Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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Tincup wrote:
circular wrote:I recently purchased this talk by him for $10 and found it interesting. He ascribes the three main Bredesen AD types to the doshas, which got me curious whether a study of Ayurvedic assessments of dosha type would correlate well with ReCODE results on the same people. It also made me wonder whether a competent dosha assessment might be a stand-in for the ReCODE report just as far as identifying the type(s) one is experiencing. I suspect not, since probably all the, say, pitta predominant people manifest that in different ways physiologically.
I took an ayurvedic pulse reading course ~25 years ago from an American ayurvedic doc who'd studied in India and who read my pulse. My pulse was read as well as by an Indian ayurvedic doc who was visiting. My recollection is there is a "base" level dosha reading and then there is what is out of balance right now. The "base" level is in the deep pulse and the out of balance is more on the surface (less pressure on the three fingers during the reading). I was Pitta-Kapha with a Vata imbalance. I recall that most in our society have a Vata imbalance, which kind of translates to an overactive sympathetic nervous system. Doing a reading just now suggests a Kapha imbalance.
Yes vata would certainly be stimulated in our society. I have too much vata and kapha these days and am learning how to use Indian spices to prepare my veggies more ayurvedically. I've always loved Indian food but never tackled the spices in my own kitchen. It's a good way to add some flavor variety into my daily diet while maybe also improving my health overall. My digestion has actually been worse/sluggish after adding the agni stimulating spices, so I'm a bit baffled by that. On the up side, my sinuses aren't reacting adversely to the spices the way they used to.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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circular wrote:Yes vata would certainly be stimulated in our society. I have too much vata and kapha these days and am learning how to use Indian spices to prepare my veggies more ayurvedically. I've always loved Indian food but never tackled the spices in my own kitchen. It's a good way to add some flavor variety into my daily diet while maybe also improving my health overall. My digestion has actually been worse/sluggish after adding the agni stimulating spices, so I'm a bit baffled by that. On the up side, my sinuses aren't reacting adversely to the spices the way they used to.
Yes the Indians are rightfully big on good digestion. My was messed up for years, despite suggestions from Gundry & others and my working hard on it. Recently a consultant who is helping me balance my minerals through hair analysis (which I used to think was BS), suggested Betaine HCL & digestive enzymes. Has been miraculous. Then this book showed up in my feed which gave more background. The HCL instructions was to start with one capsule at meals and work up to 7. If feel reflux, back off. The consultant suggested these enzymes, which are expensive, but the whole package is working. I clearly wasn't digesting my food before. The book says the number of people with excess stomach acid is tiny. Most have too little, which slows digestion and causes the food to back up leading to acid reflux (which wasn't my issue). I started the mineral balance thing as my 17 year run of keeping afib mostly at bay, with electrolytes being a big part of the solution, was heading south. Amazingly, immediately after implementing a few of the suggestions from our first consult, my afib propensity nearly reverted to its prior status of being nearly non-existent, which gave her a lot of credence in my eyes.

Three rounds of Wim Hof breathing a day seems to keep my rhinitis at bay. Can give more details if interested.
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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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Tincup wrote: Recently a consultant who is helping me balance my minerals through hair analysis (which I used to think was BS), suggested Betaine HCL & digestive enzymes.
During a consultation regarding my Quicksilver Blood Metals Panel, i was advised to start digestive enzymes and Betaine HCl too. This was because though I eat very well and also take supplements , almost all of my nutrient metals were low. Thanks for posting the dosing info for Betaine HCl. I hadn’t heard that, and will experiment with bumping up my 1-before-eating dose slightly. Appreciate your posting your enzymes too. That’s one I haven’t tried (yet).
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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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floramaria wrote: This was because though I eat very well and also take supplements , almost all of my nutrient metals were low. Thanks for posting the dosing info for Betaine HCl. I hadn’t heard that, and will experiment with bumping up my 1-before-eating dose slightly.
I worked up to 7 on the HCL. My hair copper was low, which is not what my blood said. She put me on a pretty high dose of their supposedly highly bioavailable copper and I stopped zinc supplements (among other suggestions). 3 months later, no change in the copper. She was surprised and said I might have bugs that are eating the copper. It was after this she suggested the HCL and enzymes. Haven't had a repeat hair mineral test.

Remember in 2016 sat next to Terry Wahls at dinner at a conference. She told me she wanted folks to have a nice coiled snake looking up at them in the loo. No matter high fiber, special pre and pro bitotics and many other tricks, my digestion was always very slow. Until I added in the HCL and enzymes to my two meals a day. Now I get coiled snakes consistently. One of the simple pleasures in life.

She also wanted me to get a stool test for bugs, but I don't have a local integrative doc, so haven't organized that yet. This change was so dramatic, I may just wait till after my next hair analysis and consult to see what happens.
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Re: Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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I tried a number of different enzyme blends when I had sluggish digestion in the past. In my case they didn't make any difference. I also tried HCL years back when I thought I had too much acid and heard that it might actually be too little. It about killed my stomach, so I think that at least back then I had plenty of acid and it was like adding too much fuel to a fire. Those issues are in the past, and I'm glad to see that these remedies that didn't work for me then are working for both of you!

My elimination issue is most likely temporary due to adding some new foods and spices to my otherwise rather predictable regimen. Even ayurveda says that throwing too much variety at the gut at one time can ask too much of it. At the same time, if there's enough agni (digestive fire) and the doshas are balanced (I wonder if anyone fits that description!), then ensuring all six tastes are in every meal is desirable to maintain that particular, elusive nirvana.

Interestingly, ayurveda (and maybe western science too?), says that when we slowly chew our food, our brain is detecting the tastes and characteristics and beginning to secrete the appropriate digestive enzymes for what is to come. So my question would be: How can one optimize natural enzyme production so they don't need an enzyme supplement? Are there certain substrates that are required that one might be low in? Is just stimulating the taste receptors and taking time to thoroughly chew food enough to heal a digestive enzyme shortage? What else could be at play?

Tincup, that must have been disconcerting to have your well controlled afib going south! It's great to hear that these treatments are making such a difference. I'm having trouble understanding one thing … if your serum copper is good, what is bad about it being low in the hair? I've never looked into hair testing. Like you before, I've always been skeptical about it's clinical relevance, assuming that the laboratory testing itself is accurate.

You two have me wondering about my nutritional metals. My zinc was on the floor of the normal range for a long time. I tried all different zinc supplements. Finally a friend told me that caffeine can interfere with its absorption. I had been taking my zinc supplement after breakfast, which came after coffee. I started taking it before bed and my zinc finally came up to 90. I take L-OptiZinc and I now notice it includes 33% of the RDA for copper, which I don't need more of if I want Dr. Bredesen's 1:1 copper:zinc ratio, so now my ratio probably still out of whack rather than solved by getting my zinc up :roll: (although I don't know what evidence he bases that specific recommendation on or if it's more of an educated guess).

It seems that caffeine may also affect absorption of calcium, magnesium and some B vitamins (and other nutrients?), but I'm not well versed in this. I currently drink one cup of coffee in the morning and one each of a cup of black masala chai and green masala chai tea during the day. Hmmmm ...
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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Tincup wrote:I worked up to 7 on the HCL.
Now I get coiled snakes consistently. One of the simple pleasures in life.
.
Is that per day? Per meal? Oh …I think you only eat one meal a day. So do you take seven at once? Mine are Pure Encapsulations with 520 mg/capsule.
No trouble on the snake front.
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Re: Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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circular wrote:
circular wrote:Interestingly, ayurveda (and maybe western science too?), says that when we slowly chew our food, our brain is detecting the tastes and characteristics and beginning to secrete the appropriate digestive enzymes for what is to come. So my question would be: How can one optimize natural enzyme production so they don't need an enzyme supplement? Are there certain substrates that are required that one might be low in? Is just stimulating the taste receptors and taking time to thoroughly chew food enough to heal a digestive enzyme shortage? What else could be at play?
That is an interesting thought, circ. Perhaps I am just eating too quickly for my brain to secrete the right enzymes? And acid? Though some of my salads take me an hour to eat. Still, bite per bite, maybe I am doing something closer to the minimum chews necessary to swallow. Of course that means if I want to chew more, I’ll either have to make smaller salads (thereby not getting my allotment of greens ) or take two hours to eat. :roll: Yet another conundrum!
What I was told in the Quicksilver consult is that both digestive enzymes and HCl decrease with age. But maybe that just means we need to chew more as we age! Maybe because our teeth are worn down….
Last edited by floramaria on Tue Aug 24, 2021 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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floramaria wrote:
Tincup wrote:I worked up to 7 on the HCL.
Now I get coiled snakes consistently. One of the simple pleasures in life.
.
Is that per day? Per meal? Oh …I think you only eat one meal a day. So do you take seven at once? Mine are Pure Encapsulations with 520 mg/capsule.
No trouble on the snake front.
I currently eat 2 meals/day with a 16-18 hour fasting window. 7 capsules/meal (or anytime I eat) and I'm using the NOW with 648 mg/capsule.
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Re: Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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Circular, I've read that natural sea salt is helpful for stomach acid.

Also, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water before a meal helps both with stomach acid and lowers glucose levels following a meal.
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Re: Re: From Dr. Rammohan "Ram" Rao

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floramaria wrote:That is an interesting thought, circ. Perhaps I am just eating too quickly for my brain to secrete the right enzymes? And acid? Though some of my salads take me an hour to eat. Still, bite per bite, maybe I am doing something closer to the minimum chews necessary to swallow. Of course that means if I want to chew more, I’ll either have to make smaller salads (thereby not getting my allotment of greens ) or take two hours to eat. :roll: Yet another conundrum!
What I was told in the Quicksilver consult is that both digestive enzymes and HCl decrease with age. But maybe that just means we need to chew more as we age! Maybe because our teeth are worn down….
I know what you mean about the largest salads taking so long to eat. I also confess that I invariably eat while doing something on the computer, because the time it takes to eat the salad is a lot of time off my to-do list if I eat like I ought to and simply sit and eat mindfully. I see that Dr. Rao recommends chewing each bite 30 times.

I've also heard that enzymes and HCL decrease as we age. I've heard as well that raw foods retain their enzymes while cooking can destroy at least some of them. Interestingly, my foray into cooking my vegetables, which was intended to decrease the bloating from the large and variety filled raw salads, made my elimination worse. I can't attribute this to anything in particular, but one possibility is that I was destroying the enzymes in the food itself that are needed to help digest it, if enzymes assist with elimination as well as nutrient absorption.

Here's an overview by Dr. Amy Myers about digestive enzymes that suggests some of the variables at play. One of her points that may apply to me is that bloating can be caused by food entering the large colon that hasn't been digested well enough. (I've always just thought the fiber is what does it, and if I want to eat a lot of fiber I just have to deal with the bloating.)

She also suggests taking just one capsule of HCL, and if you feel any burning (as I did in the past) then you don't need it. Perhaps I should run the test now that I'm older. If you can take seven and not feel any burning, then I would guess you are really low in natural HCL. The burning I had with one pill (dosage?) was very uncomfortable.
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