Coconut Cream:
In the past, there has been a common theme in the discussion of what health disasters might be inherited from our familial gene pool. The thought process goes something like this: my mom had cancer, and so will I; my whole family has thyroid challenges, and so will I; I come from a family of diabetics, and that will ultimately be my fate—what a bleak outlook.
Thankfully, much research has come to the forefront to disprove these theories, including the science of epigenetics. Your genetics are NOT set in stone. If your mom has diabetes, that may not be your ultimate diagnosis later in life.
We can now free ourselves from the dread that permeates generations who worry about heart disease, diabetes, thyroid challenges, cancer, and weight loss resistance and link these challenges to lousy family genetics. Now we can celebrate a newfound understanding that it is mostly our environment and our mindset that determines our future, NOT our genes.
In recent times, many studies1 are proving this new premise. And the evolving science of epigenetics (the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression) reveals facts about our gene pool that have never before been discussed. These studies are now handing us the responsibility to care for our bodies and emotions, so unhealthy family genes do not get expressed.
For example, the Human Genome Project started in 1988 to map out genes to lead to some breakthrough studies in healing many incurable illnesses. But what they found was surprising. Not only did we find that human beings possess fewer genes than previously documented, the very genes we thought we knew so much about operated quite differently.
In 1988, John Cairns, a British Molecular Biologist, proved that our environment in which we live and to which we are exposed has everything to do with how our genes express2.
In an article written by Konstatin Eriksen entitled “The Science of Epigenetics: How Our Minds Can Reprogram our Genes”3 in Wake-Up World, he writes the following about Carins amazing discoveries:
“…Cairns took bacteria whose genes did not allow them to produce lactase, the enzyme needed to digest milk sugar, and placed them in petri dishes where the only food present was lactase. Much to his astonishment, all of the petri dishes had been colonized by the bacteria within a few days, and they were eating lactose. The bacterial DNA had changed in response to its environment.
This experiment has been replicated many times, and they have not found a better explanation than this obvious fact – that even primitive organisms can evolve consciously.
So, information flows in both directions, from DNA to proteins and from proteins to DNA, contradicting the ‘central dogma.’ Genes can be activated and de-activated by signals from the environment. The consciousness of the cell is inside the cell’s membrane. Every cell in our bodies has a type of consciousness. Genes change their expression depending on what is happening outside our cells and even outside our bodies…”
Let’s elaborate. All humans share about 99% of the same DNA. We all have the same genes, and that is why we don’t look like rabbits. But since that is so, why do some people get sick and others do not?
The epigenome (a multitude of chemical compounds that tell the genes what to do) can be thought of as the body's software, and the genes act as the hard drive from our parents. We inherit a certain set of genes, and some get turned on or expressed, and some do not.
Gene expression is determined by many factors: our environment or habitat, which may either be healthy or polluted, our lifestyle (junk food, organic food, tons of sugar, healthy fats, to name a few), and our habits (too much alcohol, staying up too late, getting enough sleep and creating a peaceful environment).
A study at Duke University4 took 2 sets of identical twin mice. Researchers separated mice into 2 groups and gave them the same diet and exercise routine; but, one thing was different. One set of identical twin mice were exposed to a carcinogenic chemical called BPA, found abundantly in our environment (often in plastic bottles and personal care products).
What was the result? In the mice exposed to BPA, it turned ON a gene called the agouti gene. The agouti gene predisposes one to obesity, thyroid, and cardiovascular disease. The exposed mice became obese, their fur turned an unhealthy color of yellow, and they produced offspring that were obese from birth.
The study's positive outcome was they were able to turn off the agouti gene with the addition of certain nutrients that turned on their capabilities of methylation. When this occurred, even though the mice were still exposed to BPA, the next generation of mice did not inherit the turned on agouti gene.
We must increase our methylation capabilities to help protect our cells from a polluted environment. Methylation is the process by which the body turns stress hormones on and off. If you have methyl group depletion, the body will have more toxins and inflammation to turn on bad genes.
In a previous article, I wrote about methylation, saying this: “…a researcher and doctor named Dr. Alan Vinitsky theorized that due to the importance of methylation…and its multiple functions, there must be a prioritization of the valuable methyl groups (used) in many life-sustaining functions. There is a hierarchy of importance…and survival is always at the top… if methyl groups are lacking, your body will use them first to adapt to stress…and if there are a lack of methyl groups, (other) needs are not met, and new problems arise such as DNA damage (cancer) or gene’s susceptibility to (turn on bad genes)…”
The product I often use to increase methylation is called MoRS by Systemic Formulas. In the same article discussing methylation, I wrote, “The methylation cycle is very complex, with many rate-limiting factors that can cause depletion. MoRS is the only product I know of currently that addresses all of them. Using certain active forms of methyl donors utilized in the cell without being converted to another form, such as 5 methyltetrahydrofolates, is important because many people genetically do not have enzymes to make the conversion (known as the MTHFR genetic SNP) and are predisposed to methyl depletion. These individuals are more prone to toxic build-up, and need to take the correct product with the active forms of the B vitamins such as MoRS…”
MoRS is an important product to increase methylation I use for my clients. We can only protect ourselves so much from our environment. And when we are inadvertently exposed to daily chemical stressors or silver amalgam fillings in our mouth (heavy metals damage methylation capabilities), we can take MoRS as an insurance policy. Our cells count on methylation for proper function, and we want to do everything possible to keep them healthy and thriving.
Brilliant biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of “Biology of Belief,” discusses how day-to-day thoughts and attitudes can change gene expression. In an article based on my interview with Dr. Lipton, I wrote, “…(Dr. Lipton concludes that) our bad thoughts have the ability to create inflammation and our good thoughts can reduce inflammation. In fact, our brain is the chemist: it creates the chemistry of our blood. When we are in love, we release oxytocin and dopamine (“feel good” neurotransmitters) that create a feeling of immense well-being and stability.
Conversely, when we have angry, worried thoughts that create fear and anger, those stress chemicals cause inflammation. It shuts down the growth of cells; in other words, fear and anger kill cells! Cells only see the picture you have in your mind; they don’t have the ability to see the real world.
So the chemistry of the blood changes with the pictures in mind. As it views this picture, the brain creates certain neurochemicals consistent with the picture, thus turning it into biology.
(When) the mind misinterprets the world, our cells don’t know it is not true, and fear shuts down all cellular protection. And in this state of fear and anger, when we have an infection, our cells can’t protect themselves, and stress shuts down our immune system to conserve energy. Every day, as we bath ourselves in stress, it systematically shuts down our protective forces…”
The stunning conclusion is that negative belief systems, self-talk, unconscious limiting beliefs, and low esteem can turn into bad genes. I suggest reading Dr. Lipton’s “Biology of Belief” and following his suggestions on turning around unhealthy thought patterns.
The study of epigenetics is exciting and motivating. Unfortunately, the conventional world is not fully embracing this science (yet anyway). Many docs still believe you get cancer because your parents had cancer. But now we know that few diseases are purely genetic, meaning a complete chromosome error. I am talking about thyroid disease, diabetes, weight loss resistance, etc., is that we can look to the science of epigenetics for answers. The discussion we need to have is how to turn these bad genes off.
We live in an instant gratification society, and most patients want instant results. But we have to remember that it took generations and one’s own lifetime to turn bad genes on, and it will take time and commitment to get them turned off. It’s easy to blame our parent's and grandparent’s genes, but it most probably was their lifestyle, diet, environment, and thoughts that created an unfavorable gene pool.
Another well-known study followed 2 identical twin females. One got cancer, and the other did not. Again, they were able to trace it back to huge variances in their lifestyle and environment. We have to keep in mind that we need to change our environments and remain as toxin and stress-free as possible.
The TIME article, “How Exercise Can Change your DNA,”5 explained that certain types of high-intensity exercise would affect enhancer genes (genes involving carbohydrate metabolism). This has to do with how muscles use energy to burn fat. So, with high-intensity exercise, we can turn on genes that make us efficient fat burners, turn up our metabolism and make better use of insulin—another reason why exercise positively affects diabetes.
In the research study referred to in the article, it is so difficult to study exercise because so many variables affect our genes. How do we know which exercise is affecting the genes? In the study, participants exercised only one way; on a bike using either the right or the left leg, they were able to isolate what genes were turned on.
If we want to lose weight, high-intensity exercise (or burst training) can turn the genes that make us better fat burners and help us utilize insulin more effectively.
Watch my video on burst training and get your heart rate up to 80% maximum. When you do burst training, exercise hard for at least 30 seconds to 2 minutes, then take 1-2 minutes to recover and repeat that cycle at least 3-4 times. I suggest bursting 2-4 times per week, always allowing adequate recovery time.
Obviously, it is pretty impossible to live in a chemical-free, stress-free environment. But again, MoRS helps to turn on methyl groups that determine how we adapt to stress, activate positive stress responses, and increase methylation. If we are properly methylated, we can normally respond to stress and adapt. Disease boils down to the ability or inability to adapt to stress: when we don’t adapt, we turn on bad genes.
What about your toxic bucket? We all have different sized “toxic buckets,” meaning that we have different abilities to tolerate stress and handle toxic exposure, much of which is determined by our methylation capabilities.
If you picture a bucket with stressors inside, they either accumulate or get cleared away. But chemical stressors tend to bio-accumulate in this bucket, and with any extra stress or toxic exposure, the bucket overflows. We need to empty our toxic buckets that can turn off our bad DNA. PompaCore Cellular Detox™ will help to empty chemical stressors from the bucket.
One thing is definite: we must detoxify our cells. I am not talking about a colon cleanse or a liver cleanse, although there is nothing wrong with doing those cleanses. I am referring to is a process called PompaCore Cellular Detox™.
Please read my article about the 5R’s of PompaCore Cellular Detox and Healing™. R2 is Regenerating the Cellular Membrane. We now know that it is the cell membrane that turns genes on and off. In fact, it is the cell membrane that holds the intelligence.
The cell membrane looks at your environment, determining whether it is good or bad, and then changes the way genes are expressed. On the outside of each cell, attached to the cell membrane, are different hormone receptors. If they sense toxins, this registers, and it changes the nucleus of the cell, thus affecting the genome.
My 5R’s of PompaCore Cellular Detox and Healing™ are a roadmap for fixing cellular dysfunction. We have many different support products to change each part of the cell called core cellular products. And if you read these articles (R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5) explaining my 5R’s, you can understand how to fix your genome.
I recently implemented a very comprehensive 3-month program to detoxify cells called the PompaCore Cellular Detox™ program. It not only provides 3 months of the best nutritional and herbal support possible, but it educates you through a series of articles and videos that are unparalleled. It is well worth your investigation.
You can change your gene expression, but you have to change your environment, clean out your toxic bucket and empty your stressors. Only then will you start to adapt better to any stress (physical, chemical, or emotional). Eventually, you can start to control your DNA. High-intensity exercise, a healthy diet, and taking cellular support products will help you reach this goal over time. If you do, in a year from now, your gene expression could be quite different.
The “How To” of True Heavy Metal Detoxification and Chelation Using Proper Heavy Metal Chelating Agents and Detox Protocols
The key to properly detox heavy metals and heavy metal chelation is using a true chelator or chelating agent within its “half-life” in the body. The half-life of a substance in the body is defined as, “The time it takes for the blood plasma concentration of a substance to halve (plasma half-life) its steady-state,” or when it has lost “half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity.”[1] In other words, the chelating agent needs to be taken often enough so that there is sufficient amounts left in the blood and body to keep the metals from recirculating and redistributing to other cells within body tissues. In the case of dimercapto succinic acid (DMSA), it needs to be taken every 4 hours, which is its half-life. Taking DMSA at its half-life keeps the chelating agent at consistent enough levels for heavy metals to move safely and effectively out of the body. To explain this more simply, keeping the true chelating agents like DMSA consistent in the body is similar to having a hepa filter in your body extracting metals versus a feather duster. A feather duster just moves it around; a hepa filter permanently removes the toxins.
This process works and it saved my life and thousands of others. It is the only protocol that is both safe and effective. With that said, there is more to true heavy metal detox than using a true heavy metal chelator and understanding its half-life. I discuss this in detail in other articles I have written on PompaCore Cellular Detoxification and restoration. Maintaining cell function is critical for the heavy metal detox process to work smoothly and effectively. For example, raising and maintaining INTRACELLULAR glutathione is key to not just protect the DNA, but to keep the toxins, such as heavy metals, moving out of the cells. Glutathione doesn’t do a great job of taking heavy metals completely out of the body, but it does protect the brain from circulating metals like mercury. Raising glutathione in the cell also moves heavy metals out of deeper cellular “store houses” of heavy metals that also need to be removed. Please see my 5R’s of Cellular Healing and Detox articles for more information. These articles explain the importance and process of cellular preparation and detoxification:
Before I, or any other practitioner we train, begin any heavy metal detoxification protocol, we also prepare and restore critical detoxification pathways, which include the liver, kidneys, lymphatic and intestinal systems. You must keep these down-stream detox pathways open during the detoxification process or cycle. This is another important reason why it is necessary to work with a practitioner trained in this protocol. Now that we have this foundation, let’s go deeper into how to perform true heavy metals detoxification of substances like mercury and lead.
What is a Safe Heavy Metal Detox Protocol and Detox Cycle?
We already discussed DMSA and its half-life for proper heavy metal chelation. Next, we need to discuss the length and cycling of DMSA during a protocol. For example, it is necessary to take this oral chelator for at least 4 days before you stop. Typically, if you stop AFTER 4 days, little if any metal will be left in circulation to redistribute. If you stop BEFORE 4 days, very little, if any, heavy metals will redistribute and cause unwanted symptoms. Once the heavy metals are cleared from the “shallower stores” in the body, in approximately 4 days, a resting period must begin. Two (2) things happen during this resting period in the body. One, the heavy metals residing deeper in the tissues and cells will begin to move from higher concentration areas to lower concentration areas in the body. Two, detox pathways, enzymes, antioxidants, and nutrients etc. necessary for effective and safe detoxification are allowed to reestablish in the body. We have found that a 10-day off-cycle is sufficient for these two things to occur. Once again, you can see why utilizing a doctor trained in proper heavy metal detoxification protocols is helpful and at time necessary. Otherwise, your detox can become dangerous. We train our doctors on how to support the body in both the on-cycle and off-cycle heavy metal detoxification process.
The next 4-day on cycle will re-clear the heavy metal(s), such as lead and mercury, which have moved out of the high concentration cells and tissues during the off cycle. As I stated before, raising glutathione in the cell during the 4-day on cycle helps this process and prevents any metal from crossing into the brain and moving into other cells and tissues. Also, utilizing a binding agent in the gut helps to prevent metals that make their way to the gut during detox from being reabsorbed. This is known as “auto-intoxication” and is a classic oversight of most practitioners. Please see the R1 article HERE.
How Long Does Heavy Metal Chelation and Detoxification Take?
Perhaps a great mistake of practitioners is not telling their patients the reality of the time this process takes. If a practitioner states that the metals measured on a heavy metal challenge test can be removed in a few months, you know you are in the wrong place. They may even test you afterwards and say, “Look your heavy metals are cleared,” but this far from the truth. It took 20-40 years for heavy metals to bio-accumulate in your tissues, so does it make sense to you that it will come out that quickly? Of course not! No logical person would think it would once we stop and think about it. If it all came out that quickly, you would be permanently damaged or it could even be fatal. Your body is not designed like this. True detoxification and restoration must happen daily and relatively slowly. On average it takes 2 years to remove the majority of most heavy metals like mercury from the body. However, with my high mercury levels and genetically weak heavy metal detoxification pathways, it took me 4 years. Because of my genetic weakness, I still chelate periodically to maintain stability and performance. At one point during the detox (typically after a year), we purposely start to extend the heavy metal chelation off-cycles to provide the metals more time to move out of the deeper “store houses” or deeper tissues. There is also new research for those of you who are detoxing lead that states it can take up to 10 to 15 years for periodic chelation therapy. The reason for this extended period is that lead is stored deep within the bone and during certain life changes, it is released as a result of normal bone loss and regeneration. For example, one study indicates that seniors between the ages of 65-87 with high lead levels, who are losing bone as a part of natural aging, were nearly 60% more likely to die during the 12 year study. They concluded the lead being released from the bone is increasing their rate of heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and weight gain. [2] In the case of lead, this amount of time and chelation sounds challenging, however, we teach our clients on this process and system and they are eventually able to do it on their own. We believe in empowering individuals by teaching them what to do and continue to do to get their own life back. This is how we are able to help individuals who have not been able to get their life back anywhere else.
Removing Heavy Metals from the Brain
After 3 months of DMSA ONLY cycling, we add a fat-soluble chelator to the protocol to expedite the metals from the brain. We call this the “brain phase” and this is where the real magic happens. Recalling what I said earlier, it is the mercury in the brain that causes the real problems and symptoms. Studies indicate heavy metals, mercury in particular, bio-accumulate over time in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, which is the control center of the hormone system in the body. In Part 2 of this series, we discuss how catastrophic this is to how we function and live. The good news is to offset this damage, during the brain phase; it is typically safe and effective to support the hypothalamus and pituitary. As a warning, I have found that supporting these tissues too early may cause the release of metal before the rest of the body is cleared. This is another major mistake that poorly trained doctors make, causing their clients unwanted symptoms. Along those lines there is a timing supporting the thyroid and adrenals during detox and cellular healing. Violating the timing can cause weight gain instead of weight loss, restless sleep, fatigue, brain fog, irritability and irrational behavior.
I recall reading something that Andrew Cutler Ph.D., a great researcher who teaches a similar protocol, said…that after 6-9 months of the brain phase, some symptoms may come back but after you push through this time, your life really begins to change [3]. In other words, finally, the dimmed lights become brighter and you can start to see life clearly again with far less symptoms. Many of you reading this article are living in the dark and you did not know how you got there because the lights dimmed slowly over time and you never noticed. Life can get better when you remove the cause. I can say for sure that after a year, I was nowhere near being done but I had my life back. How do you know when you’re done? Dr. Cutler always said, if you can go 6 months without chelation and have no symptoms. In my experience, I believe a real measure is when you can go 9 months to a year, symptom free, without oral chelation therapy. I had said earlier that typically after a year, I tell individuals to try to go longer off cycles or allow more time for the metal to come out of the deeper tissues. During these chelation breaks, many symptoms start to resurface if you are off-cycle too long. I recall going 2-3 months without chelation (a very long off-cycle) and my wife would tell me I needed to get back on DMSA as she would see the signs and symptoms before I would or wanted to admit. She was always right. Literally, with one or two pills, I would be a new person. The lights came back on! Another time after 7 month off, I thought I made it but, again, my wife told me to get back on. This time I didn’t want to hear it. I fought her on it because I just wanted to be done this time, but she was right again. The metals just come out in waves like peeling back an onion. It takes time but you will get your life back.
True Hope and NO Gimmicks
Heavy metal toxicity is one of Three (3) major sources that I see at the root of so many different health challenges, especially those who suffer with unexplainable symptoms. I believe in my heart that God allowed me to go through what I went through and have victory over it, to bring this message to the millions that are suffering with no true answers. They spend thousands on the next gimmick or product with great marketing, but with little change to their well-being. I also know that God will use your suffering for a greater purpose as well. Never give up looking for the cause because it always exists, and when you remove it, the body really does heal itself; God designed it to do so. Continue to put your hope and trust in Him and ask Him to lead you to that cause…He will not fail you nor forsake you.
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