Who has a brain disorder?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Brain disorders are definitely on the rise. It is now recognized that 1 in 8 senior citizens will develop Alzheimer's but this is not just and aging issue because 1 in 8 children are also diagnosed with brain development disorders such as autism, ADD and ADHD. Estimates share that people living with incidents of dementia have been estimated to be as high as 24 million people with the number predicted to double every 20 years until at least 2040.

Add to this that anxiety disorders, obsessive/compulsive disorders, learning disabilities and depression are extremely common these days. On top of this, sleep disorders, poor mental clarity mild depression and moodiness are actually very common.

With all this said, it is no surprise the antidepressants are the most prescribed drugs in the United States. Brain disorders have now become what we would consider commonplace.

Since I witnessed both my mother and grandmother deteriorate with severe dementia before their deaths, I can share that you want to do everything you can to prevent this and other brain disorders.

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to discuss some of the common factors leading to brain disorders. Pay close attention to those areas where you think, "that sounds like me."

Did you know that the extreme mood swings associated with premenstrual syndrome, perimenopause and menopause are most often hormone driven brain imbalances and brain inflammation? Unfortunately in our culture most women are taught that this is actually normal, when it is anything but normal.

OK guys, before you start thinking "whew, I don't have to worry about that" your not out of the woods. This is the same for men as they drop into andropause, also referred to as male menopause. When a man's hormone function is in disarray this can lead a lack of motivation, weight gain, the typically "grumpy old man" syndrome or what has been come to be known as the "mid-life crisis."

Both menopause and andropause create and environment for early brain degeneration that is most often preceeded by a poor functioning brain. And round and round we go...

Another hormonal area to understand in regard to brain function is the thyroid. Did you know that an estimated 27 million Americans are living with thyroid dysfunction and that this can profoundly impact brain health? This combination can lead to brain fog, depression, anxiety and other brain based challenges. This can often accelerate brain degeneration and even coexist with brain autoimmunity.

With this understanding of hormone driven brain chemistry imbalances, it is always important to get to the bottom of the hormone imbalances. Most hormone imbalances originate as adrenal insufficiency.

Over my career we have reviewed approximately 4,500 adrenal test kits and have only seen 5 come back normal. Yes, ONLY 5!

In fairness, at Depke Wellness, we work with health challenged individuals but this tells us that if you have a health issue, there is only about 1/10 of one percent chance that you have healthy adrenal function. Based on what we have discussed earlier in this article in regard to brain function, menopause, andropause and thyroid dysfunction, take a guess at what affects all of these areas.

If you guessed adrenal function, you are right on!

While your adrenal function plays a role in so many areas of your body, this will directly affect thyroid function, ovary function, inflammatory states and neural connectivity. So when we are looking hormone drive brain based disorders, it is essential to understand your personal adrenal function.

Based on years of this focus here at Depke Wellness we always recommend adrenal saliva testing so you can understand adrenal function throughout the day. We would look at cortisol production at four times during the day, a total cortisol and a DHEA average but that's not all. We also look at estradiol, estriol, progesterone, testosterone and melatonin. This provides us the necessary information to make recommendations to assist your body in balancing adrenal function. With proper adrenal function, you can begin to enjoy further balance with the thyroid, ovaries, inflammatory states and brain function.

While adrenal function may not be the "end all" for your brain disorder, it is the most significant starting point for hormone related brain disorders. So call our office today at (949)954-6226 and request a #205 adrenal saliva test kit and move forward with your goals of health and happiness. 

If you have any comments or questions, please post these below for us to address personally.

Escaping Hashimoto's

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

For those that have Hashimoto's disease, you know what I am talking about but I also want to define this for those that are not familiar with Hashimoto's. Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune condition that is recognized by a high level of thyroid peroxidase as measured in your blood that will manifest as your immune system actually attacks your thyroid tissue. This attack on the tissue will often lead to thyroid hormone imbalances that will most often be treated by taking thyroid hormones. The problem with this though is that the real problem is not being addressed and this real problem is the autoimmune condition itself.

The Mayo clinic defines Hahimoto's disease as "a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck below your Adam's apple. The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body's activities. The resulting inflammation from Hashimoto's disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, often leads to an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. It primarily affects middle-aged women but also can occur in men and women of any age and in children."

Now in fairness to conventional doctors, there is no drug that you can take to overcome Hashimoto's disease. The typical drug of choice is to recommend a synthetic form of thyroid hormone. As mentioned above though, this does not treat the problem, it only treats the symptom. To take this one step further, the use of the synthetic thyroid hormone typically only provides very short term results if any at all. This is sad but true.

When we look at Hashimoto's from a holistic perspective there are actually very viable options. I have personally seen clients with thyroid peroxidase levels near 100, above 300 and even above 500 actually find themselves in normal ranges and even falling below 10. Recognize that normal is typically viewed as less than 35.

So if you find yourself diagnosed with Hashimoto's, what can you do?

First off, get to the core.

Recognize this for what it is, an autoimmune condition. So the core is autoimmunity right?

Not so fast, we still have to get to the core of the autoimmunity of course.

Let's lay out the steps to address Hashimoto's, to allow your body to find its balance while understanding that there are many steps to take. Note, you do not want to miss any of these.

1. Address your fundamentals of health. Yes, the simple things, so simple that most ignore these on a regular basis. Deep breathing, proper hydration, proper nutrition, healthy sleep cycles, movement, healthy bowel movements (2 or more per day), vertebrae integrity, proper exposure to the sun and reducing stress and learning healthy ways to deal with stress and release suppressed emotions. If you would like to receive a complimentary 4 part video series on the fundamentals of health, please visit our home page at www.DepkeWellness.com.
2. Assess your food intolerance and eliminate these foods. If you are eating a food that is inflaming your gut, you will not escape autoimmunity. It is that simple. It is essential to test for these foods and I recommend both a Cyrex Labs Array #4 and the ImmunoLabs Bloodprint154. The two of these combined will provide you with the information you need. If the testing does not work into your budget, I would recommend Lyn-Genet's book "The Plan" and following her protocols in this book. Click here to order your copy of The New York Times bestseller The Plan on Amazon!
3. Assess adrenal function and assist the body in resetting the HPA axis. This is such a significant key and honestly, the one area that is so often overlooked or not addressed properly. While many practitioners test for adrenal function, many do not understand what is necessary to reset the HPA axis. Most often individuals are provided adrenal support supplements, which are helpful but do not reset this axis. This is a key factor.
4. Test for gut pathogens. So often those with autoimmunity are living with unrecognized gut pathogens. You know, parasites, protozoa, amoebas, infections, detrimental bacteria and many more. If this is the case and these are not recognized and dealt with properly, this is another area that will withhold your progress.
5. Support your immune function. Often we are told that autoimmunity is an overactive immune system when truly this is a very week immune system that is simply stuck in either to high of a B cell or T cell response. By supporting immune function, you provide one of the underlying keys to your success. I typically assist my clients with this by using a liquid emulsified form of vitamin D with other essential co-factors.  
6. Significantly reduce or preferably eliminate your chronic inflammation. Many with autoimmunity do not even recognize they are chronically inflamed and I can share that I have never seen a client with and autoimmune condition that is not also dealing with chronic inflammation. They go hand in hand. When addressing this though, it is a essential to first address the steps above, be aggressive with the anti-inflammatory protocols while also addressing the feedback loops that continue your inflammatory response.
7. Assess the blood/brain barrier, support if needed and then look at toxicity in your body. I want you to notice that this is at the end of the recommendations, because so many practitioners like to "detox, detox, detox" at the beginning. I find that individuals with Hashimoto's or any other autoimmune condition for that matter are actually far to weak to detoxify or they are dealing with a blood/brain barrier that is out of integrity, so when they are actually detoxifying the body, their symptoms are actually worsening. That's not what we're looking for. Placing detoxification in the proper order is also essential and putting your focus heavier on the drainage aspect rather than the detoxification aspect will be very helpful

While it would be impossible to guarantee that following these steps will leave you free of Hashimoto's, I can easily refer to what I mentioned at the onset of this article. I have personally seen clients with thyroid peroxidase levels near 100, above 300 and even above 500 actually find themselves in normal ranges and even falling below 10. 

This to can be you!

When I posted on Facebook last week that I was going to write this article one of my clients quickly responded with this, "When I first started working with Glen Depke I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. With Glen's assistance, lifestyle changes, and supplements I was able to get my thyroid back into balance!" Thank you to who shared this, I always appreciate support from my clients!

If you are wondering if Depke Wellness is the fit you are looking for, we always offer a complimentary 20 minute in office, phone or Skype session for perspective new clients. This way your initial investment is ONLY 20 minutes of your day. I'll share that this 20 minutes may actually change the rest of your life.

Call (949)954-6226 or email jill@depkewellness.com to set up your complimentary consult today.

Why the Heck are YOU so Tired?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Really...why the heck are you so tired??? 

More importantly, doesn't it sound like a good idea to address this before we get into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season?

You've likely heard all the reasons why this is so, but energy still eludes you. Frustrating, huh?

Let's look at the common challenges:

• Insomnia
• Poor diet
• Poor digestion
• Poor brain function
• Lack of exercise
• Iron anemic
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Poor adrenal function
• Poor thyroid function

We've talked about many of these in the past but today we are going to focus on the tie between the thyroid and adrenal glands. Most of you have heard me talk about adrenal function many times but for those that are not familiar please take note.

Your adrenal glands play such a significant role in whole body function. To be more exact, your adrenal glands play a direct role in every area listed below.

• Thyroid
• Pancreas
• Ovaries
• Mucosal tissue lining
• Metabolism of fat and protein
• Ability to regulate body weight and fat
• Detoxification
• Immune regulation
• Pro and anti-inflammatory states
• Cellular energy
• Blood sugar stability
• Bone and connective tissue turnover
• Muscular integrity
• Quality of sleep and mood
• Ability to memorize and learn
• Neural connectivity

Of the list above, I recognized the most challenging areas with energy by placing these in bold. So you can see that poor adrenal function itself can have a huge impact on your energy.

For this reason, if you find that your energy has been low for some time assessing adrenal function is a must. To do this we always recommend that use of saliva testing for the most accurate understanding of overall adrenal function. Whether you are completing this testing with Depke Wellness or another holistic practice, we recommend a #205 adrenal saliva kit with BioHealth. If finances are a challenge for you, you could utilize the basic kit which is a #201 adrenal saliva kit. The reason why this is so essential is because here at Depke Wellness, we have assessed over 4,300 adrenal saliva kits over the years and have only seen 5 of these kits come back normal, healthy and balanced. Yes, ONLY 5. What this tells us is that if you have a health issue, it is almost a 100% likelihood that you also have an adrenal issue.

Once you have an idea of where your adrenal function is you can use appropriate supplementation to assist your body in finding its balance. The simple start for you is the use of the Prime Adrenal Support which contains the vitamin B5 needed as the beginning of all hormone production in your adrenals. There are deeper levels of supplementation needed but this is a good start for you.

Another factor is addressing the areas that cause your adrenal dysfunction in the first place. Refer to this list below:

• Reduce your stress levels by practicing deep belly breathing
• Assess your likelihood of gluten intolerance and eliminate if this is an issue
• Address chronic inflammatory states
• Assess and address potential chronic infections (likely gut infections)

While understanding the adrenal aspect as tied into fatigue. Let's now look at the tie between your adrenal function and thyroid.

The first issue with your adrenal/thyroid connection is the fact that your adrenals create hormones that have an affect on your hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then decodes the message sent from the adrenals and sends a message to the pituitary. From here, the pituitary then determines how much TSH to make which is your thyroid stimulating hormone. This TSH then tells your thyroid how much thyroid hormone to produce. Without getting too deep into this (I know, I may have already) you need to produce and convert thyroid hormones for energy.

Another issue with the adrenal and thyroid, is the fact that adrenal dysfunction has an affect on something referred to as reverse T3. Let me make this connection as simple as I can. When your adrenal function is off, your body ill over produce this reverse T3. When we look at T3 as compared to reverse T3, look at it this way. T3 itself is the "gas pedal" for energy, while reverse T3 is the "brake" for energy. So in the end it looks like this.

1. Poor adrenal function
2. Confused production of TSH
3. Over production of reverse T3
4. Fatigue

Here at Depke Wellness we assess your adrenal function, assess a "complete" thyroid function and address the deeper causes of the entire imbalance.

For a more comprehensive understanding in this area I suggest talking to our Depke Wellness thyroid specialist Lynda Buitrago by calling (949)954-6226. You can set up a complimentary 20 minute consultation with Lynda to how she can help you find your energy.

After all, isn't your energy worth it?!?!

Life After Adrenal Fatigue?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Today's article will be short, direct and to the point. This is easy because I see this issues with clients in the clinic all the time.

You have heard me talk about adrenal issues more than once so you already understand that this is a huge issue for so many reading this article and you most likely already "get" the reasons behind your adrenal issues. One area that I have not covered in great detail though, is what does life look like after you have been living with adrenal issues for some time.

Well, today is the day you get a glimpse at life after adrenal fatigue. I will review the main challenges that are created in your body as a direct result of poor adrenal function.

Let's start with other affects on the endocrine function. When your adrenals are "off" this may lead to challenges with the function of your thyroid, pancreas and/or ovaries. If this is an issue, it likely shows up as hypothyroidism, type II diabetes or insulin resistance and/or PMS or menopause symptoms for women.

Another area that is affected is with your metabolism of fat and protein. Ultimately this can lead to an inability to regulate body fat and weight properly, poor absorption of fat and protein and well as a breakdown in your mucosal lining. This is the lining for the nose, mouth, esophagus, gastro-intestinal tract and for women the vagina. This lining is your immune systems first layer of defense that is positioned where you are easily exposed to the outside environment. This lining is the Marines of your immune system and a breakdown here is an overall immune system weakness. Also understand that if you feel that you are doing everything necessary to lose weight and you cannot, this is likely due to an adrenal issue.

We also want to recognize that your adrenals play a role in every level of detoxification. Since we are all toxic on some level, we require optimal adrenal function for optimal function of the detoxification system. Poor adrenals equal a toxic body.

Two other areas that work in conjunction with each other  and depend on your adrenal function is your immune system regulation as well as pro and anti-inflammatory states. Lack of immune system regulation can lead to chemical intolerance as well as challenges such as cancer. The inflammatory states, which would be a healthy response to and immune reaction also depends on the adrenals. Understand that your body needs the ability to create inflammation and take it away as needed. With poor adrenal function, you lose this ability and often become chronically inflamed.

A huge area for so many is the adrenals ability to assist in regulating blood sugar and its affect on cellular energy. Honestly, who doesn't want more energy these days and how many people struggle with poor blood sugar regulation? Without proper adrenal function, you can kiss energy goodbye and good luck with your blood sugar. Those in early stages of adrenal dysfunction may not notice this but long term it creeps up on you.

The next area is with your muscular/skeletal system. Understand that your adrenals play a role in bone and connective tissue turnover as well as muscular integrity. As an example, it is normal to to be sore after a hard workout or up and down in the garden all day, but it is not normal for muscles to be sore with normal daily activity, yet this occurs more often than not for so many.

The last area is with neural tissue health. With this we are looking at your quality of sleep and mood, ability to memorize and learn and your overall neural connectivity. Heck with this we are talking about your autonomic nervous system that is simply the master regulator of everything in your body.

Wow! I get it...

So now you know, if you have an adrenal issue, this is much more than it sounds. This is actually an issue with your health on an ultimate holistic level. I am also sure that most of the people reading this article have some challenges with their health that are affected by poor adrenal function as listed above.

So you tell me, is adrenal health important to you?

I think I know your answer...

Your Thyroid Needs Your Gut

by Glen Depke

You've all heard me once if not a thousand times, your gut plays such a significant role in your overall health and wellness but most do not understand the impact the gut has on your overall thyroid function. 

So here we go...

Gut challenges are one of the most overlooked symptoms in our culture today. We think it is normal to walk around bloated, gassy, constipated, and uncomfortable. It seems normal because everyone else we know is living with this on some level.

Trust me, it is not normal.

So how does this tie into your thyroid function?

Understand first that the lining of your gut is a very important immune barrier. If this barrier is not healthy, this is one of the most significant factors in autoimmunity and autoimmunity is one of the biggest core factors in thyroid challenges. We discussed this a few weeks ago in the article "Gluten and Autoimmunity."

Also remember from another recent article on the thyroid "Thyroid Treatment...Ridiculous!" we discussed the fact that 20% of your T4 is converted to T3 in your gut due to healthy gut flora.

You guessed it, this does not occur with poor gut function.

Another common symptom of poor gut function is constipation. Let me first define constipation. This is anyone that does not have at least two healthy bowel movements per day. Yes, I said two. If you are one of those that feels that your colon is working well at one bowel movement per day, you've got another thing coming.

Among other challenges if you are constipated, it makes life much more difficult hormonally speaking. Slow colon release hinders the release of unused hormones and leads to an accumulation of estrogen, which decreases thyroid function.

So what do you do to improve the intimate connection between your gut and thyroid?

First off, it is a good idea to always take a quality Prebiotic/Probiotic formula, Digestive Enzyme (Prime Digestive Support) and for many adding a Betaine HCL/Pepsin supplement. All three of these can be found at the Depke Wellness Store. This would assist with healthy bacteria, predigestion early in your stomach and proper breakdown later in your stomach prior to being released into the small intestines.

From here you want to focus on your nutritional choices. The typical favorite foods of many in our culture are also the leading causes of poor gut integrity such as sugar, ice cream, pasta, bread, corn products, alcohol and pasteurized dairy products. Below is a list of all potentially inflammatory foods to review. Basically anything that leads to inflammation in your gut leads to hormonal imbalance. 

This of course effect your thyroid function. 

Sugars: including agave, candy, chocolate, corn syrup, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, sucrose. 

High Glycemic Fruits: including bananas, canned fruits, dried fruits, mango, pineapple, raisins, watermelon.

Grains: including amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, couscous, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, spelt, wheat, wheat germ.

Nuts and Seeds: including almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds.

Gluten-Containing Compounds: including barbecue sauce, binders, bouillon, brewer’s yeast, cold cuts, condiments, emulsifiers, fillers, chewing gum, hot dogs, hydrolyzed plant and vegetable protein, ketchup, soy sauce, lunch meats, malt and malt flavoring, malt vinegar, matzo, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, nondairy creamer, processed salad dressings, seitan, some spice mixtures, stabilizers, teriyaki sauce, textured vegetable protein.

Dairy Products and Eggs: including butter, cheeses, cow milk, creams, frozen desserts, goat milk, margarine, mayonnaise, sheep milk, whey, yogurt (except coconut). 

Soy: including edamame, miso, soymilk, soy protein, soy sauce, tempeh, tofu.

Fungi: edible fungi and mushroom.

Alcohol: all alcohol.

Beans and Legumes: including black beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, pinto beans, soybeans.

Nightshade Foods: including eggplant, paprika, peppers, potatoes, Tabasco sauce, tomatillos, tomatoes.

Other: canned foods, coffee, processed foods. 

Remember, your thyroid needs your gut and in more ways than one.

If you have any comments or questions in regard to today's article, please leave this below for me to address personally.


 

Thyroid Treatment...Ridiculous!

by Glen Depke

I see it time after time with clients diagnosed with thyroid challenges.

• An individual has all the symptoms of a thyroid challenge
• Thyroid labs are off
• Medication is prescribed
• Labs are now normal
• Yet all the symptom challenges remain unchanged

Here's another senario.

• An individual has all the symptoms of a thyroid challenge
• Thyroid labs all come back as normal in the reference range
• They are told everything is fine, yet they are still suffering with symptoms

Now do you get while I say thyroid treatment is ridiculous? 

I have not discussed the thyroid much in the past because I generally recognize the thyroid challenges are very often not tied into thyroid function. I truly cannot hold back any longer.


This has to be discussed.


First we will recognize what most doctors are looking at in regard to thyroid function. Most are looking at TSH, T4 and T3. TSH is the thyroid stimulating hormone that is produced in the pituitary gland who's purpose is to communicate to the thyroid how much T4 and T3 to produce. The T4 and T3 are hormones produced in the thyroid to allow the benefit of normal body function. So with this information, many practitioners are making diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction with this information. 
 
Let me show you why this is ridiculous.


Here is the comprehensive way of looking at what is going on with your thyroid.

• Hypothalamus send thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) to the pituitary gland
• Pituitary gland releases thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) to the thyroid gland
• TSH stimulates the thyroid to utilize iodine to create T4 and T3
• 93% of this production is T4 and 7% isT3 (Recognize that the body predominately functions on an active form of T3)
• 60% of your T4 is converted in the liver into  active T3
• 20% of your T4 is eventually converted in active T3 in your gastrointestinal tract
• 20% is converted into reverse T3 which is an inactive form
• Any remaining T4 is converted into active T3 in peripheral tissue

Even with this said, there is even more to understand when addressing thyroid function. Here's more

• One of the most common and often not assessed challenges for the thyroid is and autoimmune thyroid condition
• Another key factor is your (TBG) or thyroid binding globulin which is the protein that acts as the delivery system to transport the active T3 to the cells of your body for use

So what do you test if you are suspecting a thyroid challenge so you can actually address this properly and eliminate your symptoms?

• Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) 
• Total thyroxine (TT4)
• Free thyroxine index (FTI)
• Free thyroxine (FT4)
• Resin T3 uptake
• Free triiodothyroxine (FT3)
• Reverse T3 (rT3)
• Thyroid binding globulin (TBG)
• Thyroid antibodies

Now there's one more key here. It is important to recognize functional ranges rather than the typical reference ranges on the typical blood panel results. Often those outside of the functional or optimal ranges will already be suffering with the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction.


One last topic to mention.


What are the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction?


Here you go...

• Fatigue
• Weight gain despite adhering to your diet
• Morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses
• Depression
• Constipation
• Hypersensitivity to cold weather
• Poor circulation and numbness in the hands or feet
• Muscle cramps while at rest
• Increased susceptibility to colds and other infections and difficulty with recovery
• Slow wound healing
• Excessive sleep required to function normally
• Chronic digestive challenges such as low stomach acid
• Itchy dry skin
• Hair falls out easily
• Dry skin
• Low body temperature
• Edema, especially facial swelling
• Loss of the outermost portion of eyebrows

There you have it. The most comprehensive information I can provide in a short article. I trust that you can use this in some positive manner in your life.


I will be presenting a complimentary webinar on thyroid function coming soon. If you want this update and you are not currently signed up for the Depke Wellness newsletter, click here to register for our weekly newsletter and update on upcoming complimentary webinars.


If you have any comments or questions about this article, feel free to leave this below for me to answer personally.