Category Archives: Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Multivitamins: Which One Is The Right One For You?

What makes a multivitamin good? How do you know a good one from a not-so-good one?

Well, many multivitamins are good today, and many are not so good. A lot of it depends really on the quality of the raw materials. Other factors to consider are the manufacturing process and the formula.

Are all the vitamins in there? Multivitamins generally contain vitamins A, Bs, C, and E. Those vitamins are pretty standard.

In my opinion, what sets a good multivitamin apart is the balance of all of the trace elements. It’s also essential that the multivitamin contains hard-to-get minerals like molybdenum, manganese, chromium, and vanadium.

In my opinion, many multivitamins are okay, but they are customized for people with digestive problems. For example, most don’t contain any digestive enzymes. I’ve also never seen a multivitamin with an antimicrobial back-end.

Further readings:

After researching the multivitamin field for a long time, I realized that there was a need for a unique multivitamin that included an antimicrobial base. That is how CanXida Rebuild came to be.

Unlike other multivitamins, CanXida Rebuild also contains gum mastic and goldenseal root. Gum mastic can help treat Helicobacter pylori. Golden Seal Root is one of the most potent mucosal antimicrobial you can get in the herbal medicine realm. Rebuild also contains carminative herbs that settle the gut and reduce bloating and gas. Slippery elm is a probiotic that I’ve also included in CanXida Rebuild.

CanXida Rebuild can help reduce symptoms when you are going through a diet transition.
CanXida Rebuild also contains betaine-hydrochloride, a compound that optimizes stomach pH and absorption of nutrients.

Rebuild has now been around for several years. The feedback has been phenomenal. Many people take one to two pills a day on an ongoing basis.

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Questions & Answers

Improve Your Carb Tolerance In Five Easy Steps

Some people complain about not being able to tolerate carbs. They might have issues with resistant starches or soluble fibers. They’ll complain of bloating and gas. These people will believe that they can’t eat bread, potatoes, carrots, squash, rice, pumpkins, and other kinds of carbs.

In my opinion, there are five core reasons why you might have issues digesting starchy and carbohydrate foods.

1. Low levels of stomach acid is a key reason for problems digesting starchy foods. Low stomach can be caused by a myriad of reasons. It could be an infection such as Helicobacter pylori. It could be stress-induced or lifestyle induced (e.g., staying up late night after night).

Eating the wrong kinds of foods can also play havoc with stomach acid levels. Low levels of zinc and B vitamins can reduce the production of hydrochloric acid by the stomach. Lifestyle and diet play a huge part in getting your stomach back into working order.

If the stomach isn’t working correctly, the pancreas won’t function properly. That leads us to reason number two for poor carbohydrate digestion.

2. Lack of sufficient pancreatic amylase interferes with carbohydrate digestion. Check the level of pancreatic elastase 1 (PE 1) in your stool to determine if the pancreatic exocrine function is sufficient.

Exocrine means non-endocrine because, remember, a small portion of the pancreas makes insulin. But the largest portion makes enzymes and also bicarbonate to neutralize the acids – both of which are considered an exocrine function.

The pancreas doesn’t like alcohol. Pancreatic function can also be impaired by type 1 diabetes.

If you have a pancreatic problem, you need to consider enzyme supplements to make sure you don’t develop serious health problems.

Further readings:

3. The third reason for carbohydrate intolerance is the type of diet you eat. Some people go back and forth between different types of diets. You shouldn’t do that to your digestive system. It’s too abrupt.

Be very careful with making dietary changes, make them very slowly and consistently over time. If you want to add a new carbohydrate to your diet, do it slowly, over a couple of weeks. Also, make sure you are eating the right kinds of foods – not the type found wrapped in plastic and packaged in boxes.

4. The fourth reason you might be having problems digesting carbohydrates relates to cooking methods. Some people can tolerate a boiled potato, but not a baked one. Experiment with different ways of cooking carbohydrates until you find one that suits you the best.

5. The fifth factor that can interfere with carbohydrate digestion is stress.
Stress can interfere with digestion, and that includes anxiety about what you’re eating.

You need to back off and relax a lot more, and you’ll find that it’ll be a lot easier for your digestive system.

When the brain is in a relaxed state, the digestion is seriously improved.

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Questions & Answers

Your Lower Esophageal Sphincter: What You Need To Know

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is a round muscle and contracts and closes off down at the bottom of the esophagus that leads into the stomach.

The LES stop the contents of the stomach from coming back up again. If it’s not working well, people can run into problems with swallowing, burping, bloating, heartburn, and feeling sick to their stomach. A poorly functioning LES can result in GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).

The LES works best in people who are not highly stressed, aren’t overweight, and aren’t drinking massive amounts of coffee each day.

People who smoke, who eat lots of chocolates and mints, drink lots of coffee and are larger, are at risk of having a problem with their lower esophageal sphincter. The LES can become saggy, loose, and stop closing correctly, resulting in acid reflux.

What are some of the critical things you can do to strengthen the LES?

To begin with, you need to eat the right kinds of foods.

In my book, Candida Crusher, I review the importance of not eating too fast and throwing everything down the throat like it’s some kind of cement mixer.

Some people will have a cup of coffee, then ice cream, followed by a piece of chocolate, a glass of wine, and a slice of pizza. They seem to think that everything will magically digest properly.

Going to the doctor’s is not going to help because you’ll only get put on a proton-pump inhibitor like Nexium. That’s not the answer.

When you have a digestive problem, think about what might have caused the problem.

Maybe it was the big piece of pizza and a couple of cans of beer. Perhaps you got stressed out and upset.

Years ago, I had a problem with my lower esophageal sphincter. We had three young children, I was quite stressed, and I was eating too fast.

Further readings:

I can remember having reflux and other digestive problems at the time.

When the body is in a fight or flight mode, it’s not going to digest food properly. When it’s in a relaxed mode, what we call the rest and digest, or the parasympathetic dominant part of the autonomic nervous function, you’ll digest very easily.

That’s why it’s important not to watch bad news when you’re eating. I recommend that you put all screens aside and just sit there, relax, and chew your food.

The other step you can take is to get an assessment of your level of stomach acid production. A baking soda or betaine hydrochloride test will tell you how much acid your stomach is making.

You can get your stomach prepped up in making acid, and train it to work better, by adding Swedish Bitters, lemon juice, or some apple cider vinegar to your diet. I recommend Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.

Acidic foods will help tone the LES and get your stomach in better shape.

Lastly, a digestive enzyme-probiotic formula like CanXida Restore can help get your upper GI tract in great shape.

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Questions & Answers

Sugar Alcohols: Are They Safe?

Are xylitol, sorbitol, and other sugar alcohols a safe replacement for sugar?

Xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol are polyols, or sugar alcohols, which are commonly found in fruits. They’re also found in tree bark and vegetables. They tend to be some digestible, although some are partly digestible, and some are indigestible.

Some sugar alcohols are fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides, so keep that in mind.

Studies have indeed shown no serious side effects from these products, even if people are consuming three to four ounces of xylitol a day for two years. Apart from a bit of gastric distress, a bit of diarrhea or bloating or gas, they didn’t have any problems with it.

Why I don’t recommend regular use of sugar alcohols is because they can get people hooked on a sweet taste.

The only sweetening agents I would use in my house would be honey from my own beehives, or pure maple syrup, and even then in moderation.

Further readings:

It’s not a great idea to get hooked on sweet foods. It’s going to disrupt the gut. It’s only going to cause problems down the track. There’s definitely some research demonstrating that sugar alcohols may potentially push people into craving more sugar.

I recommend integrating bitter and sour foods into your diet. You’ll still enjoy sweet foods but no so much.

Do I think that sugar alcohols are a safe replacement for sugar?

Well, I think they are. These sorts of sugars are certainly safer than the artificial sweeteners that are widely researched and shown to be linked with many different problems, including brain dysfunction.

I certainly endorse xylitol and stevia as natural sugars. There’s very robust evidence that xylitol has a great effect on stopping streptococcus mutans, or the plaque formation on teeth.

Even though sugar alcohols are okay, I still suggest you don’t overdo it.

Try not to get used to anything really sweet in life. You’re going to enjoy your food a lot more if you don’t have this constant need to have something sweet in your diet.

If you do want something sweet, have berries. Berries are quite sweet to eat and they also contain phytochemicals that provide health benefits.

Try and take the focus off of having sweets. Make your diet about enjoying food for other reasons.

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Questions & Answers

Zinc Carnosine And Your Gut: What You Need To Know

Is zinc carnosine good for the GI system?

Zinc is an essential mineral for everyone, but it is particularly essential for males.
It’s incredible how many people I’ve seen over the years in my clinic with zinc deficiency.
You can do a zinc taste test if you go to your health food store and ask for a small bottle of Zinc Tally or zinc taste test, and just read the instructions on the bottle to test yourself for zinc.

Zinc’s very important. You can’t make stomach acid without zinc, so you need zinc, B1, and B6, I believe. Those are the three core elements you need to make stomach acid. The stomach can’t produce proper acid without zinc, and zinc can’t be absorbed without enough stomach acid, so it’s quite a vicious cycle.

When zinc levels are sufficient, and the pH of the stomach is nice and acidic, the pancreas is stimulated to create picolinic acid.

Picolinic acid is very important because it’s one of the main binding mechanisms for trace elements, including selenium and vanadium, to get into the body.

In other words, zinc is necessary to ensure other trace elements are being properly absorbed. If you’re deficient in zinc, you can end up deficient in a number of micronutrients.
Zinc carnosine is zinc bound to carnitine. Studies have shown that zinc carnosine is particularly good for ensuring a sufficient supply of stomach acid.

Further readings:

I once read an interesting study which showed that about 100 milligrams of zinc carnosine per day protects the stomach lining better than a drink designed to protect the mucosa from hyperacidity.

Most people who take proton pump inhibitors would benefit from zinc carnosine.
Zinc carnosine has even been used in high dose, short term for Helicobacter pylori patients. But in my opinion, zinc picolinate is also just as good.

Males lose more zinc with one emission of ejaculation than a woman will lose in 30 days. The reason being is that seminal fluid contains reasonably high amounts of zinc to buffer that solution, which aids with fertility.This is why men have lower zinc levels than women.
I started to take a lot of zinc years ago, not because I was deficient, but to see what would happen. I found my sense of smell and taste markedly improved.

I strongly recommend that everyone get a zinc taste test to ensure that Ievels are good.
Zinc is necessary for RNA and DNA transcription. If you want to prevent a lot of serious diseases, you want to ensure that cellular reproduction is proceeding as it should. Zinc will prevent a wonky or dodgy transcription. It’s also crucial for fetal growth, so women who are trying to conceive need adequate zinc levels.

Zinc is also essential for white blood cell function. It also has anti-viral effects.
Due to its role in neurotransmitter production, zinc can help people with anxiety and depression.

Zinc, B6, and magnesium is the classic triad called the glucose tolerance factors. Having sufficient zinc levels will reduce the chances you’ll snack on crappy food because blood sugar is better regulated.

There you have it.

Is zinc carnosine good?

It’s very good, but don’t forget to test your zinc levels as well.

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