maybe just never was this bad. It’s embarrassing and I am looking for more of a natural route. I do not want to have to live like this, but I am in so much pain. Everything I do irritates it.

Anonymous: Hi Dr. Cabral, Happy Holidays! I am in my late 20s and have been experiencing chronic red eyes since I was a teenager. They don’t hurt or itch and my vision is excellent but they’re just always red. I’ve used “Clear Eyes” or “Visine” eye drops every single day for the past decade to clear the red. I get close to 8 hours of sleep everyday, I am physically fit and eat a fairly clean diet (no processed food, no dairy, gluten-free, cheat meal 1-2 times a week). Both my parents occasionally have slightly red eyes, but not as severe as mine. I’ve had full blood work done by various PCPs since my early 20s and the results have been outstanding. The red eyes don’t necessarily bother me but people often ask if I’m tired or my eyes look like I just smoked marijuana! LOL. Can this be part of an underlying health issue ? Love your work, Anonymous

Jill: You mentioned on a podcast that when you studied in India, you helped make capsules that had hot spices in them, to balance the Kapha body type. I know hot and spicy foods can help, but I don’t prefer eating them. Can you recommend something similar to what you made in India, that we have access to in North America?

Chris: Hey Doctor Cabral! I feel a little stuck as to finding the best diet for myself. I am a 26 year old 6’1 175lb male. I eat a fairly high protein diet, 30-40% of all of my calories because that’s where I find I feel my best. I know a high protein diet can be hard on the kidneys and overall health but when I eat higher carbs I get sleepy ie insulin spikes and when I try to switch to higher fat I notice my skin gets really oily. I have a PPARG CC gene which I’m pretty sure affects both fat and carb metabolism and according to DNA fit results, based on all of my genes I have medium sensitivity to fat metabolism and High sensitivity to carbohydrates, so I’m not exactly sure what a good Macronutrient split would be for me to aim for. Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks for everything you do, you are my go-to for all things health and wellness!

Kevin: Hi, My name is Kevin and I was wondering what books you would recommend to learn more about nutrition and how it impacts our body, especially from a training aspect. Thank you Kevin

Nicole: Hi Dr. Cabral, I have been listening to your show for a few weeks now and have really been enjoying it. For the past 7 years I have been experiencing confusing symptoms which have continually gotten worse and the past two years have been more and more frustrating. I have been to about 5 natural health doctors and followed their recommendations without any relief, I have seen acupuncturists, chiropractors and done a lot of research on my own all to no avail. I am constantly constipated, I am lucky if I have one (incomplete) BM per day. I have tried Magnesium (worked for a few months but now has the opposite effect and just makes me more bloated and constipated), natural laxative tea (Smooth Move, etc.), probiotics (worked short term and now have the opposite effect as well), psyllium husk pills (sometimes works) which have all worked for short periods of time and then begin to make me more constipated. I also get very bloated so by the time I go to bed I am so uncomfortable I can’t fall asleep for a while. Along with the bloating comes muscular aches and weakness particularly in the low back and hip flexors however overall general weakness. Most nights I ask my husband to sit on my back because it is the only temporary relief I can get. This usually starts around 3pm and then gets worse until bedtime. I have had my food sensitivities tested and have followed that diet for about 6 months with no change in symptoms. I haven’t noticed any correlation between the symptoms coming and something that I have done or not done, just the time of day. I also got a complete blood panel done about a year and a half ago (by a naturopathic doctor) because I have not gotten my period in 6 years. It showed that I barely have any estrogen, progesterone or testosterone in my body. The ND had me start taking supplements to calm and support my brain and I took progesterone for the last two weeks of every month. At first, my body loved the progesterone and most of my symptoms cleared up however after about three months they all returned. I then moved and saw another ND who had me take estradiol every night and progesterone Days 14-26. I noticed an increase in energy and my period came back but a different doctor told me I was taking too much estradiol and told me to stop and my period has not returned. I saw an endocrinologist after that who also put me on estrogen patches and progesterone days 10-20 and this time I noticed no improvement in how I felt, I only felt worse. I am so tired of being passed around to different doctors that tell me all I need to do is gain weight and I will be fine when every time I do gain weight, I feel significantly worse. (I currently am 5’7 and weight about 127. I work out regularly and eat a mostly clean, whole food diet with limited sugar, dairy and grains. I can’t help but feel everything is connected but I don’t know what the missing puzzle piece is. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 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!