[Daniel]

Hey ,

Here are some things you can do and some suggestions for lab tests. You mentioned that a low histamine diet reduced your symptoms. Histamine can also cause asthmatic symptoms, so let’s first take a look at what can elevate histamine.
 
• Histamine can be elevated through the activation of the immune system. It is for example released by immune cells called mast cells. Mast cells are the immune system’s first line of defence against antigens entering the body.  Mast cells are more located especially in the skin and mucosa. Mast cells are especially important in the homeostasis of the commensal bacteria of the gut. If you have allergies, this can activate mast cells to release histamine. Avoiding them is especially important. If you don’t know if you have allergies you could consider getting tested.
• You can get histamine from foods (we have a list in the B Better library. You can find it in this document). If you are experiencing more histamine symptoms with eating more histamine foods, I recommend not eating leftovers (I know… What a waste! But right now it is a burden on your body!). 
• Histamine can be elevated because the body can’t break it down effectively. The DAO enzyme and the HNMT enzyme help do this. DAO supplements could help, but I will come back to that.

As you can see: the gut & the immune system play an important role.
Immune system.
Getting sick happens. There is even a benefit of getting sick once in a while. The immune system gets very active and cleans the whole body, not only from for example a virus but also from possibly other dormant things.

That being said, we like to have an optimal functioning immune system. Nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin A and zinc play an important role. I really recommend you take a look at B’s Medicine Cabinet Must-Haves & Go-To Immune Boosting Protocol. This protocol can help you next time you get an infection. But since we are passed that stage I would recommend you take a look at these nutrients. Are you getting enough:
• Vitamin D – Is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies. We can only make it during day time when the sun is high enough in the sky. Where I come from (The Netherlands) we could walk naked on the street the whole day long from November to April, but we won’t make vitamin D since the sun doesn’t get high enough in the sky.

Vitamin D also plays an important role in keeping the doors – or the tight junctions as they are called – closed between the cells in the gut. I often recommend my clients to aim at vitamin D blood levels around 50 ng/ml.
• Magnesium – I’m just mentioning this because vitamin D needs magnesium to convert to its final bioactive form.
• Zinc – An essential nutrient for the immune system. I’m not sure if you are using a supplement. If you don’t and you are considering a supplement, I would recommend choosing a zinc supplement that has a little copper in it as well since zinc and copper compete with each other for absorption. Copper is also necessary for the synthesis of the DAO enzyme.

I recommend you take a look at the videos about zinc we have in the mineral balance course. There is one particular video here about correcting a zinc deficiency that dives deeper into how to correct a zinc deficiency if you suspect this is your case.

Just a note here. If you are experiencing stress in your life, this influences your immune system as well. Stress can suppress immune function. If you are experiencing a lot of stress, the adrenal balance course is something I would recommend you watch as well – or at least the first 7 videos.

Gut Health
The 2 biggest things that impact the microbiome are antibiotics and food. If you have used antibiotics a few times in your life, chances are your gut needs some love. Antibiotics for example kill bacteria, leaving an opportunity for fungi, yeast and candida to overgrow. This protocol here you could use to address yeast and candida in the gut. The supplement recommended by Bernadette contains a lot of antimicrobials mentioned in this document and is therefore great for bringing balance to the gut when you are experiencing an overgrowth of yeast and candida.

If you want to learn more about your own gut health, symptoms are a cheap way to assess your gut health. Symptoms like
• Bloating
• Gass
• Constipation
• Diarrhea

are all signs something is going on.

Sometimes symptoms don’t present themselves. Although the presence of symptoms is a good way to assess something is going on, the absence of symptoms isn’t the best way to conclude everything is fine.

If you like to learn more about your gut health an Organic Acid Test from GPL can help to see if you have some kind of overgrowth going on. They aren’t cheap, unfortunately, but this test can help you discover if you have an overgrowth of
• Yeast/Candida
• Bacteria or
• Mold

Stool tests are other ways to get more insight into gut issues.

DAO enzyme
Stress, yeast(like candida) and bacteria can all influence/damage the gut lining. It is the gut lining that synthesises the DAO enzyme which helps break down histamine. Having a well-functioning gut lining is important. If you like to learn more about what causes a leaky gut I recommend this video. Once the yeast has been reduced you probably need some gut healing as well. We have a video about gut healing therapies here, and it involves using foods & supplements like glutamine, zinc carnosine, aloe vera and bone broth.

Copper, vitamin C and vitamin B6 are all important cofactors necessary for creating the DAO enzyme. We touched on this already a little bit. If you are using oral contraceptives, be aware you could be low on vitamin B6.

You could try DAO supplements and see if this helps reduce your symptoms. Just realise that they are a quick fix, but you still need to find out the root cause of why you are experiencing high histamine symptoms.

HNMT Enzyme
The HNMT enzyme is found throughout the body. This enzyme works to add a methyl group to histamine. According to his article, the methylated histamine molecules can then be excreted easily in the urine.
Methyl groups are simply a carbon with three hydrogens. SAMe (s-adenosyl-L-methionine –  which can also be bought as a supplement) is the primary donor of methyl groups, and SAMe production relies on the body having enough folate, vitamin B12, and choline available to produce methyl groups. More nutrients that play a critical role!

Toxin exposure
Fillings in your teeth containing mercury can leach this metal. Sometimes candida, as a way to protect your body, absorbs the mercury so the body doesn’t need to deal with it. If you have some amalgam fillings in your teeth, this could impact your gut and your immune system as well.

I hope these tips can help you in the right direction.

Please keep us posted about your progress! I would love to hear what works or if there are more questions!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

I have only partly listened to the recording, so I might be missing a bit of context.

Are you using the Candi Cleanse to get rid of yeast like candida and other antimicrobials? In this case:

When you are dealing with yeast (like candida for example), the immune system can get quite busy. Mast cells, which release histamine, can detect fungal & microbial infections and react to them in an attempt to protect the body (there is a 2012 study that describes that, just click here).

Getting rid of microbes can eventually help lower the histamine load on the body. Reducing histamine-rich foods can also help reduce the histamine load on the body.

If you are dealing with yeast or candida: yeast can be in 2 forms. The cell form isn’t a problem. The problem becomes when yeast cells like candida for example transform in their hyphae state. In the hyphae state, the candida cell grows a tail that can penetrate the gut lining creating some damage. If the lining of the gut is damaged, the enzyme that breaks down histamine called DAO (which is made in the gut lining to break down histamine from foods) is reduced as well and some gut healing is a logical second step.

The amount of time you will need to get rid of unwanted microbes depends on how much are present in the first place and is therefore difficult to say. With my clients I often use Biocidin and with this product it is advised to use it for at least 3 months and then retest for example with an Organic Acid Test to see if the treatment was successful.

Of course, I will listen to the recording completely. But if you could provide me with the details about the issues you are dealing with here, I might be able to give you a better answer!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

That is a great question! It is not an easy one to answer as well. We have a lot of content here that can help you and I will link to the content in my answer.

But first, let me explain when you have PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome.

You have PCOS when you meet at least 2 of the 3 Rotterdam criteria. These criteria are:
• Ovulatory dysfunction
• Androgen excess (This can only be measured in tests – like for example the DUTCH test)
• Polycystic ovaries (This can only be evaluated by a doctor)

Let’s dive a little deeper into the signs & symptoms of PCOS:

Androgen excess
Androgen excess can lead to symptoms like male pattern hair loss, acne, anger, irritation, mood swings and hair growth in places you wouldn’t want hair to grow.

Ovalulatory issues
These issues can be irregular cycles, but they can also present themselves as anovulation or fertility challenges.
What causes PCOS?Often excess androgen can be caused by insulin resistance. In the B Better library, we have a course on blood sugar regulation which dives a lot deeper into how insulin resistance is caused and what it is. Here is a video that explains what insulin resistance means, but with PCOS I would advise you to watch the entire course since this course also explains how to reverse insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance causes something called Sex Hormone Binding Globulin or SHBG to go down. SHBG is like a bus for sex hormones. If sex hormones are on the bus, they aren’t available for use. Since with insulin resistance, the number of busses is reduced, more testosterone swims free wreaking havoc.

Insulin resistance can also lead to anovulation and it is the ovulation that leads to progesterone production. If you would like to dive deeper into how ovulation works, we have a more detailed handout about estrogen (just click here). The first part dives deeper into how sex hormones dance with each other. For now, just remember that because progesterone isn’t made, estrogen becomes ‘dominant’, which can lead to symptoms of estrogen dominance.

Now why did I try to explain to you in this detail how androgens cause PCOS? There are 3 places where androgens are made in the female body:
• The ovaries produce roughly 25% of the body’s testosterone
• The adrenals produce 25% of the body’s testosterone as well
• The other 50% percent is made in adipose tissue from a precursor that is made in the adrenal gland (Androstenedione).

This means that in some cases, where there are PCOS symptoms, but no insulin resistance, the adrenal glands (which are responsible for producing stress hormones as well) and everything that controls the adrenals can also contribute to a possible root cause for PCOS.
How do you know what might be at play?If you are interested in finding out what causes PCOS, lab testing is something you might want to consider. Here are some tests that I usually recommend to my clients if they want to know.

Here are some options to find out if you have insulin resistance
• Fasting insulin 
• Fasting blood glucose
• A glucose tolerance test
• HbA1c

There is a video in the B Better library (just click here) that dives deeper into lab values you could use to explore if you have insulin resistance.

Often insulin resistance is a big player in PCOS. If you aren’t sure where to start in managing PCOS and testing is something you don’t want or need to do, lowering insulin is a good place to start!

The next tests are tests to find out other possible root causes that might have led to a PCOS picture but are often not considered.

Tests for a hypothyroid state
A slow thyroid can be a root cause of weight gain. The adipose tissue is a big source of testosterone. More Signs & symptoms of a slow thyroid you can find in the video here, but here are a few important ones: constipation, a hard time losing weight, feeling cold and hair loss. If these symptoms are present, you can do a full thyroid panel (just click here).

If you suspect hypothyroidism is at play, we do have a full course on this in our library as well. Just click here.

Prolactin
Prolactin is the hormone for breastfeeding. Mild elevations can be caused by stress, hypothyroidism or a lack of dopamine. When your body is unsure if you should be breastfeeding or not, this can influence the menstrual cycle. If for some other reason, acne presents itself, this can lead to a PCOS picture, while actually other things are at play. 
Addressing or Managing PCOSInsulin Resistance
Getting insulin sensitive again is something that can help greatly with PCOS. The B Better library has again some excellent videos. There are different dietary strategies that can help, but whatever strategy you choose, making clean healthy food choices play a key role in all those strategies. Here is a video describing dietary guidelines that work for many. These guidelines form the basis.

Supplements can help as well. Again, following the entire course will give you the most insight, but this video and this one as well will provide you with different supplement options depending on which stage of insulin resistance you are experiencing.

Stress & Adrenal Health
There are many signs & symptoms of stress (click here for the complete list!). But here are a few important ones: feeling wired & tired, feeling anxious all the time, feeling overly alert, feeling exhausted and having a low pulse rate are just a few of them. With managing PCOS I would also recommend you to watch the newly released course on adrenal balance entirely.

But here are the most important videos you could watch to help you going today:

Here is a video on how stress impacts the entire body. Stress can worsen or lead to estrogen-dominance symptoms. But stress can also cause hypothyroidism which is explained here.

Stress can lead to high cortisol levels (which is a stress hormone made in the adrenal glands) or low cortisol levels. Addressing high cortisol levels has a different approach than addressing low cortisol levels. It is all explained in this video and this video.

I know it is a lot! PCOS is a big topic. But I hope this can send you in the right direction!

[Daniel]

 Congratulations, I am loving this story! Improving your gut health is a really big present to yourself and it isn’t always easy to achieve that!

PS: For other members: which cleanse did you do? And do you have any tips you could share with us while preparing and doing a cleanse?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

CRP or C-reactive protein is a marker for inflammation. In this case, lower is better! I aim personally with my clients to have CRP below 1. It will raise on occasions in order to help heal the body.

With the supplements: are liquid forms causing you less full? In this case I would go for liquid forms as much as possible.

Vitamin C
If you feel acids still cause some problems there are two other benefits to the liquid liposomal Vitamin C. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is still acid. But with the liposomal form the vitamin C is encased within liposomes, (microscopic droplets surrounded by a lipid bilayer – which also makes it more absorbable). It might therefore be easier on the stomach. Another benefit is: you could spread the dose easier between two meals.

The liposomal form is best absorbed with foods.

Iron
Cast iron pans leach some iron in foods, which in your case can be a benefit. People who deal with an iron overload should avoid cast iron pans for the same reason.

One last thing I would like to mention about iron: correcting an iron deficiency while you are anemic can take a while. It can take a couple of months before ferritin (the storage form of iron) goes up.

This doesn’t mean you don’t feel better sooner, but iron is used to produce hemoglobin and will be used to supplement hemoglobin first.

Once you start with iron supplements, I would recommend you check your hemoglobin and red blood cells after a week of 4-6 to see if you are responding to the treatment.

Folate
I recommend getting your folate up in the upper half of the reference range. Folate (just like B12 and vitamin D) is needed to produce red blood cells.

No folate = no red blood cell production.

There is an important nuance I would like you to understand. When your capacity to transport oxygen is reduced, you are anemic. This can happen in several ways:
• Sometimes this is caused by red blood cells not having enough hemoglobin. 
• In some cases the shape doesn’t allow red blood cells to travel through the thinner blood vessels because they are too big. This can happen with a folate or B12 deficiency.

The way the anemic picture presents in your case is that there aren’t enough red blood cells. Which is a third type of being anemic. It looks like this is a big contribution to the cause of your low hemoglobin.

If you aren’t supporting red blood cell production, but you do supplement with iron, the iron won’t be used to create more hemoglobin since there aren’t red blood cells to store the hemoglobin. It is still beneficial to use an iron supplement since you are low on iron. But it won’t fix your anemic picture.

This is why it is just as important to support red blood cell production while supplementing with iron.

[Daniel]

Hey  

During pregnancy, cells in the developing placenta make hCG (human Chorionic Gonadotropin). Levels of hCG peak around 11 weeks after pregnancy. Although we don’t know exactly what causes food aversions, it looks like the fast-rising levels can be a reason behind symptoms like morning sickness, food aversions and cravings. 

Often, after the first trimester, those symptoms become milder or disappear. In some cases, they can stay longer. 

Sometimes food aversions aren’t food aversions. So asking the right questions here is important as well. Sometimes nausea is associated with the food pregnant women see at that time. If this is the case you could focus on reducing the feeling of morning sickness or nausea:
• Avoid smells that trigger nausea
• Drink ginger tea/eat ginger for a few days and see if this helps
• Eat several small meals during the day – and try not to skip breakfast
• Laying down after eating can trigger nausea as well
• Vitamin B6 in studies has been shown to help with reducing feelings of morning sickness as well. If this option is one you like to explore I usually would recommend discussing this with the doctor first.
• Last but one of the most important pieces of advice: taking enough rest and focus on good quality sleep!

With food aversions listening to your body while substituting those foods with other nutrient-dense food sources is a good strategy. I think you brought up some excellent ideas to replace high-protein food sources.

With milk products, make sure the products are pasteurized. For some reason, pregnant women have a higher risk of a Listeria infection. Lean cheeses are often high in protein. Nuts can be easy snacks. Adding beans, lentils and protein-rich (pseudo) grains like quinoa and teff to the diet can help as well.

Personally, unless someone knows how many vitamins one consumes from foods, I usually recommend my clients to use a good quality prenatal multivitamin supplement. Just be aware that some pregnant women can experience nausea from swallowing such a supplement. Iron can in some cases irritate the stomach. Taking the supplement with foods helps.

I hope this helps!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

When it comes to vitamin B12 I don’t think this is a bad result at all! I usually aim with my clients for a B12 value above 600. The value on your most recent blood test was 583 ng/l. We can for sure tweak this a bit more. Your MMA result is below the 2. Perhaps we can bring it down a bit more, but the conclusion here is that your vitamin B12 enters your cells and this is really great news, especially because your hair mineral analysis showed evidence for elevated mercury. We know mercury can bind to serum B12 making it less available for the cell.

I know MMA can vary from person to person as well. In a large study with over 18,500 people living in the US, those of European ancestry (non-Hispanic) had higher MMA levels compared to those of African or Hispanic ancestry, despite using more vitamin/mineral supplements and having better kidney function (click here if you would like to compare yourself with the research findings).

I think, when it comes to nutrients that need some attention, iron is for sure on the list. We need iron to transport oxygen. An iron deficiency can therefore influence every cell that needs oxygen for metabolism. Funny enough, all cells in the body need oxygen, except the red blood cells.

Here are some ideas for raising your iron levels
• Focus on Iron-rich foods, like liver, lamb, turkey, or other organ meat
• Cook in a cast iron pan if you have one.
• Or use a supplement. I would use a liquid iron supplement (like this liquid iron supplement from Pure Encapsulations) since they are in general easier to absorb by the body and are less likely to cause constipation. Go low and slow and feel how your body reacts to it. At the time of your latest blood test, we do see your immune system was dealing with something, but your inflammation marker (CRP) was low. If you would split the dosage over different meals, it would be easier on the body as well. 
• Vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron because it is needed by the enzymes in the stomach to cleave iron out of foods.

Here is a video from the B Better library which talks about how to correct an iron deficiency.

I would also focus on getting your folate up a bit higher in the reference range. Your serum folate was low last year. Folate also plays a role in the production of red blood cells.

I am curious about the histamine issues: are you feeling you are making progress on reducing the histamine from food sources?

[Daniel]

Hi ,

Food can influence the quality of your sleep for sure. Did you measure your blood sugars? And if so, would you mind sharing them with us?

Here are some ways food can influence your sleep:

Having dinner just before you go to bed.
If you eat a big meal just before you go to bed, especially when your meal contains faster digestible carbs, the body reacts by putting out a lot of insulin to bring blood sugars down.

If the spike in blood sugar is high, the drop in blood sugar after the spike can be quite fast in some cases. This can lead to low blood sugars typically 3 hours later. If you are sleeping and your blood sugars get too low, your body will correct the low blood sugars by creating an adrenaline (or epinephrine as it is called in other parts of the world) surge. This will elevate blood sugars, but since adrenaline is activating, it can wake you up.

Being hungry before you go to sleep
Eating really early in the evening can wake you up in the middle of the night as well. Again, low blood sugar could be the cause. The body again tries to balance the blood sugars with a surge of adrenaline. In this case, you could try a little bedtime snack containing some carbohydrates and a little bit of fat. For example an apple with a little bit of almond butter.

The fats slow down the absorption of sugars, giving your blood a little bit of glucose during the night.

There are many other reasons why you might wake up at the night. Here are some others:
• Your body might struggle with creating melatonin. Possibly because of stimulating activities in the evening (perhaps you could check your sleep hygiene). 
• If a snack didn’t work and you feel your sleep hygiene is great, you can test if your body’s melatonin production is the problem. It’s simple to test. Just try melatonin supplementation for a few days. 300mcg to 1mg should be enough. If your sleep gets better, it might be a sign that your body struggles with melatonin production. 

Here are some tips to optimize melatonin production:• Melatonin is made from tryptophan. Having enough protein in your diet is important.
• Tryptophan becomes 5-HTP, then serotonin and finally melatonin. Tryptophan gets converted under the influence of vitamin D, omega 3 and vitamin B6 to melatonin. These nutrients are important as well.
• If stress or stressful thoughts keep you awake, you might have more success with calming adaptogenic herbs like Ashwaganda, Holy Basil or L-theanine. L-theanine is particularly helpful if you experience a racing mind before you go to bed, while the others influence your cortisol levels.

Are there any suggestions that resonate with you?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

That’s right. It’s really easy to do! Just click here to create an account. The links in the article will bring you to the right product in fullscript. Because you are a member of B Better, you get a discount as well. 

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Thank you for uploading the ingredient list! With questions about supplements, this is really helpful!

Crash course vitamin B12
Yes, you are right.  Vitamin B12 comes in different forms. The best analogy I can think of is the analogy of a fashion show. Imagine you are a model from a fashion show. The clothes you carry, the way you look, it all depends on what type of show you need to walk for. If you are on a fashion show for bathing suits, you will wear different clothes and you will look different as for a fashion show for business suits.

But beneath it all, there is only one person.

The same you can say for vitamin B12. There are differences between the forms, but most forms can change into other forms. There is one exception in the four forms you will find in supplements.
• Cyanocobalamin – This is a synthetic form of vitamin B12. It can be converted to other forms by the body. But the body doesn’t convert other forms to cyanocobalamin, because the body doesn’t use it. There are several why I (and others) usually won’t recommend cyanocobalamin. One of the reasons is that when the body converts this form of B12 to other forms of B12, a little bit of cyanide is formed. Obviously, this bit is so tiny it doesn’t lead to cyanide poisoning. But this is one of the reasons why some people (including me) don’t like to recommend cyanocobalamin so fast. Let me add a nuance here. If one could only use cyanocobalamin and there are serious B12 symptoms, I definitely would recommend cyanocobalamin. But in the presence of other options, I always recommend the other forms.
• Hydroxocobalamin – This form is often used in vitamin B12 injections. But so is cyanocobalamin. It is also found in foods and can be used by the body to form adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin. It is used for first-line intervention with cyanide poisoning. 
• Adenosylcobalamin – This form of vitamin B12 is mainly used by mitochondria. In the absence of adenosylcobalamin, the body produces Methylmalonic Acid or MMA for short. This is what is measured by doctors to see if your cells have sufficient vitamin B12.
• Methylcobalamin – This form of vitamin B12 is used to form myeline sheets in nerves (together with folate). Methylcobalamin can be converted into adenosylcobalamin by the body. Methylcobalamin plays also a role in methylation. If methylation happens poorly, homocysteine can elevate. Sometimes homocysteine elevates by the absence of methylcobalamin, and sometimes there are genetic variations in the body, that can produce imbalances in the methylation process. Here are 2 examples related to vitamin B12.• The MTR gene works in the final step to regenerate homocysteine into methionine using methylcobalamin. Some variations in this gene can cause in some people slower working enzymes
• The gene MTRR that codes for the enzyme Methionine synthase reductase regenerate the methylcobalamin for MTR to use again. There are variations known in this gene that causes the production of slower and faster enzymes as well.

The main point is that different people might need different forms. There are many other genetic variations that can influence vitamin B12. Some affect the transport protein transcobalamin, some affect receptors for the uptake of vitamin B12.

This can lead sometimes to that one form feeling better than the other form. But I would recommend just trying and feeling how your body responds. 

The forms I mostly recommend myself are Methylcobalamin (since it converts to adenosylcobalamin) and a mixture of methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin.

I hope this helps.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

With pernicious anemia we often see a B12 deficiency. Serum B12 on this report is higher than in march 2022 suggesting a form of absorption is happening. Whether this is through the production of intrinsic factor in the stomach or diffusion through the small intestine from supplements, we can’t tell from the labs. But to assess if your cells are getting the vitamin B12 we will need to wait for the MMA to return. 

In this lab, we can see folate is higher as well than in the report in March 2022. Although folate is higher, I personally would like to see folate in the upper half of the reference range.

Just to help us understand what might be at play: are you using a liquid iron supplement at the moment? And if so, for how long are you using it? I am asking because, in this measurement, your iron & ferritin (the storage form of iron) are low.

Another thing that would help us to create a better picture of what might be at play is if you were feeling sick recently before the blood was drawn.

[Daniel]

 you could use a DAO supplement. If it reduces some symptoms, it makes sense. If your histamine is high and your own DAO enzymes aren’t sufficient, it can make sense to use it.

But the biggest win is of course to avoid at least the biggest histamine sources and triggers 

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Personally I have no experience with NATURDAO. But give it a try and see if you feel better with it!

With the use of vitamin C, start low and slow as well. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid as it is called is still acidic in nature.

You probably did, but just in case you didn’t, ask your doctor on how to come of famotidine. To come off famotidine is usually done by gradually reducing the dosage a period so that the stomach lining can adjust to the new acidity in the stomach.

To reach the conclusion your own DAO production went up, I just compared your recent test with your previous test. You can see that you are producing more enzymes right now. 

I can’t tell why your histamine was elevated just from the test, but besides other causes like SIBO, there might be elevations from food as well. If you could trace back what you had eaten and would conclude you have had histamine rich foods, this could lead to a better interpretation of the results.

[Daniel]

 you’re welcome! Let us know how things go!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Fortunately, we love long posts here! I hope I can provide you with some new ideas on how to approach your problems..

Usually, with injuries, I will help the body with the healing process by adding inflammation-resolving supplements. For example, I would recommend high dosages of omega 3’s (between 2 and 4 grams of EPA +DHA). Omega 3s are also important for nerve health.

If you want to learn more about inflammation, I would recommend you to watch the ‘fatty acid balance’ course. Or at least watch this video about how fats control inflammation, this video about what inflammation is and this video about prostaglandins.

Curcumin can help with inflammation as well. When you are going to use curcumin, choose a supplement that is absorbed well. Thorne has a great product (Curcumin Phytosome – click here to find the product in the supplement shop fullscript) because the curcumin is capsuled in lipids which makes the curcumin much much more absorbed.

Plantar fasciitis
You mentioned you suffered from foot plantar fasciitis

What I often see happening with injuries is that the muscles around the injury stiffen. This is the body’s way to splint the bones, to provide a form of stability. The trade-off is that blood vessels are pressed together and that the nerves get pressure as well. This stiffening can cause pain or in your case contribute to an altered feeling in the calf/foot as a result of your plantar fasciitis. Once the healing of the tissue is done, this type of stiffening could still be left, often for years causing ‘chronic complaints’.

A therapist who uses a massage technique called ‘active release’ can help remove this type of stiffening really effectively. A skilled therapist who uses the technique of dry needling can be really effective as well.

Finding muscle balance
You are already doing really great with the choices you made! Here is a tip that I often used with my clients. Bones, like vertebrae, on itself don’t move. It is the pulling forces of the muscles that can cause imbalances in the position of the vertebrae. If one side is weak and the other side is stronger or stiffer, this can cause these types of imbalances in vertebrae. A chiropractor could work on that, but if the stiffness on one side remains, the vertebrae will be pulled back out of alignment.

If the weakness is in one side of the body, the problem is often located in the neck, since all nerves from and to the brain have to go through the neck. 

With my clients I would recommend this type of order:
• See a therapist who uses ‘active release’ or ‘dry needling’ to correct the muscle balance. • I would also let them evaluate your posture. A posterior tilt can often be caused by tense muscles that run from the upper leg to the lower back called the musculus iliopsoas and this can influence your spine. Walking on high heels can cause such an imbalance, but many other things as well
• Let them take a look at your neck muscles
• Let them release the tension on the left side of your body.
• With help of a skilled chiropractor focus on realigning the vertebrae in the spine.
• Use exercise to strengthen the muscles and work on posture imbalances.

I hope this helps!