348: Surprising truths about Bone Density + Osteoporosis - why NOT calcium supplements - and what to do instead! {from the vault}

ELLA

Hey, you guys, it's Ella. Before we get into the show, I just want to tell you a couple of things. One is Dr. Tom and I were recording remotely, both of us. And so the sound isn't just less than perfect in this episode, but I think you are going to find there is so much knowledge here. I don't think you're going to care. But I just wanted to acknowledge that and let you know. In other news, however, I have got to just say the biggest, fattest, warmest thank you to every single one of you who has shared this show or who has left a review or who has told someone that they know and care about about the show. I just want to thank each and every one of you. for your time, for your communications, and again, just for sharing the show whenever you have done. That's just such a gift. Thank you so, so much. Okay, stay tuned for Dr. Tom Nixon. Holy moly, does he blow my mind in this episode. And I even heard him give this talk, and he still blew my mind with this episode. So we start off talking about bone density and osteoporosis, and we get into so many side topics. I think you're going to find them profoundly useful. And I have done a better job, I would say, than even usual of capturing these notes so that in the show notes on the site, you will be able to link to every single thing that we mentioned in this show. So just remember that. Okay, that's it. Here we go. Welcome. You're on air with Ella, where we share simple strategies and tips for living a little better every day. If you're interested in mindset and wellness, or healthy habits and relationships, or hormone health, aging well, and eating well, honestly, if you're into just living better and with more energy, then you're in the right place. Welcome to real, honest, no-fluff conversations about creating a better you. We're not here for perfect. We're here for a little better every day. Let's go. How you doing, Tom?

DR. TOM:

Ella, what's going on?

ELLA

I'm so happy that you're back.

DR. TOM:

I love it. Honored. Thank you.

ELLA

Well, one of the reasons I love having you on the show is because I just think the work that you're doing is amazing. I'm going to, I'm going to gush for just a second. Please hold. Um, the work that you're doing is amazing. I think the entire world needs to know about you and I consider it my personal job to make that happen.

DR. TOM:

I appreciate that. We're honored. I'm thankful to get to do what I get to do and the people get to help. It's amazing. I'm thankful for it.

ELLA

Okay, gushing over. That's it. That's all you got. So you guys, I actually just heard Dr. Tom speak at an event that we both were present at. And well, I think that was terrible grammar. Anyway, we were both there. And Dr. Tom was brilliant. And I was like, I need you to come on the show and just share this entire presentation with everybody. And you said yes.

DR. TOM:

Yes, I love it. It was a great talk. I love doing them, getting out in the community and just educating and empowering people.

ELLA

Well, let me tell you why I wasn't, why this actually surprised me. The thing we're talking about today is like bone density and osteoporosis and the other osteo word that I can't say yet, but I will by the end of the show. And this condition that frankly, if you'd said, Hey Ella, let's do a show on osteoporosis, I would have been like, eh, you know, maybe let's get around to it. When I heard you talk about this, I learned so much. I was there to actually present and to speak a little bit. And instead I was just like a groupie in the corner writing notes. And I was like, you've got to do this on the show. So here we are, and I want to get into it. But can you give those of us who maybe haven't heard the first episode that you did, Tom, or maybe it's been a while, can you remind them of who you are and what you do?

DR. TOM:

Yeah. So I'm a maximized living chiropractor in North Carolina. And so as a maximized living chiropractor, my wife and I, we own a health center. And so we focus on chiropractic focus on the nervous system and then we help people with lifestyle changes when it comes to exercise and detox and nutrition and what we put into our bodies and how to detoxify. So really we call them the five essentials of health and just really moving away from sickness and disease and closer to health and wholeness. And so in our practice, We see people all across the board, all the way from babies who are days old to our oldest patient right now, who's 98, and she's now on zero medications. I'm also part of the Wellness Advisory Council for USA Wrestling, and so I'll be going to the Olympics for Rio in August, taking care of some of those guys, but all across the board. Yeah, no, it's exciting.

ELLA

But you've perfected the ability to say, I'm going to the Olympics this summer and make it sound like it's no big deal.

DR. TOM:

No biggie. Just a long plane flight.

ELLA

So let's get into this. Can you just give us an overview on the topic that we're addressing today? And then we'll obviously get into the specifics.

DR. TOM:

Yeah. So we're talking about bone density. So when people talk about bone density, the two words they hear, osteoporosis and osteopenia. those are the big ones when it comes to bone density. And so really the strength of your bones is what we're talking about and why that matters. We'll walk through why it matters. Also, you know, there's a big thing out there with the calcium myth and we'll kind of break that down.

ELLA

Okay, good. All right. So osteopenia, is that, am I saying that right?

DR. TOM:

You got it. Osteopenia is the one, it's the forerunner that comes before osteoporosis. So, during the osteopenia cycle, the bones are becoming, basically the bone loss is beginning, the thinning of the bones is happening. Osteoporosis, when you hear porosis, think porous, right? Think porous. You actually have less bone inside of the matrix.

ELLA

So, the density has diminished?

DR. TOM:

Exactly. Like think about porous in your skin, your bone has all those holes in it.

ELLA

Okay, and so why is this of particular concern to women? And maybe it's not, maybe there's no gender line at all, but it sure seems like there is.

DR. TOM:

No, and so there is. And truly, it definitely affects more women than it does men. And really what that comes down to, it's one thing, it's hormones. It's hormones. So we can talk about this. And one of the things that women go through, and I'm very sensitive to this with my female patients who come to my office, it's menopause.

ELLA

So that's what the commercials would have you believe. Like the moment you hit menopause, that's it, your bones are brittle, you're breaking.

DR. TOM:

So let's talk about this. Let's talk about why or how osteoporosis happens. And then let's talk about what they try to do about it. So when menopause happens, and it's a normal cycle in a woman's life, the symptoms that people experience like hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats, can't sleep, your bone density is decreasing, those are not normal symptoms. They are common, but they are not normal. So one of the things that happens when you go through menopause, your hormones change. Your estrogen, which is your growth hormone, your estrogen turns off and starts decreasing, and your progesterone goes the opposite direction. So estrogen is your growth hormone. And so that's the one that increases when you're going through puberty, and things are growing, reproductive things are growing. And it's just it's good. That's a normal process. menopause happens. Now those things start coming down. It's the end of It's the end of your cycles. When menopause turns on, estrogen goes down. When estrogen turns down, your bone density goes down because you're down regulating what's called osteoblastic activity. So, this is good. This is great for everyone to know. In your bones, you have two types of cells, osteoblasts and osteoclasts. All right, osteoblasts with a B, osteoblasts build bone, osteoclasts cut down bone.

ELLA

So those are naturally occurring? What are they?

DR. TOM:

Yes. So they're normal, right? So remember, all you are are cells and every single day your cells live and they die. Just like your skin cells, just like your red blood cells, your pancreas. your every single organ, including your bones. And so in your bones, every single day you have the buildup and the breakdown of bone cells. The osteoblasts build bone, osteoclasts cut down the bone. When someone goes through menopause, your osteoblastic activity slows down. So you're building less bone. Okay, but here comes the problem now. So now I've listened to some of your podcasts where someone will come and talk about menopause and hormones. Most women have excess estrogen, a lot of them, especially, especially women who are using things like toxic makeups, right? If no one ever taught us how to not eat out of certain plastics, We're putting toxic chemicals on our skin. We are getting xenoestrogens. We're getting estrogen mimickers through even our food. So cows who are fed conventional food, They're getting loads of antibiotics. They're getting loads of growth hormone. Those growth hormones are estrogen mimickers. We consume them. Now, you have a female who has excess estrogen, goes through menopause, and her estrogen has to drop farther, has to drop farther, which decreases the bone density faster.

ELLA

Oh my gosh, okay, there's so many things in there and two things I want to point out and we'll talk about the age issue in a minute because you make a really excellent point about that but we're not just talking about menopausal or premenopausal women I know because two things, one is all of the things you just identified like cosmetics and toiletries or beauty products, personal care products I should say and plastics, those are raising men's estrogen levels as well. Secondly, I had a family member who was 24 and told she was, when you're pre-osteoporosis, what's that called?

DR. TOM:

Or is it osteopenia?

ELLA

Okay, that is osteopenia. Well, she was in her 20s and she was demonstrating that because she was anorexic. She had a very severe eating disorder. and it was already resulting in, are you ready? Osteopenia. You got it. In her early 20s. So we are not just talking about pre and menopausal women. However, it is a very useful context in which to discuss the role that hormones play. I get that.

DR. TOM:

Absolutely. So, because I mean, think about it. I mean, as females, everyone's going to, we're all, all females are working towards that menopause age. And so, if you want to prevent osteoporosis, well, it starts now. It starts now learning what these things are and start changing them.

ELLA

That's a good point. And tell me why the commercials would have you believe that every woman that turns 55 is going to have osteoporosis. And I know that you just want to blow the age myth out of the water. And you kind of already made the point, but why don't you bring it home for us?

DR. TOM:

No, I love it. So here's what happens in my practice, patient comes in, my doctor said, or whoever said I have osteoporosis, they did my DEXA scan, and I ask them the question, I go, so why did your doctor say you have osteoporosis? Like, what did he say? What's a DEXA scan? DEXA is a bone density scan. Okay. Yep, DEXA, D-E-X-A. And so, they'll say, well, no, you know, it's just kind of old age. And so, that is a cop out. So, but in my book, the way I walk through it with people, I go, listen, so where is the osteoporosis? And they'll say, well, my doctor said it's in my right hip, right? It's in my right SI joint, it's in my right hip. And I'll ask them the question, So, think about this, your right hip is the exact same age as your left hip. Is that true? And they look, and they think, and they go, yup. Your right hip is the exact same age as every single bone in your body. That's the truth. If it were old age, it would be every single one of your bones every single time. Every single bone would be osteoporotic and it is not. It's not old age. It's not old age. Same thing with arthritis. It's not old age. All your bones are the exact same age. So then when they say they have osteoporosis, then they start putting them on the different medications. This is one of the things I want to blow out of the water for people. There's such a huge calcium myth that says it's because you're not eating enough calcium, that's why you got osteoporosis. So, this is one of the things that happens. So, they get diagnosed with osteoporosis, doctor puts them on a medication. So, things like Boniva, things like Fosamax. And so, here's the logic behind the medication. I'm going to teach you the truth of why they don't work. So, those are all part of a family of medications called bisphenols. These are the bisphenol family. Their goal is to kill... These are pharmaceuticals. They're pharmaceutical drugs. Bisphenols are designed to, number one, harden your bone. So what the medication does, its job is to kill the osteoclasts. Remember, the osteoclasts kill down bone. They cut down bone. Okay. So the medication kills those cells. So the goal is to stop the bone from basically eating away. and it makes the bones very hard, okay? Which sounds good, right? Yeah, you're like, oh, good, hard bones. Hard bones. Mom always said I needed hard bones or whatever, right? She never said that. No, she didn't. So here's the example I use, and I think it's a pretty decent example. So there's a difference if you look at trees or twigs. I'm not a gardener, but if you look at trees and twigs, it's really simple to see. In the wintertime, you will have trees that are alive, but they are dormant. There's no buds or anything. And then, compare that to a tree that is completely dead. In a tree that is dormant, it's still alive, it's just not budding any leaves, because it's wintertime, that twig still has flexibility, still moves, on the inside it's still green. But that twig is strong. On the other side, you've got a dead one, a dead twig. If you take a dead twig and you try to bend it, what happens? It'll snap. This is why the rate increase of those pharmaceutical drugs that make your bones harder is the same rate increase that you see with increased fractures. You are kidding me. Because your bones are hard. Just because your bones are hard doesn't mean they're strong. In fact, it means they're more brittle. A dead twig is hard and brittle.

ELLA

Oh boy, this stuff drives me mad. So you get your diagnosis and then they say, and we have this magic pill to cure this. And then you take the pill and it in a sense addresses one fraction of the issue while creating several more.

DR. TOM:

Right. And just in general, I mean, it never fixes the cause. It's not the right place. Here we go. So let's kind of talk about that. The other thing that they'll say, they'll go down the road of nutrition and they'll say, well, now you just need to take more calcium, right? What the research is showing is that it's not a calcium deficiency. That's the problem. What's happening is we don't have enough calcium being mineralized into our bones. So mineralization means basically means the activation of calcium to get absorbed into our bones and there's a couple steps nutritionally that will drive that process but then we take it to the next extreme This is, well now you need to supplement with more and more calcium. And the problem is that it's not being absorbed into our bones. It's not being absorbed into our bones. So one of the problems, look at this. Here's what the research shows. If it's not getting absorbed into your bones, it's going somewhere. And so if you look at the research, the countries that have the most amount of supplementation with calcium also have the highest rates of heart attacks. Here's why. All right. So you've heard of arteriosclerosis. Okay. Right. So the placking and the hardening of your arteries, calcium doesn't get absorbed in your bone, it's flying through your arteries, makes your arteries hard, lays down. So the United States is number one, Canada, and a lot of the Scandinavian countries They're showing an increase in calcium supplements, increases your heart attack risk. The highest number I've seen is one that says 30%. There's another study, this was all done by the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine, 12,000 men. So remember, not just women are taking calcium, men are doing it too. and they're saying they're doing they're taking a thousand milligrams of calcium every single day and they're doing it in their multivitamin but it was associated with a 20% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

ELLA

And I understand from the research from the study that you sent me that it also increases the rate of stroke.

DR. TOM:

You got it. For the same reason I guess. Same reason, same reason.

ELLA

So we're talking about calcium supplements now, which by the way, there used to be, you know, two on the market and now they're 2,000 and they've made them flavored like chocolate and they've made them for, I mean, it's like an entire candy section, the calcium supplement section. So people think they're doing themselves good and what you're saying is it creates calcification in your arteries?

DR. TOM:

You got it because it's not getting absorbed into the bones so that calcium has to go somewhere and it starts to go through your bloodstream, starts to lay down in your arteries, creates hardening of the arteries. That is called arteriosclerosis.

ELLA

Do you categorically tell people to shy away from calcium supplements?

DR. TOM:

I'm a big fan of getting all your nutrients as much as you can through food. I know you're the same way. Get it through food if you can. And it's easy, it's easy to get enough calcium in your diet through calcium rich foods without having to take a supplement. I mean, the major ones, as far as calcium goes, besides just turning to a glass of milk, anything green, leafy greens are excellent. But one of my favorites, chia seeds and sesame seeds.

ELLA

Really? Chia and sesame seeds?

DR. TOM:

Got it. So chia is becoming more and more popular. A lot of endurance athletes are using stuff that's loaded with omega-3s. They're using it for hydration. Sesame seeds are really similar, but they actually have more calcium. They have more calcium than chia seeds do. And so people are putting these things into their smoothies. Almonds, another easy way. And so, I mean, in my house, what we do instead of milk, we use almond milk. We use almond milk and sometimes we even make our own. But again, just has enough calcium for your body if you're eating the right nutrients. If you're going to do a calcium supplement, let me teach you which one you want to stay away from. The one you want to stay away from is calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate.

ELLA

I'm writing all of this down everybody. I'm writing this down so that I can just make this easy for everybody else in the show notes. Okay, so you want to avoid calcium carbonate?

DR. TOM:

Because this is the one, it's the calcium that comes from rocks and shells. No, it does not. This is the one specifically that they do the research on that leads to heart issues, myocardial infarction. Yeah, calcium carbonate.

ELLA

Okay, and if you were going to take a calcium supplement, which I would highly encourage you to really do your research before you did that. If you were going to do that, then what would you actually be looking for? Anything in particular?

DR. TOM:

You would want to find something, it'll say calcium citrate would be a better version. But truthfully, I would, you know, get it from food, but the other thing that you'll see if you do find a calcium supplement, a good one, oftentimes it'll have two other vitamins with it. And this is how you mineralize and absorb calcium into your bones. Two vitamins, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. Okay.

ELLA

Okay, good. I want to talk about those because I know, so let's recap for just a second. So you're saying dairy milk overrated, true or false?

DR. TOM:

True.

ELLA

What has more calcium than dairy milk, for example?

DR. TOM:

Almond milk, chia seeds, sesame seeds.

ELLA

Oh, all of those do. And then you mentioned greens as well.

DR. TOM:

Yes, dark leafy greens.

ELLA

Okay, so I'm going to share. Can I share the food chart that you shared with me?

DR. TOM:

Absolutely. In the chart, Ella, I think it breaks down how much it is of your dietary intake. Is that true?

ELLA

Yeah, it does. Oh, good. Okay, I'll share this. And it has bok choy on it. And it has broccoli and turnip greens. And I have no idea what winged beans are. But those are on here too. But really, the killers are almonds, sesame seed and chia seeds. Those just knock it out of the park. Wow, sesame seeds have 99% of your daily intake recommendation.

DR. TOM:

Lots of calcium.

ELLA

And so tahini is a very good thing.

DR. TOM:

There it is. People are like, well, how do I eat a sesame seed? It's like, well, you don't just eat the seed.

ELLA

Not on your Big Mac bun. That is not what we're talking about.

DR. TOM:

So hummus, tahini, that's where you're going to be getting your sesame seeds from.

ELLA

Okay, that's a good point. Sesame seed hummus. Okay, I'll link to some. I'm obsessed with tahini. Tahini with a little bit of an acid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and then with like one or two other ingredients makes an amazing dressing or a spread for just about anything. You got it. Okay, that's fantastic. Okay, so let's come back to the food then. We will share with everybody the food sources that are better than dairy milk and dairy milk is overrated and potentially creating more problems if you're buying the conventional dairy. It will actually going back to the whole estrogen argument from the beginning of the show. And then I'll share the study that you shared as well talking about calcium supplementation and risk of stroke and heart attack because that is news to a lot of people. What types of foods actually can destroy bone density or is that a real thing?

DR. TOM:

Yeah, I mean the ones you got to stay away from, the number one is sugar that is an anti-nutrient. It'll leach calcium out of your bones but truthfully the number one thing is soda. Soda, soda pop. carbonated high fructose corn syrup beverages. Really? The reason why is because it leaches phosphorus. Phosphorus is the fastest way to leach phosphorus out of your bones is through soda. And so it leaches the phosphorus out, leaches the calcium out. It'll lead to osteopenia and osteoporosis.

ELLA

So what is it that's doing the leaching?

DR. TOM:

The acidity. So, sugar is literally an anti-nutrient. So, in order for sugar to get basically digested and out of your body, your body has to pour into it calcium, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, selenium. It withdraws that stuff just to get it out of your body.

ELLA

Okay. So, the sugar and the acidity, like the overall acidity, and soda is so acidic. So, even if you're like, well, I drink diet soda, it still falls well into this camp, wouldn't it?

DR. TOM:

Absolutely. Maybe even worse just because of the artificial sweeteners in there.

ELLA

Okay, that's a whole other show. Let's do another show. You got it. Okay. Topic number three already decided. Okay. All right. Good. Okay. And so are there any, because I want to come back to the things that are super helpful because I know there's a lot more to say there, but is there anything else that we should talk about on the foods that destroy bone density or start chipping away?

DR. TOM:

One of the things you got to be careful of is bread. So grains, white or whole wheat or bread. So this is a phenomenal and took me a little while just personally for me to wrap my mind around this and look at through the research. Bread turns into sugar, right? So you have an enzyme in your mouth that literally breaks down bread. And the research shows about five to 10 seconds in your mouth, that bread is already turning into sugar.

ELLA

Faster than other simple carbohydrates?

DR. TOM:

It's the Dr. Oz show.

ELLA

That's where I get all my science.

DR. TOM:

I really don't, but I thought they did a really just decent job. They just took a group of women, had them eat two slices of bread, took another group of women in a different day, had them eat a Snicker bar, which is a big candy bar. and they check their blood sugar. The women with the two slices of bread have higher blood sugar than the group with the sticker bar, right? But there's a lot of real... That's just like an anecdotal, I mean, showing a group of women doing that, checking their blood sugar, right? But now the research is showing, okay, it is bread turns into sugar spikes your glycemic index. Grains are the big one. I mean, the whole wheat grains, the white bread, the wheat bread. Yep.

ELLA

Amazing because I would consider Snickers, you know, not a complex carb. For sure. Okay. Wow. That's interesting. Thank you, Dr. Oz, once again for your contribution to Medical Society. But no, it is an interesting show and tell, isn't it?

DR. TOM:

It is.

ELLA

Okay. All right. Okay. Got it. So you mentioned that if you were going to take calcium supplementation that you, and again, Not necessary because it is widely available. Not everything is widely available and much more bioavailable in food. But sometimes you might take it in combination with or for example, I think my vitamin D3 that I actually take. about to mention vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 that I actually think the vitamin D3 that I take actually has calcium in it and so that wouldn't be cause to throw it away. There's a reason that they do it that way, right? But I don't go out there and specifically like look for a calcium supplement.

DR. TOM:

You got it. So, this is the key to mineralization. Mineralization meaning the absorption of calcium, right? There's two vitamins, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. These are the two that activate the absorption of calcium, which is why your supplement has vitamin D3 and calcium in it. Vitamin D3, it's actually really not truly a vitamin. It is more of a pro-hormone and truly the only natural, completely natural way to get vitamin D3 is from the sun. is from the sun. So, the sun hits our skin, our body turns this fat-soluble vitamin into vitamin D3 through sun exposure. And the research is showing, I mean, you got to get a good amount of sun, especially if you live in an area that's not, you know, extremely close to the equator. When I go to Rio for the Olympics, there'll be some sun, but now in North Carolina, there is not. So, I'm not getting 10 to 20 minutes of sun exposure a day. So, I supplement with vitamin D3 as well.

ELLA

Well, let's pause here for just a moment because a couple of things about sun exposure. That also means you're exposing your skin to the sun. So, very few of us who have jobs and have things going on and who live in most of the parts of the world, not all, most of us are wearing clothes and not out in the sun during the premium sunny hours.

DR. TOM:

You got it.

ELLA

Okay. So even when you're talking about sun exposure, like me walking my dog and getting sun on my face is not really what you're talking about here.

DR. TOM:

No, not unless you're walking your dog in your bathing suit.

ELLA

Not at least for another month. Yeah, that's happening. Okay, so I want to be clear because so many people, well, there's two major things, major shifts going on in our society of late that were not the case, say, a hundred years ago. And the first one is we spend just inordinate amounts of time inside, including our children. And number two is when we do go outside, we cover every inch of our body with carcinogenic sunscreen. Right. Not that I have a problem with that. There are sunscreen options. Okay, that's show number four. There are sunscreen options that are not carcinogenic, but the ones that you're going to the store, oftentimes, and just buying off the shelf are arguably quite terrible for you. And they're preventing you from getting some of the vitamin D. that you need. How am I doing?

DR. TOM:

I agree. That is great. Yes. Okay, speech over.

ELLA

So talk to us about vitamin D3. That's actually something that you are saying if I'm understanding you correctly or if I say let you get a word in edgewise. That's something you're saying you might actually want to consider supplementation because it's kind of hard to get it naturally most months out of the year.

DR. TOM:

definitely, I recommend a majority of my patients do it. But here's how you know, I am also a big fan when it comes to when it comes to supplements or vitamins or anything, I'm really a big fan of test, don't guess. So, you can run a vitamin D3 test. It's a very simple blood test. There's even places you can find one that you can do at home and then you can find out what your number is. That way you'll know how much vitamin D3 to actually be taking. It's quite hard to get toxic on vitamin D3, but I am a fan also of testing to figure out where your number is.

ELLA

Well, I have to say that conventional medicine says your number is acceptable at a lower number than what I have found holistic medicine to be amenable to. In other words, your doctor will say what range is okay. Your conventional MD will say what range is okay.

DR. TOM:

anything above 30 anything about 30 so they say yeah i mean that's what i've seen uh if you're above 30 you're normal so that means if you're 31 you're normal if you're 29 you're bad oh wow okay well the reason i'm saying why don't you tell people why i'm saying oh wow because that's really No, that's super low. Okay, so here, let me kind of give you the background behind their mindset, right? So, vitamin D, when people think vitamin D, traditionally, they think rickets. Mom said, you need vitamin D, because we don't want you to have rickets. Okay, she never said that either. Okay, me neither. So if you get your number above 30, right, you decrease the risk of rickets. But now the research is showing. And so here's where the integrative Holistic doctor comes in and says, well look, here's what the research shows. If you can get your number to 70 to 90 on that vitamin D scale, now you turn on the immune boosting properties of vitamin D. The immune boosting properties are things like killing cancer cells. There's phenomenal research right now in the breast cancer world that says high numbers of vitamin D3, 70 to 90 range, is more effective at killing breast cancer cells than the drug tamoxifen.

ELLA

Wow. Even I've heard of tamoxifen. Yeah. Okay. Higher than what number? Say that again. That's important.

DR. TOM:

70 to 90.

ELLA

Okay. Okay. 70 to 90 is the range that you like to see. And you're saying anything below, what, 50 is just utterly deficient?

DR. TOM:

Technically, the medical world says if you're below 30, you're deficient. In my world, it's like, man, you do not want to be below 50.

ELLA

Okay. And 50 just means you're on the board and you'd really like to see us get up closer to the 70 to 90 range.

DR. TOM:

You got it.

ELLA

Wow. I'm not there. That is fascinating. I got, I got mine tested and I am so not there.

DR. TOM:

And it took, it took me a little bit to get mine up. It took me about six months. I checked mine a few years ago and now mine sits right at 89. And uh, so I keep it there.

ELLA

Everyone is going to want to know what a good D3 supplement is. So is it unfair to ask you if you have a brand that you recommend?

DR. TOM:

I do. My personal brand that I carry in my practice for my patients, it's created by a company called Vita Labs. Okay. He's the guy who created VitaCost, but you can go to my website. It's on there. Okay. I'll link to that one.

ELLA

I'm actually going to switch to yours. I'm not kidding. And yay, free commercial. I forgot that you had that. And I feel like I've been taking mine for almost a year, so my number should have gone up.

DR. TOM:

It should. And this is where it comes down to the vitamin D3 world. Again, so the only natural way to get it is from the sun, right? Right. So it's like, well, how do I put sunshine in a vitamin? So the most natural way to do it is through some sort of animal that their skin is exposed to the sun.

ELLA

Oh, you're going to make me not want to take this.

DR. TOM:

Well, listen. It's for your immune system.

ELLA

What am I eating?

DR. TOM:

Lanolin.

ELLA

Lanolin from what?

DR. TOM:

Sheepskin.

ELLA

Oh my gosh, at first I was like, I thought you were saying lamb and I was like, gross. And then you said lanolin. I was like, okay, that's fine. That sounds harmless. And you said from sheep. So we came full circle.

DR. TOM:

You got it.

ELLA

And so this is a byproduct of sheep, but you're saying that that's actually key.

DR. TOM:

Yes, yes. Otherwise, the only way to make a vitamin is through synthetically making it and that's what they do now in the medical world. They'll do a prescription vitamin D and it's in fact vitamin D2.

ELLA

Okay, this is if you get a prescription? Yes. Anytime you say prescription, like my whole radar starts pinging. So talk to me about vitamin D2.

DR. TOM:

Okay. So vitamin D2 is not the same. And it doesn't, here's the best part. It doesn't become vitamin D3. It doesn't like change over. So the medical world made a prescription vitamin D and it's listen, they give the patient 50,000 units of vitamin D2 one time, one time a week. And on their blood level test, it'll make it look like their vitamin D is coming up. And as soon as they stop taking it, everything just plummets.

ELLA

No, this is crazy. I mean, that sounds like something huge.

DR. TOM:

It's just, I mean, yeah, there's a lot that goes into it, but I'll leave it at that.

ELLA

Okay, well, let me ask you just one question about that. What is vitamin D2? I mean, I don't really care what it is, but what is it?

DR. TOM:

So that's the that is the what they would be like food grade. So when you look at convent, again, conventional milk, or if they, you know, use the word like if they fortify like your kids breakfast cereal with vitamin D. Yeah, it's vitamin D two.

ELLA

Okay, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So vitamin D two. No.

DR. TOM:

Exactly. The chemical name is called ergo calciferol. of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 is called cholecalciferol.

ELLA

Okay, but honestly, the bottles will say D2 or D3, right?

DR. TOM:

They should, yes, absolutely. If you're getting a good D3, it'll say D3.

ELLA

Okay, okay, okay. So are there bad D3s?

DR. TOM:

e FDA took off regulations in: 1994

ELLA

Well, they actually say that on the label. Will it say soybean oil and corn oil on the label?

DR. TOM:

What you want to do is you want to take the bottle, spin it around, right? Quit looking at the pretty marketing. go to the supplement facts and on the very bottom, the smallest print that you'll see says other ingredients.

ELLA

Okay.

DR. TOM:

That's where you want to look. What else are you putting in my supplement that I need to know about other ingredients?

ELLA

Okay. Okay. So you, the one that you're talking about, that's lanolin. Yep. Is that a product that you can get just off the shelf for those people who need to purchase it that way?

DR. TOM:

I mean, are there options? Yes. You know, there's definitely options.

ELLA

Yep. Okay. Well, I'm still buying yours because mine is not working.

DR. TOM:

We'll get, we'll get your number up. You don't need to be, I know you, like I take care of you, like you don't need, you eat well enough. You definitely don't need to be taking a calcium, any calcium supplement.

ELLA

Yeah, no, not on my list of things to take. No. Okay, so let me get back on track here. So I'm going to share the vitamin D3 link. I'm going to share some of the other things that we've mentioned and I appreciate you sharing those numbers so that people can actually get a simple blood test. That's not complicated to do, is it? Just to get your vitamin D levels tested.

DR. TOM:

All you have to do is ask for it.

ELLA

Okay, Dr. Tom, but one thing that I've heard you mention in the past is how to best combine vitamin D. Is that right? What are you supposed to take it with?

DR. TOM:

Yeah, so this is really good and very important. So this, Ella, so when people are taking vitamin D, you know, like yourself and maybe your number's not coming up like it should, one of the causes of that could be that you're not taking your vitamin correctly. So vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. There's only four of them. Vitamins A, D, E and K. Those are your four fat-soluble, meaning they absorb better in fats. You just want to take your vitamin D with coconut oil or a good fish oil. Take it with some sort of healthy fat that will help your body absorb the vitamin.

ELLA

Vitamin A, D, E, and K, and those are fat-soluble, unlike something like vitamin C, which is water-soluble, right?

DR. TOM:

You got it. All the other vitamins are all water-soluble.

ELLA

Alright, very good. Let's talk about vitamin K for just a minute because I believe that that is an under celebrated vitamin.

DR. TOM:

Yeah, me too. And so and again, it's one of the ones that you don't have to supplement with. you know if you're doing if you're eating good food and you're following a good plan a good diet you can get vitamin k in your body so specifically vitamin k2 helps lead to building bones it helps the mineralization of your bones and building strong bones but vitamin k2 specifically comes from the dark leafy greens Okay, that's the best source. Yes, absolutely. And it is great for bone health. It's extremely good for your heart as well. So you're looking at some of the dark leafy greens, it's your kales, it's your cucumbers, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, all those nice good dark green cruciferous vegetables.

ELLA

I've heard even green tea is helpful with vitamin K.

DR. TOM:

Yeah, absolutely. Green tea has a lot of antioxidant properties and even can cross the blood-brain barrier to bring antioxidants into your brain, great for your immune system.

ELLA

Is that why I feel like a superhero when I drink matcha?

DR. TOM:

Yes.

ELLA

Alright, very good. Okay, so vitamin K, you touched on some of the benefits and I have also read that it helps with PMS symptoms, that it helps improve brain function and it helps maintain teeth and gums.

DR. TOM:

Yeah, building strong bones, building strong cells, which is also why it helps your heart. Vitamin K2 is great. And again, get it through your nutrition. You don't necessarily have to supplement with this.

ELLA

Okay, that's so useful because I get so, I actually am wary of recommending supplements to people at this point because I feel like if you listen to, I don't know, 70 episodes of the show, you're like, I don't know what to take. But I think, I mean, I don't supplement with very much. I'd love your opinion on this, even though it's a bit of a left turn. A really solid fish oil, vitamin K2, I have in the cabinet, but I don't take daily because I eat so many of these foods. So then really just the bare minimum, I love that you're directing us to get most of this through our nutrition.

DR. TOM:

Yeah, so here's, let me give you my bare minimum. I went through this with my patients as well. So, every day I have vitamin D. I got my vitamin D3. I got my high quality fish oil. I take those two together. I take those two. Those are my staples. I take a curcumin pill. Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory, targets cancer cells. I take that every single day and those are my main three. From there, my nutrients at least every other day, if not daily, I'm doing a green juice, okay? And I'm doing bone broth. And those are two of the – basically, those are my liquid nutrients that I'm getting into my body. And then quarterly, I do some sort of detox. So that's it. Once a quarter, I do a detox, whether it's a cell detox, Sometimes I'll do a straight liver detox. I did a parasite cleanse at the beginning of the year and I'll just do one of those cleanses. Once a quarter.

ELLA

Topic number four. I don't know what topic we're on right now. We'll put a pin in that one also because I would love to talk to you about that. Do you say curcumin or how do you say that?

DR. TOM:

I call it curcumin.

ELLA

Curcumin and it's tumeric, right?

DR. TOM:

Yeah, so it's the active ingredient in turmeric is the curcuminoids. I can't say anything today.

ELLA

I don't know what's wrong with me. Are these like elective on how we pronounce them?

DR. TOM:

Yeah, no, it's good. It's good. You just gotta get the first letter right.

ELLA

I mean, I'm very familiar with curcuminoids. Cumin, turmeric, but I don't know how to pronounce them, so I never talk about them.

DR. TOM:

You just gotta eat them. You don't have to talk about them. You just gotta get them in your body.

ELLA

I'll just use pictures, guys. I'll just post some pictures. It'll be fine. Okay. All right. Very good. Do you have a curcumin brand that you like that we can post to?

DR. TOM:

I have the one that I carry in my office. Here's the deal. Be careful. I flew out to Las Vegas and this is just again in the supplement world. We're not the Vegas where my manufacturer is. And he has all the cool lab testing. And so we ordered six different curcumin pills off of Amazon and I'm not going to say the name brands, but we ordered them and we genetically tested them. The actives, the highest number had 4% actives of your curcuminoids, which is the active ingredient and curcumin 4%. The one that I take in my office when I have is 98% actives. Oh my gosh. So this is the difference. My dad used to always say you get what you pay for in the supplement world is absolutely

ELLA

Okay. And for people who are sitting in London right now, can they buy it too? Or is this just US based? Let me just go ahead and tell everybody because they're going to want to look into this.

DR. TOM:

My stuff personally is from my office, It'll Ship US. If you want something overseas, go to check out Dr. Vida Labs.

ELLA

Okay, Dr. Vida Labs. You got it. Okay, fantastic. And then just while we're just completely off of whatever topic we started with today, let me ask you a quick question. Do you take a probiotic? I eat sauerkraut.

DR. TOM:

That's your probiotic, got it. Yep. So you can get, this is really amazing, you can get over a trillion probiotics and four tablespoons of sauerkraut. If you're getting it from someone who's making some good homemade sauerkraut, and there's some good brands you can find at the store, as long as it's raw, and you'll get literally four tablespoons, one trillion probiotics, which is, I mean, you would have to swallow like half a bottle of some of the probiotics out there to get the same amount.

ELLA

I eat kimchi for that reason.

DR. TOM:

You got it. Kimchi is the spicy sauerkraut, right? Yeah. This is really cool, Ella, too. Also, if you're getting cabbage that's raised in the ground, like it's supposed to be, you'll also get soil-based organisms, which are fantastic for building your microbiome and your immune system.

ELLA

You're not saying go buy cabbage, too. I mean, cabbage is great, but you're saying that the cabbage in the sauerkraut and in the kimchi, that's actually particularly helpful.

DR. TOM:

You got it. Dr. Tom, you're so full of knowledge. I like to help people.

ELLA

Okay, so this is very cool. So, and the reason I ask about probiotics is because I really try to encourage people in the direction of real food for their real nutrition. And the probiotics, I'm still torn and people are saying, well, which one do you take Ella? Which one do you take? And I'm like, there's one that I take, but I feel like between drinking kombucha and eating kimchi, like I'm good, but maybe I'm wrong.

DR. TOM:

No, I mean, eating kimchi, you're good. You're getting enough of them. And honestly, like, again, I get my food, but I have patients who just will not eat sauerkraut, will not eat kimchi. Like they'd rather, you know, they would just throw up like they would lose probiotics if they try to eat that stuff. So for them, I'm like, yeah, go, go get a good probiotic. I have a friend, Dr. Axe, who makes a good probiotic. And so I recommend his for people who want to supplement with them.

ELLA

Okay, Dr. Axe, oh, you and Dr. Axe, you and Josh Axe, who's like all over the internets, you went to school together.

DR. TOM:

Yeah, we grew up together in Florida, went to school together. He was, he actually had a maximizing practice. He's a chiropractor. We went to chiropractic school together. He had a practice for about three years, and just really felt the calling on his life. And this is what he says, he goes, I literally just felt the calling of my life to have the number one health website in the world. And so right now he's in the top You know, I think it's in the top three or top four. Wow. Currently. And so he's doing it, you know, super great kid. When we went through school together, I call him a kid. He's just a friend of mine. When we went to school together, his mother, good lad, his mother was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. First time she went through chemo radiation surgery. Second time it came back. And we were in school, you know, learning this stuff. And I remember, you know, he sat down with mom, he goes, mom, there's a better way. And if you'll listen to me, we can do this. And so his mom completely reverses cancer, 100% natural. And so now Josh is just, you know, reaching people and really just educating and empowering them. I think he's doing an amazing job at it.

ELLA

Well, shout out to Dr. Josh Axe. And we will link them to the probiotics that you mentioned that are on his site.

DR. TOM:

Perfect.

ELLA

Alright, so you can thank Dr. Tom, Dr. X. Okay, last topic, last question for you. You mentioned bone broth. I wanted to almost do a whole show on bone broth, but in lieu of that, for the moment, can you just give us the rundown on bone broth and kind of what it is and what it isn't?

DR. TOM:

Come on, liquid gold, right? So this is something that I drink daily. I'll do half a cup to a cup of bone broth. And I've been incorporating this just in my lifestyle, maybe over the past two years. My grandma used to make chicken stock on Sundays after dinner. She'd take the chicken, throw it in water. And what you're doing, you're slow simmering. So chicken broth takes about 24 hours. And you're simmering all the bones, all the cartilage, all the collagen pieces of the bony matrix of the chicken carcass, you're slow simmering and grabbing all the nutrients out of there. So, you're literally grabbing calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicone, sulfur, selenium, all the different minerals and nutrients out of the bones, out of the cartilage and into the stock, into the broth. And then you drink it. So it's a really just bioavailable way to get those nutrients into your body. But one of the best things, and a lot of my patients are drinking this stuff now, but it has chondroitin sulfates in it. You got it. So if anyone in the running world, right, you've all heard of glucosamine chondroitin

ELLA

Right.

DR. TOM:

Glucosamine chondroitin is the, you know, the supplement that you take if your knees hurt, right? The research on human trials, glucosamine chondroitin is about 50% effective. And again, the reason why is because it's all, you know, they're all processed and synthetic. So, bone broth is the natural version of that. Chondroitin sulfates and glucosamine is what's in it. And it also has collagen and gelatin, which is the breakdown of collagen. So, now you're thinking, It's great for skin, it's great for hair, it's great for nails, and it is promoting growth in the smoothness of the ligaments and the tendons in the skin.

ELLA

I'll be honest with you, I'm a fake vegetarian, a pescatarian who dabbles in bacon once a quarter. I am now consuming bone broth because you linked me to a local farmer who makes liquid gold bone broth. I've made it. I won't touch meat, but I actually got out the crock pot and somehow got the bones in there without really touching them. And with carrot, onion, and celery, and some salt, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar, because that helps leach the minerals out of the bones. See, I read. And let it simmer for like two days. And it's good, but since I made it, I have this thing, I don't want to eat it. I buy it from the local farmer and I drink hers and it's amazing. And it's so good for your gut, I know, but the reason I got onto it, even though chickens gross me out, is the gelatin, the collagen, so good for skin. I don't need to buy a bunch of stuff and put it on my face. I'll just put it in my body.

DR. TOM:

amazing for your skin and absolutely incredible for your joints. And so one of the things too, for anyone out there, if you're going to make your own bone broth, and I used to make my own, but then I found someone who would make it for me. It's so good. Glenda, she does such a good job. But if you're going to make your own, make sure, here's the big key, make sure the bones, the chicken bones that you're buying are from healthy chickens. Oh, that's so important. Yeah. So again, free range or pasture raised chicken. You can also make beef broth. You can make lamb broth. Again, just make sure the bones that you're getting are healthy bones.

ELLA

That's so important because if you're buying some nasty chickens who were raised in just disgusting conditions, then you can just disregard the past four minutes of this podcast because it's not the same product.

DR. TOM:

Absolutely. I would not do that.

ELLA

Okay. And bones are cheap. Like you don't even have to buy the chicken. You can just go to a farmer's market or go to your co-op or go if you're lucky enough to have someone who's quasi local, like we are. And you can just say, you know, I'll just take the bones kind of when you're done. Yeah.

DR. TOM:

And some of, and some of the farmers, some of the farmers will even give you their bones. They'll give them away. Incredible. So look at this. So chicken bones are the easiest and I think they taste the best beef. Beef bones has a different taste to it, but it has the marrow. So, the inside of those bones, that marrow is loaded with what will increase your white blood cells. So, for my patients who come in with any type of white blood cell, basically white blood cell cancer, I will get them going on bone marrow stock right away to help increase those white blood cells. It's all about your immune system.

ELLA

What about the stuff you can buy off the shelf, Dr. Tom?

DR. TOM:

Yeah, be careful. There's there's one brand, at least where we live in North Carolina. It's called Pacific. And it's a it's a national brand. And they do a good job about raising healthy, healthy bones. That's the only one I've ever seen good. research and good news about. The other ones I truly don't know, but I feel more comfortable knowing the farmer and knowing what I'm about to put into my body. Because think about it, it's their bones. Their bones, that chicken's bones or that cow's bones is literally made up of what they've been eating over however long they've been alive. Literally. So you're about to get all those nutrients. You want to make sure you're getting all the good and you want to make sure you're not getting any of the bad.

ELLA

Okay, so in general, just the stuff you can buy out of a can or a carton off the shelf is pretty, it's not even the same product really.

DR. TOM:

It's inferior. I mean, it's not horrible, at least that brand Pacific. It's not horrible, but if you get a homemade one from either a farmer who's making this stuff or you're making it at home, it's going to be a whole lot more nutrient dense.

ELLA

Well, and you guys know I'm just incapable in the kitchen. Like I can mix things together. That's about it. And even I can make bone broth because you don't have to do anything. You just drop it all in the pot and let it hang out for a day or two.

DR. TOM:

You got it.

ELLA

Okay. Dr. Tom, I've taken up way too much of your time, but this is just absolutely fascinating. And now I have three more shows that I want to do with you. So that's great. We'll plan on that. Is there anything else you want to let people know about or anything you're excited about that you want to share before we let you go?

DR. TOM:

I love it. I love being on with you. I'm super thankful for the opportunity. I just want people to realize, listen, you have an option when it comes to your health. When someone tells you one of the things I've been on right now, I've just had so many people walk into my door and their doctor has told them whether it's cancer or fibromyalgia, or even osteoporosis, the doctors will tell them it's incurable. We don't really know what causes it. There's no really cure for it. And I tell every single one of those people, And maybe there's someone out there listening right now, then you need to hear this. If a doctor ever tells you it's incurable, what that means is up to that person's knowledge, they do not have an answer for you and you need to go find someone who does. The research backs it up. Harvard just did a study. It said if you get a diagnosis of cancer, that oncologist says you have six months to live. If you believe that doctor, guess how long you'll live? Six months. If you change your mindset, this is out of Harvard. If you change your mindset and say, no, no, no, I'm not done yet. I'm going to do something different. You'll live longer. Just that mindset switch activates your immune system. There's always another way.

ELLA

The mindset activates the immune system.

DR. TOM:

Yup. And laughter also boosts your immune system.

ELLA

Dr. Tom, you're going to live forever.

DR. TOM:

At least 120. All right.

ELLA

Well, Dr. Tom Nixon and his beautiful, amazing wife, Marissa, I will link to them so you can learn lots more about them. Dr. Tom, it has been an honor and a privilege.

DR. TOM:

Thanks, Ella. I appreciate it.

ELLA

Okay, if you enjoyed today's show, please share it with someone you care about. And be sure to check out our new YouTube channel and head to onairella.com for today's show notes. You can also learn about how to work with me there, onairella.com. And I would love to hear from you, so if you DM me on Instagram, I promise I will reply. P.S. All the links you need for us to connect are right here in your podcast app in the description for today's episode. Check them out. Thanks for listening and thanks for inspiring me. You are, quite simply, awesome.