Detox w/o Drainage...Scary!

by Glen Depke

Most everybody has heard about detoxification but very few are familiar with drainage. The interesting fact though, is that drainage is actually more important than the detoxification. You'll "get" this today.

If you have been following Depke Wellness for some time, you already know that I am not a fan of moving into detoxification too quickly. I have listed some bullet points to refresh your memory to why detoxification too quickly is an issue:

• Most individuals with chronic health issues are simply too weak to go through an aggressive detoxification program
• Many that are in a detox program are doing so with a less than optimally functioning blood/brain barrier
• This poor blood/brain barrier function will lead to detoxification symptoms such as headaches, body aches, fatigues and so much more
• Almost 100% of health challenged individuals have adrenal challenges and your adrenal glands play a role in every level of detoxification
• Due to the fact that our world is so toxic, most push detoxification too quickly
• Some people are actually too lean to detoxify in a healthy way

Before we move on, first understand that your systems of detoxification and elimination include the:

• Liver
• Kidneys
• Colon
• Lymphatic system
• Skin
• Lungs

We'll first discuss the liver, understanding that your liver is going to actually address approximately 80% of detoxification in your body through a phase I and phase II detoxification.

Phase I liver detoxification is often referred to as biotransformation. Within this biotransformation, enzymes change the biochemical structure of toxins, drugs, etc., which are fat soluble into water-soluble metabolites. This process  is governed by at least 50 different enzymes and this primary enzyme system is known as the cytochrome P450 (CP450) system. Simply put, toxins are converted to water soluble metabolites. These metabolites are usually less active, but they can be even more toxic than the original toxin. It is important that these metabolites are processed and excreted. If not, they will accumulate in the tissues of the body rather than in the bloodstream. These can be deposited in the fatty tissue, connective tissue and/or nervous system tissue. As a side note, storing toxins in connective tissue and/or nervous system tissue can be a very painful experience but generally only and issue for those that are very lean.

I remember years ago when I was working along side Dr Mercola, we had a young woman (maybe late 20's or early 30's) come into the clinic that moved as if she was in her 80's, and I mean an unhealthy 80's. You could actually see that pain on her face with every step and when she hit the chair in my office, she burst into tears. What you do not know is that she was very health conscious, very lean and fit. Just prior to coming into the clinic, she had all her silver amalgams removed improperly and this released a significant amount of toxins (mercury) into her body. Because she was so lean, there was not much fat tissue as a storage for these toxins, therefor connective tissue and nervous system tissue were the point of storage. I cannot begin to tell you how upset and distraught this woman was.

During phase II liver detoxification or also known as the conjugation pathways. Through different metabolic pathways, amino acids, sulfur, vitamins, minerals, and other natural substances bind or conjugate to the metabolites from the Phase I enzyme process so that they can be eliminated. If the nutrients needed to conjugate the toxins are in low supply, the toxins re-circulate as new toxins that are sometimes more toxic than the original toxin. You can tell that your phase II conjugation is sluggish if perfumes or scents start to create symptoms for you. 

Also understand that hormones, natural waste products, medications, and fat-soluble vitamins are also broken down through the liver detoxification process.

Now as far as your kidneys are concerned they receive 20% of the blood pumped to the heart. As the blood flows to the kidneys they remove wastes and then return the processed, purified blood back to the body. Waste material and water leave the blood and enter the urinary system. Toxins then end up in the urine.

Within your lymphatic system, the lymph fluid picks up nutrients, hormones, waste products, bacteria, and cellular debris. Then your lymph nodes act as a toxin filter and the lymph fluid is circulated by physical activity (especially rebounding), deep breathing, massage and dry skin brushing.

Here's some more tidbits on detoxification:

• Respiration: breathing (gas exchange), coughing, sneezing, clearing mucous
• Skin: sweating, sebaceous gland secretion, tears, Epsom salt or sea salt baths, dry skin brushing
• GI System: liver function, gallbladder, bowel and intestinal tract function
• Kidneys: acid/alkaline balancing, urination, hydration with filtered water
• Circulatory and lymph systems: blood flow, lymph circulation, and immune function

Now we can look deeper at the difference between detoxification and drainage. The term detoxification is usually referred to as the “release of toxins from their binding site” (the cell). Understand that the process of detox is not complete unless the toxins are actually eliminated from the body. 

The process of taking the toxin from the cell to its final elimination is called drainage. If adequate drainage does not occur with detox, it can lead to a phenomenon known as the toxic ping-pong effect. This toxic ping-pong effect is no game though. The toxic ping-pong effect occurs when toxins, instead of being eliminated, are simply relocated to a new binding site. This occurs when detoxification is undertaken without appropriate drainage therapy and the body cannot handle the extra stress from stirred-up toxins.

Failure to eliminate the toxins can lead to systemic toxicity.

Remember that we mentioned earlier that during phase I liver detoxification the toxins are actually more toxic then they were in the beginning. 

With your new understandings, is drainage important? You bet it is and so important that if you are detoxifying without proper drainage, you're doing nothing but asking for trouble.

Here at Depke Wellness we regularly walk our clients through a 30 day program that focuses on detoxification along with you guessed it, DRAINAGE. We also encourage other lifestyle factors to assist both the detoxification and drainage process.

If you have any comments or questions in regard to this article, feel free to post this below for me to address personally.





 



 



 


 

My Health Journey

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So many people feel that health is easy for me because I have always been healthy. 

Unhealthy Puffy Glen

Now that's funny!

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago where I lived until I was 44 years old. Trust me when I say that the Chicago area is not one of the highest levels of nutritional integrity that you'll see in the U.S.. Even better is the fact that prior to me beginning my journey in health and wellness I used to own 5 different fast food restaurants. Yes, I was a part of poisoning our society. Shocking but true.

Let's back up a bit.

Growing up, I learned just as most did in the Midwest. When you get sick, you either grab an

Healthy Glen 15 Years Later

over the counter med in your medicine chest or if things get tough, you go to your doctor and get some prescription meds to fix you up. I can remember getting a cold or flu and reaching into the medicine chest to grab a Contact,Tylenol, Advil and anything else I can find and wash this down with of course...NyQuil. Of course I would also rub Vick's vapor rub on my chest and under my nose and head to bed with some Sucrets. I have to share, I am cracking up at myself writing this right now but this is so shockingly true.

Now I can honestly say I cannot even remember the last time I have taken any kind of med, whether this would be prescription or over the counter. Heck, it has been well over a decade since I have taken an aspirin for a headache.

Of course I did all the "normal" healthy things. You know, vaccinations, 9 silver amalgam (mercury) fillings, flu shots and everything else in conventional medicine to remain healthy. You get the picture right?

There was another issue when I was younger. 

When I was 17 years old, I had my first grand-mal seizure. Yes, I would pass out, flip around like a fish out of water and afterward, I would feel like I just got run over by a Mack truck. My seizures did not end there. These continued into my twenties and I was eventually diagnosed as Epileptic and put one anti seizure meds for the rest of my life. (Not!) Heck, I was even having seizures when on the prescription meds.

When I was 20 years old, this was the beginning of myself and a high school buddy opening our fast food restaurants in the suburbs of Chicago. So with owning fast food restaurants, you can imagine my diet. Chili cheese dogs, pizza puffs, french fries, soda, coffee, and of course an unlimited amount of chocolate shakes. Heck, most of what I ate actually came out of a deep fryer. To top it off, my beverages of choice were soda, coffee and alcohol. Water, are you kidding me? It did not even exist in my world back than. 

Scary, isn't is?

I did not even mention yet that sugar was my basic food group. I loved sugar and ate a lot of it! I can still remember eating donuts (multiple) every morning for breakfast, followed by a pot of coffee. How I made it out of my twenties is still amazing to me.

Well, something happened!

That something was a couple of articles that really hit home for me. The first was a short article on sugar consumption in a muscle magazine that I read when I was in my mid twenties. This article was talking about the average consumption of sugar and how disruptive this was to the body. When I was reading the article there were two points that stood out. The first was my surprise to hear that sugar was so bad for you. Yes, believe it or not, I was ignorant to that fact. The second point that hit me was the realization of how much sugar I actually ate. I would have been the king of sugar consumption according to that article.

As I began showing an interest in health, I came across another article basically telling me that the prescription meds I was on for the seizures could cause long term neurological damage. I thought, "wasn't I on these because I had a neurological issue?"

Well, that was the beginning of the rest of my life. I needed to get off these meds and find a way to stop the seizures naturally.

I systematically began to change everything. I remember stopping drinking regular soda and switched to diet. Yes, I like so many thought this was healthier. Eventually of course, I stopped the diet soda and dare I say it, started drinking water. 

I could not get enough books on nutrition and supplements and began to turn my nutritional integrity around and yes, I stopped eating donuts and coffee for breakfast every morning.

My nutritional journey has been extensive and I did not change everything overnight. I would make small changes but made them continuously. This enabled me to build on my small successes and stay motivated.

There had to be a huge shift in my mental/emotional approach to life. I used to be a complete type A, high strung and even violently reactive personality. This had to change if I was going to be healthy. Through years of deep mental/emotional work I was actually able to change my personality. When I think of how I used to react decades ago, it is tough to think of that as me.

And yes, the silver amalgam (mercury) fillings in my mouth. They definitely had to go. Through my readings and research, it was easy to understand that mercury was building up in my body via these fillings and mercury is a known neurotoxin. I felt that if I was going to overcome the seizure disorder, the fillings had to go. This lead me to working with a holistic dentist for eventual removal of all 9 of my fillings. Of course this was done with every precaution available to lessen that chance of further exposure to this know neurotoxin.

I eventually had to work through detoxification of the mercury, balance my adrenal function,

Old Inflamed Glen

address some pathogens in my gut and begin working on proper digestion. As time went on I also focused on releasing inflammation in my body, improving brain function, circulation and so much more. Exercise became a regular part of my life and adjusted my work schedule to create an environment in which I could find health and balance.

I worked with other experts in the field to work on my structural body, my soft tissue imbalances and every other avenue possible.

So now you know, I was actually very unhealthy long before I became healthy and honestly,

Anti Inflamed Glen

due to my past, I still have some work to do. At least I know that I can continue to become healthier and metabolically younger as time goes on. It is important to recognize that decades of poor health practices do not just go away and it is important to be patient in your journey to health and happiness.

Oh, and by the way, I did eventually overcome the seizure disorder. I have not had a seizure in well over 15 years, I have been of the anti seizure meds for even longer and I am not concerned about have another seizure the rest of my life. Actually, when I look back now, I can say that those seizures were a gift. Without that health issue, I would have likely continued my poor health practices and a shutter to think of what my life would be like right now if nothing would have changed. Tell me I am not fortunate.

This journey for me is what feeds the passion and compassion I have in the natural health field. This is also what allows me to "get" where my clients come from. I actually came from a similar if not more challenging poor health space as most people that I work with today.

...and I am so happy to help!

If you have any questions or comments in regard to this article, leave a post below for me to answer personally.

 

 

Detox 360 Program

Welcome to the Detox 360 program. I am expecting significant benefits for all during this program and am very excited for you!

Even though you will have weekly webinars and a comprehensive workbook to follow, this blog space is provided to provide the opportunity for you to ask questions, share successes and failures, share recipe ideas and so much more. 

This blog be completely interactive as a group. Personally, I will provide special attention on this blog to reply to your questions and concerns. My associate Lynda Buitrago will also be participating in this blog for you benefit. 

I will share that the blog participation plays a significant role in the success with the Depke Wellness programs, and I expect the same with the Detox 360 program.

Congratulations on your participation!

Undiagnosed Neurological Dysfunction

by Glen Depke

Neurological dysfunction is becoming a significant issue in our culture. The challenge is that most of these challenges can be addressed with lifestyle changes. Another issue is that most do not understand the red flags for neurological dysfunction. 

This subject really hits home for me since I was diagnosed as an epileptic earlier in my life and both my maternal grandmother and mother have had severe dementia. The good news on my diagnosed epilepsy is the fact that this is no longer an issue for me, due to the fact that I addressed all the underlying factors that lead to this neurological dysfunction. Actually, this is the very reason for my passion in assisting others in finding their personal health and happiness.

Let's first look at some typical symptoms of neurological dysfunction that may be recognized long before you would ever be diagnosed with a neurological disease.

• Burning feeling
• Fainting or change in level of consciousness or lethargy
• Involuntary muscle contractions
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness
• Pain from an origin that does not usually cause pain or that follows the course of a specific nerve
• Paralysis or inability to move a body part
• Pins-and-needles (prickling) sensation
• Sensitivity
• Tingling
• Difficulty chewing
• Digestive problems
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Nausea with or without vomiting
• Change in level of consciousness or alertness, such as passing out or unresponsiveness
• Difficulty swallowing
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Garbled or slurred speech or inability to speak
• Loss of muscle coordination
• Respiratory or breathing problems, such as shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, labored breathing, wheezing, not breathing, choking
• Seizures
• Sudden paralysis or inability to move a body part 

We can also look at a list of the most common diagnosed neurological disease. Note that there are more than 600 known diagnose neurological challenges. These are the most common.

• Alzheimer's
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Autism
• Cerebral Palsy
• Dementia
• Dyslexia
• Epilepsy
• Huntington's
• Migraine
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson's
• Stroke
• Traumatic Brain Injury

With this knowledge, it is now important to look at the common lifestyle challenges that create these issues for you. It is imperative that you address this now, rather than waiting until you find yourself with some serious issues.

Common causes of neurological dysfunction.

• Prolonged exposure to toxins such as lead, mercury, and other metals
• Gluten intolerance
• Cross reactive intolerance
• Adrenal insufficiency
• Excitotoxins
• Infection
• Nutritional deficiencies, especially of thiamine, niacin, and vitamins E, B1, B6 or B12
• Gastro-intestinal disorders
• Slipped vertebral disks or other spine conditions
• Compression, crushing or severing of nerves
• Detachment of nerves from the spinal cord
• Medication side effects
• Past head trauma  
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Lyme disease (inflammatory bacterial disease spread by ticks)
• Other bacterial and viral infections of the brain or meninges (membranes lining the brain and spinal cord)
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (disorder in which the body attacks its own healthy cells and tissues)
• Varicella-zoster virus infection (virus that causes chickenpox and shingles)
• Alcohol abuse
• Diabetes (chronic disease that affects your body’s ability to use sugar for energy)
• Hormonal disorders such as hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Vascular disorders
• Encephalitis (inflammation and swelling of the brain due to a viral infection or other causes)

Let's look at the first ten on this list and discuss what you can do about these leading causes of neurological disorders. 

Prolonged exposure to toxins such as lead, mercury, and other metals
Many people are living with heavy metal toxicity. In my opinion, a urine porphyrin test is the best way to assess your likelihood of metal toxicity. Mercury tends to be the most common as well as the most damaging as this metal is a known neurotoxin. Metal detoxification would be recommend but only after you have any potential silver amalgam fillings removed prior to detoxification. As a special note, you want your silver amalgams removed by a holistic or biological dentist that is trained in proper removal. If these are not removed properly, this could lead to further mercury damage. I would also recommend that you test your blood/brain barrier function prior to detoxification with a GABA challenge.
 

Gluten intolerance
For those with a gluten intolerance that continue to consume gluten, this creates gut inflammation and other gut challenges that also lead to challenges with neurological function. I would suggest assessing your likelihood of gluten intolerance here, and if this is likely a challenge for you, it is of utmost importance to remove gluten from your diet. The link above also contains a foods list for gluten products. Learn more about gluten here.
 
Cross reactive intolerance 
A gluten intolerance that is not addressed over time can lead to gluten cross reactive intolerance. To understand the role that cross reactive food plays in regard to neurological dysfunction, I would recommend a Cyrex Labs gluten cross reactive food testing.
 
Adrenal insufficiency
While your adrenals play a role in the whole of your body, there are some specific areas of adrenal function that play a significant role in neurological dysfunction. This would tie into detoxification, blood/brain barrier function, inflammation, and neural connectivity. Learn more about your adrenal function here.
 
Excitotoxins 
Excitotoxins have been shown to create neurological dysfunction and break down your blood/brain barrier. The most common excitotoxins are MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and aspartate (NutraSweet.) It will be imperative for you to remove these from your diet.
 
Infection
Infection is a challenge for so many of my clients. The most common infections that I see on a consistent basis are gut related. A comprehensive stool test would play a significant role in understanding the pathogen issue for you. For other function in your body, I find the use of Applied Kiniseology to be a very valuable tool. 
 
Nutritional deficiencies, especially of thiamine, niacin, and vitamins E, B1, B6 or B12
Typically these deficiencies are tied into poor digestion. I would review gluten, cross reaction and infection above. I would also share that for proper digestion, the use of the Depke Wellness 1,2,3 of Digestion would be a key for you. This is the combination of a Prebiotic/Probiotic Formula, Prime Digestive Support and Prime Stomach Acid Support.
 
Gastro-Intestinal Disorders
See nutritional deficiencies above.
 
Slipped vertebral disks or other spine conditions
This is best addressed with a quality chiropractor. Personally I see a chiropractor that utilizes a form of treatment known as KST. You can find a KST chiropractor in your area of for those in Orange County visit this link.
 
Compression, crushing or severing of nerves
See the paragraph above and I would also recommend the use of DRX. For more information on DRX visit this link.
 
Medication side effects
This one is simple, yet can be so difficult for so many. Take care of your body and find your balance so you can eventually get off the medications that are creating neurological side effects for you. This is the whole concept of natural health.
 
Past head trauma
If you have had past head trauma, you may be dealing with long term brain inflammation and brain damage. Thankfully there are protocols to assist your body in releasing brain inflammation and supplements that can assist the brain in healing. A common recommendation for me is the use of VeinLite to improve circulation to the brain, Oxypower to assist in oxygen uptake in the brain and BrainE, which very simply is brain food (high in DHA.)

Addressing these areas listed above will go a long way in allowing your to forego neurological dysfunction.

If you have any comments or questions in regard to this article, leave a post below for me to address personally. 


 

OXYPOWER Reduces C-Reactive Protein (NEW in vivo study)

Take a look at some recent results as posted by Dr Chi at Chi Enterprise. The results and

study speaks for themselves.

• A 67-year-old woman from California was diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease and ischemia. Both have worsened over the years. Then she started taking OxyPower. An angiogram two years later found that her arteries are clear.
  
• J. G. a 64-year-old female from California, has congestive heart failure. Her heart ejection fraction at the time was 20. She had difficulty breathing. Her doctor has recommended a pacemaker at that point but she held off. Then she took OxyPower and Vein Lite for 6 months. Her ejection fraction gradually increased from 20 up to almost 40. She will not need a pacemaker. Now she can breathe easier, has no dizziness, and has more energy.
• D.F., a male in his 40s from California has leg pain. After taking OxyPower, Vein Lite and Myosteo for 7 days, his leg pain reduced from a scale of 10 (worst pain) to a 5.
• A.G., a 50-year-old female from New York has calf pain. After only 3 days on OxyPower, her calf pain was relieved.

The cardiovascular case reports above all show that OxyPower is a must for cardiovascular conditions along with Vein Lite. Previous studies have already shown that OxyPower has a protective and reparative effect on vascular endothelial cells (VECs). Now a new in vivo study shows that OxyPower effectively lowers C-Reactive Protein.

C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is a protein produced when inflammation occurs. Many studies have revealed that CRP does not only predict a high risk for many cardiovascular conditions, such as hypertension, heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis (hardenig of the arteries) but also accelerates the progress of these cardiovascular events. Reducing CRP can therefore prevent high blood pressure, stabilize atherosclerotic plaques and prevent vascular (blood vessel) injuries.

In the new in vivo study, OxyPower effectively lowered CRP and reduced associated conditions. When CRP was introduced into rats, blood pressure increased, the left heart ventricle became thicker and involuntary muscle became inflamed. After 7 days of OxyPower administration, CRP was significantly reduced at 12.9 mg/dL, which is actually lower than the negative control.

 

For more information on OxyPower or other supplements listed in this article, feel free to contact Depke Wellness at (949)954-6226 or email Glen@DepkeWellness.com.  

Cancer and Inflammation

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Today we will dive into the intimate relationship between cancer and inflammation. Before we do this, let's look at some simple stats.

This year alone, over 1.7 million Americans will be told that they "have" CANCER and 33% of those people will die. Every 30 seconds somebody is diagnosed with cancer. And the numbers continue to grow worse with each passing year, despite more medical inventions and technology promising early detection.

How about not partaking in this statistic? 

If this is your goal, you will definitely want to learn more about the inflammatory tie into cancer. Recognize that when I talk about inflammation I am discussing longer term chronic systemic inflammation. I am not referring to acute inflammation due to injury.

When you are living with long term chronic systemic inflammation, this would be referred to as an NF-kB state. Often clients will ask me what this stands for so here you go. This is a nuclear factor kappa beta state. I know, this does not help at all. To define this further will likely create the clarity you are looking for. NF-kB is a protein complex that controls the transcription of DNA. 

Sounds rather important in regard to cancer?

When an individual is living with chronic inflammation this leads to immune system dysregulation. Immune system dysregulation can and will hinder the body's apoptosis. We discussed this briefly a few weeks ago. To review, apoptosis is basically cellular suicide. Understand that the way your body was created, if a cell because "broken" that cell is actually programmed to commit suicide. This will inhibit that "broken" cell from becoming another "broken" cell and so on and so on. If apoptosis is not functioning properly due to immune system dysregulation, which is caused by chronic inflammation, this "broken" cell will continue to replicate. The long term result of this would be a major contributing factor to cancer.

I do want to be very clear that I am not saying that inflammation is the only cause of cancer but this is a major contributing factor as mentioned above.

Now that you understand the role chronic inflammation play in cancer, what causes the chronic inflammation? The main causes of chronic inflammation are listed below.

• Food intolerance such as gluten and similar cross reactive foods
• The standard American diet high in processed foods and sugar
• Chronic infection
• Chronic stress
• Chemotherapy
• Obesity
• Alcohol/drug addiction 

So the key to addressing cancer is addressing inflammation and the key to addressing inflammation is working on the areas above. Start by assessing your likelihood of gluten intolerance by taking this complimentary gluten assessment.

Focus on reducing your sugar and processed food intake as much as possible. There are also two tests that we would recommend with regularity to address the underlying factors of inflammation. Once is a Cyrex Labs Gluten Cross Reactive Food test and the other is a comprehensive stool collection kit to assess the likelihood of a chronic gut infection. We find gut infections to be a challenge with about 75% of our client base and an even higher percentage that are living with gluten and/or cross reactive intolerance.


It is also important to note that your adrenal gland function also play a significant role in your immune system regulation as well as inflammatory states. Trying to accomplish your inflammatory roles without assessing adrenal function and addressing this with a proper adrenal protocol, will hinder your progress. If you have heard me talk about adrenals before, remember that here at Depke Wellness, we have reviewed well over 4,000 adrenal test kits and have seen only 4 come back normal. In fairness, we work with health challenged individuals, but if you have a health challenge you have almost a 100% chance of living with an adrenal issue. Check your adrenal function now.

Once you have addressed these areas, you can then work on the chronic inflammation. This cannot be taken lightly though. The chronic inflammation needs a strong "kick in the head" to be eliminated. This "kick in the head" involves a specific combination of supplements, with proper dosing to assist the body in shifting out of the chronic inflammatory state.

Once you have addressed all the common causes of chronic inflammation to the best of your ability and you have begun an adrenal balancing protocol, you are ready to provide the strong "kick in the head" in regard to inflammation. This would have to be addressed one on one. When you feel that you are ready to accomplish this task, reach out to Depke Wellness at (949)954-6226 to set up your complimentary 20 minute phone consultation. 

Don't be a statistic in the cancer and inflammation world. Address the underlying factors of inflammation and keep your immune function and apoptosis is full function.

If you have any comments or questions in regard to this article, post these below for us to address personally.