Another Amazing benefit of Vitamin D...Stanley Cup Hockey Championship

Another Amazing benefit of Vitamin D...Stanley Cup Hockey Championship
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS

Team physicians from Chicago Blackhawk’s Hockey team credit the winning of the Stanley Cup to Vitamin D, well some of the credit. The Chicago Blackhawk team physicians apparently began diagnosing and treating vitamin D deficiency which was identified in ALL Blackhawk players. Most players were placed on 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day. After many losing seasons, two years ago, loaded with Vitamin D, the Blackhawks came out of nowhere to get to the Western conference finals, and this year captured the Stanley Cup. Improved athletic performance is only one of the benefits for the Blackhawk players, the other include reduction in the number and severity of colds and flu and a reduction in the number and severity of injuries.
There are new lines of evidence now that demonstrate clearly that vitamin D plays a role as an anti-carcinogen, aids the body in fighting infections, building and supporting bone growth, stimulating wound healing, bolstering the immune system, hindering cognitive degeneration, and promoting cardiovascular health…..and now the Stanley Cup Championship. And only for 8 cents a day!!! I personally feel that during the winter season, 5000 units may not be enough to fight off the common colds, flu’s and the depressive blahs of the winter, and 10,000 may be required. Measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels may be beneficial to optimize your dose, but don’t accept the low levels below 50. Demand levels between 60-80 ng/ml as acceptable, and if you have auto-immune diseases like Rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, or lupus set your goal to be between 100-120 ng/ml
New evidence suggests that maintenance of the suggested vitamin D levels is crucial for athletic performance and keeping players on top of their game. In short, this is due to Vitamin D’s reported ability to: increase speed, improve balance, improve a reaction time, increase both muscle mass and strength, and promote the treatment and prevention of chronic neuromuscular injuries. What about bringing Vitamin D into our work places and promoting health, reducing respiratory infections, as well as all the things that promote a Stanley Cup Champion hockey player to remain in his top game. You deserve it and so do your co-workers and employees. Bring Vitamin D into work today! Have a Vitamin D party and squash the flu all winter long.
How about home? Kids can have 2000 units/day (not babies, although a Finnish study said in infants at that dose reduced the incidence of Childhood Diabetes by 8 fold). Studies have shown that children with low vitamin D levels were over 10 x more likely to develop a respiratory infections, whereas a study supplementing with Vitamin D completely eradicated respiratory infections during the six months of treatment. One study, published in February 2009 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, concludes that adolescents with higher levels of vitamin D can jump higher, quicker, and with greater power than those with lower vitamin D levels. You gotta love vitamin D and all its amazing benefits.

I Love Vitamin D, but watch out for Vitamin A in your multivitamin

I Love Vitamin D, but watch out for Vitamin A in your multivitamins
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS


No other nutrient, hormone or even drug has gained so much scientifically supported credibility than Vitamin D, demonstrating reductions in cancer, heart disease, blood pressure, chronic inflammation, diabetes, viral infections and the autoimmune diseases( arthritis, Lupus, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). Even though Vitamin D has been shown to be so incredibly beneficial , it is often in very low doses in standard multivitamins, and often side by side with high doses of Vitamin A. Unfortunately some forms of Vitamin A actually BLOCK the benefit of Vitamin D. So grab your multivitamin bottle and look at how much vitamin D and Vitamin A is in it. Most multivitamins have woeful amounts of vitamin D , often ranging from 200 units to 1000, but we should be taking at least 5000 units a day and now more studies show absolutely no toxicity at 10,000 units(should consider this dose in the fall/winter months) and incredible benefits. So what about Vitamin A? The preformed Vitamin A (retinols) are often excessive in multivitamins and having Vitamin A in the beta-carotene form is the form you want. “Preformed” vitamin A comes only from animal products, fortified foods, and supplements. It is most commonly measured in International Units (IU). The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin A is 2,310 IU daily for women, 3,000 IU for men, although some food products identify the recommended dose as 5000 IU. Watch out because preformed Vitamin A is not your friend. Studies have proven that too much preformed Vitamin A results in a two fold increase in hip fractures, and a 16 % increase in total mortality, undoubtedly because it blocks all the amazing benefits of Vitamin D. Keep that form of Vitamin A no higher than 1000 IU. Now if the Vitamin A is in the beta-carotene form, there are fewer issues because it is found in plant foods, especially dark green and highly colored vegetables and fruits. It is converted to vitamin A only as our body needs it. Therefore one can’t get dangerous levels of vitamin A by consuming too much beta carotene. By the way that foul tasting modern day Cod Liver oil has up to 10,000 units of preformed Vitamin A….so don’t drink that stuff!

Weight Savior and Irvingia-Getting Rid of Fat...and Inflammation-Part 2

More about how Weight Savior enriched with Irvingia works its magic, reducing your abdominal fat, cholesterol, and diabetes.

Fat cells function is to store calories and release them for energy use when needed. Fat cells are engorged with triglycerides, which is the main storage form of fat. Problems occur when these fat cells become bloated with triglycerides, and become enlarged. They also tend to accumulate excess fat, because of increase intake, lack of exercise, hormonal imbalances and inflammation, and there lies the problem. Fat cells also release another hormone called Adiponectin, which controls diabetes, decreasing sugar levels in your blood stream, as well as reducing inflammation, and heart disease. Irvingia, and weight Savior make Adiponectin’s work better and be more effective. 10 weeks of using Irvingia alone increased the amount of Adiponectin by 160%. And that’s a good thing in the battle against belly fat, as well as controlling diabetes and inflammation.

The third major benefit of having Irvingia in Weight Savior is the inhibition of the enzyme glycerol-3-phospate. What has that enzyme done for me lately? Well produced in fat cells, it causes excess sugar to be converted to triglycerides so as to make the fat cells bigger and plumper. Now that doesn’t sound too good to me. Blocking it reduces fatty acid formation and reduces the amount of sugar converted into fat. Now that’s good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPAXuaxIXOs

Weight Savior and Irvingia-Getting Rid of Fat...and inflammation

Weight Savior is just one, but six separate ingredients blended together to maximize weight loss. One of these amazing ingredients is Irvingia. This natural compound actually circumvents the molecular factors critical in causing obesity. This breakthrough compound, Irvingia, may actually be the key to reversing today’s epidemic of obesity. One of the main reasons we develop increasing abdominal fat is something called Leptin-resistance. So what is Leptin? It is released from our fat cells for two primary reasons. The first, is to tell the brain that you have eaten enough and it quiets your appetite. Secondly, Leptin then causes triglycerides that are stored in the fat cells (increase waist line) to be broken down so that the body can use them as an energy source. So decrease in fat cells, and increase in energy. That sounds pretty good to me. Unfortunately in people with increased abdominal fat they produce more inflammation ( increased CRP levels) and that blocks the benefits of Leptin. Obese people have much higher CRP levels, markers of inflammation, and even higher Leptin levels but CRP binds to Leptin stopping it from entering the brain and from breaking down fat.
Okay, so how does Irvingia, and Weight Savior reduce fat? It dramatically reduces CRP and thus freeing up Leptin to work its magic. We also know that Heart disease is associated with elevated inflammation and CRP. Newest studies show taking very high doses of Crestor, albeit associated with massive side-effects, reduces CRP by 17 % in a year. But Irvingia, a main component of Weight Savior reduces CRP by 52% in only 10 weeks. Now that is impressive, and the only side-effects were weight loss and a 16% reduction in your waist line in 10 weeks.
More to come about how Irvingia, and Weight Savior work their magic, reducing your abdominal fat, cholesterol, and diabetes.

Get Rid Of My Tummy Fat...with Weight Savior

I hope you enjoy this new video on a new supplement for weight loss that specifically attacks the fat around our tummy and inside of our belly (visceral fat).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPAXuaxIXOs

Dr. C

Lose Weight And Not Be Hungry With Low Carbohydrate Approach

Low Carbohydrate approach to successful weight loss
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS
Patients often ask me for a dietary recommendation. I believe that a change of habits is better than a “new diet”, and my preference is a low carbohydrate approach. The low fat diet is just forcing large amounts of sugar into your system, making you fatter and increasing you risk of developing diabetes. Let me give you an example of a daily low carbohydrate approach:
Goal is to keep your total carbohydrate intake to 20 grams of carbohydrates a day for two weeks and then increase to 30 grams. You can’t eat bread, pasta, rice, ice cream or candy. For instance one can of mountain dew has 46 grams of carbohydrates or over two days worth of carbohydrates. A two ounce serving of pasta, has 42 grams of carbohydrates! Alright here we go:
Breakfast- Coffee/Tea with/without cream, no sugar but can have splenda or estevia or even better Erythritol.
Two egg omelet with bacon and cheese using only water to mix eggs. (no carbohydrates or maybe 1 total for breakfast. Avoid low fat cheese, because that means high sugar cheese No bread
Snacks: Macadamia nuts, almonds (8 nuts is about 2 grams carbohydrates), avoid cashews
Lunch- Roll-ups Go to your favorite deli and get the thicker slice cheese and meats. Roll the cheese and meat together and use mayonnaise or mustard... I even take lunch meat and put cream cheese into the roll-up…no carbs! You can eat these all day long and there are essentially no carbohydrates in a roll-up.

Dinner- Go to Publix and get a lemon pepper chicken, or to sonny’s BBQ ( or your local favorite) and eat the chicken, beef etc, but avoid too much red sauce as they sneak sugar into that. And of course NO sweetened tea. I also eat steak, seafood, turkey as well. No ketchup.
Also at dinner I recommend a salad, and this has some carbohydrates in it. I like spinach, with cucumbers, olives, and some tomatoes. The tomatoes have some carbs in them. Putting blue cheese dressing/most Ranch dressings, balsamic vingarette on your salad and cover it with sharp cheddar cheese. There is very few carbs in this meal, with the exception of the tomatoes. Onions are ok as well, but I just don’t eat them very often. Avoid Garbanzo beans as well
At bedtime you should try another roll-up or eat some more nuts as it is important to have some protein at bedtime.
An evening snack when craving sweets is my favorite. I take two or even three containers of sugar free jello, my favorite is the cherry, and cover it generously with whip cream, you can even use the heavy whipping cream. There are absolutely no carbohydrates in this and you can even go back for seconds or sneak a shot of whipping cream from your own personal can. In the past I have eaten popcorn, but I would definitely avoid it as it is a source of carbohydrates. Fruits I like are strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but you need to avoid bananas and oranges (very high glycemic index).
I hope this gives you some direction. When you go shopping look at the labels for how much carbohydrate is present per serving.

Progesterone and Men- GETTING RID OF BELLY FAT Robert Carlson, MD

Is It Hot In Here?
We joke gingerly about women having a “personal summer” or “power surges” but for those going through it it’s no joke. And men who have low progesterone and excess adipose (brown) fat around the belly that actually produces estrogen can experience a form of male menopause called andropause. Progesterone helps reduce hot flashes in women; but men with low levels of progesterone and testosterone along with higher levels of estrogen will get hot flashes too. For both men and women, progesterone can help calm the fire.
Men can even fall victim to breast cancer thanks to hormonal imbalances! Progesterone can protect men breast tumors. Progesterone insufficiency causes norepinephrine and epinephrine levels to go up which increases your anxiety levels. Your aldosterone levels will also go up which results in swelling. Progesterone stimulates the parasympathetic system which helps to calm you. However if your levels are low you’ll get stressed, anxious and find yourself constantly worrying. And if that weren’t enough problems because of low progesterone, if you have elevated estrogen levels you’ll have problems with constipation too.
Let Me See Your Guy Card
One of the more surprising things I’ve been seeing in my patients’ lab work lately is men with estrogen levels that are off the charts! Estrogen dominance in men is a recipe for disaster. When you have a progesterone deficiency and elevated estrogen levels, you will have difficulty voiding because estrogen causes an increase in the size of your prostate. Men with progesterone deficiency have an enlarged hard fibrous prostate. Estrogen also promotes the development of fibrous tissue within the prostate. The urethra which carries urine from the bladder, passes through this enlarged fibrous tissue and gets narrowed and subsequently blocked by the enlarged prostate. Numerous studies have identified the effects of elevated estrogen levels and an enlarged prostate. Sadly, most of the studies are missing the point! Researchers aren’t measuring progesterone levels. You can easily combat the problem and reduce estradiol levels up to 30% with the addition of 100 mg of progesterone at bedtime. Progesterone will reduce prostatic volume, weight, and the DNA content.
I am deeply concerned not just about progesterone deficiency, but also about the estrogen mimics and interrupters men are flooding their bodies with. Our rabid fascination with soy is dangerous. Soy is a phytoestrogen. Chemicals in our shampoos (dandruff shampoos are the worst), skincare products and *** are fooling our endocrine systems and creating sky-high levels of estrogen in men.
We need to balance our bodies and replenish our depleted levels of progesterone. Progesterone helps men and women fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up rested, while getting rid of their sleeping pills and the nasty brain fog side effects. Do you find yourself feeling grouchy? Men can be very irritable and tense in the face of low progesterone levels. By just correcting progesterone levels we can restore calmness and help you get a better night’s sleep. It protects you from the accumulation of fat within the abdomen – the dangerous fat doctors call visceral fat.
Is Your Health a House of Cards?
Everywhere I look I see the effects of excess estrogen and low progesterone in men. Metabolic syndrome with its high blood pressure, dyslipidemias, elevated insulin levels, and increased abdominal fat can be turned around with progesterone. Belly fat can begin to melt off with progesterone. Prostate enlargement can be shrunk with progesterone. And male pattern baldness can be reduced just by using progesterone.
Without enough progesterone over a prolonged period of time, you’ll start to see major problems domino out of control in all the systems of the body. Progesterone is foundation for health, youth, and vitality.
It’s time to work with your doctor to assess your hormone levels in a full blood panel screening. So when was the last time you had your progesterone checked? Consider using bio-identical (not synthetic!) hormone therapy to restore your body’s progesterone levels. If your doctor poo-poo’s your request, find another doctor who will listen to your concerns. Remember, if your lab results are “normal” but you still don’t feel up to par, you need a doctor who will help you get to the bottom of the problem and put your health back on top.

Progesterone and Men-Optimizing the Aging Male's Health

Progesterone and Men-Optimizing the Aging Male's Health
Dr Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS

Progesterone – It’s Not Just for Girls!

Every day we see a new article dedicated to explaining how important progesterone is for women in the array of hormones that are key to good health and healthy aging. But what about men? Most men and women along with many doctors would be surprised to find that progesterone is very important to a man’s health!

So Men Produce Progesterone?!
Most men have about seven times lower levels of progesterone than testosterone; but it is actually more abundant than DHT, the primary metabolite of testosterone that makes a man look like a man. Hormones give us our secondary sex characteristics –
curves for a woman, a lower voice etc. for a man. Even though some hormones are more prevalent in men or women, both sexes have all the same hormones just in different levels. Healthy men have more progesterone than the other “female hormones” like estradiol or estrone, 10 times more of it than melatonin, and much more of it than thyroid hormones like free T4 or thyroxin. Progesterone is actually just as important to a man’s health as a woman’s!
We’re Wired for Equality…Most of the Time!
For a short time every month, men and women are equal…in progesterone! The levels of progesterone that men have is equivalent to what women have during the follicular phase each month; this is the first phase of a women’s cycle when progesterone is low, just like a man’s progesterone level.
The reason that men and women will have equal levels of progesterone is because a man creates progesterone in his adrenal glands and the primary source of progesterone for a woman during the first 2 weeks after the onset of the menstrual cycle is from the adrenals as well. In fact, for both men and women the adrenal glands make 1 ½ - 3 mg a day of progesterone.
A woman will have a much higher level of progesterone over the course of each month though because during the second phase of her cycle her ovaries will also produce it. So for two-thirds of every month, men and women will have the same level of progesterone!
Progesterone can also be a precursor of testosterone, aldosterone, and even cortisol. Progesterone is also very important as a base of hormone production; it joins with cholesterol to create””. Progesterone is also a bellweather of how your body is handling stress. During stressful crisis situations, you may have higher levels of progesterone and your body may react by making lots of cortisol (and creating that dreaded spare tire around your waist!) If you are under chronic stressful situations, you can suffer from adrenal fatigue and your body will no longer produce adequate amounts of cortisol.
Our bodies are designed to respond to stress as a self-protective reflex – we either fight, flee or freeze. Crisis triggers cortisol production to help the body manage stress. Cortisol is so important to the body during stress that it becomes the body’s primary focus and the cortisol “sink” is where most of the substrate for other hormone production is often shunted to fortify the body’s arsenal of protection. Remember, we developed in a very unsafe world where we were under constant threat so our bodies are hard-wired for self-preservation by using hormones to respond to stress and keep us alive.

How Much Stress Can You Handle?

Our bodies are designed for a quick, reflexive, self-preservation response to stress but our lives today are one crisis after another. At some point we do “accommodate” to stress, we become more capable of bearing the stress load. But is it healthy? Some stress is good, but too much stress is a killer. One of the key hormones we need for health and longevity – progesterone – falls by the wayside when we are stressed. Everything becomes focused on cortisol production. If you have the typical, chronic stress levels of American daily life, you probably are deficient in progesterone. If you are walking through a crisis event, you may be producing far too much progesterone. In either scenario, you need to support your body’s hormone levels. So, high progesterone levels maybe an indicator of stress, whereas very low levels indicate a serious adrenal fatigue condition.

“You Are Getting Older!” – Bite Me!

Progesterone levels decline with age just like all the adrenal hormones and this affects most of your major organ systems. There are progesterone receptors in your heart an in your major blood vessels such as your arteries and veins. Progesterone is the hormone of calmness. It is nature’s valium, the Feng Sui of hormones. When you have low progesterone levels, some of your organ systems may demonstrate more tenseness or nervousness. The gall bladder has progesterone receptors and a stressed gallbladder with low progesterone may lead to a danger situation like acalculous cholecystitis, which we see in very stressed patients in the ICU. In the prostate, epididymis, and the testicles, there are also progesterone receptors, and there must be a purpose for that? Sperm also has progesterone receptors as well.

Progesterone – What Have You Done for Me Lately?

Progesterone is the peacekeeper hormone that keeps the levels of other hormones in balance and it helps maintain the hormonal symphony resonating in through your body. For instance, estradiol in men is not a good thing; it results in higher stroke rates, increased heart attack rates, and increased prostate cancer. Progesterone keeps your estradiol levels in control.
Progesterone also keeps the levels of Dihydrotestosterone(DHT) in balance. Too much DHT leads to hair loss and increased prostate cancer risks. Progesterone will also keep your aldosterone in balance. You can also blame progesterone if your wife or girlfriend complains that you fall asleep right after sex. Progesterone levels spiral during intercourse and peak after an orgasm; it’s progesterone that creates a calmer, more relaxed state after an orgasm. Many of my male patients like taking progesterone in the evening because it does make everything so much more relaxed and some of them tell me it also increases their deep breathing almost like yoga.

You Gotta Have Heart!

Progesterone has a role to play with regard to cardiovascular disease. Not only are there progesterone receptors in the heart and all the major blood vessels, but it’s also been shown to reduce lipids in the blood. It also helps protect against damage to the arterial system from elevated insulin levels. Too much insulin floating around in your blood can prematurely break down and age the walls of the arteries. Progesterone protects the blood vessels from the effects of insulin.
For people who are progressing into atherosclerosis, there is an overgrowth of smooth muscle cells within the lining of the blood vessels. Progesterone has been shown to stop this out of control growth. And those coronary arteries? The major cause of death from heart disease is the decreasing blood flow to regions of the heart that need it. We call these “ischemic changes” which is the technical term for lack of blood flow. Most doctors have been trained to provide medications that improve blood flow through the coronary arteries like nitroglycerin. But who wants to swallow the poisonous basis of explosives? There are numerous natural compounds throughout the body that do the same thing, including progesterone and testosterone; and they may even help reduce hypertension by helping to relax the muscular walls of arteries and reduce water retention/edema by helping the body excrete sodium.


More to come....

How To Stop Sugar Cravings-Video

This is a great video showing STOP-IT works. This at a recent T-Tapp Retreat in Safety Harbor Florida. Dr Carlson demonstrates what every sugar-craver needs... his revolutionary product STOP-IT. Please click and check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFkWT5UZlxQ