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Hello to the most incredible community!
I hope you're taking care of yourself this week, and if you're not quite there yet, that's okay. That's what this newsletter is for.
This week's questions come from three people dealing with three very different things. One keeps getting sinus and ear infections that antibiotics don't seem to touch. One is looking for help with a child's eczema. One was diagnosed with severe fatty liver and is trying to cook for a family that won't eat the food.
Here's the thread tying them together. Your immune system, your skin and your liver all answer to the same two places: your gut and your liver. What goes in, and how well your body clears it back out. Let's get into it.
Here's what we're covering in today's questions:
(Click to skip ahead)
Thank you for being here. Now on to the questions!
Your liver is part of your immune system. Most people never treat it like one.
The first question below is from someone stuck in a loop of sinus and ear infections. Nurse Doza's answer runs through sunlight, the gut, sleep and the adrenals, and it finishes at the liver, because the liver is where your body makes the antioxidants that help keep inflammation in check.
LIVER BOOST is the one he reaches for there. Folate is the first ingredient on the label, and the formula is built to support both phases of the liver's natural detox work. It shows up again in this week's third question, from a reader with fatty liver.
October only: Buy 2, Get 1 Free. Three bottles for $222.
Q: Nurse Doza, is there anything to help with sinus infections and ear infections all the time? Antibiotics do not work and I'm constantly dealing with them. Please help!
A: Nurse Doza: Someone who gets sick all the time usually has an immune system that needs more support. We need to strengthen your immune system to help you deal with future infections and previous ones.
How to strengthen your immune system:
Get more morning sunlight. Morning sunlight helps the body make Vitamin D, and vitamin D is a big part of how our immune system works. Vitamin D receptors are found on immune cells throughout the body. Vitamin D deficiency is also one of the most common deficiencies in the world. I would take the proactive approach, check your Vitamin D level, and start taking 5000 units of Vitamin D3 daily in addition to getting daily morning sunlight.
Repair your gut. Most of our immune cells are found in the gut, and most people have gut issues. Gut issues = immune issues. Processed foods can lead to holes and damage in the gut lining known as leaky gut. Leaky gut can make it easier for future and current infections to enter our body, as our gut acts as a barrier to block harmful environmental forces from entering our body and causing damage. (Leaky gut and vitamin D deficiency both come up a lot in the research on autoimmune conditions.) Support the gut lining with L-glutamine, as glutamine is the main fuel the cells of the gut lining run on, and holes in the gut could mean glutamine deficiency. Don't forget to eat more fermented, probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and refrigerated pickles that can help support a gut microbiome that has been through all those antibiotics. Your health starts in your gut.
Work on your sleep routine. Sleep helps detox the brain and body. Most people have poor sleep. Morning sunlight, turning down lights around 8pm, and practicing meditation or breathwork before bed can also help.
Support your adrenal glands. Chronic infections = chronic inflammation. The adrenal glands respond to inflammation and stress by releasing Cortisol and Adrenaline. A lifetime of overactive adrenals can lead to a body being stuck in fight or flight mode, which can predispose a person to getting sick more easily. I love our CHILL supplement to support overused adrenal glands.
Detox the liver. The liver makes antioxidants, which help reduce inflammation in the body. With 1 in 3 people having a fatty liver, it's possible most people's detox pathways don't work as well. I have our clients who get sick often take our LIVER BOOST for more detox support.
My hope is that as you put these in place, you notice yourself getting sick less often throughout the year. If you still get sick, please book an online consult with me to discuss what else can be done.
If infections keep coming back after rounds of antibiotics, it's also worth having an ENT take a look, alongside everything above.
Extra credit: sleep is the one most people skip, and it's the one your immune system does its repair work in. Take our $10 Sleep Course.
When the same infection keeps coming back, someone needs to look at the whole picture.
Recurring infections rarely have one cause. It's usually a few things stacked on top of each other: a vitamin D level nobody checked, a gut that's been through round after round of antibiotics, sleep that never quite recovers you.
A consult with Nurse Doza is where those pieces get looked at together. You bring the history, the labs and the questions. You leave with a written plan and a clear next step.
30 or 60 minutes, by phone or video, from anywhere in the country.
Q: Hi Nurse Doza. Do you have any advice on children with eczema?
A: Nurse Doza: Have you tried an elimination diet? There might be certain foods that might be causing sensitivities. A lot of kids' foods have added ingredients that can contribute to numerous health issues such as constipation, headaches, rashes, acne and of course eczema.
How to help a child with eczema:
Try an elimination diet. Focus on your child eating whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean protein and healthy fats. Use minimal spices, as the goal is to eat only 1 to 3 ingredients for each meal or snack to see if there is a link between the foods they are eating and eczema flare ups. (Loop in your child's pediatrician before you start, so nothing important falls out of their diet while you test.)
Scan what goes in and on them. Try the YUKA app that helps you scan barcodes and tells you information about each ingredient and what health issues they are linked to. The YUKA app even provides a grading system to help place your products in an excellent, good, poor or bad range. Use this app on household products like shampoos, lotions, soaps and toothpastes, as sometimes artificial sweeteners, food dyes and preservatives are added.
Support the gut. I would also support the gut, as so many health issues start in the gut. I have seen skin issues improve when the health of the gut improves as well. Kids can take supplements too, and my favorite kid friendly choice is our GUT powder, which has glutamine in it. Mix this with water or apple juice and give it daily, in an amount your child's pediatrician is comfortable with for their age and size. Glutamine supports the immune system, a healthy inflammatory response and even good poops. All of those can be issues happening alongside the eczema, and a cream on the skin only reaches the skin. It can't support a digestive tract that needs help. (Keep using whatever your child's doctor has prescribed while you work on this.)
Consider a food sensitivity panel. Feel free to book an online consult with me to discuss ordering a food sensitivity panel for your child. Sometimes the foods we least expect to cause issues might be the biggest culprits for skin irritation.
Extra credit: if you want the whole gut and skin connection laid out, take our $10 Digestion course. Through October 31 it comes free with this month's Gallbladder Health course.
Every answer this week starts with a number most people have never seen.
A vitamin D level you've never checked. Liver enzymes nobody walked you through. Inflammation markers that never made it onto the standard panel. Each answer in this newsletter is easier to act on when you know where you're starting.
Superpower is the lab panel we use in the clinic. One test covers 100+ biomarkers, including Vitamin D, ALT, AST and hs-CRP, and it comes with a personalized plan and a care team to walk you through the results.
$349 a year, about $0.96 a day. HSA/FSA eligible.
Q: Nurse Doza, I need your help! I was diagnosed with severe fatty liver disease about a year and a half ago. None of my family wants to eat anything that supposedly is good for healing my liver. Are there any basic meals that someone with very little cooking knowledge can prepare?
A: Nurse Doza: How to eat for your liver, even if you don't cook much:
Build around healthy fats and proteins. I would focus on healthy fats and proteins like eggs, fatty fish (salmon, sardines), avocados and olive oil. Healthy fat is great for the liver. Cutting out fast foods and processed oils like hydrogenated oils can help reduce liver inflammation.
Add cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower are all high in sulfur, which is great for the liver. Garlic, onions and beets all can help support the liver too.
Eat fruit, skip the dried fruit and processed sugar. I would eat fruits but stay away from dried fruits, as dried fruits have higher sugar content. Processed sugar from pastries, sodas and candy all have the capability to cause excessive sugar to build up in the liver (glycogen) that can lead to insulin resistance and fat deposits in the liver (this is one of the main drivers of fatty liver).
Cook at home, low and slow. I would cook more at home, using stainless steel utensils, olive oil, and cooking at low temperatures. Foods cooked at higher temperatures create more inflammatory compounds in food, which have been linked to fatty liver. Those foods produce AGE products (advanced glycation end products), which have been found in severe fatty liver, diabetes, obesity and dementia. Boiling or steaming are much better options, and when you cook more at home, you can control the way your food is prepared, which can help lower inflammatory foods going into your body.
Two more things to consider: fasting and LIVER BOOST.
Fasting. Fasting has been studied for its role in reducing liver fat. Both women and men can benefit from fasting. This is our fasting podcast that explains how to do it right. If you're on any medications, especially for blood sugar, talk with your provider before you start.
LIVER BOOST. I would also start our LIVER BOOST, which is our liver detox supplement that supports the liver's natural detox pathways. It's the supplement I use most with our fatty liver clients, alongside the food changes above.
The liver is the only organ that, when healthy, can be cut in half and completely regenerate. It just needs the right support.
Extra credit: take our LIVE Liver course going on right now in the School of Doza. We have classes every Tuesday night, and you can watch the live class or watch the recording later on your own time. We provide the guidance and support needed to help you support a fatty liver.
Fatty liver is rarely just a liver problem.
The question above is from a reader with severe fatty liver trying to feed a family that won't eat the food. Food is where it starts. The other half is understanding how the liver hands its work to the gallbladder and the gut, and what happens when that handoff breaks down.
That's this month's course, Gallbladder Health. Five classes with Nurse Doza on how your gallbladder, liver and gut work together, whether you still have yours or it's been removed. Self-paced, lifetime access.
$10, and through October 31 the Digestion course comes free with it.
Your body isn't broken. It's asking for better inputs.
Your immune system isn't weak. It's under-supported, and support is something you can add.
Your child's skin isn't the whole story. It's the part you can see.
Your liver isn't finished. It's the one organ built to come back.
Start with one change. Do it daily. Repeat.
To your health,
Nurse Doza
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