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Strong Medicine March 2008- Eric Serrano MD

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The information provided in our Q&As is generic and does not address any individual’s physical condition, medications, or chronic illnesses. You should consult with your doctor before undertaking any nutritional course of action.
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Serrano Seminar Lake Tahoe CA Sat June 7

Dr. Serrano I have seen video clips from several of your seminars and it they are great, what can I expect at the one you are doing in June?

I have an agenda based on new research and interesting topics that the hosts propose, but I leave a majority of the seminar open for questions which can take me in many different directions. I know that most of the people who attend the seminars are not just looking for basics, but innovative protocols and facts that they can take with them and put to good use. Over the years trainers who have attended present cases of tough clients and ask me how I would approach fixing problems and this enables me to lay out all of the details; explaining why I do certain things.

Training has become a large focus of the seminars in addition to nutrition, supplementation, injury rehab, etc. I like to demonstrate new techniques and take people form the audience to explain how I would treat an injury. At a recent seminar I picked someone from the audience who was having tremendous shoulder pain and dysfunction. I spent 30 minutes treating him and then built a rehab program that I was able to demonstrate right then and there.

If you plan on attending please email Scott@infinityfitness.com for details and please send questions or topics you would like covered at the seminar.

Nutrition Tactics to Correct Injuries

Dr. Serrano

I dislocated my right elbow a couple weeks ago. It was a complete dislocation with no fractures. A reduction was done in the ER. I was in a half cast for 2 weeks and I will now start physical therapy. I was told that the elbow was one of the stiffest joints, but I was still surprised to find I had little motion with my arm. I am fortunate to have access to qrass-fed meats, but I wonder if there are certain foods or supplements that would help with the healing of my arm. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

Actually the elbow is three joints in one, so it must be treated with a lot of therapy. The elbow flexes, extends, rotates or circumducts, so when you rehab it you must do all these movements. I do not know what dislocated your elbow and how, although I will like to know because that gives me an idea which part of the elbow you dislocated (the olecranon or the radial head? ) because it involves ligaments.

Your question about supplementation is very easy to answer:

1-pancreatic enzymes
2- Alpha Omega which is a filtrated fish oil that also contains CLA, GLA, Lethicin and Vitamin E
3-MSM, with glucosamine and chrondoitine
4-chicken collagen or any type of collagen with vitamin C

Please let me know what kind of injury it was, and I will give you the rehab exercises.

By the way, eat a lot of grass-fed, very important for joint integrity.

High Cholesterol and Bp?
Hi Dr. Serrano,

My husband has medically controlled high cholesterol and blood pressure and a calcified aortic valve (possibly from rheumatic fever as a child) that frequently causes chest pressure and shortness of breath. I know that grass-fed beef has omega 3 and CLA, but it also has a concentrated amount of saturated fat. Should my husband eat this food in moderation, and, if so, how much or how often is common for guys who are almost 60 with his condition?

He eats very little meat and dairy, choosing soy products instead because this was such a scare for him. His digestion has improved and his numbers are good.

Eat organic grass fed beef, because as I have mentioned in previous articles, it is not the fat, but the source of the fat. If he is getting saturated fats from bad sources, then he is going to get toxins in it. Go for the organic grass fed red meat, but again, the key question is how is he feeling? If he is feeling good with high energy levels, then there is nothing to worry about. If he is feeling low energy levels, then we may need to look at other parts of his diet.

In addition I wouldn't use soy at all because the estrogenic and insulinogenic properties.

Hormone free milk?

Dear Dr. Serrano,

Could you explain the difference between grass-fed hormone free milk and hormone free milk?

Hormone free milk . . . wow, tricky, tricky. The industry is always trying to make some money the easy way, this one doesn't mean it is organic, is just means that the cows they used are in a building eating grain and chemicals but are not getting hormones, and I hate them for that; however, it is marketing.

Grass fed hormone free milk means that the cows are eating grass and grazing like they are supposed to be and not in "prison", they are healthier and have better distribution of fats and proteins than the above.

IT ALSO MEANS THAT CHEMICALS, TOXINS ARE NOT FED TO THE ANIMAL, AND BY THE SAME TOKEN YOU ARE NOT CONSUMING ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Target Heart Rate for Fat Loss?

Dr. Serrano during my last check up my doctor said I had to use a certain target heart rate based on my age to help with fat loss and cardio health. This all seems suspect to me, on another note my wife does 5-6 40 minute sessions of cardio each week on top of 3 days of weight lifting. Is this really necessary for her to stay at a low body fat level long term? I have done very well with the 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis around my workouts, my wife wants to know if it will help her burn fat?

That much cardio is not necessary and counter productive as a high volume of this type of exercise will cause overtraining. Some clear symptoms are not feeling good in general, poor mood, lack of results and low sex drive. Remind your wife that she cannot stay at a very low body fat all year long or there can be some health problems. A large majority of people would be better off with less steady state cardio and more interval sprints which have proven to be more effective for fat loss and conditioning. The target heart rate stuff can provide some guidance, but is not very useful in many situations due to many variables. You should concern yourself with gradually increasing exertion levels within tolerable limits to burn more fat. You can talk to Scott about the many different ways to alter the interval length, tension, inclines etc. Many factors need to change or the routine will get stale.

Taking 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis 30 minutes before training helps to prime the hormonal environment for exercise primarily by lowering stress hormones. Most of my patients report that they are more motivated to exercise when amino loading and this has to do not only with lowering stress, but also the beneficial impact that aminos have on mood. There are many studies that prove amino acid supplementation spares muscle during exercise, but more recently studies show that the use of free form amino acids found with the MR and Muscle Synthesis force the body to use more stored fat as fuel during exercise as well. They compared many food sources before training and then measured how much fat was burned during exercise following, the sources included rice, chicken, juice, whey protein and free form amino acids. There were a couple other sources, but I cannot remember them all. The group who consumed the carb sources before training burned the least amount of fat, while those who took the free form aminos burned the most fat.

Those who are looking to increase endurance performance also see a big improvement when amino loading with 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis, I thought I would mention this since it is related more closely to the cardio format. Even you crazy people who pedal on those spinning bikes will do very well.

Blood Type Diet?

Dear Dr. Serrano,

I've been hearing about all of the wonderful health benefits of CLA from eating grass-fed beef, especially the organ meats like liver. I'm a blood-type A which says to stay away from red meat, would grass-fed beef liver be okay lightly cooked or should I stick with chicken liver? Is chicken liver as beneficial since it doesn't have the CLA that grass-fed beef does?

Thank you for your time,

I used the blood type diet, but it only works about 33% of the time. The diet doesn't take into consideration many things like sex, height, activity levels and etc.

The body requires red meat for two reasons, iron and vitamin B12. The best source is red meat period. When humans used to live in the non supermarket time they were forced to hunt, because agriculture was not available either, and some days the humans eat a lot, and other days none, because they have to hunt it, and they will pick fruits, nuts etc from the floor, as they hunt, that is why I believe every body should eat meat, and I don't like vegetarians either, they are scarier than any thing else.

Seriously, liver has RNA, DNA, proteins and a lot of good stuff that is why the male king lion eats the liver first then the rest of the group can eat the rest of the carcass, liver is a super high concentrate of vitamins, minerals, and proteins that everybody should eat, but from organic sources, because it is the filter of the toxins in the body.

Meat Controversy in my house!

I live in North Palm Beach, FL. I am a young mom of two preteens and have a die-hard, meat-eating husband. We are in a whirlwind of disagreement since I just spent a week in a "raw food" health institute in West Palm Beach where I learned the "detriments" of meat eating which leads to degeneration, as they taught. We ate vegan raw food the entire time there, and my friend dropped 50 points in her cholesterol in 3 weeks. She also became somewhat anemic....... I personally had no adverse effects, and lost 5 lbs in one week. I weigh 110 and am 5'6", so that was a lot for me.

In light of learning of all the recommendations leading to avoiding read meat for consumption, as well as ethical reasons, I started to eat vegetarian when I came home from the stay. So, I have been eating vegan these past two months, with no problems, and my family is very upset. They don't want to join me. This has gone on for two months now. I found U.S. Wellness Meats and read about the farm, grass fed beef, etc, and now am awaiting an order of meat from John, who spoke with me recently. I'm grateful he has healthier food than conventional beef! I figured that if my beautiful family insists upon eating meat, I will at least get them healthy meat. But I still feel as though I am buying them clogged arteries and high cholesterol. Can you tell me how this may be wrong? Can proper omegas and CLA's be gotten from Fish Oil?

Where in all this does cholesterol and heart disease come in? Why does the book "The China Study" have such great implication and strong, researched argument against meat eating if it is really safe? Who is right? What gives???

I would like to know the truth and eat what is healthy! I truly appreciate your help! Thanks for your time!

I am very familiar with the Raw Institute, even though I have not been there myself. I will try to answer your questions without letting you know I dislike the vegan diet.

Your friend losing 50 points of cholesterol doesn't mean a thing. Cholesterol is the most important antioxidant in the body but it is great selling point for the pharmaceutical industry. Cholesterol is the mother of 90% of your hormones and also it is in every cell in your body. Do you know that your body makes 60% of your cholesterol? Did you know that your without the water, is almost all fat?
Did you know that if your cholesterol is less than 155 after 55 or 60 the chances of dying of cancer or suicide increase by 3000%?

Cholesterol lowering doesn't mean a thing unless you have extreme numbers and that is your body telling you something is going on in your body. Did you know that if your cholesterol is high, it may mean that your hormones are low, and because it has to produce more hormones it has to dump more cholesterol into the blood so it can make the hormones necessary to be alive? Did you know that normal cholesterol levels 10 years ago were 250 and now the doctors want to lower that number to 150?

If the body was really made to only eat vegetables, which I can tell you it is not, then we wouldn't make a hormone or an enzyme called elastin. Only carnivores produce this enzyme hormone, and guess what, humans do. Now if you go back to prehistoric era, you have never seen a man building a garden, but there is plenty of evidence they used to kill or cut so they could eat. The reason they needed meat and skin was to protect themselves from the elements and other animals. Agriculture didn't exist until the Egyptians took over the world. They could feed people in one place due to agriculture, but before that time we were mostly nomads, meaning we moved with the food and the seasons. Yes, we ate vegetables, fruits and nuts, but we never stopped hunting to grow vegetables. The best way to really follow vegetarians, is by following a culture that is pure vegetarian, and we still haven't found one, and the closest one is the people from India and they are not pure vegans.

Your body requires B12, vitamin D and other natural sources of necessary or essential nutrients that are provided by meat or fish, and sorry, but vegetables will not give you any of those nutrients. Also where are you going to get the fat that you require to be alive? I would like to know how much energy, and sex drive you feel in 6 months, please let us know.

The problem is the quality of the meat, and not the meat itself, if I give poison to my meat, what do you think you are eating? If you find a dead animal that was poisoned with a lethal dose and you eat it, you are going to get sick, this of course is an extreme but that is what we are doing with our children when we eat the commercially grown meats and nonorganic vegetables. Also where are your vegetables coming from, are they from a hydro farm, are they fresh, who picked the vegetables, what type of soil was used, did they use artificial fertilizers, and who touched them before you ate them?

we have to eat meat, fish and eggs to promote survival, if not you will get sick, trust me on this one.

Yes you can get adequate omega 3 intake and CLA when taking the Alpha Omega, I prefer that some omega 3 come from the diet as well. Grassfed beef is an excellent source of omega 3 as are many fish. Look closely most Essential fatty acid combinations do not include enough CLA to be a factor.

Meat consumption and cholesterol?

I know you are a busy man and have probably had similar questions like mine, but mine is specific to the needs of my husband. His doctors have been trying to put him on a statin for years now. Both of us are trying to avoid these drugs as we feel uncomfortable with the possible side effects.

My husband's recent blood work showed his triglycerides at 102, his total cholesterol at 198, his HDL at 43 (which is up from last years reading by 6 points), his LDL at 135 (same as last years) and his homocysteine is at 7.0 which went down from 11.3 from last years tests. His chol/hdl radio is 4:6.

We have changed his diet and deleted breads, pastas, sugars and most grains, increased his fruit and vegetables, added grassfed beef to his diet along with lean sources of natural protein. Also, he is walking almost everyday and taking supplements such as a multivitamin, cod liver oil, a supplement to manage his homocysteine levels which includes folic acid, some B vitamins and TMG, L-Carnitine, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, CoQ10 and alpha lipoic acid. We try to eat organic and if he does consume dairy it is in the form of organic yogurt.

The main question here is can my husband safely eat grassfed beef products in regard to his cholesterol health and is there anything you would suggest he do differently?

Great question, and I am going to be blunt . . . no way, no way will I prescribed statins to your husband for a cholesterol of only 198. What other risk factors does he have? Hypertension, blood sugars, obesity, family history? Plus the big question is, how he feels; is he feeling sick, tired, depressed? If the answer is no, then I would do this:

1-eliminate cheeses or dairy products, that will lower it more, but he doesn't need to lower his cholesterol
2-to change his ratio, just use chromiun pycolinate 400 to 600mcgs per day
3- continue with your great diet.

Dr. Serrano

High Cholesterol

I recently went for blood work that showed I had elevated total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Is there any reason to be concerned about eating grass fed beef and butter and also raw milk? I am 53 and going through menopause. My HDL is good.

You did not give me your exact numbers; consequently, I cannot give you any recommendations. My criteria are very different than most doctors. Usually when your LDL is high it can be due to a high consumption of cheeses or diary products combined with a lot of carbohydrates and low Chromium. Because of the above and without looking at your numbers, I wouldn't stop beef but I would stop dairy.

Comparing Essential Fatty Acid Products

DR. Serrano there are many fish oil products on the market with more epa and dha per capsule than yours, what makes your alpha omega so much better than all of the others? Peter San Francisco

Dear Peter:

I did not say that my fish oils are better than any other because fish oil is fish oil (assuming the ingredients are not contaminated!), what I said is that the blend that we created of fish oils and other fats is better than any other Essential Fat Products because we offer not only the fish oil you need but in addition we provide the other fats that are necessary for a complete balance of health and fitness. The problem arises from the lack of fish (omega 3 source) consumption and the high intake of omega 6 from other food sources, and to balance that we must consume omega 3, omega 9 and omega 6. The only product on the market that offers the specific ratios of ingredients I have found to be effective is Alpha Omega. The ratio is not based on something that I pulled from my hat but from research studies and from using thousands of patients for human trials to formulate an optimal ratio. Check labels for accessory ingredients to make sure you are getting the full spectrum of what is needed. Also consider who stands behind the product to ensure the quality, contamination within fish oil products is a huge problem. I make sure the raw materials that go into the alpha omega pass rigorous testing including a toxin filtration process that is very expensive. Due to the expense many companies bypass filtration to increase their profits.

Solutions for Cravings

Dr. Serrano for years I have had cravings, mostly for junk food like pizza, cup cakes you name it. On many occasions I give in which is why I am over weight. What can I do to prevent cravings? Is there a supplement I can take to make this go away? My husband has the same problem, but I seem to have it much worse around my cycle. How much of this is mental? Sherry Tacoma

tTwo easy ways to stop cravings if you cant handle it, I assume your cravings are for sweets, so I will give you the answer for that.

gymnemma sylvestre- buy it and chew it before you want to consume something sweet and it will taste awful
100% MR and Muscle Synthesis Powder- mix about a quart of water with 2 scoops of each amino acid formula and sip over an hour period. The ingredients including BCAA and Free Form Amino acids will stop the cravings and the hunger.

Defining Types of Amino Acids

Dr. Serrano I have tried many amino acids stacks over the years and I find the 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis to be the best, I would like to know why they are better so I can explain to others. I know that you use only the purest ingredients, but what is it about the ratios that are so special? Can you also tell me what the difference is between an free form amino and BCAA?

Thanks Justin Las Vegas

Dear Justin:
thank you for your compliments.

Any moron doctor can come up with a amino acid formula but it takes a long time to get the right ratios so it works optimally (I have experimented with amino acid protocols with literally thousands of patients over the last 15 years.) Let me put it in simple terms, if you have a baseball team and you have your best hitter last and your clean up hitter before the last person, how many runs will your team score?, not many but if you have the precise order, and quantity then the team will score a lot of runs, and this is the same with MS and MR, the right quantities at the proper time make a huge difference, that is why we do not reveal the amount of each ingredient.

YOU are asking the wrong question, because BCAA are free form amino acids, a protein source consists of amino acids linked together, when you free each amino acid then they become free. Now keep in mind there are many barriers to both absorption and utilization that must be considered. You are wasting your time if the ingredients cannot be used by the body properly. I spend a great deal of my time working on the utilization end of the spectrum as this is where most challenges exist. Over the years I have learned many techniques through the human trials to boost utilization and ensure patient success.

Flax Oil Vs. Fish Oil

Dr Serrano I have read many books, articles and journals suggesting daily use of flax oil for fat loss. I gather you do not like it for men over 35 for this purpose, may I ask why? What is flax oil good for in your opinion and how does it differ from the actual seeds? I assume if dropping flax oil I should increase my fish oil intake to support fat loss correct?

Thanks Mark Boston

Great question, and here is the answer and it is based in research and my clinical experience.

Flax has alpha linolenic and linoleic and these can transform to EPA, DHA and GLA, but to do this you must have the necessary activity of an enzyme called 5 desaturase. The problem with this enzyme is that the activity is lowered by consuming coffee, sugars, and alcohol. Furthermore a low intake of magnesium, zinc and dietary fat make the problem worse. You can imagine how hard it is to make the enzyme work with all of these barriers interfering and a lack of the right raw materials. As a result dietary fat from flax oil will not be used efficiently so it becomes fuel or triglycerides and body fat. Remember that you still need some alpha linolenic and linoleic sources so have some in small dosages which you can get from Alpha Omega.

Fixing a bad mood?

Dr. Serrano I seem to suffer from bad moods, maybe depression, but I have never been diagnosed by a doctor so I guess a better way to put it is that I just feel down quite a bit. How big of a role does the foods I eat play in this? Can supplements make things better? When I am feeling down I find that only some ice cream or other junk food makes me feel better which has become a big problem when it comes to body fat levels. Tina

Dear Tina:

food intake is critical, you may be manipulating your mood with bad food choices which bring blood sugar levels up and down. You want a steady level of blood sugar so stay away from sweets and eat a medium carb diet with lots of alpha omegas with Muscle Synthesis in between meals so you can keep your levels of neurotransmitters up. Also your vitamin D might be low if you live in the northern area, and if you don't eat good fats then it will be worse.

Please submit questions for Dr. Serrano by emailing scott@infinityfitness.com The questions should not be of a medical nature requesting specific advice for conditions. He will answer questions as quickly as possible based on availability of

None of the statements within this article have been approved by the FDA

Give consideration to my consultation service which provides customized training and nutrition programs so that you can make the best use of your time and effort.

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