What I hope this site develops into is a site that serves as a ‘hub of useful information’ that connects average people like myself to the information on nutrition and health they are seeking.

 

This website was created because of the frustration in finding the information I needed to take charge of my own nutritional health on a deeper, molecular level. Each of our cells are like tiny universes onto themselves, and each one works in concert with the other 100 Trillion 'universes' that make up our bodies. 

 

My wife and I have had a couple horrible, potentially life-threatening situations with respected health care providers. After filing a formal complaint, it turned out my first cardiologist, who tried using the paddles to fix my Atrial Fibrillation, didn’t have the credentials to even be a Cardiologist. They also missed my Atrial Flutter. Fortunately, my second Cardiologist was a gem. Two separate ablation surgeries in 2018 were very successful and I’m fortunate that at the age of 70 (2023) I don’t take any medications.

 

My wife had an MRI completed because of some numbness that wouldn’t go away. The neurologist looked at the MRI results of her spine and said nothing was there, and to go to a chiropractor and exercise more. As her condition worsened during the next six months we sought out a different neurologist. Using the same MRI, the doctor said if she were to fall or get into an accident she’d likely be paralyzed for life and needed emergency spinal surgery.  Several weeks later she was recovering. Same MRI, two different neurologists.

 

I know we aren’t alone in our experiences. But what it sparked in me was a desire to take more personal responsibility for my health and the related necessary information.

 

I started investigating personalized, molecular level medicine in 2020 due to our using VIOME and its gut biome analysis to identify foods to eat and not to eat. When I researched the twenty-six Superfoods that were listed, I found that ‘Flavonoid’ was a common nutrient in 18 of them. I started reading scientific papers and respected articles on Flavonoids, phytonutrients, polyphenols, nutrition, diet, and food as medicine. Since then, I’ve read over 3,000 scientific papers and probably three times as many articles and several books on nutrition and longevity.

 

I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have no medical or nutritional background. I have an Associates of Science degree from a community college in Michigan and was in retail management for much of my life. After we moved to Oakland, CA I saw a start-up showcase a new 3D technology and have been able to create a small business with it. It’s certainly not a pedigree for anyone to take medical or nutritional advice from me. So, to be clear, I’m not giving out medical or nutritional advice. There’s plenty of that all over the internet. I want to give data, information and resources.

 

Although I don’t have professional credentials, I can relate a personal, anecdotal experience in ending my life-long sugar addiction. I lost 20 pounds in 11 months, without increased exercise via a very inexpensive, science-based approach. After months of studying the benefits of green tea, ginger, turmeric and lemon; bioavailability; satiated calories vs. not; benefits of fermented foods, cell receptors, metabolical and molecular level health, longevity, and nuts; I decided I had enough information to make a go of it. The fact that my fasting blood sugar spiked above to a pre-diabetic 106, after a lifetime of being mid-level normal was the final incentive.

 

I had read enough scientific papers on Type II Diabetes that discussed the loss of eyesight, amputation of a foot or leg, heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease that I decided I wanted to die of old age instead. It also confirmed what is scientifically proven – the negative effects of unhealthy nutrition build up over time and are often not recognized until it is too late.

 

I have tried often to stop eating too much sugar. I love it. We all do. Our brain thrives on it!

The problem isn’t that we don’t know we need to eat less sugar. The problem is how?  

 

Every (and I mean every) article on nutrition involving sugar or going on a diet says: ‘reduce your added sugar, eat more vegetables, exercise more, etc'. Tell that to someone that was a proud owner of a commercial grade cotton candy machine, and they will look at you as if you were Nancy Reagan shouting, ‘Just Say No’.

 

Most foods that are healthy for us are not sweet like sugar. Unfortunately they often have 'less-sweet' , or more bitter flavors. Just think of lettuce or lemons. I settled on needing to retrain my tongue to accept bitter. Prior to this I had retrained my tongue twice in my life.  The first tine was over 30 years ago in giving up salt and appreciating tasting more of the natural flavors of food. The second was about 10 years ago as I’ve never tolerated much spicy heat. Wendy’s chili was hot enough for me. I had read how eating more foods with some heat to them has been shown to be healthy. Now I can tolerate up to about 7.5 on a ‘hotness scale’ up to 10. (which on both the healthy and hot scale is high enough for me)

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I reduced my salt and increased my tolerance of heat by steps. Less and less salt, more and more heat. Each time I retrained my tongue, my brain followed. I haven’t gone back to using more salt, and I eat with more heat. I figured that with sugar, the way to my brain was via my tongue.

 

I decided I needed to retrain my tongue to not only accept, but to look forward to ‘non-sweet. I embarked on a mission. Based on my research Ginger contains the Flavonoid Gingerol, which is a strong anti-oxidant and helps fight free-radicals.  One of the byproducts of too much sugar is the creation of free-radicals that lead to oxidative stress. Ginger also helps with weight loss and lowers blood sugar levels. Ginger also increases the levels of Dopamine and Serotonin which can help inhibit inflammatory responses in the brain. Plus, I wouldn’t call Ginger sweet. I’ve never heard anyone at party yell out, ‘Hey everybody, time to celebrate so come get your finger of raw Ginger!’

 

Green Tea contains a catechin Flavonoid , epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is a strong antioxidant associated with fighting cancer among other diseases, and it helps in protecting cells and molecules from damage.  Green Tea also increases fat burning, helps protect the brain from aging, helps in preventing Type II Diabetes, helps to prevent cardiovascular disease, lose weight, and may help with longevity. (I’ve also noticed Green Tea keeps my breath fresher.)

 

Green Tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine, which has been shown to increase both dopamine and serotonin levels and is associated with a lower rate of depressive symptoms. (Read the research paper)

 

Turmeric contains the Flavonoid curcumin, which also aids in the modulation of dopamine and serotonin among other benefits.

 

Perhaps the most important key to being metabolically healthy is being sure we consume enough water/liquids. Hydration makes the top of most nutritionists’ lists!

 

Given that sugar, in all its various forms gives a huge spike of dopamine and serotonin similar to cocaine and heroin, it’s no surprise it’s addicting for some, and difficult to give up for most others.

 

I landed on drinking homemade, fermented Ginger juice mixed with Green Tea & Lemon, throughout the day. I add some Clove juice for help with the mucus of my intestinal lining. This ‘juice’ gives a little hit of dopamine, helps increase serotonin levels and has no sugar. Because sugar is used in the fermentation of the yeast I had the finished product tested at a lab to make sure no sugar was present. I mix the Ginger Juice 50/50 with  Green Tea & Lemon and drink it as my ‘water’ throughout the day. The bitterness of the ‘drink’ did exactly what I needed. Tongue retrained! (Starting in November, 2022 I added fresh Turmeric root with the Ginger root)

 

I started drinking it in January 2021, along with eating a mixture of nuts and seeds as a snack.  By the end of February I decided to reduce my pasta and bread consumption by 75% and had my last sugar/chocolate binge in July. By the middle of October I had lost 20 pounds without an increase in exercise. I went from 162 pounds down to 142. Now, I stay in the 145-150 range. I still drink my Ginger-Tumeric Juice and Green Tea every day. My wife asked if I'm addicted to it and I have to say - Yes!

 

I think one of the main reasons people go on and off diets is because of overuse of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, which eventually drives the return to excess and unhealthy eating. I personally know how difficult it is to lose wait when sugar is in the equation. I’ve fought sugar for my entire life, and today’s molecular bioscience confirms it started out in my mother’s womb.

 

Hopefully, some of the information, data and resources will help you on you with optimizing your molecular level health.