Resolve most gut issues with this step-by-step, systematic approach.
You are what you absorb, not what you eat!

Your gut starts with how you prepare food outside your body. And your mouth is part of your gut. The following is a step-wise approach to improving gut health and is especially appropriate for people with any kind of gut problem.

  1. Consume whole foods (1 ingredient) only. This may be the single most important step.

  2. Cook all vegetables. Yes, no salads if you have any level of gut dysbiosis. Raw is actually a fad. According to a Harvard Primatologist (who studies people from history), humans have uniquely been cooking for >500,000 years. Consequently, our gut is small, and our brain is large compared to ALL other animals. Why? Because cooking is "pre-digestion," making nutrients more easily absorbed. Cooking will also reduce the small amount of organisms on the food. People with a poor gut constitution may be vulnerable to even a small amount of organisms.

  3. First thing after waking up, drink 8 ounces of warm water with electrolytes to rehydrate water loss overnight and to support an ongoing liver, gall bladder, and kidney cleanse that started while you slept.

  4. Do not eat for at least 1 hour after waking so that detox can continue. After the hour, eat a very small meal with eggs, steel-cut oats, and probiotics like kefir or cottage cheese.

  5. NOW you can have coffee or other favorite morning hot beverage.

  6. Take some bone broth and fulvic/humic liquid daily. Liquid is key. Your digestive system breaks down solid food into liquid. So, consuming a high nutrient-dense liquid provides readily absorbable nutrients.

  7. Are you aware of any food with which you react? Avoid these for now. They may be reintroduced when your gut is healed.

  8. Minimize water when you eat. If you do drink something, make sure it is a warm beverage like hot water or tea (or coffee). Warmer temperatures speed reactions. Your gut is a chemical reactor!

  9. Chew well. Small particles are easier to digest. Also, chewing releases amylase, which initiates a more robust breakdown of your food.

  10. You swallow over a quart of saliva a day. Do your gums bleed? Do you floss? Do you have a solid daily oral health regimen? If you don't, you are swallowing pathogens from the oral cavity (part of the gut). If your stomach doesn't have strong acid or your microbiome is compromised, these organisms can dominate your gut flora. Schedule a consultation to review an appropriate oral health treatment regimen.

  11. Treat to reduce or eliminate pathogens in your gut. If you have any gut dysbiosis, your microbiome is compromised and/or you have an abnormal pathogen burden at any point of your digestive tract, including your mouth. This is a complicated step because it requires understanding what pathogens may be involved and where they may be active. For example, SIBO is downstream of the stomach, whereas acid reflux occurs in the stomach. They involve different organisms. Testing and consultations are required to eradicate harmful gut organisms.

  12. Take apple cider vinegar and/or vitamin C or other acid promoter 20 minutes before you eat. This simulates the "Pavlovian" response, in which your body releases "digestive juices" before the food reaches your lower gut. Betaine HCl is often recommended by functional/integrative practitioners but may not be appropriate for many people. The issue is the "betaine" portion, not the acid (HCl) portion, as the betaine may promote the proliferation of certain gut pathogens. For more information, refer to this blog. https://docfrugal.com/should-you-take-betaine-hcl-for-stomach-acid-support

  13. Your gallbladder and liver send digestive substances below your stomach (duodenum). Gallbladder issues often create serious downstream health issues because they release bile salts that help you absorb fats. Fats make up the membrane structure of ALL 35,000,000,000,000 cells in your body. These cells are born, live, and die. You are constantly replacing cells, and you need fats to support this "scaffolding." A supplement that contains bile salts, acid, and enzymes - all in one - is called "support digestion." There are others as well.

  14. The gut organ where the microbiome functions and thrives to the greatest extent is the large intestine, specifically the colon. It houses up to 100 trillion microorganisms and accounts for the vast majority of microbial diversity and metabolic activity in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Repopulating or expanding your microbiome can be challenging, but taking probiotics, with an emphasis on fermented foods, does help. Some people have successfully performed a probiotic enema under medical supervision, with symptom improvement as evidence of success.

  15. Do you have autoimmune conditions, gut bloating, or established "leaky gut?" If so, work through the steps above. A quick fix that often relieves symptoms is a product called Atrantil. An intestinal lining repair program includes 4 nutrients: Mega Mucosa (Microbiome Labs); zinc carnosine; Ion Gut Support (a fulvic/humic acid blend); and glutamine. There is information online about potential problems with glutamine. However, glutamine is among the most abundant amino acids in our body, so the information may not be factual. KBMO Labs offers the least expensive / most comprehensive leaky gut test, which includes a consultation with a company microbiologist.

  16. Engage in the "usual" healthy activities, including exposure to sunlight, eating whole foods, and exercising regularly. This helps heal and improve your entire body, including your gut.

  17. You are not done. If you have completed all of these steps, return to step 1 and repeat the process. Health is a journey, not a single step. It is called the "Deming Cycle of Continuous Improvement."

    The Deming Improvement Cycle, also known as the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) or PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycle, is a continuous, iterative framework used for process and quality improvement. It helps organizations test changes, measure results, and implement permanent, data-driven solutions. We all wish there were shortcuts and quick fixes. However, in health, that is seldom the case. You may be taking a drug (or more) to relieve symptoms, but this seldom solves the underlying problem(s)!

These are suggestions for someone with extreme food sensitivities who is trying to reintroduce foods.

What is the best way to enhance your microbiome? Click above.

Multi-step program for gut optimization. Click above.

Order a consultation with one of our experts to guide you through the process.

Cardiovascular / Vessel Health Protocols

Cardiovascular disease—specifically ischemic heart disease (heart attacks)—is the number one killer in the developed world. It accounts for nearly one-third of all global deaths, with its underlying condition, atherosclerosis.

Many factors contribute to cardiovascular disease, and the intervention document below covers the most important considerations and interventions. This program is never as effective in isolation. Therefore, review and implement the gut, oral, pathogen, and metabolic protocols, in addition to this one, which is specific to cardiovascular disease.

Order a consultation with one of our experts to guide you through the process.

Click on the button above to retrieve the comprehensive vascular health program as a PDF.

How to overcome fatigue (tiredness), improve energy, and athletic performance.

Highlights:

Evidence-Based Approaches to Improving Energy, Reducing Chronic Fatigue, and Enhancing Athletic Performance — Including the Role of Occult Intracellular Pathogens

Original Question 1

"Can you please suggest ways to improve energy for people with constant fatigue and to help with athletic performance? One substance is PQQ. Does boron help? What are other suggestions?"

PQQ (Pyrroloquinoline Quinone)

PQQ stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis via the SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling pathway, increasing cellular NAD levels and ATP production.[1] In animal models, PQQ prolonged time to exhaustion and reduced exercise-induced oxidative damage by preserving mitochondrial function.[2] However, in a human RCT of untrained men taking 20 mg/day for 6 weeks, PQQ significantly increased PGC-1α protein levels but did not improve aerobic performance (VO2peak or exercise duration) compared to placebo.[3] PQQ may have synergistic potential when combined with endurance exercise, though human performance data remain limited.[4]

Boron

Boron's relevance to energy and performance is indirect, primarily through hormonal modulation. In a small study of 8 healthy men, 10 mg/day of boron for one week significantly increased free testosterone, decreased estradiol, reduced SHBG, and lowered inflammatory markers (hsCRP, TNF-α).[5] In postmenopausal women, 3 mg/day elevated serum 17β-estradiol and testosterone.[6] However, a controlled study in male bodybuilders found that 2.5 mg/day for 7 weeks had no effect on testosterone, lean body mass, or strength beyond training alone.[7] Boron also supports bone health, cognitive function, and antioxidant defense, but direct evidence for fatigue reduction or athletic performance enhancement is lacking.[8]

-----------------------------------------------------------

Supplements with Stronger Evidence

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10/Ubiquinol)

A meta-analysis of 13 RCTs (1,126 participants) found CoQ10 produced a statistically significant reduction in fatigue (Hedges' g = -0.398, p = 0.001), with greater benefit at higher doses and longer durations.[9] For exercise performance, a systematic review of 24 RCTs concluded CoQ10 reliably elevates blood levels but provides "at most modest and context-dependent" performance benefits.[10] Ubiquinol (reduced form, 300 mg/day) improved mitochondrial coupling efficiency but did not improve exercise time to exhaustion in healthy males.[11] Typical dosing: 200–400 mg/day of ubiquinol for better bioavailability.[12]

Creatine

One of the most well-established ergogenic supplements. The ISSN position stand confirms creatine increases intramuscular phosphocreatine, enhancing high-intensity exercise performance and recovery.[13] Even low-dose creatine (~2.3 g/day) significantly improved fatigue resistance without weight gain.[14] Creatine also shows promise for post-viral fatigue and cognitive fatigue.[15][16] Standard dosing: 3–5 g/day maintenance (or 20 g/day loading for 5–7 days).[13]

D-Ribose

A pentose sugar involved in ATP resynthesis. An open-label pilot study in 41 CFS/fibromyalgia patients found 5 g three times daily produced a 45% increase in energy and 30% improvement in well-being.[17] In less-fit individuals, 10 g/day improved power output and reduced perceived exertion during multi-day exercise.[18] Evidence is limited to small, mostly uncontrolled studies.[19]

Other Options

  • - L-carnitine — supports mitochondrial fatty acid transport; deficiencies associated with fatigue in CFS[20]

  • - B vitamins (especially B12) and magnesium — common deficiencies linked to fatigue severity[20][21]

  • - Omega-3 fatty acids — positive outcomes for CFS symptom alleviation in a systematic review[19]

  • - N-acetylcysteine (NAC) — addresses oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction[22][23]

Practical approaches

  1. Foundation for nearly all patients. Viscous fiber, best evidenced as psyllium 5–10 g before meals, with lipid, bowel, and glycemic benefits and minimal long-term risk.[1][5]

  1. Primary strategy where onset speed is not the dominant concern. Stepwise carbohydrate reduction (start 15–25% of energy from carbohydrate), advancing to intermittent and then longer fasts, with formal electrolyte repletion. This is the only approach in this comparison with documented drug-free remission.[11][30][31]

  2. Recognize the operative variable. The strongest long-term dataset — 20% remission and 32.5% HbA1c 6.5% off medication at 5 years — came from a program with intensive continuous remote care, not diet prescription alone.[31]

  3. Add a GLP-1 RA when delay is itself the risk. Established cardiovascular or renal disease, high BMI, or HbA1c well above target justify the adverse-effect profile.[6]

  4. Mitigate the best-characterized drug harms. Protein 1.2–1.5 g/kg/day, resistance training, and consideration of DXA and bone turnover markers after 1 year in older or osteopenic patients. These steps are necessary to attempt to offset the severe harm caused by a GLP-1, although there is no clinical evidence that this approach can avoid it.[16][32]

  5. Plan the exit. Because ~11.6% of lost weight returns within 52 weeks of discontinuation, a carbohydrate-restricted, fiber-supported eating pattern is the logical maintenance strategy after tapering.[33][34]

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bottom line

Fiber, fasting, and carbohydrate restriction form a graded, low-risk sequence whose ceiling is lower and slower than semaglutide's

  • but whose long-term unknown-harm burden is substantially smaller — and

  • which uniquely offers remission rather than pharmacologic suppression.

This discusses different fibers that, when added to food, slow glucose absorption. See which one is best. Combinations are always better, however.

Click to view or download the PDF.

Key: A higher number means “MORE.” That is, more risk or more benefit.

Color coding: green = optimal/best; yellow = good; orange = some benefit or concerning risks;

deep orange = minimal benefit or substantial risks; red = no benefit or unacceptable risks.

Improve metabolic health, lose weight, or prevent or reverse diabetes and its consequences.

This discusses 4 different methods to reduce glucose levels, improve metabolic health, and reverse diabetes (II). It covers GLP-1, fasting/ketogenic diets, low-carb diets, and high-fiber foods.

Click to view or download the PDF.

Here is the science behind this summary, based on a question posed to OpenEvidence.com AI.

Question/Comment by FrugalDoc: Compare and summarize the benefits of walking before breakfast and right after a meal. It is suggested that walking before breakfast improves insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility by using up remaining glycogen and shifting metabolism into some level of ketosis. Walking after breakfast burns up blood sugar, thus reducing the insulin and glucose spike.

Answer by OpenEvidence AI: Layperson Summary:

Walking Before or After Meals

Walking before breakfast and walking after a meal both help your body handle sugar and fat, but they help in different ways. Choosing between them depends on what you're trying to improve.

Walking before breakfast (on an empty stomach)

Walking before you eat causes your body to burn more fat for fuel. It also helps your body release stored sugar and fat into the blood so you can use them for energy.[1][2]

Over several weeks, this type of walking can:

- Help your body respond better to insulin, especially in people who are overweight but don't have diabetes[3]

- Lower a liver enzyme called ALT, which may be a sign of improved liver health, in people with obesity[1]

One thing to know: this approach does not turn your body into "ketosis" in a meaningful way from a single walk. A more accurate way to describe it is that your body shifts toward burning more fat, not that it enters a special fat-burning state.[1][3][2]

Also, this benefit seems strongest in people without diabetes. In people who already have type 2 diabetes, the advantage of walking on an empty stomach is much smaller, because their bodies are already less flexible about switching between burning sugar and fat.[4]

Walking after a meal

Walking after you eat helps your muscles pull sugar out of your blood right when your blood sugar is rising the most. This lowers how high your blood sugar spikes after eating, and it also means your body needs less insulin to manage the meal.[5]

Research comparing the two timings directly found that walking after a meal is better than walking before a meal at keeping blood sugar from spiking.[6]

Timing matters:

- The best results happen when you start walking about 15 to 60 minutes after eating, which is close to when blood sugar usually peaks[7][8][9]

- Even a short 10-minute walk right after eating can lower your blood sugar peak[9]

- Waiting too long after the meal to start walking makes the effect weaker[7][8][9]

Comparing the two

- If your main goal is to prevent blood sugar and insulin spikes after meals, especially if you have type 2 diabetes, walking about 15 to 60 minutes after eating is the better-supported choice[6][8][9]

- If your main goal is to burn more fat, manage liver fat, or improve insulin sensitivity over time, and you don't have diabetes, walking before breakfast may have a slight edge[3][1]

- In people with type 2 diabetes, walking after meals tends to be better for improving blood sugar control over time[10]

A safety note

Walking on an empty stomach did not cause low blood sugar in supervised studies of people with type 2 diabetes.[10] However, if you take insulin or a sulfonylurea medicine, these medicines can lower your blood sugar further during exercise. Talk with your clinician about the safest way to time your walks around your medicines and meals.

Bottom line

Both walking habits are good for your health, and they work well together rather than competing. Which one to prioritize depends on your personal goals and health conditions — this is something you and your clinician can decide together based on what matters most for you.

Click the button at the top of this section to download the full discussion on this topic.

How two (2) 20-minute walks improve your health. Timing is EVERYTHING

Lose weight, gain metabolic flexibility, and reduce diabetes risk and related chronic conditions.

Summary

Walk BEFORE your first meal to improve metabolic flexibility (slowly). It is a great way to augment the benefits of fasting.

Walk AFTER any meal to burn off blood glucose and lower insulin “spikes.” It is a great way to lower your fasting insulin and glucose values while slowly lowering your A1C.

Walking before and after your meals provides complementary metabolic and health benefits.

Click the button above to view or download the PDF.

Tired of being Sick? Ten (10) dollars per month may be your cure!
High-dose, short-duration vitamins have been proven to work when taken together.

Summary: Dr. David Brownstein developed the following program during COVID. He did not use what other functional doctors used (ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine). Instead, he "pulsed" (4 days in a row, once/month) high doses of vitamins A, C & D along with iodine, selenium and boron. You can buy these supplements online for very little cost.

How does it work? Think about a boxing match. Most blows are soft (sparing), and occasionally a "knock-out" blow lands.

  • Taking supplements is like sparring.

  • Taking supplements at a high dose for a short duration is like throwing the knockout punch!

Pulsing (taking high doses over short durations) turns supplements into a treatment.

Click the button above to view or download the PDF.

Here, FrugalDoc provides three (3) variations of the Brownstein Protocol, since some people may not tolerate the high iodine doses in the full protocol; the last version includes a supplement that raises the price from $10/month to $20/month.

Protocol 1: High doses of vitamins A and D - four(4) days in a row, not more than once per month. This is a long-term intervention. If you are over 65, do this every month.

  • Vitamin D: 50,000 IU - take with vitamin K2 at about 200 mcg. Also take a magnesium glycinate supplement (1 capsule of your favorite brand).

  • Vitamin A: 100,000 IU. **

** Vitamin A cautions: Pregnant women should take no more than 10,000 IU. However, take some. The data support cod liver oil (which contains vitamin A) and positive birth outcomes, including increased IQ, compared with births where cod liver oil was not supplemented.

Vitamin A toxicity can be acute (usually due to accidental ingestion by children) or chronic. Both types usually cause headache and increased intracranial pressure. Acute toxicity causes nausea and vomiting. Chronic toxicity causes changes in skin, hair, and nails; abnormal liver test results; and, in a fetus, birth defects. Diagnosis is usually clinical. Unless birth defects are present, adjusting the dose almost always leads to complete recovery.

Protocol 2: Add vitamin C, iodine, and selenium to Protocol 1 for four (4) consecutive days, no more than once per month. This is a long-term intervention. If you are over 65, do this every month. The complete protocol is:

  • Vitamin D: 50,000 IU - take with vitamin K2 at about 200 mcg. Also take a magnesium glycinate supplement (1 capsule of your favorite brand).

  • Vitamin A: 100,000 IU. See the **** line below for warnings.

  • Vitamin C: 10 grams (10 - 1 gram capsules, tablets, or powder)

  • Boron: 6 mg - Boron works alongside magnesium to coordinate mineral balance, including calcium, which vitamin D releases.

  • Selenium: 200 mg - Selenium is a cofactor that helps iodine get into the thyroid hormones (T4 and T3).

  • Iodine: Do as follows: If you have never taken high doses of iodine or know you are sensitive to iodine, take 1 mg (or less) of an iodine supplement. See the *** line below for warnings and suggested alternative dosing.

    If you have taken high doses of iodine before with no side effects, follow this recommendation:

    • < 100 pounds of body weight: 6.25 mg of an iodine supplement.

    • 100 - 140 pounds of body weight: 12.5 mg of an iodine supplement.

    • >140 pounds of body weight: 25 mg of an iodine supplement.

***If you started with a dose of 1 mg or less, you can slowly work your way up in iodine intake per the bullets above as you continue this protocol over subsequent months.

****Vitamin A cautions: Pregnant women should take no more than 10,000 IU. However, take some. The data support cod liver oil (which contains vitamin A) and positive birth outcomes, including increased IQ, compared with births where cod liver oil was not supplemented.

Vitamin A toxicity can be acute (usually due to accidental ingestion by children) or chronic. Both types usually cause headache and increased intracranial pressure. Acute toxicity causes nausea and vomiting. Chronic toxicity causes changes in skin, hair, and nails; abnormal liver test results; and, in a fetus, birth defects. Diagnosis is usually clinical. Unless birth defects are present, adjusting the dose almost always leads to complete recovery.

Protocol 3: Add MegaIgG2000 (Microbiome Labs) to Protocol 2 for four (4) consecutive days, no more than once per month. This is a long-term intervention. If you are over 65, do this every month. The complete protocol is: This is a long-term intervention. If you are over 65, do this every month.

  • Vitamin D: 50,000 IU - take with vitamin K2 at about 200 mcg. Also take a magnesium glycinate supplement (1 capsule of your favorite brand).

  • Vitamin A: 100,000 IU. See the **** line below for warnings.

  • Vitamin C: 10 grams (10 - 1 gram capsules, tablets, or powder)

  • Boron: 6 mg - Boron works alongside magnesium to coordinate mineral balance, including calcium, which vitamin D releases.

  • Selenium: 200 mg - Selenium is a cofactor that helps iodine get into the thyroid hormones (T4 and T3).

  • MegaIgG2000: 8 capsules. This is a mixture of antibodies that supports immunity.

  • Iodine: Do as follows: If you have never taken high doses of iodine or know you are sensitive to iodine, take 1 mg (or less) of an iodine supplement. See the *** line below for warnings and suggested alternative dosing.

    If you have taken high doses of iodine before with no side effects, follow this recommendation:

    • < 100 pounds of body weight: 6.25 mg of an iodine supplement.

    • 100 - 140 pounds of body weight: 12.5 mg of an iodine supplement.

    • >140 pounds of body weight: 25 mg of an iodine supplement.

***If you started with a dose of 1 mg or less, you can slowly work your way up in iodine intake per the bullets above as you continue this protocol over subsequent months.

****Vitamin A cautions: Pregnant women should take no more than 10,000 IU. However, take some. The data support cod liver oil (which contains vitamin A) and positive birth outcomes, including increased IQ, compared with births where cod liver oil was not supplemented.

Vitamin A toxicity can be acute (usually due to accidental ingestion by children) or chronic. Both types usually cause headache and increased intracranial pressure. Acute toxicity causes nausea and vomiting. Chronic toxicity causes changes in skin, hair, and nails; abnormal liver test results; and, in a fetus, birth defects. Diagnosis is usually clinical. Unless birth defects are present, adjusting the dose almost always leads to complete recovery.

The oral cavity is not an isolated compartment but a portal through which infection and inflammation can influence health throughout the body — a concept whose modern form (periodontal medicine) traces directly back to the early-20th-century "focal infection" theory championed by Charles Mayo and Edward C. Rosenow, though today it rests on far more rigorous mechanistic and epidemiologic evidence.[1][2][3]

The historical arc — Mayo, Rosenow, and focal infection theory

Around 1910–1920, a group of prominent physicians including Frank Billings, Charles Mayo, and Russell Cecil advanced the doctrine of "focal infection" — the idea that chronic infections in the mouth (and tonsils, sinuses) seeded bacteria and toxins that caused distant systemic disease.[1][3] This produced what has been called an "orgy of extractions": mass tooth extractions, tonsillectomies, and sinus procedures done prophylactically, even removing all teeth as a "preventive measure".[1][4]

Edward C. Rosenow, a colleague of Billings who worked at Rush Medical College and later the Mayo Clinic, provided the theory's experimental backbone. In animal experiments and human case reports (culminating around 1919), he studied oral bacteria in culture and proposed two influential concepts:[1]

- Elective localization — that specific microorganisms had affinities for particular organs, seeding localized chronic disease at distant sites. This represents most diseases in our society today, from heart disease to arthritis.

- Transmutation — that microorganisms could change their characteristics.

He argued forcefully for dentistry's importance in medicine and for eliminating oral foci of infection.[1]

How the original theory evolved

As biostatistics, epidemiology, microbiology, and immunology matured, observational anecdote gave way to evidence-based frameworks, and the mouth came (wrongly, in hindsight) to be regarded as disconnected from the rest of the body.[4]

The modern rehabilitation — periodontal medicine

Steven Offenbacher introduced the term "periodontal medicine" in 1996, and a 1997 Chapel Hill symposium consolidated associations between periodontitis and diabetes, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, renal dysfunction, adverse pregnancy outcomes, respiratory infection, and osteoporosis.[4] Unlike the crude focal theory, the modern framework identifies concrete pathways:[5]

- Metastatic spread of oral bacteria via obligate intracellular bacteremia.

- Metastatic injury from circulating microbes and their toxins (e.g., lipopolysaccharide/endotoxin).

- Metastatic inflammation from immunologically mediated injury and chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, caused by the “upstream” organisms.

When chronically inflamed and ulcerated, the periodontium becomes both a reservoir of gram-negative bacteria and a source of circulating inflammatory mediators (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, CRP), promoting endothelial dysfunction, insulin resistance, proatherogenic lipid changes, and loss of immune tolerance.[6][3][7]

Specific pathogens now have named mechanistic roles: Porphyromonas gingivalis (vascular endothelial disruption via gingipains; tau cleavage and amyloid effects implicated in Alzheimer disease; protein citrullination linked to rheumatoid arthritis), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (leukotoxin-driven citrullination and ACPA generation), Treponema Dentacola, a spirochetal infection similar to that of Lyme disease and known to be present in Alzheimers sufferers, and Fusobacterium nucleatum (colorectal and breast cancer progression).[6][8][9]

A 2022 umbrella review of 294 meta-analyses found 59 associations supported by strong evidence, spanning bidirectional links between oral disease and

  • cardiovascular disease,

  • diabetes,

  • chronic kidney disease,

  • adverse pregnancy outcomes,

  • dementia,

  • rheumatoid arthritis, and

  • several cancers — and,

importantly, that periodontal and endodontic interventions lowered circulating CRP and cardiovascular risk.[6] This intervention evidence is precisely what the focal-infection era lacked.

The following figure maps periodontitis at the center of its many bidirectional systemic comorbidities:

Before you read the science, here is a list of home oral care practices, many of which your dentist doesn't explain.

What to do daily?

  1. Brush twice daily. Use toothpaste with hydroxyapatite, a substance that strengthens enamel.

  2. Floss twice daily. This clears the way for hydroxyapatite and the treatments recommended below to reach the deep areas around the teeth.

What to do at least weekly.

  1. Oil pull with coconut or sesame oil. This involves "swishing" the oil around your teeth. Many videos explain this process. https://youtu.be/DtFzd3TBYiI

  2. Use a water flosser. Add ~1 ounce of 10% povidone or Betadine iodine. This gentle antiseptic helps reduce oral pathogen burden without impacting your oral microbiome.

  3. Brush with salt. You can use concentrated salt water that you "swish" and brush. You can also use finely divided salt directly on your wetted toothbrush.

  4. Rinse or swish with baking soda dissolved in water. This alkaline solution discourages pathogen growth.

  5. Rinse or brush with a chlorine dioxide toothpaste or mouth rinse. This substance (product) forms an antiseptic gas that can penetrate more deeply than any of these other interventions. Use this product for at least 5 minutes because it takes time for the chlorine dioxide gas to reach "full strength."

    Here is a link to the products FrugalDoc recommends. https://frontierpharm.com/collections/oral-care

You should see a biological dentist or one who has a "3D Cone Beam" X-ray. These instruments are much more precise and accurate than a regular dental X-ray and can catch problems before they become more serious.

Here are three (3) biological dental societies. Contact dentists in your area, and one with the 3D device is likely more progressive than those without. Each of the websites are linked.

Here is a link to a brief history of biological dentistry and who they are. https://www.rejuv-health.com/blog/biological-dentistry-history/

References

  1. The history of dentistry and medicine relationship: could the mouth finally return to the body?. Vieira CL, Caramelli B. Oral Diseases. 2009;15(8):538-46. doi:10.1111/j.1601-0825.2009.01589.x.

  2. From Focal Sepsis to Periodontal Medicine: A Century of Exploring the Role of the Oral Microbiome in Systemic Disease. Kumar PS. The Journal of Physiology. 2017;595(2):465-476. doi:10.1113/JP272427.

  3. Investigating the link between oral health conditions and systemic diseases: A cross-sectional analysis. Natarajan P, Madanian S, Marshall S. Scientific Reports. 2025;15(1):10476. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-92523-6.

  4. Periodontal Medicine: The Past, the Present, the Future. Loos BG, Feres M. Journal of Periodontal Research. 2025;60(10):943-946. doi:10.1111/jre.70052.

  5. Systemic Diseases Caused by Oral Infection. Li X, Kolltveit KM, Tronstad L, Olsen I. Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 2000;13(4):547-58. doi:10.1128/CMR.13.4.547.

  6. An umbrella review of the evidence linking oral health and systemic noncommunicable diseases. Botelho J, Mascarenhas P, Viana J, et al. Nature Communications. 2022;13(1):7614. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35337-8.

  7. Bridging oral and systemic health: exploring pathogenesis, biomarkers, and diagnostic innovations in periodontal disease. Foroughi M, Torabinejad M, Angelov N, et al. Infection. 2025;53(6):2277-2302. doi:10.1007/s15010-025-02568-y.

  8. The oral microbiome: diversity, biogeography and human health. Baker JL, Mark Welch JL, Kauffman KM, McLean JS, He X. Nature Reviews. Microbiology. 2024;22(2):89-104. doi:10.1038/s41579-023-00963-6.

  9. Local and systemic mechanisms linking periodontal disease and inflammatory comorbidities. Hajishengallis G, Chavakis T. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2021;21(7):426-440. doi:10.1038/s41577-020-00488-6.

  10. Interconnection of periodontal disease and comorbidities: Evidence, mechanisms, and implications. Hajishengallis G. Periodontology 2000. 2022;89(1):9-18. doi:10.1111/prd.12430.

Oral health IS WHOLE BODY HEALTH.

This is true even though dental insurance is separate from regular health insurance. Sadly, the relationship between oral and whole-body health is largely ignored by primary care and cardiology - where the greatest impact occurs. The founder of the Mayo Clinic, Charles Mayo, explained this relationship.

Here is a summary of the early studies on oral and whole-body health, first explained by Dr. Mayo in 1913! OpenEvidence.com AI created this summary, which is the standard AI promoted by major medical associations and Harvard Medical School.

Treatable causes of chronic pain - not to be confused with acute pain that is mainly caused by musculoskeletal issues.

The following is a highly technical summary describing how pathogens can rob an area of your body of energy, causing pain. I include this level of detail because this cause is HIGHLY UNDERAPPRECIATED.

Here is what OpenEvidence.com AI explains when asked about the connection between chronic pain and organisms that rob you of energy in localized tissues. Here is the specific question asked of this "medical AI," endorsed by all the major medical associations and the likes of Harvard Medical School.

Viewing pain as an energy crisis, review how obligate intracellular organisms may play a substantial role in pain, since the term "obligate" implies these stealth organisms rob the host of energy and create an energy crisis.

Obligate intracellular organisms are true "energy parasites," and there is a biologically coherent—though still largely mechanistic and associative—pathway by which their theft of host ATP and disruption of mitochondrial function could contribute to chronic pain. The strongest human data are epidemiologic associations (chlamydial and other infections with multisite chronic pain and reactive arthritis), and the strongest mechanistic data come from cell biology showing that these pathogens directly hijack host bioenergetics. What is not yet established is a proven causal chain from energy parasitism → bioenergetic failure → clinical chronic pain in the way the "energy crisis" model proposes.

Why "obligate" literally means energy parasitism. Obligate intracellular bacteria such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, and Rickettsia prowazekii have degenerate metabolic genomes—Chlamydiae lack an F1-F0 ATP synthase and cannot make their own vitamins, purines, pyrimidines, or most amino acids—so they survive by importing host ATP directly. [1-2] They accomplish this through a specialized ATP/ADP translocator in their membrane, phylogenetically unrelated to the mitochondrial carrier, that imports host ATP into the pathogen and exports spent ADP back into the host cytosol. This translocator is considered the molecular hallmark of "energy parasitism" and is shared across obligate intracellular bacteria and some endosymbionts. [2] Chlamydiae are strictly dependent on host oxidative phosphorylation: blocking the electron transport chain (antimycin A) or silencing mitochondrial genes halts chlamydial growth, confirming that host mitochondrial ATP—not glycolysis alone—fuels the infection. [1]

How these organisms create a local bioenergetic and oxidative crisis. Beyond simply siphoning ATP, obligate and facultative intracellular pathogens actively remodel host mitochondria:

  • Mitochondrial dynamics hijacking. C. trachomatis manipulates fission/fusion machinery—inducing mitochondrial elongation early (via cAMP-driven Drp1 S637 phosphorylation) to boost respiratory activity and ATP output for its own replication, then fragmentation later. Other intracellular bacteria (Shigella, Legionella, Listeria) similarly drive Drp1-dependent or pore-forming fragmentation that lowers mitochondrial membrane potential and intracellular ATP. [3-4]

  • Direct ATP depletion by secreted effectors. Some intracellular pathogens deploy enzymes that destroy the host energy currency itself: Legionella's Ceg14 can deplete ~90% of cellular ATP; Brucella's BtpA/BtpB act as NADases to drain NAD⁺ (and thus ATP); Salmonella lowers both ATP and NAD.

  • Oxidative stress and inflammasome activation. C. psittaci drives mitochondrial ROS production and oxidized mtDNA release, triggering the cGAS-STING–IRF3/NLRP3 pathway with IL-1β and type-I interferon output. Mycoplasma (a cell wall–deficient obligate parasite that scavenges host nutrients) induces oxidative stress and DNA damage while impairing base-excision repair, even in a dopaminergic neuronal line. A broad review confirms that pathogen-induced mitochondrial dysfunction—ROS, mtDNA release, disrupted mitophagy—simultaneously compromises bioenergetics and inflames the cell via cGAS-STING and NLRP3. [6-8]

The link to pain—associative, and mechanistically plausible via the same pathways. The convergence point between energy parasitism and pain is neuroinflammation and central sensitization. The mtROS/mtDNA → cGAS-STING/NLRP3 → IL-1β axis that these pathogens activate is precisely the inflammasome cascade implicated across chronic pain states at every level of the neuraxis (peripheral tissue, DRG, dorsal horn, brain). [8-9] Sustained pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6) from persistent low-grade infection sensitize nociceptors and drive the microglial/astrocytic activation that maintains central sensitization and widespread pain. [10-12]

Human evidence:

  • Multisite chronic pain. In a UK Biobank prospective cohort (n=6,814), serologic evidence of Chlamydia trachomatis (an obligate intracellular organism) and EBV was associated with chronic pain in ≥3 body sites both cross-sectionally and longitudinally (Chlamydia RRR 1.38, 95% CI 1.09–1.74), with a dose effect for multiple infections. [13]

  • Chronic (reactive) arthritis. C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae persist in a viable, metabolically active state in synovium and are a clear cause of chronic arthritis; conventional short antibiotic courses are largely ineffective, whereas prolonged combination antimicrobials can both improve symptoms and eradicate the persistent organism. [14-15]

  • Fibromyalgia/chronic widespread pain triggers. Infections including Q fever (Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular organism), Lyme disease, EBV, and viral hepatitis are recognized triggers of fibromyalgia and post-infectious chronic fatigue/widespread pain, with microglial activation proposed as the mechanistic bridge—though these associations remain unconfirmed as causal.

This model of an energy crisis and pain even explains why you have severe pain with a cut. Here is the explanation.

A cut causes pain primarily through direct nociceptor activation and rapid inflammatory sensitization at the wound—not primarily through an energy deficit—but the healing process does involve a genuine, transient bioenergetic surge and localized ATP/oxidative disturbance that fits a "short-term energy crisis" framing at the cellular level. The immediate pain is a neuronal and immune phenomenon; the "energy crisis" is a real but secondary and mostly adaptive metabolic feature of the repair phase.

References

  1. Pain and immunity: implications for host defence. Baral P, Udit S, Chiu IM. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2019;19(7):433-447. doi:10.1038/s41577-019-0147-2.

  2. Nociceptor plasticity: A closer look. Pace MC, Passavanti MB, De Nardis L, et al. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2018;233(4):2824-2838. doi:10.1002/jcp.25993.

  3. Role of leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4)-LTB 4 receptor 1 signaling in post-incisional nociceptive sensitization and local inflammation in mice. Asahara M, Ito N, Hoshino Y, et al. PloS One. 2022;17(10):e0276135. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276135.

  4. The Role of the Immune System in the Generation of Neuropathic Pain. Calvo M, Dawes JM, Bennett DL. The Lancet. Neurology. 2012;11(7):629-42. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70134-5.

  5. Macrophages set the bar for acute pain sensitivity. Hakim S, Woolf CJ. Nature Immunology. 2023;24(3):382-384. doi:10.1038/s41590-023-01438-9.

  6. Mechanistic Pathways of Wound Healing: From Hemostasis to Scar‐Free Regeneration. Mercy DJ, Girigoswami K, Girigoswami A. Cell Biochemistry and Function. 2026;44(9):e70309. doi:10.1002/cbf.70309.

  7. Chronic Wound Repair and Healing in Older Adults: Current Status and Future Research. Gould L, Abadir P, Brem H, et al. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2015;63(3):427-38. doi:10.1111/jgs.13332.

  8. Wounding triggers MIRO-1 dependent mitochondrial fragmentation that accelerates epidermal wound closure through oxidative signaling. Fu H, Zhou H, Yu X, et al. Nature Communications. 2020;11(1):1050. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14885-x.

  9. Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidants in Wound Healing: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential. Ukaegbu K, Allen E, Svoboda KKH. International Wound Journal. 2025;22(5):e70330. doi:10.1111/iwj.70330.

  10. The Initiation of Oxidative Stress and Therapeutic Strategies in Wound Healing. Wang G, Yang F, Zhou W, et al. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & Pharmacotherapie. 2023;157:114004. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2022.114004.

  11. Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Oxidative Stress in Wound Healing. Gonçalves RV, Freitas MB, Esposito D. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2022;2022:9785094. doi:10.1155/2022/9785094.

  12. Inflammasome-Derived Biomarkers in Wound Healing: Linking Tissue Repair, Chronic Inflammation, Fibrosis, and Precision Therapeutics. Sachdeo RA, Khanwelkar C, Shete A, Patil SJ, Pawar NB. Molecular Biology Reports. 2026;53(1):1610. doi:10.1007/s11033-026-12783-x.

  13. Nod-Like Receptor Protein-3 Inflammasome Plays an Important Role During Early Stages of Wound Healing. Weinheimer-Haus EM, Mirza RE, Koh TJ. PloS One. 2015;10(3):e0119106. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119106.

  14. Activation of NLRP 3 signalling accelerates skin wound healing. Ito H, Kanbe A, Sakai H, Seishima M. Experimental Dermatology. 2018;27(1):80-86. doi:10.1111/exd.13441.

  15. The Role of Neuroinflammation in the Transition of Acute to Chronic Pain and the Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia and Tolerance. Echeverria-Villalobos M, Tortorici V, Brito BE, et al. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2023;14:1297931. doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1297931.

  16. Multimodal non-invasive non-pharmacological therapies for chronic pain: mechanisms and progress. Shi Y, Wu W. BMC Medicine. 2023;21(1):372. doi:10.1186/s12916-023-03076-2.

An overlooked and underappreciated cause of chronic pain is a localized ENERGY CRISIS. What can cause an energy crisis in specific tissue? Consider a toothache. It often comes with an oral infection. That's the clue.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE CHRONIC PAIN.

  • Confirm or exclude a chronic infectious cause. Testing includes surprisingly basic labs: CBC with differential, hs-CRP, ESR, Fibrinogen Activity, and infectious antibody "titers." If you have oral issues, perform the "OralDNA" or equivalent test for oral pathogens. The total cost is often <$500, or even <$100 if you exclude antibody testing.

  • If these markers imply or identify parasitic pathogens, embark on a treatment program. Start with the basics before moving to more aggressive treatments. Here are some examples:

    • Make sure your gut is optimized.

    • Reduce plant toxins by cooking all vegetables or excluding them for 4-6 weeks and reevaluate your pain. Sometimes these plant toxins can be the source by creating an allergic or autoimmune response.

    • Follow the "Strengthen Immunity" protocol.

    • Seek our help for more aggressive treatment that often involves pharmaceuticals. If you have any of these types of infections that are associated with chronic pain, this type of treatment may be your only final solution - assuming you have optimized all these other suggestions.

Plants protect themselves from harm, as do all living things.

Plants cannot run, swim, or fly away from danger like animals. So how do they survive? They produce toxins that discourage adversaries!

Plants protect themselves with toxins. When we eat plants, especially raw, we may experience toxicity. Americans are especially vulnerable considering the rampant gut dysbiosis experienced here and in the 1st world.

The following is a summary of a discussion between FrugalDoc and OpenEvidence AI on the subject of:

  • Plant toxins and how they act

  • Their rankings within a class of toxins and compared across toxins

  • What cooking does and doesn’t do

  • What fermentation does and doesn’t do

Here is a summary of a multi-part discussion ranking plants, vegetables, and culinary herbs/spices by content of six harmful constituents—lectins, oxalates, cyanogenic glycosides, furocoumarins, histamine, and nightshades—plus the cooking/processing methods that reduce each.

A key distinction applies to histamine: unlike the other five constituents, histamine is rarely an intrinsic hazard of fresh, intact produce. Clinically relevant loads usually arise from microbial decarboxylation of histidine during fermentation, spoilage, or prolonged storage, and toxicity is most relevant in patients with reduced diamine oxidase (DAO) activity or histamine intolerance.

Part 1: Cooking and preparation methods that reduce plant toxins.

Lectins (heat-labile proteins):

  • Boiling/thorough cooking is essential and far more effective than soaking (soaking alone reduced pulse lectins only 0.1–5.2%).

  • At least ~10 min of proper heat is needed; soaking and dehulling do not remove lectins (they reside in the inner seed).

  • Kidney beans: soak, discard soak water, then boil vigorously (not low-temperature slow-cooking, which can leave phytohemagglutinin active).

  • Fermentation and germination are useful adjuncts.

Oxalates (remove water-soluble fraction by leaching):

  • Boiling is most effective (soluble oxalate ↓30–87%) vs steaming (5–53%); baking gives no loss. Discard the cooking water.

  • Cooked spinach has ~1/5 the oxalate of raw.

  • Soaking legumes reduces total oxalate 17–52%.

Cyanogenic glycosides (cell disruption + enzymatic hydrolysis + volatilization/leaching):

  • Multi-step traditional processing is most effective (cassava boiling, drying, parboiling, etc.: 25–98% loss).

  • Soaking followed by boiling beats either alone; sun drying > oven drying.

  • Grating + dewatering + fermentation + roasting (gari/fufu) removes 80–95%.

  • High-cyanogen cassava (>250 µg CN eq./g) is hard to bring to the ~10 µg/g safe target with a single method.

Furocoumarins (reduce via processing/source control, not home cooking):

  • Commercial processing lowers content (hand-squeezed grapefruit juice ~2–3× commercial).

  • Avoid peel/zest — peel carries far higher concentrations than pulp.

  • Cultivar choice: mandarins nearly devoid; grapefruit, pummelo, lime high.

  • No established home cooking method destroys furocoumarins; control the source.

Histamine (a biogenic amine, largely heat-stable — control formation, not destruction):

  • Cooking does not reliably destroy preformed histamine; the mainstay is preventing its formation.

  • Prioritize freshness: buy and eat perishable produce (especially spinach and other leafy greens) fresh; refrigerate promptly and avoid prolonged storage, which allows microbial histamine accumulation.

  • Limit or avoid fermented plant foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented soy, olives, pickles) in histamine-intolerant patients.

  • Susceptible patients (low DAO activity, DAO-inhibiting drugs, alcohol) react at doses healthy people tolerate; co-occurring putrescine/cadaverine worsen effects by competing for DAO.

Part 2: Plants listed by toxicity level.

Keep in mind that people with very healthy guts may have no adverse reaction to eating raw plants, while those with severe gut issues may experience chronic conditions that often go unexplained. This blog details the conditions and symptoms people with gut issues experience. https://frugaldoc.com/plant-toxins-and-chronic-diseases

Note: This is not a complete listing, but the rankings are science-based. You can search the vegetables, herbs, and spices you use for these plant toxins to "fill the gaps."

Part 4: Key Preparation Principles:
  • Lectins: cooking wins decisively; adequate wet heat is non-negotiable for high-lectin legumes. Sequential soaking → cooking → fermentation gives the greatest cumulative antinutrient reduction across legumes, but process control is essential to prevent biogenic-amine accumulation.

  • Oxalates: boiling and discarding the water is the key advantage over fermentation, since soluble oxalate drives stone risk.

  • Cyanogenic glycosides: fermentation is often superior and complementary to drying/cooking — the basis of traditional cassava and bamboo-shoot processing.

  • Furocoumarins: neither process reliably removes them; cooking can even concentrate certain phytochemicals via water loss and matrix softening.

  • Histamine: the critical asymmetry — fermentation increases rather than decreases the toxin, and subsequent cooking cannot remove the heat-stable amines once formed. Most relevant in patients with reduced DAO activity or histamine intolerance.

Nightshades (Solanaceae) - an exception.

Nightshades are an important exception to the general expectation that fermentation reduces plant antinutrients: their defining "protective" toxins are chemically stable and largely resist microbial degradation.

Part 3: Comparing cooking to fermentation for plant toxin reduction.

Fermentation and cooking reduce plant toxins by fundamentally different mechanisms, so neither is universally superior — the better method depends on the constituent. Cooking is a subtractive process (leaching water-soluble compounds into discarded water; denaturing heat-labile proteins).

Fermentation is a transformative process (microbial/enzymatic bond cleavage that heat alone leaves intact). Critically, fermentation is the only process that can create a new toxin — biogenic amines such as histamine — whereas cooking never does.

Weight Loss is NEVER easy. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you get started and are things you can consistently do.
Losing weight is often a very emotionally painful goal. The five (5) suggestions below are easy, low-cost to implement, and may help you "get over the hump." None of them involve calorie restriction.

Suggestion 1. Curb your hunger with micronutrients. Drink bone broth and fulvic/humic liquid daily. That it. It will help curb hunger because "hidden hunger" is driven by micronutrient deficiencies, and these liquids are rich in micronutrients. Do you think you are hungry because you are not getting enough calories? Calories are only ONE PART of nutrition. So, any nutritional deficiency can trigger a hunger urge. Most American foods are "processed," thus deficient in micronutrients - as opposed to macronutrients - carbs, protein, and fats. Read the section below for a deeper dive into "hidden hunger."

Suggestion 2. Walk BEFORE & AFTER meals. Even a 10-minute walk will help you burn sugar rather than store it. Walking JUST before a meal will deplete glycogen and help you burn fat. Walking JUST after a meal will prevent sugar "spikes" that lead to insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels. This 1-2 punch is one of the best and easiest strategies for weight control and loss. Here is more detailed information: https://frugaldoc.com/interventions#walkbeforeafter

Suggestion 3. Add powdered fibers to your meals. Psyllium husk and fenugreek fiber powders create a gel-like film on your gut lining. These fibers do NOT slow digestion. Instead, they slow ABSORPTION. In doing so, they slow glucose absorption. Rapid glucose absorption leads to a sugar and insulin spike, and excess glucose is moved into storage (fat). Other good fibers include chia seeds, flax seeds, Oat beta-glucan, and Konjac glucomannan. Here is more detailed information: https://frugaldoc.com/interventions#metabolic1

The optimal strategy would be psyllium husk before meals (for its unmatched viscosity and insulin-sensitizing effects) combined with fenugreek powder mixed into food (for its complementary enzyme-inhibitory and insulin-enhancing mechanisms). These two together address glucose absorption from different angles — psyllium primarily through physical viscosity and delayed gastric emptying, fenugreek through enzymatic inhibition and enhanced peripheral glucose uptake. Both are widely available, inexpensive, and safe for older adults.

Suggestion 4. Eat more meat of all types, and reduce intake of vegetables, packaged foods, and restaurant foods. The best meat for weight loss (and to lower inflammation and improve brain function) is fish, with fatty fish like salmon being the best. This does NOT have to be a long-term dietary change. Try this one day per week, then work up to more days each week. Many Americans, in particular, have sensitive guts, and uncooked plants (THAT MEANS SALADS) can cause stomach and whole-body irritation. Thus, switching to a higher level of meats while reducing vegetable intake - and only consuming cooked vegetables - helps with weight loss and chronic conditions like pain, sleeplessness, and general inflammation. Here is more detailed information on plant defense compounds that may be causing you system-wide inflammation: https://frugaldoc.com/most-common-harmful-non-self

Suggestion 5. Address the "hidden" contributors—medications, sleep, and stress. Several commonly prescribed drugs promote weight gain, including some antidepressants (mirtazapine, amitriptyline) and antihyperglycemics (glyburide, insulin); reviewing and substituting weight-neutral or weight-favorable alternatives can remove a real barrier. Insufficient sleep and chronic stress adversely affect appetite and metabolism. Strive for an earlier bedtime; reduce nighttime lighting, and take a short walk before bed - WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY - to reduce stress. Hum while you walk, this is scientifically proven to calm your vagus nerve and help take you out of "fight-or-flight" anxiety.

Hidden Hunger: What is it Really?

1: Hidden hunger is a state of chronic micronutrient deficiency that occurs without the overt signs of clinical hunger or starvation.

  • The Paradox: Individuals may consume adequate or even excess calories (macronutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) but remain profoundly malnourished at a cellular level.

  • The Root Causes: It is primarily driven by diets reliant on energy-dense, ultra-processed foods, combined with modern industrial agricultural practices that strip essential minerals out of global topsoils.

  • Common Deficiencies: Globally, the most widespread deficits occur in iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, vitamin D, and B vitamins.

2. The Intersecting Roles of Bone Broth and Fulvic/Humic Liquids

When individuals use bone broth and fulvic/humic liquids, they are generally attempting to bypass compromised digestive systems and directly address hidden hunger through maximum cellular bioavailability.

Combining Them in Practice

In emerging nutrition, these elements are often paired together. Dropping a serving of unflavored, ionic fulvic/humic acid liquid directly into a warm cup of bone broth creates a synergistic tonic:

  1. The bone broth, rich in life-sustaining micronutrients, also prepares and soothes the digestive tract.

  2. The fulvic acid acts as a biological "carrier," optimizing the extraction, transport, and uptake of the minerals present within the broth, the fulvic/humic liquid itself, and your broader diet.