Transcript

Most Replayed Moment: Mouthwash REVERSES The Benefits Of Exercise! Dr Nathan Bryan

0:00 Uh I've just listened to everything you've just said there, and I want to improve my oil microbiome. What should I be doing? Well, I think the most important thing we've learned is what you shouldn't be doing. Yeah. Right. So it's not what should we do, it's what we shouldn't be doing.

0:16 Number one, we have to get rid of fluoride. You know, just this past weekend I was speaking at a dental conference in Salt Lake City. And they were there people there from the National Toxicology Program. Which in the US is the organization Task with

0:30 If there's any They're charged with doing the toxicology studies to see if there's an increased risk. What is the risk? And is there a safe level? That is without risk.

0:43 And what they report is that fluoride. There's no benefit of fluoride. And it's all risk. It lowers IQ in kids by as much as seven points. And it shuts down your thyroid function. And it's a neurotoxin.

0:57 And as I mentioned before, most toothpaste Has Fluoride in it. And if you read the back of your toothpaste. It will tell you, at least in the US. I don't know about in other countries.

1:08 But it says if you swallow this, call poison control. 'Cause it's a poison. They're putting poison in toothpaste. And then if you also pay attention it says only put a piece size amount of toothpaste on your toothbrush. A P size.

1:22 But everybody that I know Fill the entire bristle of the toothpaste. What Toothbrush with toothpaste. So that's about ten

1:30 Or fifteen, sometimes twenty piece size. Amounts of toothpaste. And a pea size amount of toothpaste contains about half a milligram of fluoride. Now if you're using Ten, twenty times more than that P size, now you're exposed to five milligrams, ten milligrams of fluoride.

1:47 And you don't even have to swallow it. This is a very small molecule, a m molecular weight of nineteen. So it's absorbed directly across the Peak McCosa. The oral cabinet. And it becomes systemic.

1:58 I'm not gonna use it anymore. No, you shouldn't. You have to use a non florinated toothpaste. And what about things like Tongue scrapers. Now tongue scrapers the data again that's time tested. That's an ancient practice. And even in our study we found that people who do tongue scraping

2:16 Have a more diverse oral microbiome and they seem to have better oral health. Why is this? My girlfriend's been banging onto me. She's always bloody right. My girlfriend's been banging on to me about tongue scraping for the last two years. And I've kind of just ignored her. I've just kind of Yeah, babe, sure. And and but sh when she's not in the bathroom bathroom, I'm not using a tongue scraper.

2:35 'Cause it just looks strange and uh for me. Based on what I knew about the oral microbiome and the microbiome generally, I'm like, should I be scraping off all my bacteria? Well, if you're gonna plant a garden, do you plant a garden on untilled soil? Yes, and I know nothing about carding glass with the wrong guy, so maybe yes. I grow my own food and you have to till the soil, right? You gotta break up the soil so the seeds actually can be aerated. Any busy break up that uh

3:01 Yeah, you take the back of the dorsal tongue. I mean Almost to the point of the gag reflex. And you just pull that. Ideally copper. Tongue scraper forward.

3:11 And you're gonna see this Goop. Yeah. But it's kinda it's like kinda like tilling the soil and it's it's increasing the diversity of the The dorsal part of the tongue, the microbiome. So my girlfriend was right.

3:23 In that regard, yes. But What we found was in that one kid we saw the greatest increase in blood pressure If you tongue scrape and use antiseptic mouthwash, that's the absolute worst scenario.

3:36 Interesting. You're tongue scraping, you're opening up the pores, and now you're using mouthwash. It's better to p it can easily penetrate deep in the crypts of the tongue. And more effectively kill the bacteria. So you want to tongue scrape and then use a toothbrush. without fluoride toothpaste. Absolutely. And no mouth no no antiseptic mouth rates.

3:57 Yeah. And what about going to dental hygienists and things like that? Do you think that's a advisable idea'cause once every quarter or so. Um I'll go and see a dental hygienist just to get everything sort of cleaned out. Proactive

4:11 Uh practice. But you know, because you need to look at the um The health of the gum tissue and the the the gingival tissue. And a routine clean and scraping the the plaque off the teeth and allow making sure you have good Mineralization of the enamel of the tooth is good, but Never let them do a fluoride rinse.

4:29 Okay. Is there anything else on the s subject of the your microbiome and its relationship with nitric oxide that I need to be aware of before we move on? Yeah, we there's also data showing that if you use mouthwash you lose the Cardioprotective benefits of exercise.

4:43 So think about this. We know. The diet. And exercise is the best medicine. And many people aspire to do that. They they go and they they try to eat good, they avoid the temptations of sugars and sweets.

4:57 They exercise every day to try to increase their longevity and cardiovascular health. If you do that. And you're using mouthwash, you no longer get the benefits from exercise. And we've already established you don't get the nitric oxide benefits from diet. So two out of three Americans wake up every morning and use mouthwash. And two out of three Americans have an unsafe elevation and blood pressure.

5:18 What's the mechanism there? Well because you're you're killing the the the oral microbiome that's partly responsible for production of nitric oxide. Without nitric oxide you get constriction of blood vessels. And it leads to high blood pressure. That's crazy. And h is there a link between our hormone levels, things like my testosterone levels and the

5:38 Nitric oxide. Yeah, so this is a two way street. So nitr so And man testosterone activates nitric oxide production? Okay. In women estrogen activates and stimulates nitric oxide production? Okay. So as long as we have optimal

5:52 Sex hormones. And as long as the enzyme in the lining of the blood vessel can functionally produce nitric oxide. That explains the cardiob protective benefits of hormone replacement therapy. So taking testosterone or um estrogen therapies. Helps to increase my nitro oxide levels. As long as the enzyme is functional and coupled.

6:12 Which means that we have to we have to understand the enzymage and about chemistry of that reaction to where when it's exposed to testosterone it the cell can actually make nitric oxide in response. And there's a two way relationship as well with exercise, then, because I I've read in your book that um exercise activates and stimulates nitric oxide production, but you also just told me that If you want to get the great benefits of exercise, you need nitric oxide.

6:36 in the first place. Because else your blood cells gonna be very Narrow. Less oxygen travelling through you pr you're gonna do a worse work out as well, presumably. Well think about I mean there's other agonists too, like vitamin D. I mean, most Americans are deficient in vitamin D. Uh, people with low testosterone have erectile dysfunction.

6:53 Why is that? Because they're not stimulating nitric oxide production. And they're not dilating the blood vessels so they develop E D. So all of this, no matter what it is, with related to vitamin D deficiency, which is activating and stimulator of nitric oxide, if it's Low hormones, if it's a poor diet. Um sedentary lifestyle. All of that can be explained by

7:11 Insufficient nitric oxide production. Wanna when I think about the role that food plays in my nitric oxide production. What should I be eating? to increase um my nitric oxide levels or to keep them at a h healthy level. I think it

7:26 The same answer. It's for that too. It's it it's not so much what we should be eating, it's what we should not be eating. Okay. So we'll we'll we'll cover those step by step. Number one, you have to avoid sugar.

7:39 And high glycemic index foods. Because sugar is a toxin, it's a poison. And let's think about what sugar is. So When we eat Sugar or drink sugar.

7:50 Beverages. Right, whether it's sucrose, whether it's fructose, whether it's high fructose corn strip. The end result inside the human is we see an increase in glucose. So Elevation in blood sugar or blood glucose.

8:04 Is Diabetes. Right. And now there's continuous glucose monitors that you can get. Anywhere.

8:10 Everybody does this. So if you eat something and it causes an increase in your blood sugar. Blood glucose. Then you should avoid that. 'Cause glucose, as the name applies, is glue. Right. It's sticky.

8:21 And if we if if you have a soda and you spill it on your countertop, you come back the next day, it's sticky. Right. Well that's what happens inside the body. That sugar sticks to everything. It sticks to proteins. It sticks to enzymes. It binds to hemoglobin. And sugar stuck to hemoglobin is what we call hemoglobin A one C.

8:39 And what is that? It's a f it's a marker of long term glucose control. If you have a hemoglobin anyone see of greater than five point seven, you're diabetic. So it's not just hemoglobin it sticks to it sticks to the enzyme that makes nitric oxide. And

8:55 In biochemistry And enzymology Enzymes have to be able to undergo confirmational changes, right? So it transfers electrons from one donor to an acceptor and that's how biochemistry Is is done.

9:08 But if sugar stuck to that enzyme It locks it in some confirmation and it can't do its job. For instance it can't make nitric oxide. So sugar is an absolute Poison and it kills many enzymes and binds to everything. And it lowers nitric oxide production.

9:23 Absolutely. That's why diabetics Have a Ten time higher incidence of heart attack, stroke, all cause mortality. Mortality. That's why they develop neuro neurological or peripheral neuropathy.

9:34 That's why they have non healing wounds. There's no nitric oxide. That's why they're developing diabetic retinopathy. Micro degeneration. Pancreatitis. I mean all of that can be

9:45 Because the sugar stuck to the enzyme. The sugar destroys the oral microbiome. It completely changes the the ecology of the bacteria and completely shuts down nitric oxide production. Just a bit of a tangent there. You mentioned

10:02 That's why they have open Yeah, diabetic ulcers. Okay, so nitric oxide's playing a a role a healing role in Wounds and screen. So I've got this scar on my head. I was playing football the other day, someone ran into the back of my head and uh they they like they they passed out and um got taken away by an ambulance, but

10:20 I was just left with this big like scar on the back of my head. Which I've had like glue stitched. Yeah. I'm wondering. I'm like if I Apply the nitric oxide serum. It'll stimulate blood flow to that. It'll improve cellular turnover and and heal that wound and basically remediate the scar.

10:35 And how do I do that? Yeah, you see take one pump from each side. So one pump from this side. And turn it around, one pump from the other. Yeah. And now if you apply that and mix it together, as soon as you mix it together, it starts to generate nitric oxide gas. So then that gas will diffuse into that tissue.

10:51 It's gonna increase blood flow. And it's gonna mobilize stem cells. It's gonna improve cellular turnover and completely remodel that. And heal that. And if it were an infection in there, it would kill the the the infectious bacteria. Okay, well we shall

11:07 We shall see if that works. So back on this point of food then, so sugar's bad. Sugar ban. Yeah, you gotta eliminate Sugar and I think the benefits of it like a straight ketogenic diet or a straight You know, vegan vegetarian diet is just the elimination of sugar and carbs.

11:21 Yeah. Right. To answer your question, what should we be eating? I think you've gotta eat a balanced diet in moderation. You know, Americans are overfed. All you gotta do is walk around and see the Yeah.

11:33 Epidemic of obesity. Good high quality protein. Good quality fat. And little or no carbs. And it's

11:41 Really that simple. And why did you write a book about Be truth. Beats yeah the beats hit the uh Really the airwaves back in twenty twelve in the London Olympic Games. Mm-hmm.

11:52 Uh there was a lot of data coming out at the time of the benefits of beetroot juice on enhancing athletic performance. And there was a a benefit of the nitric oxide being produced. That can explain the improvement in athletic performance. The problem is these athletes were drinking liters and liters of beetroot juice. And causing a lot of gastric discomfort, causing diarrhea.

12:15 their urine and their feces would turn red and a lot of people interpreted misinterpreted that as gastric bleeds or urinary bleeds. And then when I started looking at the products on the market Most of the beet products, the desiccated beet powders provided zero nitric oxide benefit. They didn't contain any nitrate, no nitrite. They were just we called them dead beats. They're they're a dead beat product.

12:39 And so I thought if people if consumers are out there looking For beats. Because they've been shown to enhance their performance. But that enhancement in performance was dependent upon the beet's ability to improve nitric oxide production in the body. Then the non scientist out there wouldn't know what to look for.

12:57 Right. They're buying products that aren't providing any benefit to them. And so years ago we would do randomized placebo controlled clinical trials and we would take some of these commercial bead products that you can go to Your local nutrition store. our pharmacy buy off the shelf and we would use those as placebos in our clinical trials.

13:15 'Cause it's the perfect placebo. So what I tried to do in that book is educate, okay, what is it about beats That are so important. What's the mechanism and what is necessary In those beads. They can improve nitric oxide production.

13:30 So again, everything I do is intended to Educate and inform the consumer So that they know. how to make informed, educated choices on the products they're taking. Or the foods they're eating. oral hygienic practices.

13:47 Trying to find the page in your book, but there was a page in your book where you describe Beachroot as the most un As the most underappreciated food. In the history of eating. Yeah, that may be in the beat the odds, uh

14:01 But it was in this. To historical times. And you look at the the hieroglyphics on caves. Of the ancient cavemen. You know, people thought they were drinking wine'cause they would have these red stuff in this before battle. But what these ancient

14:17 Egyptians were doing was they were drinking Beet juice. to improve their performance before they went into battle. So that they were ready, they were energized, they improved their circulation. So that's the historical study on beats.

14:31 And obviously These were beets grown at a time when there were no herbicides, pesticides, and the soil was probably fertile, so these beets were full of nutrients. probably full of nitrate that provided the benefits. Of that. But unfortunately today the beets that are grown, at least in America

14:47 Um Really are nutrient depleted just like most of the food. So would you recommend people eat beetroots? No, because as would again, uh through our survey that we published in twenty fifteen, we realized that you really can't eat enough beets to get enough nitrate To improve your performance.

15:03 And the other caveat is that if you're using mouthwash, you've got fluoride in your toothpaste or fluoride in your drinking water that you're mixing the beet powder in. you're not gonna get a nitric oxide benefit from it. There's a graph in front of me here which I printed off which shows the rise in Antacid Medications. Oh yeah from

15:19 Two thousand four to two so a twenty year period we're seeing um What is that? Almost a quadrupling. And this is globally or is this in the US? That's worldwide, I believe. Yeah, worldwide. No, this is the problem. I mean these these an acids

15:36 What is an a antacid? So it's a medication that's given Orally to suppress stomach acid production. Yeah. And As a biochemist and physiologist, I can't think of nothing more damaging.

15:49 than to inhibit stomach acid production. Because Stomach acid is required to break down proteins into amino acids, whether it's You're eating animal protein or or or Plant based protein.

16:01 It's required for nutrient absorption. You need stomach acid to absorb B vitamins. You need stomach acid to absorb selenium, chromium. Iodine, magnesium. Iron. I mean most nutrients, micronutrients are absorbed in the

16:15 Lumen of the stomach. And if the stomach can ab is not making stomach acid, then these nutrients are not absorbed. And most Americans. Seventy five percent of Americans are deficient in magnesium. Ninety five percent of Americans are deficient in

16:30 I don't. I mean it's a huge problem. These are the brands like Gavascun. No, these are like the the Prilosec, the Prevacids, the Nexium, the prescription medications are all Meprzole. Uh, Pan Topersal.

16:44 These y today in in the US, I think it's probably worldwide, you don't even need a prescription for these from your physician. You can go to your local drugstore and you can buy these What we call proton pump inhibitors or PPIs. What about Tums? So there's a difference in so tums and things like baking

17:03 Sodom. Head. A buffer. Right, sodium bicarb or calcium carbonate. And there it's a buffer.

17:10 Right. So if you if you have an acute bout of hyper secretion of acid. You can take a terms. Or some buffer, some base. Alkaline substance.

17:20 To neutralize the acid. Neutralizing acid is completely different than inhibiting its natural production. in the polyoric cells of the stomach. So what is the difference between some have you heard of Gaviscon before? Yes. Yeah. What's the difference between like a gaving. Well there's there's certain classes of an acids. There's what we call H two blockers.

17:38 There's proton pump inhibitors. And then there's the natural buffers that are just kinda neutralizing the acid. Environment in the stomach. Gaviskon, I'm trying to think um What class that falls under? I don't think it's widely used here in the US. I mean the main drugs used here are Prolecy Nexium

17:54 Uh previous those are the over the counter. And then the main prescription medications are the omeprisol and the pentoprazal. Is a Commonly used. Fantasy brand.

18:05 And the active ingredients are aluminium hydration. Droxide and magnesium carb carbonate. Oh, so give us guns. So number one, it's got aluminum in it, which you should should absolutely be avoided. Uh but yeah, that just it looks like a buffer. It's got an hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, which is a strong base. So it's neutralizing the stomach acid production.

18:23 But It's It's a neutral agent, but anything that contains aluminum you should absolutely avoid. Um my so I I've mentioned her a few times today, but my girlfriend's a breath practitioner. She runs a business called Barley Breath Work. Dot com hashtag.

18:37 Um, and one of the things she's talked to me a lot about is mouth breathing. And I know there's a a relationship between nitric oxide and how we choose to breathe, whether it's through our nose or through our mouths. Can you explain to me that that link? You know, when we talk about the enzyme that's found in the lining of the blood vessels. We started this segment. That same enzyme is found in our epithel cells.

18:59 In our upper airways. In our uh sinuses. So just like exercise can activate nitric oxide production in the lining of the blood vessels. Deep breathing, nasal breathing activates That enzyme in the epithelial cells of our sinuses.

19:13 And so when we do nasal breathing, it's activating the enzyme to make nitric oxide. Now we're delivering that nitric oxide gas into the The bronchials, the lowering away. It's dilating those bronchioles.

19:25 Moreover, it's dilating the pulmonary arteries. So now we're improving oxygen uptake. Oxygen delivery. And that's why nasal breathing and deep breathing has been shown to lower blood pressure. This is a pretty crazy graph I took from Google as well, which shows just how interested people are now getting in the subject of mouth breathing. Oh yeah, again going over the past uh twenty years.

19:47 Yeah, no, I think there's a lot of people I mean, obviously your girlfriend, there's uh Patrick McKen McKeewen in um came into Dragons denying I uh did it. Made him an offer in Dragon's Den. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that the the the benefits of that are pretty well and mechanistically we understand the benefits of it. So the the mouth breathers are not only bypassing

20:07 This natural nitric oxide production pathway But when you mouth breathe, it completely changes the microbiome. And you so you're not only bypassing the nitric oxide producing in the upper airway But you're inhibiting nitric oxide production in the mouth from the microbiome. 'Cause you're fully oxygenating the mouth.

20:25 It's changing the pH of the saliva. And completely changes the microbiome and completely shuts down nitric oxide production. Interesting. Interesting.

20:36 So you have to I mean I'm a big fan of of of Uh mouth taping. But for me I know and I watch my kids, but sometimes there's anatomical issues Where there's obstructive airways.

20:52 Sometimes surgery. But The worst thing you can do is You know, b you suffocate.

21:01 So before you do mouth taping you need to get um you know, some some imaging done from your dentist to make sure that your airway is is open to where if you force to breathe through your nose you can actually have oxygen exchange. And is there anything else that I could and should be doing to increase and improve my nitric oxide levels. That we haven't talked about yet. Humming, you know there are certain frequencies. Um we've Done this and looking at nitric oxide coming out of the exhaled breath when you're humming.

21:26 So certain frequencies can activate this enzyme. And it's dependent upon the volume of the nasal sinuses. So there's not one frequency that would work in every single person. Is the volume of your airways and and oral cavity and sinuses was probably much different than mine. Give me an example. Show me. Well, if you just um you know, like ohm like you you do in meditation or just simple humming. You could actually so if I had my

21:50 Hos on our gas phase analyzer here, I could hum. Mm and I can detect nitric oxide coming out of my exhale breath. Because of the frequency of the Because of the frequency and activating the the nitric oxide synthase inside. But if you take older patients. And we've demonstrated this publisher in other

22:09 Other groups have demonstrated this. Older patients That their enzyme isn't making nitric oxide. Whether they do nasal breathing or whether they do humming There's no nitric oxide coming up.

22:20 So again, this is an activator and a stimulator, but it's dependent upon the function of the enzyme that makes nitrococcide. If your enzyme is broken Humming, nasal breathing, exercise isn't gonna produce any nitric oxide. Is there anything else that I should be aware of if I'm trying to improve my nitric oxide levels? I think it's it's it's doing the things that disrupt it. Get rid of fluoride, get rid of mouthwash, stop using an acids, stop eating sugar, th anything that leads to an elevation in blood sugar. A balanced diet in moderation.

22:48 Moderate physical exercise. Twenty thirty minutes of sunlight a day. Sunlight. Sunlight. There's certain At both both ends of the visible spectrum, both are

22:56 The UV spectrum? And the um full spectrum infrared. So those frequencies and vibrations again stimulate nitric oxide release. So the UV has enough energy to where it'll it'll knock nitric oxide bound to a cysteine thiole and protein? And then

23:14 The UV spectrum. Well s release nitric oxide down the metals. So you mean go out in the sunshine, but also those red light? Yeah, the red light I have an infra I have a red light bed. I have an infrared sauna that uses red lights in it and it's I use it every day. For nitric oxide production. And there's there's other benefits of light. You know, it can stimulate mitochondrial

23:35 Biogenesis, it improves energy production, it can lower blood pressure. But yeah, lots of benefits of light therapy. And yet We're programmed to not go outside. If we go outside, put on SPF sixty and Intoxicate ourselves with these cancer causing chemicals and sunscreen. Makes no sense.

23:51 What you just listened to was a most replayed moment from a previous episode. If you want to listen to that full episode, I've linked it down below. Check the description. Thank you. Uh