Dear Dr. Ettinger,

I am a holistic psychiatrist who has been purchasing goji powder from your company.  I was wondering what percentage polysaccharides are found in the freeze dried goji powder that your company sells.  I also was wondering about the pros and cons of dried goji berry juice as opposed to the whole berry.

Thank you,

Holistic Doc.

Dear Doc,

It’s 240 mg’s per 6000 mg’s (or, about 1.2 grams per ounce) of goji powder.  There will be less in the juice than the whole fruit powder or whole dried, organic berries.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Dr. Marcus Ettinger

Dear Doc,

I wanted to share with you a couple of specialty products I use in my practice to exchange psychiatric medications for nutraceuticals.

Gabatone by Apex Energetics.  Gabatone has 10mg of Lithium Orotate and other good stuff.  I take one before bed myself and my mild ADD/OCD/Type A personality is way better.  I can actually drive Southern California Freeways in traffic and not want to shoot someone.  I have at least 20+ clients on it and when it went on back order from Apex I had a lot of really pissed off people, so it must be doing something.

Sometimes I use Amoryn.  I mainly have used this, in conjunction with a lot of DHA, zinc 50-100mg’s and Gabatone 1-3, with patients who have come in on Abilify or other antipsychotics.  For these clients I also try to get them in Ketosis (monitoring every day w/keto-sticks).  The brain really utilizes ketone bodies, far better than it utilizes glucose.  Plus, when in ketosis there are no sugar crashes or sugar highs.  I have actually been in ketosis for the last 17 days and have never felt more clear headed in my life. More info on what I am doing here – My Personal Ultra Lite Program

Norival by Ecological Formulas http://www.naturalhealthconsult.com/Monographs/norival.html (for information only).  I use AK and/or CRA to see if this needs to be added.  I only have two clients on this and the swear by it.

Lastly, and what I use most often is L-tryptophan as a serotonin precursor and SAMe as a melatonin precursor.  I feel SAMe works far better than melatonin for sleep issues and calming the brain.

I would love to hear if you have any favorite products that you use in your practice.

Take care,

Marcus

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for the following information.  It was very generous of you to take the time to share what you have learned in your practice.  I took some time to learn about the U lite program.  It  seems to be a  diet that emphasizes the reduction or elimination of fast burning carbohydrates: sugars, breads, and pastas, but keeps the meats and vegetables as sources of nutrients.  I have not done this in my practice, but I do have patients get rid of wheat, dairy and white sugar as much as they can.

With regard to lowering antipsychotic medications, I am still in a learning phase.  I emphasize GABA support as well, in the form of having patients eat GABA rice and use the inhibitory amino acids that Neuroscience makes: TravaCor or TravaCor Jr.  But in addition, I use a lot of L-Taurine.

The new generation antipsychotics block many receptors and subcategories of various classes of receptors, which makes them especially hard to get off of after being on them for several years.  I have started a “step down” approach that seems to make the process easier.  Zyprexa affects 17 different receptors (various Ds and 5HTPs etc.), while Seroquel affects 10 different receptors.  So I have patients take a little Seroquel as I lower their Zyprexa, then when they are only on the Seroquel, I shift them to Haldol (liquid), then off altogether.  Also, I have found that it is critical to wait a period of time (two weeks) before I lower the antipsychotic again.  This allows the number of receptors to be reduced in number after the amount of antipsychotic medication blocking them has been reduced.

In addition, I like using whole food antioxidants such as goji powder, acai powder, and maqui powder (freeze dried).  Most of my patient come with high levels of oxidative stress.

Also, I do a lot of muscle testing for information both for supplements, meds, and energy healing work.  The energy healing work helps a lot too.

With regard to lithium, I am routinely using a product called Li-Zyme Forte or Li-Zyme by Biotics Research.  It seems to be superior to lithium orotate as well as the oligo lithium I was using through Deseret Biologicals (no longer available).

With regard to energy work, I work with patients to help them use EFT, TAT, Emotion Code Technique (by Dr. Bradley Nelson) to heal from traumas.  The release of traumas facilitates the physical healing process and detoxification quite well.

I try to avoid anything that would be too stimulating in those trying to get off sedating meds.  So, I avoid glutamate, aspartate, and histamine amino acids.

Sometimes, I like to refer patients to a good chiropractor or acupuncturist around here.

All the best,

Holistic Doc.

4-15-2010

Dear Doc,

I wanted to share a combo that I have put my 5 year old on that is working great for her attention issues. Maile has an amazing ability to concentrate, as most kids do with so called ADD, on the things she likes, and to a lesser degree on, let’s say, homework.

I am using 1 tsp Molecularly Distilled Fish oil,  ¼ tsp Probiotic Defense Powder, 1 Tbsp Non GMO lecithin Granules, ½ scoop Whey Protein Isolate, 1 drop Liquid Vitamin D Forte (Biotics Research) and 1 scoop Absolute Acai Powder (CAOH). I mix this with a little apple juice, strawberries and Greek yogurt in a blender. Maile really loves the smoothie and her attention span has increased dramatically. Yes, she is still an active 5 year old, but the difference is very noticeable.

Do you have a combo that you like you young patients with ADD or ADHD to be on?

Have a great day!

Marcus

Hi Marcus,

I am happy to hear that your daughter is doing well.

I consider ADD or ADHD as problems that arise from chronic, but early adrenal stress (generally accompanied by a deficient detoxification system), so anything that would cause too much stress will result in a change in attention span as the adrenals kick in with hormones that send the message: “fight or flight.”  I have used everything you have mentioned below regularly, other than the lecithin (though I had used it in the past), but I tend to use liposomal products now which deliver similar supports, I believe, in healing the membranes.

Antioxidant support is very important.  I like using a combination of goji, maqui, and acai powders.  They have slightly different areas of strength it seems, because the muscle testing will indicate a need for all three in some individuals.  Sometimes for those who are getting off stimulants, I will support energy levels with UBQH, Malic acid, and D-Ribose.  Coming off stimulants is hard on appetite.  It goes way up, so I am using Hoodia, but will be trying out a Hoodia, Acai, and Wuyi tea combination to see if it is even stronger.  Also, I try to help detox with foot detox pads and liposomal glutathione (Empirical Labs or Readisorb Glutathione by YES).  Generally these kids have some kind of hypersensitivity reaction to wheat, dairy, and white refined sugar, so I tell them to get off of them.  I provide a great deal of mineral support as well.  Sometimes I must use Organically Bound Minerals by Standard Process, to avoid the copper.  Other times, I can get away with using the ionic liquid minerals called Cell Ready Minerals crangrapefruit flavor by Eniva, as long as I use additional zinc to counter the copper in it.  With regard to essential fatty acids, I generally use Chia seed oil and Black currant seed oil.

Hope this was of some interest.

All the best,

Holistic Doc.