Nutrition Nutz, with Jim Wilk C.N.C.

Adrenal and Thyroid Health Plus Anti-Aging with Dr. Mark Stengler, Emerald Labs

• Jim Wilk C.N.C. • Season 5 • Episode 10

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Optimal health begins in your gut! In this episode of Nutrition Nutz, we are excited to feature naturopathic medical doctor Mark Stengler, who shares insights from his book, "The Holistic Guide to Gut Health." Learn how a healthy gut can transform your brain, skin, heart, and immune system, and discover practical strategies for enhancing your gut health through diet, supplements, and stress management. Dr. Stengler also discusses his collaboration with Emerald Labs and the importance of quality supplements in achieving wellness.

Have you ever wondered about the biochemical magic behind methylation and nutritional supplements? Dr. Stengler breaks down the role of leaky gut syndrome and its increasing recognition in mainstream medicine, supported by reputable sources like Frontiers in Immunology and Harvard. He also dives into his work with Emerald Labs, emphasizing the benefits of hypoallergenic, additive-free supplements. Gain insights into the significance of methylated nutrients and how understanding the methylation process can elevate your health.

Addressing adrenal and thyroid health is crucial for many, and in our final chapter, Dr. Stangler brings his expertise to the table. We talk about common nutritional deficiencies, the impact of soil depletion, and the often misunderstood concept of adrenal fatigue. Learn how to test for adrenal function and the role of supplements, like Adrenal Health, in maintaining adrenal function, with a special focus on Sensoril Ashwagandha. We also explore natural approaches to managing thyroid dysfunction, including supplements like Thyroid Health and Hashimune Health, the critical role of iodine, and ways to address thyroid issues beyond synthetic medications. Don't miss out on this comprehensive guide to naturally supporting your adrenal and thyroid health for overall wellness.

Use coupon code "NUTZ" (in your cart) for 15% off your entire order of featured products on our sponsor's website: HollyHillVitamins.com.

Jim Wilk:

Welcome to Nutrition Nut, where we explore breakthroughs in nutrition science, wellness trends and dietary supplements. You'll hear from industry leaders, health practitioners and research scientists giving you cutting-edge insights and actionable tips for living your healthiest life. I am your host and also head nut, Jim Wilk, certified nutritionist. Thanks to our main sponsor, hollyllyhillvitamins. com, the place for great selection, service and prices. Welcome all my fellow nutrition nuts. Well, today I'm excited to have back naturopathic medical doctor Mark Stangler. Dr Stangler and I have done a few shows over the years and I've always found them to be informative and enlightening, and I hope today will be no exception.

Jim Wilk:

Dr Stangler received his doctorate of naturopathic medicine from the National University of Natural Medicine. He also has a master's of science in human biology from Liberty University. Additional degrees include a master of Religious Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. In addition, dr Stangler has a Certificate in Advanced Metabolic Endocrinology from the Metabolic Medical Institute. He has completed coursework in logic and reasoning from Oxford University. He is also the author and co-author of more than 20 books, including one of my favorites, the Best-Selling Prescription for Natural Cures, also Outside the Box Cancer Therapies and Healing the Prostate. He has published several peer-reviewed medical journals, including the International Journal of Family and Community Medicine, endocrinology and Metabolism International Journal, and also the Journal of Nutritional Health and Food Engineering and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. He was voted in 2021 Doctor of the Decade by the International Association of Top Professionals. He has served on a medical advisory committee for the Yale University Complementary Medicine Outcomes Research Project and he and his wife, dr Angela Stengler.

Jim Wilk:

They run the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine, ncinitas, California. So if you're in the area, got to go see him there. So today I think we're going to discuss adrenal thyroid support and hopefully maybe touch on some anti-aging stuff, which is such a growing field these days. He is also associated with Emerald Labs and the cool thing about Emerald Labs is that they're an additive-free supplement company. We're going to go into a little bit about that.

Jim Wilk:

There's so many companies on the market that he uses these formulations in his well. He's actually the formulator for most of their products and he uses them in his practice. So we're going to go over some of those and talk about some of the trademarked ingredients and why the company, in my opinion, is one of the better ones out there. The company, in my opinion, is one of the better ones out there. So hang in there. And here's Dr Mark Stangler and on the line, as promised, we have Dr Mark Stngler. Thank you so much for joining us today, dr Mark. I appreciate it. We go back a long ways and done a few old radio shows together and I'm really thrilled to have you on here today on the podcast. And you're out in California and got to get out there one day and see, I wish we had a Stengler Clinic here on the East Coast here.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

I hear you.

Jim Wilk:

Definitely be one. You have to just spread out a little bit more. I've talked about a few of the books that you've written in the past and I see you came out with a new publication on the gut biome, and can you explain a little bit how it went into that?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, my new book is the Holistic Guide to Gut Health, and what I do in the book is I really go through the science. You know, for the layperson, how the gut really affects every organ system, every cell in the body. We know there's this connection, you, this connection between your gut and your brain, your skin, your eyes, your muscles, joints, heart, liver, immune system, everything, and so, to be healthy, as you know, a lot of this is influenced by the gut, which is the gatekeeper. So in a book I do focus a lot on the small intestine and the concept, the real concept, of leaky gut, and then, of course, I get into the microbiome as well and then again how you can understand the connection between your body and the gut, as well as, obviously, digestive problems, but then how to repair the gut health through diet and supplements and stress reduction and things like that.

Jim Wilk:

I heard recently that some of the medical field, the traditional medical field, allopathic medicines. They don't really think of leaky gut as a real problem out there, or they don't like the name or something. How do you feel about that there?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, you know it's interesting. So what I did in the book is I went through and I quoted major medical journals who acknowledged leaky gut was real. For example, like one reference, I reference Frontiers in Immunology obviously very mainstream and here's a quote from them Disruption of the epithelial barrier increases intestinal permeability, resulting in leaky gut syndrome. So I took all these major medical journals and I quoted them in there, because you know, I hear the same thing. I even quoted a quote from Harvard who acknowledged leaky gut was real. So yeah, it's actually in the literature pretty good.

Jim Wilk:

That must be frustrating, I'll tell you.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah.

Jim Wilk:

Okay, so you have your clinic. You run along with your wife Angela there, and how long have you been doing that now in the clinic?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, I'm hitting my, just finishing my 29th year.

Jim Wilk:

Oh gee, goodness gracious that's great and it's thriving, I hope.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, we're doing well. Doing well In spite of the California economics and everything else going on, here we're doing good Good good.

Jim Wilk:

Well, we're here going to be talking about a company that I really enjoy having or participating with. It's called Emerald Labs and I'd like you to discuss I know you do a lot of the formulations for them and I will go into that. Tell me something a little about the company and why did you decide to align yourself with them?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, so Emerald Labs actually connected with the owner, ick Simpson boy. I think we're hitting probably 17, 18 years ago, and I found we were very like-minded. So we had the Emerald Labs and they do their own manufacturing. But what attracted me to their company was they really were the leaders in making hypoallergenic formulas. So you know, as a holistic doctor, we're also very sensitive about chemicals and purity of ingredients and all that.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

And well, in my opinion, the supplement world is much better than the pharmaceutical world. You know there is a variation in the quality of supplements out there, which we all know. And so I found, wow, emerald's really the leader in hypoallergenic, not using like binders and fillers and dyes and soy and sugar and gluten and all that. I'm like, wow, this is exactly where I focus off my patients. So we really resonated on that level. And then the fact that they were open to creating formulas, formulas that we would use as holistic doctors with patients, meaning things have studies behind them, human studies. We're using the same types of concentrations of extract, the same doses of studies, being more comprehensive, more clinical, and between those two things that's where we really hit it off together, and so I've been working with him I think almost 15, 20 years now.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, I recall his integrity. It's rare to see he's so particular about what goes into his products that he'll do processes. You know, folks, there's a lot of manufacturing processes out there for making supplements and stuff. He does it the I wouldn't want to say the old-fashioned way, but he does it. Speed is not important to him and it's the quality and the reason why a lot of other companies use binders and fillers and things like that, because it makes the process easier but not necessarily better. And I always admired that about him.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

No, you're exactly right, and that's why, when they are a manufacturer of supplements, they cannot do the large runs at a time like other companies, because it is more involved process and the speed will be slower. But that's what we have to do to have the highest quality and purity. So you're right. You understand that perfectly.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, and all the trademarked ingredients that he uses explain to people what that means when you see a trademark ingredient in a supplement.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, generally the trademark ingredients. These are, say, herbal extracts or other nutrients which have human studies on them, you know, published peer-reviewed human studies, and then they're trademarked. And so we're always in our formulas or in our combination formulas and single ones too, where we are using ingredients which have human published studies behind. We want to make sure these things work on the right dose and concentration and the safety and all that. And so you'll see these trademarked ingredients. Yes, they cost the manufacturers more money, but we want to guarantee we're using things that have been proven to work. We don't want theoretical things, we want things we know work. So you'll see those in our products for sure, a lot of trademark ingredients which have had the studies done on them. Whereas a lot of companies they may use maybe the same herb or nutrient, it's not exactly the same. It doesn't have the human studies. Could it work? Yeah, it could, but will it work as good? Maybe not.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Right, exactly, and I might've known this, but I have to apologize, I forgot. Do you know why it's called Emerald? Why did he use that term? That's a good question. I don't recall. I should know the answer to that. I'm going to find out.

Jim Wilk:

I mean, he doesn't look Irish to me for some reason. I don't know.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

No, that's great. He looks more like British to me. But that's a good question. I'll have to check that out.

Jim Wilk:

All right, so let's get into a little bit here. You know, I see a lot of clients and all of a sudden and I don't know if you've noticed this people are actually asking for methylated products out here, methylated nutrients, and I'd like you to put it again into layman's terms there, also for myself, because I'm no scientist. Let's talk a little bit about the methylation process and why it's important. Why does Emerald Labs use some of these methods?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Right? Well, methylation is a biochemical term and it basically means in our cells there's all these biochemical processes occurring, thousands of reactions per second really and so one of the things that occurs in our cells is called methylation, which is a fancy way of saying you're taking a carbon and three hydrogen and it's being attached to different molecules, and what that allows to happen in biochemistry allows for energy to be produced, it allows your detoxification pathways to work properly, it allows your body to make hormones and neurotransmitters so obviously very fundamental processes in the body and methylation. It requires different nutrients, requires things like magnesium, for example, but it really requires B vitamins, b12, folate the natural folate and B6 and some B3. So when you get supplements like these B vitamins, you can get them in their methylated form, which means they're in the form which, when you take them, absorb into your bloodstream, go to your cells. They're ready for your cells to use.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

When you use like synthetic B vitamins, let's say like folic acid, which is a man-made attempt to duplicate naturally occurring folate, like you find in food, say like in oranges, beans and things like that, and so, because it's a little bit different structure, it has to go through a series of metabolism in your cells to be in its active final form. So obviously, if you're one of these 60% of the population where our genes are such where we really have some issues trying to take those synthetic B vitamins and then processing them into their active final form, well, we need to bypass that and that's what Emerald, I think, was one of the first to do it and always have done it for many, many years and using like methylated B vitamins, so like the methylcobalamin B12, the methylfolate, et cetera, and so then your cells can utilize them right away and then that can help in things like your mood and your energy and your detoxification and hormone balance and all that and even your immune system function.

Jim Wilk:

And how does the genes play a role in this? They say in the United States there's like half the people they inherit that normal gene but a lot of them have a weaker variations of it. How does that come into play?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, so we all have these methylation genes. The one we're referring to more is like MTHFR. There's two primary types of it. I won't get into the details but, yeah, about half of the population.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

The way our genes are, if we're using synthetic B vitamins there can be issues, there can be problems metabolizing our cells so we can get the benefits from it. So then if we use the methylated form, where it doesn't have to go through all these different steps to be processed, so to speak, final active form, then our cells then can use those B vitamins and make the energy and help the detoxification systems, help our cell DNA, repair all these important processes. So in my mind I mean, why would anyone not want to use methylated B vitamins, which you know a lot of the forms, especially like to be honest, especially things like in the pharmacies and stuff? You know these cheap B vitamins. They're usually not methylated, so people are not getting the best kinds and for some people it's very, very important.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

For example, if you're a woman and you're, you know, planning to be pregnant, become pregnant, and you, you know, in half the population, we have an issue. Or maybe you're in the 25% of the population, we have a big problem where you inherited a variation from both parents, not just one. Well, you know, we know now that could that predispose you to having birth defects with your child, or maybe a person prone to depression. Studies have shown that people who have this genetic variation, if you don't get the methyl AB vitamins, you're more prone to depression because you can't make the serotonin, the dopamine, these neurotransmitters, these chemicals that influence our brain. You can't make them effectively and so the brain can't work by magic. So this can be very important for you know, especially certain people.

Jim Wilk:

How do people go about finding out if they have this gene problem? I guess it's a little easier today than it was years past.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, I mean there's a couple ways they can do it. I mean, you know, nowadays there's labs online where you could get the MTHFR gene tested or be under a methylation panel. But the regular labs that doctors use can run it too. You know the large labs doctors use around the country. It can be run, you know as well, by your general practitioner. So either way, you can do it on your own or have your doctor order it and you can. You know you can see.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Now, the reason that can be helpful is, let's say, you've got one copy. Well, you know you have some issue, you know, with methylation. You still want to use them. You know methylated B vitamins are going to be the best, but if you have two coffees then even more so important, you know that you're using them and you know letting your, you know your siblings and or the other children and stuff. You know they should get tested too Because, look, you could prevent a lot of health issues which you don't have to suffer with because it's a simple thing to deal with. And, lastly, you could be more prone to having elevation of an amino acid called HOMO-15. And when that's elevated in the blood, that is a risk factor for dementia, stroke and rheumatoid arthritis and the treatment medically is the same. You know, whether you see a holistic doctor or you know kind of a conventional doctor, the same thing. You give them methylated folate and B12 and that helps deliver to break it down, so this protein is not creating inflammation in the bloodstream.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, folks. So it pays to maybe find out what the family's been going through over the years and see if you get things tested like that. I think it's a great idea and that homocysteine is kind of like a hidden problem for people that when you get your normal lab work you don't usually see that. But there are some companies out there that test for that kind of thing also with the inflammation and all that stuff like that. Do you guys do that at your clinic at all?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Do you have to testing there or oh, absolutely yeah, we always do homocysteine as a screening test because we do see it fairly commonly and, again, all the regular labs operate. So it's just a matter of getting your doctor to run it or, like I said, nowadays you can oftentimes get labs done on your own too. So everyone should be screened for the homocysteine level because it's a very simple thing to treat if it's elevated very simple with these methylated B vitamins.

Jim Wilk:

Well, inside the Emerald Labs multis they use the methylated form of the B vitamins, I'm assuming.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Absolutely yeah.

Jim Wilk:

And there's new evidence recently in the last year or two about how important multis are, especially for cognitive health. There's some new studies done on that that people who take a good multivitamin have less cognitive problems. Have you come across that at all?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yes, I have, and there have been other studies that have shown that people who have adults who have more adequate levels of B6, o8, and B12 have the lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's, and so I think a lot of that goes back to the methylation and also not having elevated homocysteine. So you're right, there's been several studies now showing adults and seniors who have more adequate levels versus those who have low levels or deficient. They are more prone to having that issue. Why not use the methylated when they're available with companies like Emerald?

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, and that's great by talking to someone who runs a clinic as yourself, that people think that they're eating properly, even these days, and we get enough nutrients from the farm there, from the ground, but you're in experience with testing people and things that we're not getting all the nutrients that we could possibly utilize. Oh, very much true In our diet, yeah.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, no, very much true, Because with our patients we do routinely run nutrient levels. Now we may do limited panels, so things like B12, magnesium, iron, omega-3, things like that, but we have other expanded panels where we check 40 nutrients and, yes, the average person definitely has nutritional deficiencies and government studies have shown that to be the case. You know, it is always surprising how many patients we see, for example, like with lower B12 levels, b12, like when you become a senior. If you have B12 deficiency which, by the way, statistically is one in every four seniors I mean that in itself is a risk factor for dementia. Your brain actually studies show your brain actually shrinks when you're deficient in B12.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

So people may be wondering why would I be low on B12? Well, it could be because we age, or maybe under stress, or you have chronic illness, you're not producing enough stomach acid intrinsic factor stomach to absorb it in your small intestine. Some people avoid red meat completely, which is the main source of B12. Maybe you're on medications which deplete you of B12. You know antidepressants, birth control pills for younger people. So anyways, there's many different reasons why we see these nutritional deficiencies. In addition, of course, our foods don't have the levels they did 50 years ago because of the soil being depleted and things like that.

Jim Wilk:

Right. Have you noticed in your clinic? Vegans are having a problem with B12 sustainability.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, we do see the B12 low fairly commonly. We also see the omega-3 fatty acids low Right. We don't see the protein levels being low. We were taught that in school 30 years ago. We don't see that. But yeah, the B12, the omega-3, we see that very commonly.

Jim Wilk:

Interesting, very interesting. A couple of things I wanted to discuss today and some hormonal things. And we get these questions a lot about their adrenals and their thyroid. So let's talk a little bit about that, because I think Emerald makes a fantastic formulas here that you guys you have formulated. And adrenal I've heard over the years too that some of the mainstream doctors out there they don't believe in a adrenal fatigue, so to speak. They don't really understand that term or opt to use that term at all. How does one know if their adrenals are working properly or not? I know thyroid, there's tests, we'll talk about the thyroid in a few minutes but are there tests for their adrenal functions that people can do? And how would they come see you saying, hey, doc, my adrenals are exhausted. Well, how do they know that?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, there's a few different ways we can test that. First, we can do blood work. We can test adrenal hormones like pregnenolone, dhea, cortisol preferably before nine in the morning, so you can be done with blood. You can do urine tests which will measure those as well. And then my favorite is saliva testing, because we can do multiple samples, save the cortisol in one day and just see if it's running low the whole day. I prefer that test.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

And I think the problem in medicine is things changed in the last 15, 20 years. It used to be. You had like a kind of a continuum where someone you know has healthy adrenals versus someone who's having problems. And then nowadays, basically in medicine, they're like well, hey, you either have major adrenal disease, which is rare, they call it conditions like Addison's, where you just aren't producing enough cortisol, but all the people left in between, so we have suboptimal adrenal function. You know you got fatigue, you can't handle stress. Well, you got sleep problems, you can't handle inflammation, cognitive problems. So if you're kind of caught in between that, they don't really, you know, diagnose it or offer anything. So the people in between yeah, you know the term adrenal fatigue is used. Maybe a more correct term would be adrenal dysfunction.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

And so, yeah, we see a lot of people help by improving their adrenal function, which is kind of interesting because you look at the things like in the Emerald Labs adrenal health I mean, how does it really help the adrenals, these things? Well, in part they help by establishing a normal communication system between the brain, the pituitary gland you know, up in the head too and then to the adrenals. There's this communication network, so when we're under stress or a chronic illness, this messaging system can be off, and then that affects, you know, your adrenal hormones. And so the herbs like rhodiola ashwagandha eleutheroca, also referred to as cyber-engine, they actually help to reestablish this normal communication, which then can help to balance out your adrenal hormones. You handle stress better, your energy is better. We got the activated methylated B vitamins in there, which your adrenals do use to make stress hormones. So, yeah, that's how this all connects here.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, and I noticed that you again. We talked about earlier how Emerald Labs uses trademarked ingredients. They have the Sensoryl ashwagandha which has been around for a while and because, again, folks, herbs and things can vary from company to company and batch to batch and when you're using a trademarked ingredient it can make a big difference and you're getting what you pay for, so to speak, right.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, it's true, like if you take, like in their adrenal health, their Fensaryl ashwagandha. Now there's 250 milligrams in there for two capsules. Now you may see a form that says, hey, I've got 300 and 350. Maybe that's better. Well, here's the thing. Most astragalant extracts are like a 0.5 to 1%, what we call with analyte extract. These with analyte are really what help the balance out the communication system, the adrenal stress, hormone function production and so forth. There's this using. The one used in the human studies is 8%. So really it's like if you take 250 milligrams and multiply that by eight, right, so we're getting, you know, eight times the amount. So really you're getting a lot more, much more than the typical adrenal product. You're getting seven to eight times more of these active constituents which are having basically the balancing effect on your adrenals.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, that's true. I think that's a fantastic point because a lot of people don't realize it's. Again, it comes down to quality and you pay for what you get and that's why you try to look for trademarked ingredients, which Emeril does a great job. Just a reminder, folks you can go to hollyhillvitaminscom and order that. We could just say code word nuts and UTZ and we'll give you 15% off your orders there too, so proud to be a sponsor for Emerald Labs there and Adrenal Health by them. It's again has that coenzymated B vitamins which we were talking about earlier, which is, you know, better absorbed in the body there. So you get what you In your experience, do people notice something within a few days, a week or two? What's the normal type of? I guess there is no normal, but how would you retest somebody and what kind of time period there?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, I mean people have fatigue and let's say they take Emerald B, B-complex. Yeah, they can notice difference within a few days to a week. Now, on the adrenal, if you look at the studies, see on the sensorial, you know you've got studies, often they were 30-day studies and in those 30 days what do you see? You find people's energy level was better, their sleep was better, their mood was better and some other factors. So those times were 30 days, so definitely in 30 days. But that being said, yeah, we see people usually within one to two weeks they notice an obvious improvement in how they're feeling in those different areas.

Jim Wilk:

And you mentioned earlier. You guys do testing and things. But I've noticed over the years there's people who specialize in endocrinologists, who specialize in hormones. They're few and far between to find endocrinologists who specialize in hormones. They're few and far between to find endocrinologists out there. Is that a trend, is something? Are they going away or is it? They're hard to define. What's going on with that?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, the way it is in Mass Rail I mean endocrinologists I mean it's a problem. I mean if someone were actually to see one usually, no matter where you are in the United States, I mean, it usually takes three months to get in, so yeah, it's a problem. There's not a ton of them and they serve an important function. However, if you're getting one of these people, say, with your adrenals, your thyroid, where you don't have like just overt disease but you have them balanced, I mean I'm not trying to be negative, but they're pretty much useless in those cases.

Jim Wilk:

You, in those cases, you're just going to say, hey, there's nothing wrong with you. I'm here to see people with thyroid cancer and more serious stuff. I mean, that's kind of the way it works. Yeah, okay, I understand. All right, let's jump over to thyroid here. Big issue A lot of people are on medication for thyroid Over the past decades or so. Is that something that's become more of a problem, less? What's your opinion on that?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, I've looked at studies on that and definitely the amount of people with thyroid dysfunction, definitely it's high. I mean it's high, I mean millions, millions of Americans have thyroid issues, for sure, and I think there's different reasons for it Chemicals in the environment, for sure, high stress, nutrient deficiencies, other hormones are imbalanced in the body which affect the thyroid. So all these things combined and I think the other factor is, you know, autoimmunity is very common, unfortunately, in the American population. Our immune system attacks our own tissue and that includes the thyroid. So, for example, the most common cause of thyroid problems in Americans, called autoimmune thyroiditis, also known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis A Japanese doctor had discovered it and this is where immune system attacks your thyroid tissue and it accounts for 85% of people who develop hypo or low thyroid function and require treatment. So you know, unfortunately, it's estimated anywhere from 50 million, maybe up to 100 million Americans have autoimmune problems.

Jim Wilk:

Ah, okay, so is the general doctors out there that you go see for your thyroid. They sometimes immediately put you on a synthetic thyroid product like Synthroid or something like that. Is that something that maybe they should see what else is going on on a synthetic thyroid product like Synthroid or something like that? Is that something that maybe they should see what else is going on before they do that, before people get on a medication? I mean, do some people actually need the medication or can they get by with some supplements to see if they can correct that problem?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, it's a good question, and I've looked at the literature and they have found there are a lot of people and it's called subclinical hypothyroidism. What that basically means is, people may remember, on their blood work, doctors run a marker called ESH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone, and so that hormone can be elevated. Now, some of these people that's elevated, but their actual thyroid hormones, which are creating the metabolism in their cells, called T4 and T3, they're not deficient. And so what the research shows is, yes, a lot of these people are given medication, these synthetic medications, but they don't really need it.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Instead, what we prefer to do with these people is we put them on, improve their diet, their exercise, their stress, put them on something like the Emerald Thyroid Health, and so the goal of that is to balance out their own thyroid, get their thyroid working better on its own and the messaging going from the pituitary gland, the brain, to the thyroid, helping to balance things out. We also measure their antibodies, their thyroid antibodies. There's two main thyroid antibodies. Now, if those are up, like I said, which is 85% people with low thyroid, then Emerald has a great product for autoimmune thyroid as well which we'll use. Yeah, so we want to treat the root level. And so we do that, and then we'll retest the person in like a couple months and we'll see that their thyroid levels have all balanced out and they never needed medication. And so once you're on a medication, the problem is your thyroid gets lazy you know, gets lazy because it's getting this replacement.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

And then what happens? Well, you see these people, you'll see that you know they need higher and higher doses from their doctor over time. So that's why we like to use thyroid health memorable or their hash immune health to balance things out on their own. So in these beginning, especially in the beginning stages or there's not like severe hormone deficiency this is the better way to go. Now there's a second component where we see patients who are on thyroid medicine and maybe they do need it, but we'll still use, like the thyroid health or Hash Immune to balance out their system better, so that they don't need higher doses over time or maybe could use lower doses or, in some cases, may not need thyroid replacement in the future as their doctor's monitoring them. So there's always a place for the nutritional medicine.

Jim Wilk:

What are some of the symptoms of thyroid and what about the iodine connection with that, or people getting enough of that in their diets and things.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, classic symptoms of low thyroid and there can be many of them. I mean there can be like 40 or 50, but class ones can be like you get cold, easy fatigue, poor cognitive function, your metabolism is slowing down, you know it's harder to lose weight or you're gaining weight, you can get water retention, dry skin. So those are some of the joint pain. Those are some of the classic ones for low thyroid. Now, in terms of iodine, iodine is really like the building block of your thyroid hormones and so you know you have to have it.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

It's an essential nutrient and there are parts of the world where iodine deficiency is a major problem. It's one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the world, causes major health problems. But what's happening in America is, because so many people have high blood pressure, they're avoiding table salt, where that has been their main source of iodine, because, let's face it, I mean you can get iodine in eggs and you get it in fish. But what's happening now for some people? Because of high blood pressure, they're avoiding iodized salt and so now iodine deficiency is coming back again in America.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

And again, you can't make thyroid hormone without it, so it's something that needs to be taken into account and that's why we have iodine in thyroid health with Emerald Not massive amounts, but iodine is kind of a tricky thing. I mean, if you take the amounts like in the Emerald multi in your thyroid health, it's fine, there's no risk to it. Some people take mega doses of iodine and that can create imbalances that can actually trigger autoimmune thyroid. There's some research on that so yeah, so some people should be aware of.

Jim Wilk:

And once you're on these thyroid medications, I've been told that it's kind of hard to get off of them. Is that something you have to deal with? Do people come in saying, listen, I'm tired of taking this medication, I have this and that side effect. So that is a possibility of weaning yourself off under supervision of like someone yourself.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Absolutely. In the medical literature they're actually you know, they actually stated there's a lot of people on thyroid medication that should not be on it. So what we do is you know like you work their diet nutrition, get them on something like the thyroid health, the hash immune, and then we monitor them. We'll slowly decrease their thyroid medication dose, monitor them in their lab tests and work to wean them off that in a safe and effective manner. But yeah, it can be done.

Jim Wilk:

Folks, you can always go to emeraldlabs. com. You can see the facilities there and how they do their testing for everything and some of the other products they make. I mean, we can be here for a couple of hours with all the stuff that they do. They're really well known for their multivitamins like we discussed before how important they are, and they have it really down to a science where no matter what stage of life you're in and what gender you are, Emerald Labs will cover it. I've gone through their multis with so many people over the years there and they're always looking for stuff that's additive-free, which is. A lot of people are sensitive to these excipients in there. Some people no problem at all. But if you have any qualms about that, they're the company to go with there.

Jim Wilk:

Just to end up with a few things here, doc, I noticed they came out recently with an anti-aging cellular complex. Now I'm at that age where I'm looking for that anti-aging stuff. I'm fighting as much as I can here. So what are some of the ingredients? I see you have the glutathione and the R-alpha-lipoic acid and CoQ10 in there. What was the genesis of this product there?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Well, it's true, we want to use things which do fight the aging process. I'm a big fan of glutathione, especially the one that Emerald uses called the Cetrea glutathione, because it's one of the few that has good human published studies showing you absorb it and your blood and saliva levels go up, and so glutathione is so important. It is one of the most important antioxidants in the body. But one of the things I like about glutathione is that it does help to protect your DNA from damage and, as we both know, if your DNA is getting damaged from toxins in the environment and things like that, or medications, then shorten part of your DNA called telomeres, which can shorten your life process if you will. And also, of course, if your DNA is damaged, you're prone to diseases, cancer and things like that.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

So I'm a big fan of glutathione. Coq10, of course, is a very important antioxidant as well, with barotrol that's been shown in studies to help the telomeres the length of these ends of DNA, which is involved in health and aging and lipocast is a great antioxidant too, and then they have the unique phytonutrients. You start looking at these phytonutrients, these extracts from plant foods like pomegranates and other ones. I mean, these things are powerful in terms of their ability to help fight disease. So, yeah, it is a nice combination formula.

Jim Wilk:

And just as an add-on, you did mention R-alpha lipoic acid and I think people do get confused about the synthetic and natural versions of that. They're looking for alpha lipoic, then they see R-lipoic. Do you do a quick little thing on that?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Yeah, you're right. So the R-alpha lipoic is the type you'd find in nature. That is the type your body would want. So you're right, that's a good point.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, that's the way to go, folks. Again, excellent ingredients, trademarked ingredients. It's just a nice little adjunct to your regular regime. There's anti-aging. You're not really duplicating anything there. It's a nice little add-on if you want to slow down that aging process there. We're going to keep those candles in the cake there. Also, remember you go to hollyhillvitamins. com. You mention nuts and UTC and get your 15% off. You can see the whole line on the website there. And you can also go to Emerald Labs. Doc, can people become a patient online with you? Do Zoom calls? What's the story there?

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we do do telemedicine. That is true, we do do telemedicine. So at MarkStnglercom they can read about what they want.

Jim Wilk:

Yeah, yeah, markstnglercom, that's S-T-E-N-G-L-E-R, and I wish you'd do another 29 years there. Yeah, yeah, congratulations to the longevity there. That's great in this day and age. So I'm happy for you and if I get out to California I'll look you up there. Thank you so much for being on the show, Mark. Appreciate it.

Dr. Mark Stengler:

Oh, thank you so much.

Jim Wilk:

All right, guys, take care and we'll see you real soon. Bye-bye now. Please subscribe to the channel so you can get our latest episodes, and if you want to contact me with any questions or comments, try jimwilkcnc at gmailcom.