Health Mysteries Solved

The Case:  Jane has been experiencing dry, irritated eyes for the past 2 years She’s treated them with steroid drops and antihistamines but the problem persists After consulting many doctors and taking tests, there seem to be no answers.    Eye irritations can range from dry, itchy eyes to puffiness. Most people reach for over-the-counter eye drops or antihistamines for temporary relief. If it’s caused by the environment or allergies, this might solve the issue but when it persists - there may be a bigger issue at play.    The Investigation My sense was that another organ was driving her eye issues. I suspected that it actually wasn’t  an eye issue, so to solve this health mystery, we had to look outside the box. And, I knew just who to contact, Dr. Rudrani Banik (Dr. Rani). She’s a board-certified and fellowship-trained Neuro-Ophthalmologist with a functional medicine approach. You may remember her, she was on episode 50.  Dr. Rani confirmed that eye issues aren’t always just about the eyes.    The Eye Th

The Case:  Lori is 42 and has an autoimmune disease She works in the media and is concerned about her aging skin and wrinkles She’s worked hard to improve her health naturally and doesn’t want to do anything that will trigger her autoimmunity. Lori and I had been working together for months to get her health back on track due to her autoimmune condition. She asked me about how her condition might be affected by potential anti-aging therapies. I’m glad she asked because many doctors or aestheticians who provide anti-aging therapies don’t even think to ask a patient about other health issues. Dr. Raheleh Sarbaziha (aka Dr. Rahi) is not one of those doctors. In her practice, she makes sure to take a full health history before she will recommend potential therapies for skin rejuvenation and wrinkle reduction.  Aging is a natural process and part of that is the degradation of collagen which shows up most visibly as wrinkled or sagging skin.    Better Skin Through Diet Dr. Rahi believes that great skins starts wi

I recently opened the door to questions about thyroid conditions and Hashimoto’s on my Instagram page. And, wow, was I flooded with really great questions. In this episode, I answer as many as I can.    The Question - How do you Shrink Your Thyroid Nodules? This was the question I got the most from my Instagram followers. Before I answer, I want to clarify a few things. There are many different types of growths on the thyroid. Many people confuse enlargement of the thyroid with nodules or inflammation. If the thyroid is enlarged in one spot, that is a nodule. However, if the whole thyroid is enlarged it’s either a goiter or thyroiditis. A goiter is caused by iodine deficiency (uncommon in the US), consumption of too many goitrogenic foods, or thyroiditis. This swelling is often painless (pain may indicate that inflammation is from a virus).  Goiter growth is fed by a high TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and also by high hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) which is present during and after pregnancy. Eventual

The Investigation Have you ever read a crime novel or a mystery where the main character or detective gets distracted by a random clue only to discover that it had nothing to do with what actually transpired? They spend all kinds of time and energy trying to solve a clue because they can’t let it go? As a health mysteries detective searching for the root cause of an issue, I look at all of the different angles to get to the bottom of it. Sometimes that means chasing a dead-end clue. When it comes to solving our own health mysteries, it’s easy to do this but it is possible to overthink, over-analyze, and over do it.  We may even cause more problems trying to find unnecessary answers. In other words, we get in our own way.  Common Health Scenario Does this sound familiar? You’re feeling okay and then one day a symptom pops up. Perhaps it’s a new symptom, or it may be a flare up of a symptom that comes and goes.     When it happens, your mind turns to curiosity, worry, or even fear. What did I do wrong? What did

The Case:  Elody is not feeling well. She has aches and pains as well as digestive issues. She also has dull hair and skin.  She read about the benefits of an alkaline diet and started taking baking soda and drinking alkalized water but it made her feel worse.    The Investigation There are many studies that support having a more alkaline diet and encourage people to support this diet with sodium bicarbonate. On the surface, it might seem like a good idea. I suspected Elody was on the right track trying to adjust her pH levels but I also knew the mystery ran a bit deeper than that.  To fully understand the intricacies of finding the perfect internal pH balance, I’m excited to welcome one of the most respected experts on the topic.  Dr. Russell Jaffe has been searching for answers in health care (not sick-care) for the past 30 years. In his global search for insights, he’s developed a deep understanding of the importance of measuring and correcting the body’s pH levels.    The Role of pH in Health The body’s

The Investigation Last week I shared with you what I eat to stay healthy because I get asked the question so often. The other thing people want to know is what I use around the house and my personal care products. With so many things out there, its hard to know what is healthy and what is a fad, I get it! I know that in our quest to find clean beauty products and clean cleaning products, it’s not uncommon to find products that just don’t quite do the job. So, when I find products that are clean AND work, I’m happy to share them. Here’s what I’m using right now.  Skincare I struggled with bad skin and acne for such a long time so finding clean beauty products that worked and didn't make me breakout was a challenge. I recently had Dr. Trevor Cates on the show (episode 54). She has a fantastic line of skincare products under her moniker The Spa Dr. that I really love. I use the anti-aging serum, the oil, and the antioxidant moisturizer. If you decide to give her products a try, use the promo code INNA15 to s

The Investigation As a clinical nutritionist, many people email me asking me what I eat to stay healthy. They want to know how I stay gluten and dairy-free without falling off the wagon and how I keep things interesting with meal ideas plus all about which supplements I take.  I’ve gone through my share of health challenges (and had a health mystery or two as well) and had to get to the root of my problems to regain my health. My diet has been a big part of what put me on the path to where I am today which is being able to thrive after all those struggles. So, in this week’s episode, I’m revealing some of the things I eat as well as some foods and brands I have found that can make eating a clean diet delicious and fun. I guess you could say I’m flipping the investigation around to me.    Starting My Day One of the things I try to do each day is a short, intermittent fast. So, I usually don’t have food in the morning until 12 hours has passed since I ate the night before. One of my favorite ways to start my da

The Case:  Melissa is 40 and has been dealing with brain fog for over 5 years. Everything seemed fuzzy, she forgot words or where she’d put things. She tried working with her conventional doctor, but got nowhere.    The Investigation When she came to see me, I noted that she was also experiencing periods of stress, trouble sleeping, feeling down, fatigue, and even weight gain. I suspected that her brain fog was related to these other symptoms.    Dr. Rodger Murphree sees many patients dealing with brain fog and knows that there can be many different underlying causes. Often, his patients come in and explain away the brain fog as ‘just getting older’ or joking about having ‘a senior moment’. This is frustrating because often, that is not the case and this loss of mental clarity is treatable, if you can get to the root cause.    6 Common Causes (and Treatments) of Brain Fog   Deficient Neurotransmitters    One of the most common denominators in brain fog cases is low serotonin. Serotonin is a brain chemical

Hey Everyone! I'm so excited to announce that baby girl Juliette has finally arrived! She was born on Sept 2nd weighing in at 8 pounds. It was a bit rough getting her here but she is here safe and sound and we are doing great! I tell you all about it in this short episode. I also shared some pictures on my Instagram, I am @InnaTopiler  (https://www.instagram.com/innatopiler/) so be sure to follow me there so we can connect. We are all doing great and spending some quality family time together. I am excited to be back with new episodes starting tomorrow, I have a ton of amazing interviews and content to share so be sure to stay tuned!!

**Show Announcement** As many of you may already know, I'm expecting a baby girl and she is due any day now. I have been super busy trying to get the last of my patients in before my maternity leave starts, cutting it really close here!    The show is taking a short break so that I can focus on our growing family. But, don't worry - we'll be back on Sept. 17th, 2020.    I've recorded this bonus episode to share a little bit more with you guys. And watch for the next bonus episode when I plan to introduce you to my baby girl.     When we return in September, I'm excited to share some really inspiring cases and eye-opening interviews when. We'll be talking about thyroid eye disease, alkalinity from a different perspective, histamines, candida and I will also be sharing some of my products and protocols because so many of you have been asking me what I eat and what I use so I am doing an episode on that as well.  In the meantime, this might be a good time for you to catch up on past shows that you may have misse

The Investigation Gluten intolerance is an issue for a lot of people. As we explored in episode 066, it can cause a wide range of symptoms including fatigue, bloating, skin irritations, and migraines. For some people, gluten may seem like the root cause, but it could actually be something else. In this episode, we examine a chemical closely tied to wheat that could be the real issue.    Root Cause of Gluten Intolerance in America Ever wonder why wheat seems to give people so many issues in this country? While gluten certainly plays a huge role, the question we are often asked is why people who are so sensitive to wheat in the US seem ok with it when traveling to other countries. It has been said that the genetic modification of wheat and hybridization plays a big role and while that is true, the new hybrid wheat has spread all over the world so it’s no longer specifically concentrated here in the US. So what is the issue?   There was a wonderful article in The Healthy Economist titled The Real Reason Wheat i

In our last episode, we met Emily who was dealing with fatigue, brain fog, dry mouth, bad breath and problems with her gut health. We discovered that the root cause of her health issues was in her mouth - namely that she was suffering from undetected infections and was experiencing Mercury leaching from her silver amalgam fillings. Dealing with this root cause carefully while supporting her immune health resulted in a massive improvement in her day-to-day well-being. Plus, she even reduced her Hashimoto’s antibodies significantly!     If you missed that surprising episode - listen to it here.    The Investigation Helping me out with the last case was dentist to the stars, Dr. Kourosh Maddahi. Our conversation went well beyond the dangers of mercury fillings and hidden dental infections. We also talked in depth about the importance of paying attention to the microbiome of your mouth (yes, your mouth - it’s not just your gut that has a microbiome!) That conversation was so important that I wanted to make sure

The Case:  Emily is 45 dealing with fatigue, brain fog and digestive issues as well as dry mouth and bad breath. Her doctor’s diagnosed her with Crohn’s Disease and Hashimoto’s but that alone didn’t help her symptoms.   She tried changing her diet, took supplements and brushed her teeth after every meal.    The Investigation My investigation started by looking into Emily’s dry mouth and bad breath. Her oral health was quite poor despite frequent brushing and I noted that she’d had several root canals and many silver fillings. I know this was going to be a key piece in solving her health mystery because even though these may not seem related, everything in the body is connected.  “Silver fillings” or Amalgam fillings are actually about 54% elemental mercury and mercury can cause all kinds of health issues. On top of that, our oral health can seriously impact our overall health, even when we think we are practicing good oral hygiene. Dr. Kourosh Maddahi is a dentist to the stars, the author of 'Anti-Aging Den

Last week I shared some of the questions you wanted answered about Hashimoto’s. I covered topics like the relationship between heavy metals and Hashimoto’s, the role the adrenals play in Hashimoto’s, the relationship between Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Hashimoto’s and how to reduce the risk for kids of people with Hashimoto’s. All of them were very important questions that have a lot to do with the triggers of Hashimoto’s. If you missed it, here is a link to episode 068.    In this episode, I answer more of your questions about Hashimoto’s.    Question #1: With Hashimoto’s, is TSH a reliable indicator of the body’s thyroid hormone needs? If not, what else can we use to know what the body needs? This can be very confusing for anyone with Hashimoto’s. The short answer is, no. TSH is not a reliable indicator. The ranges  for TSH are very broad (typically between about 4.5 - 5 depending on where you live. This range is not really optimal. The optimal range for TSH is between 1.8-3 (if you’re on thyroid medicati

I asked what you wanted to know about Hashimoto’s and the questions came flying in! In this episode, I’m going to tackle half of them and tune in next week as well because I’ll answer the rest there! Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. Like other autoimmune diseases, what happens is that the immune system gets confused and starts to see the thyroid as a threat. In other autoimmune diseases, the system attacks a different part of the body (the myelin sheath with MS, joints with rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue with lupus). Under this attack, the thyroid can’t perform optimally and the result is often hypothyroidism.  Conventional medicine treats Hashimoto’s by only addressing the  hypothyroidism if present or waiting for hypothyroidism to begin or suppressing the immune system with medication. The functional medicine approach is to find the root cause of the Hashimoto’s and fix it. I support the functional medicine approach and it starts by understanding what’s going

The Case:  Robin is a 45 year old, super-busy, working mom dealing with aches and pains all over. She’s also experiencing stomach aches and unexplained bladder issues that include pain and burning during urination without a detectable UTI. She’s seen specialists, taken antibiotics, and tried eating healthier but her symptoms just got worse.    The Investigation When I hear that a healthy diet makes someone feel worse, I immediately suspect that the food they are choosing, while healthy on the surface, may not be right for them. This was my suspicion with Robin and I knew it could be one or more of a few things in her diet causing the issue.  I’ve been wanting to invite Dr. Beth O’Hara on the show for a while and I knew this case was right up her alley. Dr. O’Hara is a Functional Naturopath and the owner of Mast Cell 360, a Functional practice specializing in root cause approach to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Histamine Intolerance, and related conditions such as oxalates, mold toxicity, and chemical sensi

The Investigation Chances are you know someone with a gluten sensitivity despite reports that only 6-7% of the population suffer from it. That’s because testing is tricky and false negatives can make people think their health issues are caused by something else. In this episode, I want to break down what’s going on and help you determine if a gluten sensitivity might be at the root of your health mystery.    Understanding Gluten Intolerance Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. A person with gluten intolerance cannot digest the protein portion of these grains which triggers an immune response to what the body deems a foreign substance. This immune reaction causes inflammation in the digestive system and damages the lining tissue which, in turn, can cause symptoms like fatigue, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, gas, and cramping. The compromised lining can leave the person more susceptible to bacteria, parasites, and funguses.  Overtime, if a person who has a gluten intolerance continues to

The Case:  Mindy is 40 but feels like she’s 50.  She often feels achy, tired, struggles to lose weight and thinks she looks older than her age. She didn’t have excessive sun exposure or any genetic history that would explain her premature aging.    The Investigation When I met Mindy, I noticed right away that she was not eating well and so this was my first clue that nutrients and healthy eating were going to be a big part of solving her health mystery but Mindy wanted more. She didn’t just want to stop the premature aging she wanted to reverse it.  Dr. Joseph Antoun is the CEO & Chairman of the Board of L-Nutra which is a nutra-tech company focusing on providing people with knowledge to live to 110 and beyond. I knew he was the best person to discuss Mindy’s case with. He is at the forefront of a push to change our current healthcare system of ‘sick care’ to a more proactive approach.   Healthy-aging and Fasting Scientists have been researching the connection between fasting and aging for decades. Much

The Case:  Cassandra has been dealing with brain fog and fatigue.  She’s checked her thyroid, takes B-12 & iron and even tried a low-histamine diet More research tied her symptoms to possible mold toxicity and that’s when it clicked.    The Investigation When Cassandra came to me she explained her symptoms and told me that she’d had her home tested for mold (after recalling several large leaks in the past). These tests came back positive. With the mold issue confirmed, it was time to solve her health mysteries and find out if mycotoxins are at play and what damage they’d done.    How Does Mold Threaten Health? Mold can accumulate in the home, office, or schools and it produces mycotoxins that you breath in. Even if your exposure is limited or you can’t see or smell the mold, the mycotoxins can still impact your health. There are 3 main ways it does this:  1. Immune Suppression  Your natural killer cells, T-cells or B-cells become suppressed and fail to fight off infections creating chronic conditions. 

The Investigation It used to be that women over 35 were the ones talking about challenges with fertility and struggling to get pregnant. Now, I meet women as young as 27 with fertility issues. So, there’s much more at play here than just age.  I had my son at 37 and I am now pregnant at 40. I didn’t like seeing AMA (Advanced Maternal Age) on my OB file but this is the reality for many women who wait to start their family - even if they are healthier now than they were in their 20’s (like me).  The fact is, we women are born with all of our eggs. And, as we age, there are fewer and fewer. But that doesn’t mean you can’t successfully get pregnant at an advanced age. Your body will naturally select the best eggs each time but that process takes 3 months. So, what you do with your health during pre-conception can have an impact on your fertility.  In this episode, I share 5 of the best ways to improve your health, your egg health, and increase your chances of getting pregnant.      Diet   When we eat foods high